Vision of the future

'It's still the fringe,' Shada said. 'It's still illegal and underhanded. I want something honorable, something noble. Is that so much to ask for?'

'No, of course not,' Car'das said. 'Still, Karrde's much more an information broker now than he is a smuggler. Isn't that at least a little better?'

'No,' Shada said. 'In fact, it's worse. Information brokering is nothing more than selling people's private property to those who don't deserve to have it.'

'Interesting point of view,' Car'das murmured, his gaze shifting to Shada's right. 'Have you ever considered it that way?'

'I haven't up till now,' Karrde's voice said.

Shada spun around, shaking the last lingering tears from her eyes. Off to her right, dressed in a robe and ship slippers, Karrde was standing just outside the inner circle, regarding her with an odd expression on his face. 'Perhaps I need to reassess my thinking,' he added.

'What are you doing here?' Shada demanded.

'Car'das called me,' Karrde said. He looked at Car'das, his forehead wrinkling. 'At least, I think he called me.'

'Oh, yes, definitely,' Car'das assured him. 'I thought you should be in on this part of the conversation.' He bowed his head to Shada. 'Forgive me again, Shada, if I startled you.' Shada fought back a grimace. 'He's just full of surprises, isn't he?' she commented.

'He's always been that way,' Karrde agreed, stepping over to her side. 'All right, Car'das. Your two puppets are assembled and awaiting your commands. What do you want from us?' Car'das's eyes widened in a look of innocence. 'Me?' he protested. 'I want nothing from you, my friends. On the contrary, I wish to present you with a gift.'

Shada glanced at Karrde, found him throwing her the same suspicious look. 'Really,' Karrde said dryly. 'And what kind of gift might that be?'

Car'das smiled. 'You were never one to appreciate surprises, were you, Karrde?' he said. 'Not too bad at dealing them out, mind you, but extremely poor at accepting them. But I think you'll like this one.'

He turned to the data case behind him and selected two datacards from the top shelf. 'This is the gift I offer,' he said, turning back to face them, holding one of the datacards in each hand. 'This'—he held up his right hand—'is the history of Emberlene I was just speaking to Shada about. Something she very much wants, or at least has thought in the past that she wanted. This'—he held up his left hand—'is a datacard I made up especially for you. One which I personally think will be far more beneficial for everyone in the long run.'

'What's on it?' Karrde asked.

'Useful information.' Car'das laid them down side by side on the computer desk. 'You may have one of them. Please choose.'

Beside her, Shada felt Karrde take a deep breath. 'It's your choice, Shada,' he said quietly.

'Take whichever one you wish.'

Shada stared down at the two datacards, waiting for the inevitable emotional turmoil to twist through her. Her only hope of rejoining the Mistryl—perhaps her only hope of even staying alive through the death mark they'd put on her—lay there to her left. To her right was an unknown quantity, put together by an old man who might easily be half insane, for the supposed benefit of another man whose whole purpose in life was the antithesis of what she herself had always yearned for. But to her weary surprise, the turmoil never came. Had Car'das's earlier revelations merely burned all of it out of her, she wondered vaguely, leaving no strength left to drive such emotions as anger or uncertainty?

But no. There was no turmoil because there was no real decision to be made. Car'das was right: she could no longer work with the Mistryl, who served and killed and died so that Emberlene could someday rise again. Not now that she knew what Emberlene had once been.

And certainly not now that she could see what the Eleven might do with the knowledge on that datacard.

The justice she had once thought she was seeking had already been carried out. All that datacard could create was vengeance.

Reaching across the desk, distantly aware that she was now finally crossing the final bridge from her past, she picked up the datacard on the right.

'I'm pleased with you, Shada D'ukal, child of the Mistryl,' Car'das said with a warmth she had never heard in his voice before. 'I promise you won't be disappointed.' Shada looked at Karrde, steeling herself for his reaction to