Ascension

of the queue a yellow line had been painted on the floor. Beyond the line stood a pair of Alliance guards, both armed — a reminder to anyone coming aboard that the Grissom Academy was a joint military-civilian operation.

Behind the guards, a single door led from the waiting room into the reception area beyond, where another Alliance soldier sat at a computer to register all arrivals and departures. The door was kept closed until the soldier working the registration desk was satisfied that the individuals in the waiting room had authorization to come onto the station.

Grayson was already in the waiting room when they reached reception, pacing impatiently back and forth just behind the yellow line. The guards inside the room with him simply stood at attention, seeming not to notice his urgency.

The young woman behind the registration desk glanced up as Hendel approached, her face brightening when she recognized the Ascension Project's security chief.

You re wasting your time, sister, Kahlee thought.

'One visitor, as scheduled,' she said, her voice a little too light and breezy to sound completely professional. 'Just waiting for clearance.'

'Let him through,' Hendel said with a sigh.

She smiled, and punched some buttons on her keyboard. A small green light above the glass door flickered on and there was an audible click as the lock disengaged. A moment later the door swung silently open.

'Go on in, Mr. Grayson,' Kahlee heard one of the guards inside the waiting room say, but Grayson was practically through the door already anyway.

He looks like bell, Kahlee thought.

Grayson was wearing a simple business suit and carrying an expensive-looking briefcase; his clothes were clean and freshly pressed, and it was obvious he had recently shaved. Despite these efforts, there was an unhealthy, almost desperate look about him. Always a thin man, he looked positively skeletal now; his clothes seemed to be hanging off him. His face was drawn and haggard, his eyes sunken and bloodshot, his lips dry and cracked. She still wasn't willing to completely concede to Hendel's accusation that he was a drug addict, but he certainly looked like a duster.

'Good to see you again, Mr. Grayson,' Kahlee said, stepping forward and offering her introduction before Hendel could say something inappropriate.

'It's been a long time,' the security chief added, undeterred by her efforts. 'We were starting to think you'd forgotten where to find us.'

'I'd come more often if I could,' Grayson replied, shaking Kahlee's hand but looking at Hendel as he spoke. He didn't seem angry. If anything, he sounded almost apologetic. Or guilty. 'Things have been. . complicated. . lately.'

'Gillian was very excited when we told her you were coming, sir,' Jiro chimed in from over Kahlee's shoulder.

'I'm looking forward to seeing her, Dr. Toshiwa,' he replied, smiling. Kahlee noticed his teeth were discolored, as if covered with a faintly luminous sheen— another telltale sign of a duster.

'Do you want me to take your case?' Hendel asked, almost grudgingly.

'I'd prefer to keep it with me,' Grayson replied, and Kahlee noticed a faint look of disapproval cross HendePs features.

'Come on,' she said, taking Grayson by the forearm and gently turning him away from Hendel. 'Let's go see your daughter.'

'I'm sorry about the poor timing of my arrival,' Grayson said to her as they made their way through the Academy toward the Ascension Project dorms. 'I always have trouble adjusting my schedule to local time.'

'It's not a problem, Mr. Grayson,' she assured him. 'You're welcome to come see Gillian anytime, day or night.'

'I feel bad about waking her up,' he continued. 'But I have to leave again in a few hours.'

'We'll just let her sleep through her classes tomorrow,' Hendel remarked, walking a few steps behind them.

Grayson didn't acknowledge him, and Kahlee wasn't sure if he'd even heard the comment. But it put an end to the conversation until they reached Gillian's room.

Kahlee waved her hand in front of the access panel, and the door slid open.

'Lights — on,' she said softly, and illumination filled the room.

Gillian wasn't sleeping. As Jiro had warned them, she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, on top of the covers. She was wearing a faded pink pair of pajamas that looked to be a size too small; Kahlee remembered they had been a gift from Grayson on her birthday a few months ago.

'Hey, Gigi,' Grayson said, stepping forward into the room, calling her by his pet name.

Her eyes lit up and she held out her arms toward him, but didn't move from her sitting position. 'Daddy!'

Grayson came to the side of the bed and leaned in, but pulled up short of hugging her. Instead, he clasped his daughter's hands tightly in his own, which was what she had been expecting.

'You're getting so big!' Grayson said in amazement, releasing one of her hands to take a half-step back and get a better look at her. After a long moment of silence, he added softly, 'You look just like your mother.'

Kahlee tapped Hendel and Jiro on their elbows, then nodded toward the door, indicating they should leave. The three of them slipped out of the room, and the door swooshed shut behind them.

'Come on,' Kahlee said once they were out in the hall. 'Let's leave them alone.'

'All visitors have to be attended by someone on staff while at the Academy,' Hendel objected.

'I'll stay here,' Jiro offered. 'He said he can only stay a few hours, so I don't mind hanging around. Plus I know Gillian's files. In case he has any questions.'

'That'll work,' Kahlee answered.

Hendel looked as if he were going to argue, but instead he only said, 'Make sure you sign him out and let me know when he leaves.'

'Come on,' Kahlee said to Hendel. 'Walk me down to the cafeteria and I'll buy you a coffee.'

The cafeteria was empty — it would still be several hours before the staff and students made their way down for breakfast. Hendel settled himself at one of the tables by the door while Kahlee made her way over to the beverage dispensers. She swiped her employee card through the slot and ordered up two cups of coffee, both black, then carried them back over to the table and offered one to Hendel.

'Son-of-a-bitch looks worse than ever,' the security chief said, taking the cup from her hand. 'Might be high right now.'

'You're too hard on him,' she said with a sigh, settling into the seat across from Hendel. 'He's not the first parent of a biotic child to experiment with red sand. It's a way for us ordinary people to understand what it's like to be biotic.'

'No,' he said sharply. 'Getting high and flinging paper clips around with your mind for a few hours isn't anything like being a biotic.'

'But it's the closest someone like Grayson can ever get. Put yourself in his shoes. He's just trying to connect with his daughter.'

'Then maybe he should come see her more than twice a year.'

'This can't be easy on him,' she reminded Hendel. 'His wife died during childbirth. His daughter has a mental condition that makes her emotionally distant. And then he finds out she has this incredible ability, and he has to send her away to a private school.

'He's probably on an emotional roller coaster every time he sees her: love, guilt, loneliness. He knows he's doing what's best for her, but that doesn't mean it's easy on him.'

'I just get a bad vibe off him. And I've learned to trust my gut.'

Rather than answer, Kahlee took a long drink from her cup. The coffee was nice and hot, but it had a mildly bitter aftertaste.

'We need to petition the board for better coffee,' she muttered, hoping to change the subject.