“He’s a good agent,” Maj said. “Maybe a little Neanderthal.”
“Yep, but we still need men like him. And Jon Roarke is one of the best.”
“And Heavener?”
Winters’s face clouded. “She’s going to get her day in court. It’s going to be a crapshoot to see who actually throws her in prison first.”
“That leaves Gaspar Latke.”
“Mr. Latke has proven to be an interesting young man,” Winters admitted. “He’s been involved in a few operations Net Force didn’t quite get to the bottom of. I think his future may hold a few surprises. But I’m guessing he’ll be okay.”
After the debriefing was finished and her report filed, Maj returned to the airflight taking her back home. Leif’s dad had paid for first-class seats. She glanced around the cabin. Everyone was asleep, except for Andy, who was online gaming. Somewhere.
Her foilpack buzzed and she answered it, finding Peter Griffen’s smiling face in the vidscreen.
“Hey,” he said. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“No,” Maj replied, smiling a little herself.
“I heard I wasn’t the only one who had an interesting weekend,” Peter said.
Maj shook her head. “No.”
“Nobody at Net Force wanted to give me your foilpack number,” Peter said. “I had to do a little digging.”
“It seems you found it.”
“I’m good at what I do.”
“So what can I do for you?” Maj asked.
“I think you’ve done enough,” he replied. “I just wanted to thank you for your part in my rescue. And in Oscar’s.”
“My pleasure.”
Peter seemed kind of stuck for words. “Thanks, doesn’t seem like enough. If it’s okay, I’d like to ask you something.”
“Sure,” Maj said.
“Net Force shut down the online launch of Realm of the Bright Water, but your friend Mark Gridley has already debugged a copy I have. They want to experiment with the game for a while, make sure that the fully interfacing game engine I designed doesn’t bleed over anymore, but I have access to this one. I though maybe if you weren’t busy—” He hesitated.
“You’re asking me if I can come out and play?” Maj laughed.
“Well, I wasn’t going to put it that way,” Peter responded. “But, yeah. I’ve got a whole world out there, Maj. I’m ready to share it with someone. I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
“Where can I find you?” After Peter gave her the Net coordinates, Maj leaned back in the implant chair. When she opened her eyes again, she stood on a blue-silver cloud overlooking the world. Peter stood in front of her, clad in his beautiful armor.
“In the game,” Peter said, “you won’t be able to stand on the clouds. Not unless you know the secrets. But I wanted you to be properly impressed.”
“I am. I’m looking forward to seeing what else your world holds.”
Peter held out his hand. “Then join me.”
Maj took the offered hand. In the next minute the cloud swirled beneath them, quickly becoming the plum-colored dragon, Sahfrell, she’d gotten so acquainted with over the weekend. She felt the dragon’s muscles bunch beneath her as it flew through the sky. “I take it clouds don’t usually become dragons, either,” she said. She took her place in the front of a dual saddle.
“Not unless I want them to,” Peter told her. “What would you like to do?”
The wind streamed through Maj’s hair, and she stared at all the beauty beneath her. “I just want to see everything I can.”
“As you wish,” Peter said, and the dragon dived toward the world waiting below.