At the exact moment Estelle was about to give up, to just stop swinging and let the haters​ beat on her for awhile, she saw...  

     saw...

     Trevor Harper? 

​     He flitted around her on his anti-gravs.

     He sliced away at Estelle's assailants with his laser-knife.

     The sight of him gave Estelle renewed strength. Now that she had an ally, she could kick ass forever, no problem.

     She saw it all then, all of Domitika, and not just her small, initial perceptions of it. She saw Adam and Galatea and Myanna. 

     She saw Noel and frowned. Was he in some sort of coma?

     She saw Brock, naked and...No! What happened to Brock? Why did his arms look so weak?

     Estelle's assailants didn't last twelve heartbeats after Trevor and Adam showed up on the scene.  

     Estelle wanted to go to Brock, but she didn't know how to do it. She didn't know how to fly in this universe the way Adam Adama could.

     Someone grabbed her shoulder, and now she flew towards Brock. 

     She turned to see who'd grabbed her. 

​     It was Shawnacy!

     Estelle had never been so happy to see anyone before in her life! It was Shawnacy, so beautiful and one of her very, very best friends in life. Shawnacy was a fellow Valid, and together they went after another Valid, Brock, and soon they would be together again, all four of them. 

     Then Estelle got a look into Shawnacy's eyes, and what she saw deeply disturbed her. 

     Estelle saw fury in Shawnacy's eyes, and pain so deep Estelle couldn't help but wonder about Shawnacy's own experience in Domitika. Estelle couldn't imagine that look of profound hurt would completely leave Shawnacy's eyes ever again.

                                                  CONTINUE