I opened my mouth to offer my supposition as to who that might be when Mom's mental touch jerked me out of this conversation and into another.

Syd. Tense, imminently stressed. I could feel my mother moving, feet hurrying down a hallway, heavy skirt clinging to her legs, silk shirt cold against her skin. She was letting a lot through in her anxiety. I caught flashes of the inner council chamber at Harvard, flares of blue light as Enforcer fire ...