The ground below rushed up toward her; the shuttle suddenly veered to the right, evading a barrier.A force field, Homesmind murmured. A diagram flickered in her mind and on the shuttle’s screen. The field, reaching above the stratosphere, was an invisible wall enclosing green land, part of a mountain range, and a small bit of desert. Lydee shivered; the force field showed how much power Earthfolk could summon. She would be trapped inside its borders, along with Daiya and her village.The shuttle fell toward the desert, landing inside the transparent barrier. She peered through the ship’s dome. The shadows of the barren mountains cloaked her craft; behind her, the desert stretched to the horizon, a barren landscape dotted by only a few prickly plants.She huddled against her seat. Up until the moment she had left the comet, she had been hoping that Reiho would overcome his fear. He had talked to her of going, and had even tested the mindpowers Homesmind could now give to him.He had come to the shuttle field with Etey, but had not boarded the craft.
