Then cold dread filtered down to her marrow. As she recovered from the stunner, Michella couldn’t understand how this had happened. Her body ached and twitched, nerves misfiring, her head pounding. The roar in her ears was definitely not the roar of cheering crowds. She felt bruised and abused. Her last moments of consciousness were blurred and uncertain, but she recalled being with Ishop when they were confronted by a woman with a weapon, a stunner.… Michella found herself sealed inside a small harshly lit room with metal decks, bulkheads, and no windows. Ishop couldn’t possibly be involved! Vibrations implied this was a moving spaceship. Her clothes were rumpled, and she realized to her horror that she had soiled herself. She had heard that upon suffering a heavy stun blast, some victims lost control of their bodily functions—but certainly not a Diadem! Michella was disgusted with herself, and with her captors that they would do such a barbaric thing to her. She lurched toward the sealed door, but the controls failed to respond.
