As Petriv had disturbingly noted, I’d barely slept in the past two days. I took the two dissolving mint-flavored pills as instructed by Karol, but either I’d been too exhausted or the dosage was too high because they knocked me for a loop. I was so far gone, I wasn’t even sure if we flew regular commercial or took another fast high-orbit flight. As far as I could tell, Petriv, Oksana, her husband, Vadim, whom I vaguely remembered from Denver, and more chain-breakers traveled with us. Karol also could have been there, plus a few others for all I knew. The last thing I remembered was Petriv crouching before my seat, smoothing my hair and saying something to Oksana. After that, I was well and truly out cold. When I woke, I was fully clothed on a strange bed in the dark. I sat up with a start and swore. “Lights,” I said, my voice hoarse from lack of use. Instantly the room was ablaze, as if every fixture had been programmed to turn on at the sound of my voice.
