In their ship, Terenia and Efaen are engaged in a verbal and mental battle.
"I don't want to call him!" Terenia cries out loud, looking rather unhappy.
<<You must, unless you wish for us to die upon return.>>
"I don't want to go back!"
<<Stop whining, you insufferable child. You have no choice. If you want me, you will return.>>
"There has to be some other way..."
<<Find a way to return to active duty on a Dome Ship,>> Efaen sneers, <<Even Ossanlin would not accept a Yeerk among his ranks. Besides, putting my body on the front lines after betraying Visser Three? It would be a foolish move. No, it would never work. Either we return to the Blade Ship and work covertly or we part ways.>>
"But...the rebellion...?" Terenia asks hopefully.
<<I will have no part in this supposed Yeerk rebellion,>> Efaen hisses, her thoughts dark, <<You expect me to live my days underground, surrounded by Yeerk vermin? Possibly working against the very cause that I'm fighting?>>
"You are impossible!" Terenia cries, pulling herself from her slumped position on the floor and beginning to pace the small diameter of the ship erratically. After a few minutes of brooding she announces, "I need to speak with Corliss. He'll have an answer."
<<You should not leave. You are unprotected.>>
"I have two Dracon Beams and a tail, if I so choose. Keshin could be dead now, for all I know. My sister is weaponless and without her bounty hunter. The only one I have to worry about is that human that helped Keshin. I'll just have to avoid him."
<<Do not leave.>>
"Who's going to stop me?" Terenia mutters darkly, closing Efaen off best that she can. She opens the hatch and steps back out into the night, ignoring Efaen's protests.