down from the parking garage just off Royal Street to Patty O's, and Jason went straight into the piano bar. He didn't ask, he didn't wave to any of the bartenders, he just sat down at the piano and started playing. He started with Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, then moved immediately into Bach, then Chopin. His eyes were closed nearly the entire time, as he used the sound of the music to relax him, to calm him, to settle the sudden chaos of his life and allow him to step back and think about things more rationally. Rationally, the best thing he could do right now was not panic, not make any rash or hasty decisions. Yes, the secret was out. The Faey now knew that there was a telepathic human. But, it was _not him_. That rather dubious honor had gone to someone he didn't even know, a poor girl who had expressed in the middle of exams. The stress. That had to be what triggered it, the stress of exams.

Right now, the Faey didn't know if it was an isolated incident or not. That worked in his favor, because they weren't looking for others yet. First they had to find out what happened, they'd probably study the girl, find out what had happened to her. He did not envy her position right now. There was a very good chance she wouldn't survive that examination. Faey were anything if not efficient and thorough, however, so it wasn't going to take them long to complete that initial study and draw some conclusions.

Two to three weeks, at the most. At the absolute most. That was how long it was going to take them, and that was when he was going to have to make a decision.

Decisions. If they considered the girl an isolated incident, then he was probably going to be alright. He'd have to exercise extreme caution, because the specter of another telepath might be lurking in the backs of their minds. He would lose that expectation of not being telepathic, and would probably not be able to send to Jyslin anymore. Ever. It would just be too dangerous. It was a small price to pay, however.

But, if the Faey didn't consider the girl to be an isolated incident... hell. He really had no idea. They'd be looking for new telepaths, and that would make things exceptionally dangerous for him. He really didn't see how he could continue to operate like that, being on guard every moment of every day for the rest of his life, and that only if they weren't _actively_ hunting new telepaths down. If they brought in teams of mindbenders and did personal interviews with everyone, he'd have no chance to go undetected. That would put him in danger, it would put Jyslin in even more danger, because she _trained_ him and never told anyone about him. There was definitely more at stake here than just his life. There was Jyslin, and maybe even Tim and Symone, maybe even the career of Jyslin's aunt Lorna. There was a great deal to consider, more than he really cared to ponder.

He would have to think about it, but later. He already had enough worries, and the moody music was earning him some scowls from Pete, the day manager, who was standing in the doorway of the piano bar. Jason winked at him and played the opening bars from _Dragnet_, which made the tall, willowy man break out into delighted laughter. Then he broke out into one of his favorite pieces, Scott Joplin's _The Entertainer_, one of the best pieces of ragtime music ever written.

"I love it when you play that," Tim said from the closest table, two empty daiquiri glasses in front of him already. Two other people quietly filed into the piano bar and sat down near the back, and much to his surprise, they were _Faey tourists_. He could hear their chattered sending quite clearly, and they were dressed in what Jason thought to be rather amusing touristy garb: New Orleans tee shirts, the lady in a blue pleated skirt, the man in a pair of jeans that looked brand new, and both were wearing cheap plastic visors one could buy in any tee shirt shop or off some of the roving vendors. A waiter rushed in and asked to take their order, but they looked up at him blankly. "English... not good," the Faey woman said, looking up at him.

"He wants to know what you want to drink," Tim told them in Faey, turning around.

"Oh, you speak Faey! Thank the Trinity," the woman said with a relieved laugh. "Tell him I'd like something fruity, and I'm not that worried about how drunk it makes me," she said with a wink.

"I'd like to sample one of your stronger ales or beers," the male told Tim.

"Stan, the lady wants a fruit punch Hurricane, and the gentleman would like a Guinness," he told the waiter.

"Thanks Tim," Stan said with a sigh. "They're the fourth pair to come through here today."

"Thanks much handsome," the woman told Tim with a wink. "I know they're getting frustrated with us, but at least they're still very courteous and friendly. This city has been everything our travel agent said it would be. I'm glad we came here."

"Not many here speak Faey," Tim told them as Jason started playing _All of Me_.

"Well, we should have had _English_ implanted before we left, so it's really our fault," the male chuckled. "We just weren't sure if we were coming here or going to that _France_ place, so we decided to risk it."

A sign of the times, he guessed. They were the first Faey tourists that Jason had seen, but in a way, he should have expected it. Earth was more and more part of the Imperium, more and more deeply being tied up with it. They were nothing but a farming colony populated by an indigenous population that was still partially resistant to the Imperium, yet here they were, Faey tourists that had the money and the approval to come to their world on holiday. Jason finished up that song and started playing the piano portion of the song _Cursum Perficio_, an old, old song from an Irish singer named Enya.

The two tourists remained in the piano bar as Jason continued to amuse himself at the piano, and the place slowly started to fill up. Some of them were regulars, and they knew how the piano bar worked, so he was more than happy to take their napkins with the names of songs on them and credits folded up inside them, tips for playing the songs they requested. It was a nice diversion from reality, and it made him feel better and made the people sitting in the piano bar happy as well. He was a bit surprised when Rose, one of the _real_ piano players, came through the door behind the pianos with her huge pile of sheet music and walked past his piano to the one that faced his on the other side of the stage. "Oy luv," she said in her British accent, looking over her glasses at him. Rose was a middle aged, portly woman with her graying black hair done up in a bun and a habit of wearing voluminous flower-print dresses with a floppy woven straw hat. She was quite a character, and Jason was rather fond of her. "How long have you been here?"

"No idea," he replied.

"When are you going to cut off that hair?"

"As soon as you wear pants."

"Never, then," she laughed. "Want a break?"

"I'm not here to work," he told her. "I'm having fun."

"Shh, don't tell them that this is fun," she said as she sat down. "They'll expect us to do it for free!"

"Nah," he smiled.

"Well, you'll have to get off that rig in a half an hour. Alex is back in the dressing room getting ready for his shift."

Jason finished up the song, then took a napkin from a doe-eyed young girl with black hair, who looked a little flushed when she handed it to him. Inside was a ten credit note, the words _Piano Man_, and a phone number.

Jason had to chuckle. He got that almost every time. "Got your harmonica Rose?"

"Oh, _that_," she said, then reached into her pile of sheet music.

Jason had never been much of a singer, but he certainly wasn't afraid to do it. He warned the now full piano bar about his terrible singing, then proceeded to prove it as he sang the lyrics of the song _Piano Man_ as Rose played the harmonica portion. Towards the end of it, there was a bit of a commotion as Jyslin entered the piano bar, in full armor. What was more, Symone was with her, also in full armor. Jason nudged at Tim's table with his chin, and Jyslin nodded and moved down to the front with Symone in tow.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Rose to take over for me for a while," he announced to them after the song was finished. "Don't worry, she sings much better than I do."

"Only to cats, doll," she replied as she took a napkin from a young man, which made many in the bar laugh. "Now then, friends, I see here we have a request for-oh, you wicked boy," Rose called with a laugh. "Now, as you know, I have to play whatever I get a request for, within certain reason, of course," she said with a grin. "But young Andrew here has requested I play the theme to _Scooby Doo_. Well love, you asked for it!"

The bar broke into a riot of laughter as she dutifully played the theme of that ancient cartoon, which still was shown on television, and had even started creeping into Faey galactic casts on what was called _Terra TV_, a network that broadcasted entertainment made on Earth to the rest of the Imperium. Every planet in the Imperium had such a network devoted to their entertainment. What was worse, she sang it with enthusiasm, which made it even funnier. Rose was a bit of a ham. But Rose's singing and playing created a perfect atmosphere for Jason to talk to Jyslin and Symone without many people overhearing them. "What happened on campus after we left?" he asked in Faey, leaning over the table. The other three did the same.

"Well, they took that girl to Houston, and from what I've heard, they've started examining her. There was a detachment of mindbenders there waiting for her," she said with a shudder. "The Baron walked around and looked at things, then he left. Odds are, he went to Houston too, then he'll probably go up to the orbital station to meet with the Duchess. She came in on a transport about two hours ago."

"Shit," Tim growled. "It's that serious?"

"They're taking it seriously, Tim-Tim," Symone told him gravely. "You don't understand what that girl represents to the Duchess."

"A direct threat to Faey control," Jason said grimly. "Faey telepathy is the main noose around the neck of the human race."

"Exactly," Jyslin nodded. "They'll run all kinds of tests on her to find out how it happened."

"Then what?" Tim asked.

"Well, if she survives that, they'll probably take her to Draconis, _fix_ her, train her, then use her as an agent for the mindbenders," Jyslin said with a dark look. "A _human_ telepath could go many places in the galaxy that other races would never allow one of us, because they know we're telepathic, where they know from our own records that humans _aren't_. She'll end up being one hell of a spy."

"That's the truth. Every time I set foot on a free station or planet, I have a team of telepaths following me around," Symone grunted. "That's why Faey really don't go outside the Imperium that much. We're much more comfortable around people who aren't always so suspicious of us."

"I didn't know other races were telepathic," Tim whistled.

"Not as a whole, but most other races have _some_ telepaths," Jyslin told him. "The skaa don't, but most other races do. They're usually very, very rare, like less that one percent of the population. Faey are the only race in the known galaxy that's naturally telepathic."

"Well, if that's true, why is it such a shock that humans might be telepathic?"

"Because there's six billion humans on this planet, and _none_ of them have any talent," Jyslin told him. "This girl is one in _six billion_, Tim."

_Almost,_ Symone sent to Jason privately, giving him a sly smile.

"So, she's some kind of freakish fluke," he reasoned. "Why is that so scary?"

"Because she's a fluke that represents _a real threat to us_, Tim. Even an untrained telepath can be dangerous. Probably even more dangerous than a trained one. An untrained telepath has raw terror boosting their power, and they're _very_ hard to subdue. They can _kill_ people, Tim, even a trained telepath."

"Oh, ok, I get it," he nodded.

"Any word yet on what's going to happen?" Jason asked.

She shook her head. "There probably won't be any orders coming down the pipe 'til they finish their examination of her," she answered. "Right now, they're trying to get over the shock of the discovery. We'll have to wait and see if they overreact."

"You got that from your aunt?" Jason asked.

She nodded. "Right out of her mouth. She'll keep me abreast of what's going on."

_What else did you find out that we can't tell Tim?_ Jason sent tightly, glancing meaningfully back at the two Faey tourists in the back of the bar.

_Not much, really,_ she answered, looking sideways at him as he did her. _So far there's been absolutely no word about how the Trillanes are going to respond to this. But it goes further up than them, really. Some of the decisions that come down may be _Imperial_. If the Empress doesn't like how the Trillanes respond, some orders may come down from Royal Command, and that's nothing but the Empress' commands. The Trillanes might have to take orders from Empress Dahnai if they don't handle it in a way she approves._

_I'm not surprised they're so spooked,_ Jason informed her grimly.

_It might all change tomorrow, so we can't really hold any rumors up to the light of truth right now,_ she told him. _The dust hasn't settled yet. We have to wait for that before we have anything to go on, really. It's going to hinge on what they find out from that girl that expressed today. If they consider her a fluke, as Tim called her, we'll be alright. But if they determine that she might not be... _she trailed off without finishing, but Jason certainly understood the implication.

Big trouble.

"So what do we do?" Tim asked.

"There's nothing we can really do," Jyslin told him. "You guys are on break right now, so I'd just say enjoy it. It probably won't have anything more to do with you two now that the campus has cleared out."

"That's a relief," Tim sighed. "So, we going somewhere on Sunday?"

"I doubt it," Symone frowned. "They have us all on standby. That means we can't leave the city."

"Same here," Jyslin nodded. "But it was scheduled for us, we're up in the standby rotation. I told you about that last week, Jason."

"I remember," he nodded.

"But, I do want you staying with me tonight," she told him directly. "Both of you. You and Symone can stay in the guest room, Tim," she told him.

"Why?" Tim asked.

"Let's just say that there's a case of the jitters on campus," she said uneasily. "You two might get a bit of flak because of _us_, so I'd like to give the place a night or so to calm down before I let you go back. The Trelle only knows, I don't want you two going back there and beating people up when they start giving you attitude. They'd call me out of bed to come down there and break it up, and you know how cranky I am when I'm woke up."

"I think I'd rather avoid that," Tim laughed. Tim had tasted Jyslin's surliness when being roused from naps.

"At least it gives you a reason to get your clothes out of my laundry room," she told Tim flintily.

"Hey, I've been trying," he objected. "I'm almost out of socks. Every time I go to get them, you're not home. I can't get past the gate without you signing me in, remember?"

"Why didn't you just have Jason come with you, you dink?" Jyslin told him. "He has base access."

"He was studying."

"_Men_," she huffed. "You always have to make things so difficult!"

"That works with me, but I'll have to call in and let them know where to reach me," Symone said. "Can I give them your phone number Jys?"

"Sure," she answered. "I'm in a hovercar, and it's kinda doubleparked fifty _shakra_ over Bourbon Street at the moment, so I'd better go get it down. I have to turn it back in anyway, so I have to go. I want you two at my house in an hour," she said sternly, pointing at Jason and Tim. "Where are you parked?"

"The garage off Royal," Tim answered.

"Well then, I suggest you wander in that general direction," Jyslin stated.

                                        * * *

It hadn't been easy for either of them to relax.

Jason walked along Saint Charles absently in the already stifling July heat, hands in his pockets, eyes on the ground, and lost in thought. Last night had been rather tense, because Jason just couldn't put what was going on out of his mind, and for that matter, neither could Jyslin. She'd been forced to resort to a sleeping pill to make Jason sleep, and it had left him feeling groggy and hazy in the morning... the reason he never took drugs unless he had absolutely no other choice. And for him, with what he could do, feeling like he wasn't in full and complete control at all times was a scary proposition.

One stark reality hung over his head, something he had realized that morning. The physical. It was the semi-annual physical, conducted on all students every July and December. That was next week. Well, one segment of the standard physical, unless they'd changed it, was a brain scan. There was a very real possibility that the standard signature of his brainwaves was now different because he had no talent the last time they did one, but he did now. And if that girl who expressed had them spooked, they might pay much closer attention to those scans than they usually did. The usual reason they did them was to catch certain diseases and mental disorders very, very early, before any symptoms appeared, and treat them. Things like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, disorders that humans had always either treated with drugs or could do nothing about, those the Faey could treat with their much more advanced medical technology, or sessions of telepathic treatments conducted by what they called "psi-surgeons," telepaths who specialized in using their abilities to treat mental or psychological disorders.

Concerned. That was such an understatement. The more correct word would be _terrified_. He'd seen how they reacted to that girl, whose name he still didn't know. What would they do if they found out he was also telepathic, that there were _two_ humans with the talent? That wasn't a fluke, that was a _pattern_. What would they do to him? And how would that change how the Faey treated the human race as a whole? Would they take him to Draconis and _fix_ him, reprogram him to be obedient and faithful, then train him to be a spy and unleash him on the rest of the galaxy? Would they crack down on the humans of Earth, weed out the latent telepaths from the rest of the population and fix them too? Or maybe just dispose of them, since a block of telepaths on a planet that still wasn't totally assimilated into their Imperium would represent a serious threat to their control?

The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. That made him agitated, and that caused him to be more aware of his own power, and his endless need to keep it under total control at all times. He was as much a prisoner of it as he was a prisoner of the system, possessed of a wondrous gift that he truly enjoyed, but forever denied the freedom to use it as he wished he could. He _did_ enjoy having talent. He really did. If he didn't love it so much, he'd have quit Jyslin long ago, the instant she taught him enough to keep it a secret. But he had wanted more, wanted to learn how to master this ability, and was well on his way. He was solid on hiding his power, was competent in sending (though he had much more to learn and much practice was needed), and he was good in the fundamental basics of attack and defense. He wouldn't be defeating Jyslin in a telepathic duel anytime soon, but at least he could protect himself from her long enough to run over and punch her, which would disrupt her concentration. He wanted to _be_ a telepath, and everything that it entailed, but he didn't want to be able to openly enjoy that gift if it meant becoming even more the slave to Empress Dahnai and the Faey Imperium. But, at least he found acceptance with Jyslin, and when Jyslin wasn't there, with Symone. It was a small thing, but never failed to make him happy.

Telepathy. It was the cornerstone of the Faey's hold over Earth, even more than their overwhelming technological advantage. With that weapon hanging over them, the human race could never, _ever_, break free of that control. It could not be prevented, it could not be countered, and it could not be defeated. Having an MPAC in one's hands and pointing it at a stark naked Faey did no good if that Faey could simply use her telepathic abilities to prevent one from pulling the trigger. It was the only weapon, the only advantage, that the Faey _needed_. If they wore woven grass skirts and used thighbone clubs as weapons, they would still hold the advantage over the human race.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

God, how he hated admitting that to himself. All his life, he had _always_ been able to do something about anything that got in his way. He didn't want to go into foster care, so he got himself emancipated. He couldn't afford college, so he got a scholarship. It wasn't until the Faey came that he had truly understood what it felt like to be helpless, to have no control, to be subject to the wills and wants of someone else.

To be a _slave_.

His father... Jason chuckled. His father would have picked up a slingshot and went after the Faey if that was what it took. He was such a brave man, even after he got cancer. He'd fought to the bitter end, no matter what the odds were, exhibiting that ferocious tenacity for which the Fox family had been famous. Sometimes, Jason had believed that his father would beat the cancer if only because he just absolutely refused to die. But in the end, his father's body just gave out, and his will just couldn't keep everything going all at once. It hadn't been a lack of will or spirit, it had been the weakness of the flesh that had finally caused his father to succumb. Even at the end, his father had recited the last words of Captain Ahab from _Moby Dick_, _"from hell's heart, I stab at thee... with my last breath, I spit on thee,"_ and then he died. Not "goodbye," not "I love you Jason," but a steadfast declaration of defiance that even though the cancer had conquered his body, it would never defeat his spirit. He had been fearless.

His father had been a _man_.

Certainly not like his son was. Meekly accepting that which he hated because he was afraid. Afraid of death, afraid of losing his position of relative comfort... of losing Jyslin. Yes, he had to admit to himself, that was now a factor, as much as he hated to say it. Jason Fox, admitting that he didn't want to lose his rather weird relationship with a Faey. The guy who refused to be friends with some Faey that he would really like, if not for the color of their skin, the shape of their ears, and the government that controlled them as much as it controlled him. He was such a hypocrite. His father would be so disappointed in him. It would have never been rejection of him or hatred of him, but he would certainly be disappointed.

Jason stopped in front of the Burger King, and realized he'd walked almost all the way down to the West Bank Expressway. He sighed and moved to turn around, but a tiny sign hanging from a streetlight stopped him dead in his tracks. It was made on a piece of spiral notebook paper, in crayon. It looked to have been done by a 10 year old.

It was a flag, with only seven stripes and a bunch of dots done in white crayon for stars on ragged blue. And under that were these simple words:

_Don't forget July 4th. Happy Independence Day._

Jason looked at it for a _long_ time, then reached up and pulled it down. It had been put there by a child, a young boy or girl who hadn't been afraid to tape it to a streetlamp, despite strict no-posting laws instituted by the Faey. The fourth of July. It had come and gone, and he had totally forgotten about it. It reminded him of the last Independence Day he'd had with his father, wheeling him around in a wheelchair in Portsmouth, a city on the border between Maine and New Hampshire. They'd just come back from Boston for the Pops Goes the Fourth concert they held out at the harbor. They were at a Shell station, the Pathfinder was still fueling up as they came back from the bathroom, and his father was chattering on excitedly about how good the concert was, how they'd managed to synchronize the fireworks with the music so perfectly, then he sighed and chuckled and said that his mother would have been there playing... that she _was_ there playing. That was the first time that Jason had heard anything like that from his father, and Jason knew at that moment that his father was going to die. He did die, three weeks later. He remembered that moment, not the concert, not anything else, because they'd watched a black 1962 Cadillac convertible go by with New Hampshire license plates, and his father had pointed and said "that's why I've always liked New Hampshire, son. They don't mess around."

The motto on a New Hampshire license plate: _Live Free or Die._

Live free, or die.

Damn right.

He was so _tired_ of being afraid. Damn tired of it. Afraid of being found out, afraid of losing Jyslin, afraid of being with her, afraid of what he would end up doing after he left school, afraid of compromising his principles. Afraid, afraid, afraid. He wasn't living, he was _existing_, existing in a continual state of fear... which was just what the Imperium wanted. Be afraid, stay timid, accept everything because you're too scared to do anything else.

Well, Jason Fox wasn't going to be frightened anymore. He was going to be what he wanted to be, he was going to redeem himself in the eyes of his father. Oh, there was nothing he could do about the Faey, and his father would probably disapprove of him throwing his life away. But he could honor his father by doing what he would have expected him to do.

Live free, or die.

Jason carefully folded up that ragged little piece of paper, put it in his pocket, then turned around and marched back the way he came. His strides were long and confident, and his expression was one of both relief and resolve. He knew exactly what to do. The Faey didn't own the entire world. There were certain places, places where squatters and outlaws roamed, the wild forested areas where the Faey had allowed things to go back to nature to maintain the planet's ecosystem. The Appalachian Mountains and the forests extending to the west of them were uninhabited areas, at least _officially_. But everyone knew that there were people there. Squatters, survivalists, outlaws, people who had refused to accept the yoke of the Faey conquerors. Those were the people who had chosen to live free or die, and they remained in those forests, surviving the best they could, living day by day on whatever they could hunt, scrounge, and keep. The Faey didn't bother them, leaving them to their own designs, so long as they didn't interfere with the Faey. They had shunned the rest of the world, sacrificed everything just to be free.

That was what he wanted to be.

He would lose Jyslin. He would lose his life of luxury. But he would have his _freedom_... and there could be nothing that could ever take the place of that.

He was back at Tulane before he knew it. He walked briskly up to the steps of the dorm, past a couple of girls who were talking, and towards the door. A burly fellow that looked like a football player came out the door, then snorted and blocked it. "Well, if it ain't the blueskin's bitch," he sneered.

He didn't say another word. A single blow to the nose sent the man flying back into the foyer, and he lay there, rolling to and fro and groaning with both hands covering a broken nose, as Jason boldly stepped over him. "Have a nice day," Jason grated as he went straight for the stairs.

He forgot that he gave Tim the key to his room, so he simply kicked in the door. The loud _BANG_ made every occupied room's door open, and they watched as Jason Fox calmly moved a large piece of door out of his way, then waltz into his room as if he'd done nothing unusual. He reached under his bed and pulled out his backpack, then opened his locker and dumped a drawer of clothes onto the bed. He realized that it wasn't big enough, so he piled all the clothes he could get on the bed, then pulled the blanket's corners up and tied them to form a makeshift bag. He used his backpack for what few personal effects he had, pausing for a moment when he took the picture of his father off the pegboard over his desk. He smiled, then tucked it safely away. He then reached under his bed again for a small suitcase, and started filling it with those tools and pieces of equipment which belonged to him, things he'd paid for with his own money. He wouldn't take so much as a coaster if it was something that the Faey had supplied to him. His money was _his_, even though it was paid to him by the Faey, because it had come from the fact that his ideas had been used to help people. That money was clean money, as far as he was concerned.

"Shee-it," Tim said with a grating chuckle. "You know, you could've come up and got the key." He looked at the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving," Jason said brusquely. His panel's display started flashing, and the device started beeping, warning him of an incoming call. Jason grabbed it, and without blinking an eye, threw it at the closed window. Tim flinched as the sound of breaking glass washed over them, and Jason's panel sailed out the window and down out of sight with a shower of glittering glass.

"Holy shit, you're _serious_!" Tim gasped. "Are you out of your mind? Where are you going to go? You know they're going to drag you back here!"

"They have to catch me first," Jason said, pushing him towards the door so he could get back to his locker.

"Shit, Jayce, it ain't no reason to go bonkers or nothin'," he said. "Jyslin said there wasn't nothin' more gonna happen on campus. Don't flip out."

"I'm not flipping out," he said. "I just realized something a little while ago, Tim."

"What?"

"Live free or die."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Just what it says," he declared, punching a moleculartronic toolkit into his suitcase. He'd_ paid_ for that, damn it, it was _his_. And he was taking it. "I won't be afraid anymore. Not of the Faey, not of me, not of what I can do, not of what the Faey wo