Kim began to weep, and Billy held her with a fearful coldness growing inside him.

"Tell me..." he said eventually. Though by now he was desperate not to know. Parker whistled, looking around the cavern that housed the main base for the Edenite Resistance. "Nice place," he remarked. "Kind of looks like Hoth, but without the ice." His sister elbowed him in the ribs, while Zack rolled his eyes and Tommy just shook his head. Daystar, who didn't get the joke, just shrugged.
          The five newcomers followed Donaeus through the cavern, up a natural stair formation, and into a network of tunnels. Every twist and turn looked like the next, and Tommy realized that without a guide, no one would ever be able to navigate the corridors of the base. Which, he supposed, was the whole point.
          Stopping at a curtained cave entrance, Donaeus turned to the group. "Wait here," he instructed. "I'll be right back." Then he ducked through the entrance and was gone. "I thought it would be better if you didn't worry," she offered, feeling awkward all of a sudden. He wasn't angry, just... tired. He was letting other people's problems hound him again, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

"We have had this conversation before," he replied, catching her eye. There was a gentle amusement in his voice as he searched her expression. "When we first met... do you remember?"

Still a little off balance, Cassie could only shake her head.

"Not knowing does not make one worry any less," he prompted, clearly expecting her to recognize the statement. "It's not comforting to not know--it's torture."

          "He's lucky this isn't a horror movie," Zack joked, only to be elbowed by both Lillian and Parker.

"I thought....I thought that I had been working too hard. I found it difficult to focus, I slipped in practice, and fell...several times like I did just before I left.. I had bad headaches...thought I had got run down. Eventually...Coach made me go to the hospital..." the uneven words came spilling out...." They ran alot of tests and scans...." Kim gulped and then said in a surprisingly strong voice "I'm dying Billy...I have a brain tumour."