But would Sprite wait for the proper credentials that Scotty was gathering, creating for her safe passage? No. Instead, she was smashing through barriers before she was really ready. Then to avoid enforcements, they had to yank her faster than any human being should be pulled.

Scotty swallowed three tranqs, lying back down in bed. His shaking slowed. Exhaustion was finally winning and his body was drifting off into blackness. And Scotty’s final wonderings were how Sprite had been able to survive so much today. She had been through more than Scotty, yet she had little more than a scratch.