Broken Dreams (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 5) by D.W. Moneypenny Page A

somehow. Making a point of staring ahead so she didn’t break her visual connection, she peered more intently, ascertaining how the glass sample differed from the steam she’d examined before.
    “What do you see?” Ping asked, out of her sight.
    “Steam. Like before, just not as much of it. No, that’s not right. It’s thinner than before. And it’s not moving as quickly. Seems to be less volatile than the previous sample,” she said. “Is that normal?”
    “Generally differentiated matter does move slower, but are you sure it’s thinner? That sounds like it might be off. Take a moment and examine it more closely. Concentrate on what constituents give the glass its transparent properties.”
    Mara stared into the steam and realized more was there than she had first realized. Wisps of steam faded to and from sight, like strands of gossamer catching the light. The space around her was thick with the strands, glistening and disappearing into the sheer vapor.
    “I think I see it. Nearly invisible fibers wound into the steam. There’s hardly any steam now, just a residual bit wafting about.”
    “Good. That’s normal. Focus on the fibers. Get a feel for them.”
    “What does that mean, get a feel for them ?”
    “Extend your senses. Don’t just observe the glass. Feel it. Smell it. Touch it. The goal is to understand what makes it glass, particularly what makes it clear. Understand?”
    “For a guy who turns up his nose at metaphysics, you’re sounding fairly metaphysical at the moment,” she said.
    “Concentrate on the sample. You need to have a thorough understanding of its makeup for this to work.”
    “All right. Concentrating …”
    She let her mind go blank. Silky strands wavered into sight, coalescing as if an unseen spider wove a web around here. Soon it felt more confining, more claustrophobic, more like a cocoon. Denser. Translucent strings wound around her, growing closer until Mara felt them brush across her skin. A flutter passed through her body, something shifting and tickling inside. It was a part of her now. She could feel it.
    “Mara?” Ping said, a tremor in his voice. “Mara! Look away from the eyepiece.”
    She snapped her head around to stare at him. “What is it? I think I was just getting the hang of it.”
    Ping’s eyes were wide, and his face was pale.
    “What’s wrong?” Mara asked.
    He pointed a shaking finger at her chest. Looking down at herself, she couldn’t see anything. Bringing her hands to her chest, she could feel her ribs. She was there, but she wasn’t. She could feel her hands and body but not see them. Her movements shifted the material of her shirt and caught some light, reflected it. Like glass.
    “Can you see me? Am I invisible or what?” she asked, spinning around, still patting her torso.
    “Incredible,” Ping said. “ Invisible ? No. I’d say transparent would be the correct description. How on earth did you do that?”
     

CHAPTER 15
     
     
    Ping held up the mirror he had retrieved from across the room. Mara stared into it, shifting and tilting her head at various angles until her features caught the light. There she was, clear as a bell—just like an animated Mrs. Butterworth’s pancake syrup bottle, except she wasn’t as brown . She was transparent, not invisible, just like Ping had said. She gave him a look of desperation that he discerned despite her condition.
    “On the bright side, you isolated the transparency characteristics of the glass sample. That’s something, I suppose,” he said. “What I don’t understand is how did you incorporate it into your body?”
    “ I didn’t. That doodad Cosm-thing of yours did,” Mara said. She pointed at the device on the counter.
    Ping shook his head. “That’s unlikely. You didn’t even touch it. I’ve worked with the progenitor for several years, and nothing of this sort has ever happened. Isn’t it possible you did this through some accidental application of your own