Paul picked up a cantaloupe, trying to figure out if it was ripe or not. He noticed a young mother, her baby cooing in the child seat of the shopping cart, pick a cantaloupe up and smell it. Paul smelled the cantaloupe in his hand, but didn't know what he was supposed to smell. It smelled kind of sweet, so he shrugged and put the melon in his basket. The basket was already half full, and Paul was almost through the list of items Jenny had sent him to the store for.

Ten minutes later, and several more items in the shopping cart, Paul headed for the checkout line.

Paul doubled over the handle of his shopping cart, suddenly overcome with the feeling that Scott needed him. It was the same sensation as when Scott had called him after his foster parents died.

Leaving the shopping cart where it was, Paul rushed from the store to his car.

He drove almost recklessly, barely making it through several lights before they turned red.

When Paul pulled into the parking stall of their new apartment, the breaks squealed.

Jumping out of the car, his hand went to his pocket and the sphere that lived there. He raced into the apartment, shouting, "Scott, where are you?"

Jenny came running out of the kitchen, dropping a dish cloth on her way, "What's wrong?"

Scott stuck his head out of his room, instantly alerted by the fear in his father's voice.

"I'm right here, Dad. What's wrong? Is it Fox?" Scott looked ready to run, right then and there.

"I don't know," Paul said, relaxing slightly when he saw Scott and Jenny unharmed. "You called to me, the same way you called me after your foster parents died."

"I didn't call you Dad. I'm working on a term paper for history class," Scott's brow furrowed in confusion.

"You're sure you didn't do anything with your sphere or any of the mind exercises I taught you?" Paul asked, anxiety still working its way across his face. Jenny tucked herself into Paul's arms, fear making her shake.

"All I've been thinking about for the past couple of hours is my term paper," Scott replied.

Paul steered Jenny to the sofa and sat down heavily. "If it wasn't you, and it wasn't Jenny," Paul let the statement hang in the air before him, as if studying it. "But, you're my only child."

"Can you home in on the source of the call with your sphere?" Scott asked, wracking his brain for any ideas to share with his father.

Sudden realization dawned on Paul's face, "When it first happened, I didn't pay attention to the direction the call was coming from, since I assumed it was coming from home or close to it. It wasn't, though. In fact, it wasn't coming from one of our spheres," Paul paused, drawing a calming breath. "It was coming from the fragment of my first ship. The fragment Fox has."

"What!" Scott and Jenny exclaimed simultaneously.

* * *

They had stayed up late that night, discussing the endless possibilities of who or what had used the ship fragment to call for help. The truth was, they had no way of finding out what was going on without putting themselves in danger.

Paul started to drift into an uneasy sleep, Jenny snuggled up against him. A thought occurred to him as to how he could find out what was going on with little risk to any of them.

He gently shook Jenny, who opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Jenny, I know how I can find out what's going on."

Jenny pulled herself up on her elbow, facing Paul, "I'm all ears."

"I've never had to do this, but I can leave this body for a short time."

Concern flashed over Jenny's face, "But, won't the body die if you're not in it?"

"I can leave for an hour, with no harm coming to this body. It will look as though I'm in a very deep sleep. I'll actually be in my energy form. I'll be able to move around undetected. I can follow the distress call to its source. Whoever used the fragment has to be close to it."

"Are you sure about this? I couldn't stand the thought of losing you again!"

"I'm sure."

"When are you going to try?"

"Tomorrow, while Scott's at school."