A LOW MOANING WAS THE first thing Caris heard when she went through the third time. Ben's smiling face through the transporter room glass was still in her mind as, blinking her vision clear, she saw movement ahead. A beggar, staggering toward her. She sidestepped, but he grabbed her arm and pushed his face into hers.
"Help, help me," he breathed.
Caris turned her head to escape his foul exhalation and grabbed his arms to hold him away from her. She looked around, but the street was empty except for the two of them. She pushed the beggar gently away and stepped back.
"I'm sorry, but, as you can see, I need to find some clothes." She walked quickly away. When she had turned a corner, she slipped down the side path next to a house with no cars on the drive. Trying the back door, she was su
