"Well, I am amazing," is her dry reply. She's earned a lot of respect in the communities she moves between back home, and she likes that her word goes as far as it does, that her opinion is sought even if it doesn't prevail. But she got her start by being woefully underestimated, and that comes with side effects.

She knows herself, and she can start again, so it's easy to be calm now. "It was hard on a lot of people. It still is. Most people live their whole lives without experiencing anything like that, from either side. I'm getting off easy - I had a friend on the outside and a friend on the inside who are both from my world. I knew if he wasn't dead that Jesus was looking for us. Now that we're out we can just keep going."

She glances sidelong at him. "Is that time and experience helping you and your friend now?"