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"I don’t understand--"

"Lucin told " His s "I held hi up blood and spilling his guts, and not just those that you and Cole blasted out of hinround About what I would find on your ship if I looked hard enough He told "

"Saunders, listen Whatever he said--"

"Let uess, it was a lie? I think we’ve sorted out the liars froto save her ass any day of the week"

Saunders stood as straight as he could, tugging down on his black jacket "I’ you this so you can keep Lucin’s last words on your mind as you think about what you need to do The words he sputtered with his very last breath He didn’t ask me to tell his wife that he loved her He didn’t leave any inspiring words for the Acade for him to be remembered by He used them on you

"‘Save her,’ he told me ‘Save her’ I think he meant forto be up to you on whether or not you alactic hero perish worrying about a soul that couldn’t be redeemed? Or was his hope for you justified?

"So, while you’re in here sche on how to fool me, think on that You think on whether you want to keep secrets or if you should just tell me what you know"

He turned and stohts

What did she know?

She knew Walter was a dead Palan if she ever got her hands on hi she felt absolutely certain of She no the Drenard Underground existed and that her parents had investigated theotten involved with them There was a slim chance her father was a Drenard by rite, if her "mother" could be trusted But what if Saunders and the Navy had it wrong about the Drenards? It was so Anlyn What if the as so? The Drenards had seemed no more prone to kill her or assist her than any other race had, hualaxy--were just terrified, confused, and lashing out?

What else did she know? She knew she could trust Cole There was no point in questioning hi about hiot her killed She’d likely welcome it with open arms, as she nearly did the last time she doubted him

What about Lucin? He lied to her and used her Would he really have lied to Saunders as he died? What would be the point? And what if Saunders had ht about the Navyaway on the nav keyboard and pretending to be her What would here already And ouldn’t she see them on the camera? Or overhear their conversations? It didn’tthe her raphers have to ask her? That knowledge would be stored as 1s and 0s on the nav computer They could just take the info

What about her other mom? Was she really dead? Would that explain the intense bout of white light and noise she’d endured on Dakura?

She lay back on her bunk and looked up at the underside of the sagging mattress above What should she do? Carry these rave? Hope her father could rescue hiet whatever sensitive inforht people?

And what about the Wadi? Molly rubbed her teot a name What would they do when they found an unknown species onboard her ship? Would they dissect her?

Then there was Cole He would be killed, and for what? For helping her? For falling in love with her? He said on Drenard he wasn’t afraid of his own death, but Molly was plenty afraid for hiht Maybe all of this was her fault and she just needed to throw her chips in with the Navy Every misadventure had been predicated on her absolute faith in two parents she hardly knew Was it okay to love and trust people completely for no other reason than they birthed you?

And then there was Byrne Molly had alotten about him Was he dead? She watched him stand there in a complete vacuum Could you fit robotics that complicated in such a thin shell? Whether or not he survived, what did he have to do with all this? Why did he suggest he owned her?

Molly grabbed the rough pillow under her head and pressed it into her face She used it towith the effort

The screa in to the overwhelhter to her face, s her despair and desperation

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Molly ide ahen they cah the saht when she should have been sleeping As soon as she heard the footsteps approaching, she rolled from her bunk and moved to the shadows on the other side of her dimly lit cell If this was an attehting

Two silhouettes strode into view, the silver bars dividing their profiles into black slices

"This the one?" It was barely a whisper, nearly inaudible Molly shrank back into the corner, hid behind the pedestal sink, and pressed herself into the wall One of thein his pocket; the other silhouette lurked behind The figure closer to the bars murmured into a device, and the barrier slid into the floor

The crew ht for her bunk, putting his back to Molly She flinched, thinking of rushing the ht of the bars, the man in the hallway, and the fact that she’d still be trapped inside She rushed for hiure by the bunk spun as she flew by, reaching for her The one outside her cell had leaned against the far wall He seemed shocked, unable to even raise his hands in defense as Molly hurled her entire body into his storunt He crumpled in the dimly lit hall, his hands still clasped in front Molly spun with clenched fists to fight the ure hissed her na toward her with his hands spread out Molly stayed in a crouch, one hand holding down theas she prepared to defend herself

The tall figure es? You okay?"

Molly looked down A pale, fae as well as the man Black tape covered his mouth, a detail Molly couldn’t process properly Her hand, pressing down on his shoulder, ure and threw out her terms: "Another step and I crush his windpipe"

"Please don’t," the other et out of here"

Molly loosened her grip on Riggs’s neck and looked down at hiht her hands away, but his oere tied together and strapped to his belt

She looked up once ure came forward another few steps, his hands still wide apart She squinted into the sihtti forward into the pale light

The first thing she recognized was the flash of his wary smile

"Cole?"