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Skyler went on "I understand the dilemma you were in, Tania One man for the safety of a thousand Not a bad deal under the circumstances But you lied to me You’d let me believe that you stood up to that "

I wanted to I tried The aircraft I tried and I failed "I never asked for this position To make such decisions," she whispered, unsure if he could hear her

"Go h the speaker he sounded so cold, and half a world away "I’ht now"

"I’m sorry," she whispered, frozen in place

Skyler reth until his heart stopped haht For so the last few months Since Neil died, really Skyler couldn’t claih to realize she’d fallen into some kind of pit within herself Even if a rift now forht have shocked her back into her true self At least, he hoped that would be the result

When he exited through the door, she still stood there, the radio held in two cupped hands, her eyes fixed on it If she noticed him, she made no move to speak or even look up

"See you here at dawn," Skyler mumbled, as he walked away

He went to the south side of ca on their hands when the battle started Almost all the towers had been parked here, and had careened away to the north and east with reckless abandon As such, the human toll turned out to be worst here By now most of the dead and wounded had been moved, or at least covered Sixteen dead, twenty-three injured, Skyler overheard One older , and Skyler guessed from the look of it that it would need to be aht a medical kit taken from the hospital and injected the poor felloith a powerful painkiller

Others were busy picking up the tents and other supplies knocked aside by the runaway towers A few acknowledged Skyler when he passed So to their rescue Just aseyes, and he couldn’t blame them They didn’t knohat he did, didn’t knohat Gabriel was capable of As far as they knew, Tania had cootiate some peace, and he’d ruined that effort

A few had even seen hiht have chosen a less brutalto be done about it now

At the tower yard Skyler paused only a moment The feers that remained were silent, dead hulks They alered about, working to reposition souided the bulky forh the old university grounds west of camp, then toward the dockyards

He found the rest of his is, huddled below a tree

A feere crying, he realized Ana knelt below the tree, a limp body in her arms

Davi

She looked up at Skyler, her cheeks ith tears already shed He wanted to look away, to fall to the ground and cover his head in guilt and shaaze He expected to find accusation there My brother is dead, thanks to you

Skyler forced himself to return her look In her raw, red eyes he saw no accusation Instead she see now except you

Chapter 24

Belém, Brazil

6MAY2283

TANIA SLIPPED INTO the ht The events of the day had drained her to the point of collapse, but there was oneshe had to do before she could find sleep

She closed the door behind her and flipped on the LED lantern that hung fro ti the cramped and cluttered room None of the tables or chairs matched Maps and scraps of paper littered every horizontal surface, save for the few places where the communications equip in here, chatting with her when one of Gabriel’s people had storh so much since the day Neil Platz had sent hiuised as a cole time that Karl had questioned an order, or flinched in the face of danger

Then she i into this room while enemies lurked just outside He’d had the presence of mind to hide a handheld radio, transmit button taped permanently down, so that he could spy on the intruders She pictured herself in the sa like that She would have powered up the comm and tried in desperation to raise Melville Station before they caht her

She would have blown it, if she’d evenate away at her, the undeniable sensation that she did not belong in the role she’d so instinct, had ed her ability as a leader

She’d first entertained the thought the very moment she and Skyler had sealed Black Level and disconnected it from Anchor For months she’d been able to talk herself out of such doubt Surely being surrounded by so many talented, smart people would shore up any faults she possessed?

No, she thought bitterly No, I’hter of Neil’s old business partner She knew that if she’d not grown up as part of the Platz inner circle she’d be just another researcher trying to find that next h that would increase the coh the narrow room until she reached the chair in front of the comm With a deep breath she lowered herself into the seat and flipped the unit on

Several reeted her The relief in his eyes cahtly He et Zane?"

"No," she said "Not yet"

He studied her, and the frown on his face grew deeper with each second that passed "Karl called up earlier and told us what happened How’s your ankle?"

"My … who cares about one, the camp is in ruins" The words tumbled out as if spoken by someone else A heat rose behind her eyes and nose, the precursor to tears, and she couldn’t stop it

Zane Platz appeared at Tiles in places, and he wore a plaid flannel shirt "Thank God you’re okay," he said