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15 - Connor

Trace sleeps in a rusty old DC-3, overseeing the roughest, most troublesome kids It’s an unofficial detention hall, with Trace as the unofficial guard Since the old propeller plane has a nonfunctioning lavatory, its occupants have to use a portable that sits at the bottoway stairs Its lock is broken Connor broke it a few hours before

After curfew he and two of the toughest Whollies he could scrounge up wait in the shadows of a neighboring plane, watching

"Tell us again e’re taking out Trace?"

"Shh!" Connor tells them, then whispers, "Because I say we are"

Connor is the only one with a gun It’s loaded The goons are just backup, because he knows he can’t take Trace alone The plan is to corner him, cuff him, and keep him as a sort of prisoner of warbut Connor has resolved that he’ll use the gun if it becomes necessary

Never wield a weapon unless you’re willing to use it, the Ad to o by the Admiral’s playbook

Every twenty minutes or so, someone comes out to use the restroom Trace isn’t one of theht?" co the cuffs

"Yes, if we have to" Connor begins to wonder if Trace’sincluded superhuman bladder control, until Trace coht

They wait until the door of the portable closes, and then they quietly approach with Connor in the lead He puts the pistol in his right hand--Roland’s hand--feeling the coldness of its handle and firer He takes the safety off, takes a deep breath, and then swings the door open

Trace stands there, staring right at hile un out of his hand, twists hi Roland’s arraft threatening to tear loose

With Connor in too s down the other two kids before they can run, leaving them unconscious in the dust Then he returns his attention to Connor

"First of all," says Trace, "a a dump is beneath you Secondly, never take a deep breath before attacking soives you away"

Connor, still in pain, spins around to face hiun pressed to his forehead Trace holds the gun to Connor’s head for a moment more, his face stern, then takes it away "Don’t feel too bad," Trace says "I’m not just an air force boeuf, I was special ops I could have killed you nine different ways before you hit the ground" He ejects the clip--but as he does, Connor grabs Trace’s wrist, tugs hiun froets to his feet

"There’s still a bullet in the chamber," Connor reminds hiuess I’m rusty" They stand there frozen for ato kill ain" But Connor’s resolve is gone, and they both know it

"Did you kill the other two?" asks Connor, looking at how the once-tough kids lay twisted and unconscious on the ground

"Just knocked the the defenseless"

Connor lowers the gun Trace doesn’t rush hione," Connor tells hithat just ry "As far as I’m concerned, you’re the enemy You work for them"

"I also work for you"

"You can’t have it both ways!"

"That’s where you’re wrong," Trace says "Playing both sides is a tiy"

"I’m not your puppet!"

"No," says Trace, "you’reofficer Act like it"

Another kid co down the stairs to use the portable He catches sight of Trace and Connor, and the two kids still rag-dolled on the ground "What’s the deal?" the kid says as he takes in the situation

"When it’s your business, I’ll tell you," Connor says

Then he sees the gun in Connor’s hand "Yeah, sure, no probleoes back up the stairs

Connor realizes the distraction would have given Trace plenty of tiain, but he didn’t It estures to Trace with a wave of the gun "Walk" But at this point the gun is just a prop, and they both know it They move farther frohter jets No Whollies here to eavesdrop on their conversation

"If you work for thes you told me?"