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There’s a dingy lantern hanging froht over the water Welight I strain et are spots swi in front of s out here, lights that seem to lead off into the swamp The rebels call them will-o’-the-wisps, out of some fairy tale fro buttricks onthrough the ness, your eyes will create anything to keep you fro in front ofto see how ive there is in the rope Not e "Are you planning sohtly, but this time he keeps his eyes on the swaae "You really are insane"

Mystock ofspikes of nausea rippling through me, and my side hurts But there doesn’t seem to be much blood, so he can’t have wounded me that badly "I don’t see why it’s crazy to want to know exactly how you plan on s considered, I’et out of this

"I don’t plan onyou at all" Roht be your first instinct, but it’s not etfro in there"

"My first instinct was to arrest you," I snap "You’re the one who brought a gun to n of the lights from the military base "What facility?"

"The secret base to the east It wasn’t there last week, and now there’s a full setup Buildings, security fencing, the works I’ve seen it, you don’t need to pretend I want to kno you got it set up so fast, and without anybody knowing I want to knohat it’s for"

My hands go still, otten "Secret base," I echo, trying to quell the dread rising into be captured by a rebel It’s another to be taken into the swamp by a delusional mad "But you’re getting me inside that facility"

His face is i his hand as he thinks he is There’s a thread of white-hot desperation in his features, a tension pinching his lips and eyes I’ve seen before, countless ti the truth before, that he really was in the bar looking for inforun of his

My mind races There’s no base to the east of us--even if theto expand to a second base in this part of TerraDyn’s territory, which we don’t, there’d be no reason to keep it a secret But he believes it I can see that as clearly as I can see his desperation

This is a good thing, I tell uy If I’d ended up in their rebel hideout, I’d be dead for sure But here…there’s still a chance I could escape For now,

"So what is it you think you’re going to find in this secret facility?"

Ro as he poles the boat through the swa off the stern, he hasn’t touched it since I caned for training on froate the swaed every five h the narrow corridors soundlessly A military patrol could pass not fifty yards away fro the pole and laying it across the boat so wehis leg, which has a e tied around it where I ee of satisfaction to think that he probably doesn’t have the tools out here to fish out the broken piece He drops down onto the bench, letting me see his face h I’ht "What a for a canteen stowed underneath the seat and taking a long drink fro to hide , I reely Earn his trust, such as it is Use it to get out of this mess "I would if I could, but I’ve never heard of a facility to the east"

Ro in there Weapons, maybe Some new tool to flush us out of the caves, for all I know It has to be out of the ordinary for you to get it set up so fast, and with such secrecy"

I peer through the fog It’s growing lighter, which means I must’ve been unconscious for at least a few hours Dawn is approaching "That’s what you risked capture for, snooping around on my base? We already have weapons that outmatch yours ten to one We’ve already tried every state-of-the-art technology to find your hideout This swamp of a planet makes it impossible"