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Disguises served their purpose

The climber car dropped into place an hour later Skyler waited until the others had lined up before joining the queue hiave the nah without even a cursory glance

Chapter Forty-two

Anchor Station

14FEB2283

At the stroke of ht, Tania’s terh the start-up procedure, casting her slow

She’d been awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, thinking In the sudden illus off the bed

Russell Blackfield had placed her under house arrest shortly after arriving Whatever plan he’d had to interrogate her abruptly changed after the first question he’d asked

"Tellfor Neil Platz," he’d said

"No," she’d replied

Then Natalie had chione nu rin had spread across Russell’s face He’d instructed a pair of guards to lock Tania in her quarters until further notice She’d been too shocked to fight the She could only stare at Natalie, baffled, trying to find solimmer of explanation for her betrayal But Natalie, her assistant and friend, would not aze Instead she focused coer helper

Tania had not been allowed to see anyone She’d tried her computer the moment they’d closed her door, only to find it locked in station-wide "maintenance e in her monotonous imprisonment

Then she heard another sound One that made her ju for so if she should turn off the computer or pretend to be asleep The door remained closed

Confused, she went to it and opened it a crack Outside, the hallas dark and quiet She left the door open slightly, worried that the lock would reengage if she closed it, and went to her terminal

Instead of the usual passphrase proes One was new, froo

With a rush of hope she opened it and read, "I’ave way to agony at Neil’s stark, abrupt words in the second half of the rao The door locks had been disabled, the security systems reverted to month-old backups

She wanted to ainst the wall at the madness of all this She knew Neil would never let hione and she couldn’t even be there at his side Just like when her father passed

But Neil’s aliony with an anxiety like none she’d ever known Neil’s plan, as crazy and bold as the hting tears all the while For a ht The few si

She e and reset the ter from their rooms She took a e, and walked out into the hallway

"What’s going on?" a neighbor asked "Why did the doors unlock?"

"I’ to check"

She moved at a brisk pace to Natalie’s cabin and found it ehtcliff forced their way into herto Nat The poor girl had no idea what Blackfield and his thugs were capable of, regardless of her offer to help therip on Tania’s mind Natalie would have to wait

Tania headed for the observation lounge

At one point she heard approaching soldiers, sprinting along the main hallway She ducked into the closest cabin, pushed the door shut, and waited

In the cramped room, a man and a wo at her ide eyes Tania recognized one of them as a low-level researcher

"The doors opened," he said,in fear "We hadn’t seen each other--"

"Quiet," Tania said, too tersely The man sed back the rest of his explanation Tania faced the door and leaned against it She pressed her ear to the surface and listened as the soldiers ran by When their footsteps receded, she nodded to the auards were headed for her room, she had no doubt of that No time to waste, then Tania sprinted the rest of the way

Starlight spilling in froht in the observation lounge Despite everything happening around her, the view of the shell ship, and Earth beyond, still took Tania’s breath away

She shook off the feeling and went to the bench Meht for her attention "Your parents would be so proud of you," he had said so often, the only praise she’d ever received thatby the bench, she looked underneath the plush cushion In the dark she saw nothing but shadow She reached her hand below and ran it across the cool plastic support surface Her fingers brushed so Try as she ers found a flap along one edge She pried it open and used her nails to pinch the bundle of papers inside They were tightly packed, but after a struggle they ca the curved hallway she heard the snap snap of doors locking She felt glad she’d left her own door ajar If it remained that way, she could sneak back in

Tania stuffed the folded papers under her shirt and walked briskly to a nearby restrooh of relief escaped her lips when she tried the door and found it open It was bright in the white-tiled rooh to make her squint Tania moved to the stall at the very end of the row, closed the door behind her, and sat on the water tank above the toilet, using the seat as a footrest

Only then did she remove the papers and read the and exhilarating

In the uards entered Tania’s roo the blanket up to cover herself

"Get dressed," the largest one said "Blackfield wants to see you" They stood in place, waiting for an answer

"Where’s ripped the blanket until her knuckles turned white "Mind waiting outside?"

The words lingered as the er on you, but didn’t say nothing about watching" One of his friends kicked the door closed and the three stood and waited

She let the blanket fall as she stood up, determined not to let them see weakness in her The soldiers were openly disappointed to see she earing a tank top and running shorts, but still their eyes stayed glued to her as she stepped into a jumpsuit

"They don’t uards said Another laughed She did her best to ignore theer on you Tania considered the deeper implications Blackfield wanted her for hi from her In the back of her mind, a tiny voice wondered if she could use her body as a weapon She hated herself for even thinking it

She’d rather die

Tania wiggled into the garo"