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A quick glance at the guards proved they were not paying close attention She picked up a pencil and circled a section of the report, and wrote next to it:

Did you tell hi at an incredible rate," she continued "I didn’t think it would be possible"

Natalie was nodding, slowly, and took the pencil "I see what you e, he knows it’s a new elevator I could convince him it’s months away

As she wrote, she said, "Have you calculated the arrival time?"

Her voice sounded false to Tania, like an amateur actress in a bad play Tania took the pencil back and erased the words they’d written, then flipped to another page

"Take a look at these nu out a random bit of useless info

She wrote:

Can’t let the station suffer that long Have a plan We need to talk alone

She underlined the last word and said, "The deceleration rate negated all our predictions"

Natalie picked up the pencil and added:

I have an idea

She erased the writing and turned to a rando will it take to recalculate?"

Tania had no idea what Natalie was thinking, but caught her wink and went along with it "Eight hours, roughly"

"Let’s get started, then"

Four hours later Tania paced her roo anxiously for Natalie to arrive

They had pretended to work at the data analysis for thirty uards that they needed to give the co to wait it out, but Natalie said she’d rather be returned to her quarters to rest

When the guards pushed Tania into her own room and locked the door, she expected to hear them continue down the hall with Natalie to do the saination ran wild Had Natalie been taken to be interrogated? Could she handle so like that? Tania knew the ansas no Natalie probably knew her limits, too, which explained why she’d decided to play the willing informant

Her mind returned to the instructions Neil Platz had left in the envelope A chill ran down her spine An astonishing plan, far bolder than she could ever concoct on her own

Footsteps outside the door Heavy

They were early

Tania realized she was still fully dressed, and as the door was unlocked she abruptly flipped her light off and sat on the edge of her bed, running her hands through her hair to appear as if she’d been napping

The door opened to the silhouette of a soldier

"It hasn’t been eight hours, has it?" Tania asked, forcing her voice to sound groggy

"Blackfield said you can use the showers if you want," he said Then he sniffed the stale air of the roouard actually smiled, if only for a second, and moved aside to allow her to exit the room

She pulled a towel from her closet and stepped into the hall The showers on this level were connected to the restroouard followed her in

Tania whirled on him "You’ll wait outside, or takepast her, down the aisle of lockers to the large open shower The tiled space was square in shape, with six showerheads poking out of three walls "Just doingtwo corners that were hidden from view of the door

Satisfied, he caot twenty rin worried her For a moment she stood in place, unsure what to do

Before she could decide, the door opened again, and Natalie entered, carrying a towel of her own

Tania whispered, "What’s going on?"

Natalie stepped in close and gave her a quick embrace "When the water’s on," she said, so quietly that Tania barely caught it

With that Natalie set her towel on the an to undress Tania stood in place

"Come on, hon," Natalie said She smiled in an odd way as she padded down to the shower and turned on a faucet

When the water’s on Tania kept her head still and looked about the shower roo

Natalie drenched herself under a fountain of stea rong

Stoed off her juht across her chest, and took a quick glance back at the door It remained closed Finally she walked to the shower

Steam from the hot water already obscured Natalie’s body

Tania turned on the showerhead next to Natalie’s and set it as hot as she thought she could take it Her friend reached a hand out to her Tania took it, expecting a friendly squeeze, but Natalie pulled her until their bodies were touching, ater spilling over both their shoulders Natalie’s arether

"What are you--" Tania started to ask, before their lips ently, with passion, not like a friend Nothing like a friend

Tania could do nothing but stand there, frozen in place, lips closed tight

"Relax," Natalie whispered "Russell is only allowing this because he’s hoping for a good show The ination"

Tania understood, then Natalie had been playing to Russell’s perversion the ht spent in the bowels of Nightcliff filled her mind She’d somehow convinced herself that the wall-sized mirror was just that, and that no one sat on the other side of it A lie she had needed to ht, and the weeks since But in her heart she knew Russell had been watching

Tania squeezed her eyes closed and forced the memory away, for Natalie’s sake To expose her ruse noould have terrible consequences for both of them

She became aware that her ar with stage fright, she returned Natalie’s e hot water, she ed to relax her shoulders a bit