Everyone in the room went still. Christian’s pulse spiked.
“Nadine Proctor is running their supply lines?” Claude glanced up from his notes.
“Could be bait,” Hawk said. “Could be she’s lying.”
“No,” Imara said. “Look at her eyes. She’s telling the truth. Besides, if I was Nadine, I would want to inspect everything myself too.”
Claude looked to Philip. “With your permission, I’ll start mapping the smuggling routes Mira may have used. If Nadine inspects shipments directly, the base must be close.”
Philip nodded once. “Do it.”
Inside the chamber, Ahna loomed over Mira’s slumped form. “Where is the Dissent’s base?”
Mira pressed her lips closed and shook her head, refusing to speak.
“You have one more chance before I let my friend here shock you again.”
“Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you,” Mira seethed. “There are Dissent cells all over the city. I’ve never been to the base.”
“But you do know how to get in touch with Nadine, yes?” Ahna pressed.
When Mira refused to answer, Ahna nodded at Yosef, who activated the coil again. Mira’s shriek even made Claude flinch.
Christian balled his hands into fists, sweat running down his neck. Memories from the Falaichte flooded his mind—the screams as Paulo “punished” them, the blood, the vomit, the tears, the pain . . .
He needed to stop this.
Christian moved to rush into the room, but Imara grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t.” She spoke just loud enough for him to hear. “You can’t help Gemma if Philip locks you away for insubordination.”
Christian growled and stepped back into line.
“Answer me,” Ahna commanded Mira. “How do we find Nadine?”
Mira’s body was covered in sweat. She groaned with every shallow breath. A drip of blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
“Encrypted . . . relay . . . beacon,” Mira could barely get the words out.
“What are those?” Hawk asked.
“Small devices that send electrical signal patterns from one device to another. Similar to how mankind used Morse code back on Earth,” Claude answered, frowning. “There are an infinite number of codes Mira could send. She could say she was sending Nadine one message but transmit an entirely different one altogether. I don’t like this.”
“Stay calm, Mister Gereaux,” Philip replied. “Let’s see how this plays out before we start planning worst case scenarios.”
Ahna pushed. “Where is this beacon?”
“At . . . the drop . . . point,” Mira replied between breaths. “But only I . . . can activate it.”
“Biometric signature?” Yosef asked.
Mira nodded.
“Fuck,” Claude said. “That makes it even harder. We can’t just convince her to teach us the code. We’ll have to take her with us.”
Philip tapped on his SARTF earpiece. “Miss Abioye.”
Ahna faced the camera and pressed on the comm in her ear. “Sir?”
