Page 124 of Aviatrix

“He’s working on it,” I reply. “But we’ll need Atlas and Fox in the air. Hidden but close.”

“I’ll relay the message,” Thea says as she stands. “Need anything else?”

“Make sure you say your goodbyes,” I tell her. “To your family.”

She nods once and slips out the door. Sasha sits on Thea’s bed, her expression hard to read.

“I don’t understand why all of this was kept from Space Command.”

“I think it was buried,” I say. “On purpose.”

She runs a hand down her ponytail, pulling it over her shoulder. “I haven’t flown in months.”

“It’ll be okay,” I lie.

“I need to talk to my CO. Let him know what’s going on.”

“You can’t,” I say gently. “This goes beyond Space Command now. They can’t help.”

“If our lives are on the line, I have a duty to report it.”

“It won’t change anything,” I argue, voice soft. “They want us gone, Sasha. Space Command won’t stop that.”

“I have to try, Kinley,” she says. “We have to. I can’t just sit back and do nothing. Not when it’s our lives. If there are people who’ll fight for us, we need to find them.”

I sigh. “Okay. But only talk to someone you trust. If you think they’re even possibly on Rourke’s payroll, don’t.”

“There’s only one person I trust in Space Command,” she replies. “An old mentor. I’ll talk to him. See what we can do.”

“Thank you,” I say quietly.

“I’m not doing this for you,” she clarifies. “I’m doing this because I promised Eli.”

“And because you don’t want to die.”

“And because I don’t want to die,” she echoes. There’s a pause before she adds, “You’re not the person I thought you were. That’s not a bad thing.”

I give her a small smile. She’s not who I thought she was either.

We rise at the same time. Academy Kinley would never believe she’d one day be working side-by-side with Sasha Ivanov. I guess war peels back the layers and exposes who we really are. Maybe that’s okay. Maybe war helps you see who the real enemies are.

We don’t say goodbye. We just leave the room, heading in different directions. Sasha to rally help. Maybe. And me? To find out if Eli’s really gone.

My feet carry me faster than my heart is ready for. But it’s better to get this over with quickly.

I’ve never liked dragging out the inevitable. I like things swift and clean. Bleed, patch it up, move on. That’s why Dad’s disappearance wrecked me. I just wanted to know. Was he dead? Did he leave us? Was he taken?

I don’t do well with ambiguous. I do well with facts. With truth.

But life doesn’t work that way.

I knock on Lark’s door. I could barge in, but the last time I did that, I walked in on him and Gina. I’m not interested in reliving that reality.

Lark opens the door, fully dressed. A small relief. But there’s a storm in his blue eyes, and I know this conversation won’t end well. At least, not for me.

“Please, sit,” he says quietly, rounding the desk.

“I’m not sure I want to sit.”