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She hesitated.
I knew the answer before she said it.
“Yes.”
The transport continued across open terrain. For several seconds, all I heard was the engine. The evidence had shifted again. Talia’s altered record could be explained by corruption within reproductive administration. Sera’n’s disappearance could be explained by someone attempting to contain discovery. My presence in the records could not. Not easily.
Ghost identities were compartmented beyond ordinary military records. The Veil controlled them. Very few officials knew the males behind those identifiers still existed. Even fewer could connect a Ghost designation to the military identity that had supposedly died years before. Yet someone had connected mine to reproductive data. And apparently others.
Talia watched me. “What does that mean?”
I could tell her nothing. That was the rule.
The reflex came so quickly I almost obeyed it.
Compartmentalize. Protect the structure. Reveal only what the mission required.
Except the mission itself was now suspect.
And she was already inside it.
“It means those identifiers should not have been available to Sera’n.”
“Because they’re military?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
I considered lying. She would know.
I considered refusing. That would gain nothing.
“They belong to a restricted operational system.”
“How restricted?”
“Very.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It is.”
“Are there a lot of people with identifiers like yours?”
“I cannot answer that.”
Her expression hardened.
I expected the argument.
Instead, she looked out the window. “That means yes.”
“It means I cannot answer.”
“Sure.”
I watched her profile.
