“Exactly!” Hawk thumped her on the back.
She couldn’t resist. She grinned back at her team. “Fine. It’s going to be awesome. But only if we win.”
“Of course we’ll win.” Hawk lifted a fist into the air. “We’re Avian Unit. Blood and bone!”
The others raised their fists.
“Blood and bone!” Fallon said with them.
5
Fallon wasn’t surprised when Raptor came to her quarters that night.
“You doing okay?” His face showed a caring concern that she hadn’t yet gotten entirely accustomed to.
“Yeah. Other than being a little concerned about my parents and brother, I’m good.”
He made a hum of understanding and sat next to her on her bunk. “Your parents have been in the game longer than you have. I’m sure they’ve seen a lot and know how to take care of themselves.”
“They’ve always done on-the-books work. They don’t have experience with the kind of stuff we’re doing. Colb knows that I’ve been to see them. Under normal circumstances, they’d mention that to a close family friend. Since they didn’t, he must suspect they know something.”
Raptor made another sound of agreement. He put a chummy arm around her. “But,” he said, “what if they know that he knows we know he knows they know?”
She laughed. “They probably don’t. But maybe they suspect.”
“Whew. Glad you followed that. I’m not sure I did.” He gave her a playful jiggle. “Don’t get too far inside your own head. Just do the job. Work the problems as they come.”
“That’s pretty much been my whole approach to life, until recently.”
“And now?” He sounded genuinely curious, no longer teasing.
“I find myself caught up in feelings and relationships. Why do you suppose that is?”
He turned his head at an awkward angle so he could look at her. “Are you looking for platitudes, or truth?”
“Let’s try platitudes,” she decided.
“It’s a temporary thing because of your situation. Once we get past this threat to the PAC, things will sort themselves out and you’ll get back to normal.”
She mulled that over. It was possible. If life went back to normal and she threw herself back into her job, the rest of it all might recede. But she didn’t think so. “Okay, let’s try truth.”
“We’ve all been changed by what’s happened to us. Being split up. Having to fight to get back together, and to stay together. Having to battle our own handlers. We’ve had to become more than we ever intended to be.”
Unfortunately, that had the ring of truth. “How do you feel about that?” she asked. “About how it affects your life, I mean.”
“It is what it is. I’ve never given much thought to what-ifs. I mean, think about it. We’re tiny specks in the cosmos. Not even that. When you compare us to all the galaxies and planets and stars, we don’t even register. There’s an infinite amount of everything my life is not. There’s only a tiny bit of what my life actually is. So I choose to focus on that.”
Somehow that was what she’d needed to hear. She didn’t want to spend her time reflecting and philosophizing about her life. She wanted to live it. “That was kind of wise. Maybe you should teach at the academy when all this is over.”
The humor returned to his voice. “Me, a teacher? Nah. I need a job where I get up each day never knowing if I’m going to have to jump out of a plane or hide in a swamp.”
She smiled. “The Obafuran mission.”
“Yeah,” he said wistfully. “Good times.”
“If you call a thousand mosquito bites and the rotten stench of swamp good.”
“Well, not at the time. Damn bugs chewed my face up. But it was a good mission.”
“It was,” she agreed. She had to admit that she liked diving out of planes, too. She glanced at the chronometer and stood, causing Raptor’s arm to fall to his side. “I have to get to the bridge and relieve Ross. My shift starts in five minutes.”
“I’ll walk you up there.”
It was a silly thing for him to do, but she decided to live in the moment. “Let’s go.”
Upon docking at Dragonfire Station, the Nefarious was treated to a grand welcome, including a personal visit from Captain Nevitt.
“Admiral Colb.” The captain bowed. “Welcome to Dragonfire. We’re pleased to have you.”
Fallon stepped through the airlock as the pair exchanged pleasantries. As far as Colb was concerned, Nevitt was only a station captain.
Fallon smiled, outwardly as a greeting, but secretly in pleasure at imagining the noose tightening around Colb’s neck. She could feel herself getting closer to her goal. Maybe one day, she’d reflect on the betrayal of someone who’d been like one of her family. At present, she cared only about her job—protecting the PAC and its citizens.
“Please allow me to give you a tour of the station before showing you to your quarters,” Nevitt said to Colb as they stepped out of the docking bay.
To refuse would be terribly rude, so Colb was forced to smile and say, “It’s my pleasure, thank you.”
And away they went, providing Avian Unit with the time they needed to dummy up the station’s computers. At least, Fallon hoped they’d have enough time. Even with Raptor’s skills, it would be tight.
In her security office, they worked. Ross monitored Nevitt and Colb progressing through the station while the rest of the team installed and implemented the program Raptor had written while on the Nefarious.
The last step was to run the software and test it. They tried accessing the station’s specs, the security protocols and codes. Every time, they received either the appropriately wrong information or a security lockout. Perfect.
By the time Nevitt joined the team, they were floating on a cloud of success. As soon as she stepped in and cast a keen eye around the room, she nodded.
“I gather you accomplished your mission.”
“Yes, Captain,” Fallon said. Nevitt arched an eyebrow at her and Fallon corrected herself. “Hesta. Colb won’t be able to
