“Right.” Fallon had to admit it was a plausible story. The PAC had resorted to such tactics in the past.
“I’d pass on a package every day or so. It was nothing. Took a few minutes out of my day. I felt proud to be helping the PAC and the people who needed those supplies.”
“So then what?” Fallon asked. Perhaps the biggest mysteries in life were buried in that midpoint between Point A and Point B.
“Nothing. It continued on that way. I didn’t hear from him again until he came to the station a week before you arrived. He said that our new chief of security was like a daughter to him and he hoped I’d look out for her in whatever way I could. He said that there was some power shift in your department and he’d assigned you to Dragonfire to keep you safe from all that. I thought it was normal politics. I didn’t know then you were in intelligence.” Wren’s face was pinched, worried.
So what Colb had said implying that her meeting Wren had not been a coincidence was true. It should have hurt. Should have made her go cold, then flush with anger. But she was hard. She was polymechrine incarnate. And she was ready to cut to the chase. “When exactly did he give you a force-field disruptor and a class-eight plasma torch? I’m guessing you hid those in your shop somewhere?”
Wren’s eyes widened with the understanding that Fallon knew everything. “I put them in a restricted-access locker, where only I could get to them. Colb gave the items to me right after you and I got married.”
“Strange wedding present.”
“It wasn’t that. He said that the power shift had become something more, and that if we ever needed to escape the station quickly, we should use these.”
Fallon squinted. “That didn’t seem strange to you?”
“Of course it did! That was my first clue that I’d gotten in over my head, that all this was more than I’d thought. I’m not…I mean, I’m just a mechanic who wants people to be safe and fed and taken care of.” Tears of frustration formed in her eyes. “Especially you.”
Fallon searched Wren’s face as she talked, looking for any hint that would give her away. Prove she was an enemy. But she didn’t find it. She only saw a bewildered and frightened woman.
“How did Colb alert you to break him out of the brig?”
Wren stared down at her hands. “An automated message. It told me that if I received it, he’d been taken into custody. That the situation with the PAC command restructuring had become an all-out coup, and your commanding officer, who was the real enemy, had convinced you that Colb was the one responsible for everything.”
“And you just did what he said? What about coming to me? Telling me what you knew? Letting me do what I do best? Instead, you acted appalled that I hadn’t told you about being a covert operative!” In spite of herself, Fallon found her voice rising.
“You did keep that from me, and I was horrified! That part was true. But if I had revealed myself at that point as a liar in league with your enemy, you wouldn’t have believed me. I was in too deep.” Wren’s eyes were wild. “Colb had told me the best way for me to protect you was to say nothing until he could take on the person who had been after you and finally get everyone on the right side together.” She pressed her hand to her eyes. “I just wanted you safe.” Her voice was a ragged sob.
Fallon tried to poke holes in Wren’s story, but couldn’t. Wren had been duped by a master who had put time into grooming her. She’d thought she was protecting Fallon.
“So you know I’m a BlackOp, then?”
Wren laughed—a wet, manic sound. “I’m naïve, not stupid. I knew things weren’t right early on when your abilities didn’t match your record, though I didn’t realize how deep that went. But now there’s this supposed coup, and the PAC command scuttling Jamestown and going into hiding. And you, in the thick of it all. Appearing, disappearing. Showing up with these friends of yours who look like they eat rocks and belch fire. There’s no other answer but that you’re one of the people involved in everything that’s happening. And…and your head. That’s part of it all, isn’t it?”
Fallon didn’t answer. Didn’t feel like she owed Wren any answers at the moment. “Do you still believe Colb?”
“I did. I thought he cared about you and wanted to protect you. But I trust you more than I trust gravity. So tell me what I should believe and I will.”
Oh, Prelin. Wren’s innocence and blind trust stripped Fallon bare. She rose, went around the desk, and opened her arms.
Wren broke into sobs and clung to Fallon like a child. “I’m sorry,” she croaked. “I was so stupid.”
Fallon guided her to a sofa. “We’re both sorry. We thought we could protect each other by keeping secrets.”
They lay back with Wren’s head against Fallon’s shoulder. After many long minutes, Wren sat up and took a deep breath, her eyes red. “I didn’t pursue you because he told me to.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
Fallon had to smile at her look of surprise. “You’d never do that.”
“Of course not! That’s horrible.”
Fallon laughed. Somehow, this eager, gullible woman’s disgust for duplicity seemed hilarious. In spite of what she’d done, she was a better person than Fallon would ever be. “I guess it’s no wonder you freaked out and dumped me when you realized I was involved in covert operations.”
Wren sighed. “I had no idea what to think. Colb was out of touch, and you had no memories.”
“I can only come to one conclusion,” Fallon said.
“What?” Wren’s face was full of worry.
“That you are truly awful at picking wives.”
Wren smiled. “I picked a great one. I just wasn’t strong enough to…to watch the world burn so I could
