Interrogation
Kani stood at the edge of the road, back to the truck, cowering under Rook’s careful watch. Cars raced by down the highway, and she plugged her ear so she could hear the phone clearly.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for everything.”
Kaso laughed.
“You say that like I’m going somewhere,” he said. “I was thinking we should move in together. Are you free Thursday?”
“No,” she said. “I’m in hiding Thursday.”
“All right, Friday. You’re such a control freak.”
She hid a laugh, ran her hand through her hair.
“Have you heard anything about my friends?”
“I sent Fat Tony the cash myself,” he said. “You guys didn’t net the full amount, so I chipped in from my personal account.”
She gasped.
“Oh god, Kaso. Thank you so m—”
“Okay, I lied. It was some guy Malaysia. But he won’t notice, I think. I mean maybe he will. Let’s move on, shall we?”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’m fine. And better yet, your friends are fine. Fat Tony even thanked them for being good hostages when he let them go.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Okay, I’m kidding. I waited until they were out the door and called the cops on him. Apparently he collects very strange sub-genres of porn that are illegal where you live.”
“You’re insane.”
“You’re just noticing?”
“How can I ever repay you?” she asked, then frowned, and added: “Don’t answer that.”
“I heard you did pretty good up there. Incident reports said you were like a hummingbird, babe A hummingbird. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. You should be proud! I think.”
“I don’t know how I did it,” she smiled. “It just came to me. It just made sense.”
“That’s the Centrix system at work. Meant for gamers. Easier on the brain. Uh… which is not taking anything away from your skill. You are the master. Centrix? Feh. Centrix is like the… the diaper to your… your… help me out here.”
“No thanks,” she said, and glanced over her shoulder as Rook whistled for her.
“I’ve gotta go,” she said.
“You’re going to be okay?” he asked.
“I think so. Rook is taking me to a safe house somewhere.”
“Remember what I said, okay? I met the old Tundra, and she sucked ass. You I like. You should stick around.”
“I think I don’t have a choice,” she said.
She got into the truck and strapped in as he pulled into traffic. They drove for ten minutes without a word, her stealing nervous peeks at his tense face, dark hands squeezing the steering wheel like it could feel pain.
“Can I ask a question?” she asked quietly.
“Speak up,” he said. “Or don’t talk at all.”
“Can I ask a question?” she said again, louder.
“Go.”
“What happened with those freighters? They were decoys?”
“We think so. They’ve never done that before, but it was always in the cards. We’re going to have to work around it from now on. I just don’t know how yet.”
“But the information came from… inside…?”
“That’s what worries me.”
He looked over at her, frowned.
“You haven’t had any pills since you landed, have you?”
“N-no,” said Kani, remembering the hospital. “I didn’t bring any with me.”
“Glove compartment,” he said. “And a bottle of water. Has some extra vitamins mixed it. Stops the vertigo, if you get that.”
“Do I ever,” she muttered.
She threw a handful of pills in her mouth and washed them down with water, choking at the end. Her throat was dry. She hadn’t eaten for so long.
“That was a stupid move with the freighters,” he said. “You’re lucky it worked.”
“I couldn’t just leave them there. The space station was totally unguarded.”
Rook smiled, looked in the mirror for a moment.
“Who do you think the mole is?” he asked.
“There’s a mole?” she asked, feigning innocence. “I mean, we know it for sure?”
“We didn’t end up in a trap by accident,” Rook said. “Someone put us there.”
“Well then I guess it’s someone that wasn’t there,” she said. “Not Elvis, so maybe Spastik?”
“Spastik’s crazy, but he’s no mole. He’s too reckless for that.”
“So not Elvis?” she asked, and blinked away a spot in her vision.
“No, not Elvis,” he said. “He thought Chenne was a good candidate, and after what happened tonight, I can almost see his point… but I don’t think it’s her. She cares about the team too much for that.”
“So what,” Kani asked. “Wait, are you saying it’s me? I just got here!”
Her head flopped back, and she found it increasingly hard to focus on her surroundings. Rook took a hand off the wheel, felt the side of her neck, and pushed her head gently against the side of the car.
“You called it a space station,” he said without judgement. “First thing you learn up there is the proper name. Alpha One. There’s no way you’ve been up there as long as you say you have, if you’re making mistakes like that.”
“Wait,” she said. “I am Tundra… I…”
“Don’t bother,” he said. “I asked around. We know you’re not Tundra, no matter what Kaso says. The question I have now is: who are you?”
“I told you—”
“You’re going to want to think about your answer,” he said. “Because in my position, I don’t have many options to deal with moles.”
She was looking out the window, but it was just a blur of light. Her hands moved slightly on her lap, but that was all she could manage. She said nothing for a minute, and then took a deep breath.
“I’m not Tundra,” she said. “Tundra is my friend. I had to take her place because she got hurt and—”
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” he said. “We don’t just go recruiting anyone into this world. You had to have been vetted first.”
“I swear, I’m not the mole. I only found out about this yesterday. I’m not who you think I am.”
“Sure,” he said. “Then you won’t mind it if I…”
There was a moment of silence, and then Rook grabbed her head and shoved it forward, into the dashboard. She started to cry out, but then she heard glass shatter, and the car swerved to the left.
“Hold on!” he shouted. “This could get messy.”