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Gina’s brow furrowed. “Sir, how much danger are you in?”

<“Oh, not much. Don’t worry.”>

“Stop telling me not to worry. I know you’re lying. Just tell me the truth.”

<“Sorry, I can’t hear you very well. I’m going into a tunnel.”>

“Your plane is going into a tunnel?”

<“It’s a very tunnel-like cloud. You’re--kerrghh--breaking up--kerrghh. Sorry--kerrghh.”>

“You’re pathetic, Master Roman.”

<“Kerrghh--talk to you later--kerrghh.”> He hung up.

She shook her head and set her phone down. After a few moments, however, it started ringing again, and she picked it back up.

<“How did you find out so much about Abolish’s plan?”>

It was her turn to hesitate. “I inferred it from watching the news.”

<“Bullshit! You named names and gave me a timeline!”>

“The reporters were very thorough.”

<“Fuck! You went to Sescoria to spy on them, didn’t you?! Don’t you know how dangerous that is?!”>

“Don’t worry, sir. Hector is here with me.”

<“Oh yeah? Let me talk to him, then.”>

“He’s busy with something. I don’t want to bother him.”

<“Gina, you--!”>

“Oh, look at that. I seem to be going into a tunnel now, too. Bye.” She hung up.

Roman called back immediately, and Gina just let it ring. Then it fell quiet for a minute, and just when she was getting back into her work, it started beeping. She checked the text messages.

i forgot to tell u sumthing important

She called him back. “Now what?”

<“It’s about Lynnette. She’s probably headed back to Atreya.”>

“Huh? By herself?”

<“She got separated from us. We don’t know where she is, and she doesn’t know where we’re going, so the Queen figures that Lynnette will go back to Atreya. Which sounds about right.”>

“You want me to track her down?”

<“No need. I gave her your contact details a while back as a precaution. I’m betting you’ll get a call from her as soon she gets hold of a phone. Help her out if you can.”>

“Yes, sir.”