“Do the Partials not know you’re here?” asked Marcus. “They’d kill to get their hands on this place.”

“They’ve sent a couple of patrols,” said the soldier. “So far we’ve been able to make ourselves more trouble than we’re worth.”

“That’s not going to last long,” said Marcus.

“They’re getting attacked on the flanks by Delarosa,” he said, “and by another Partial faction. That’s keeping their main force too busy to bother with us.”

Marcus nodded. “That’s exactly why I’m here.”

The soldier led him to a small office and knocked on the door. Marcus recognized Mkele’s voice when he told them to come in. The soldier pushed the door open. “New refugee. He says he wants to talk to the Senate.”

Mkele looked up, and Marcus felt a twang of mischievous pride at the surprise in the security expert’s eyes. “Marcus Valencio?” Surprising a man who prided himself on knowing things was an impressive feat indeed.

The pride was followed almost instantly by a wave of despair. Seeing Mkele not in control was somehow the most disturbing sign of just how much things had fallen apart.

“Hi,” said Marcus, stepping in. “I’ve got a . . . request. A proposal, I suppose.”

Mkele glanced at the soldier, his eyes uncertain, then looked back at Marcus and gestured to a chair. “Have a seat.” The soldier left, closing the door, and Marcus took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

“We need to go to the mainland,” said Marcus.

Mkele’s eyes widened, and Marcus had the same feeling of uncomfortable triumph knowing that he’d surprised the man again. After a quick moment Mkele nodded, as if he understood. “You want to look for Kira Walker.”

“I wouldn’t mind finding her,” said Marcus, “but she’s not the goal. We need to send a group north to a city called White Plains, to talk to the Partials who are attacking Dr. Morgan.”

Mkele didn’t respond.

“I don’t know for sure which faction is there,” said Marcus, “but I know that they oppose Dr. Morgan’s. A group of them raided the hospital Kira was trapped in a few months back, which is how we were able to get her out while they killed each other. Now they’re attacking Morgan’s forces again—they followed them all the way across the sound, which is a good indication they’re trying to stop this invasion.”

“And you think that will make them our friends.”

“A equals B equals . . . look, Ariel had a much better idiom for it, I don’t remember. But yes, we have a common enemy, so we might be able to get some help.”

Mkele watched him a moment longer, then spoke slowly. “I admit that we have had similar thoughts, but we didn’t know how or where to contact them. Are you sure about White Plains?”