Kabza got on the radio and sent their rear guard a brief, coded message, whispering into the mic and then listening carefully as the man on the other end whispered back. He signed off and turned back to Haru. “Our exit route’s still clear. I say we dump this stuff and run; the Voice can find it themselves without us here to hand it to them. It’s not like they’re paying us.”

“Did you say ‘the Voice’?” asked Haru.

“Of course I did,” said Kabza. “What do you call them?”

“Delarosa hated the Voice,” said Haru. “She’d never take on their name.”

The radio blinked, and Kabza held it to his ear. After a moment he breathed a quick “Confirmed, over” and looked at Haru. “Point guard’s spotted them. They should be here in a few minutes.”

“Are they being chased by Partials?”

“He didn’t say,” said Kabza dryly. “I think he might have led with that if it was an issue, but I can call back to see if maybe it just slipped his mind.”

“Just relax,” said Haru, “this is what I’ve been telling you. We’ll be fine.”

“Fantastic,” said Kabza. “I’m glad you have such unerring trust in this woman.” He paused, watching the forest, then spoke again. “Speaking of which, why do you have such unerring trust in this woman? I thought you hated her.”

“Delarosa and I . . . disagree on some things,” said Haru. “When she first escaped, she was using innocent civilians as bait—including me, which I think made me a little justifiably upset. But her core principles I agree with completely: that our shores need to be protected, that the Partials need to be destroyed, and that desperate times call for desperate measures. Delarosa is willing to do what it takes, and she knows that as long as she doesn’t put innocent humans at unnecessary risk, I’ll support her.”

“Define ‘unnecessary risk,’” said Kabza. “I’ve spent the last three days in hostile territory, picking my nose and hoping nobody decides to shoot me while I hand Delarosa something we could easily have just left at a dead drop. Is that unnecessary?”

“She asked for something . . . unusual this time,” said Haru, peering into the trees. “I want to know what she’s planning on doing with it.”

A moment later their perimeter guard flashed a silent hand signal, and Haru and Kabza watched as three cloaked figures stepped out of the trees. Delarosa pulled off her hood and stood silently, waiting. Haru stood up from cover and walked to her. “You’re late.”

Delarosa’s face was stony. “You’re impatient. Do you have my gear?”