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Chapters (58)
  1. DEDICATION
  2. PART 1
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. PART 2
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. PART 3
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. PART 4
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  58. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

“. . . nearing the top, coast is clear here . . .” Haru’s voice again. Kira cursed loudly, half a scream and half a grunt of frustration, and dove to her knees by a stack of boxes in the corner, tearing them open in search of a microphone. The first was empty, and she threw it aside. The second was filled with cables, and she tore them out, a giant nest of thick rubber cords, and as soon as she determined it had no mic she threw it behind her, still caught in the web of cables. I have to warn him. The third box was speakers and plugs and manuals; the fourth and fifth were old transceivers, half-empty and cannibalized for parts. The speakers behind her erupted in gunfire and screaming and bursts of deafening static, and Kira cried as she dug through the last box and found nothing but more cables.

“. . . taking fire!” Haru screamed. “We are taking fire on the hilltop! I’ve lost Murtry and—” The signal died with a pop and a howl of static, and Kira collapsed on the floor.

“Sato! Sergeant Sato! Do you read me?” The human commander’s voice rang through the radio room, buzzy from the fading signal.

Kira shook her head, imagining Madison and Arwen, now husbandless and fatherless. It was nothing new, really—everyone in East Meadow was fatherless, and had been for over a decade—but that was exactly the problem. The Satos had been unique, the first of a new generation: a real family again, after eleven long years. They had been hope. To have lost that—to have heard it happen—broke Kira’s heart. She sobbed on the floor, clutching the coils of discarded cabling as if they could comfort her, or protect her, or something. She sniffed and wiped her nose.

I don’t have time for this.

Kira was still trying to figure out what to do with the information she had found so far. One thing was clear: She was going to have to gather more information from Afa’s records before she could formulate her next move. But now there was a new threat to everything she was trying to save. If the Partials and humans wiped each other out before she could find her answers . . .