Kira turned to face him, surprised to hear him argue against it. “What do you mean you’re insane?” she asked. “I thought you agreed with us.”

“I never said anything like that,” said Marcus. “I think it’s dangerous and unnecessary and stupid—”

“What about everything she just said about the future?” demanded Haru. “About the species? Don’t you even care about that?”

“Of course I care,” said Marcus, “but this isn’t the way to do it. It’s very noble to talk about giving your lives for a cause, and the future of mankind is a pretty great cause, I’ll grant you that, but take ten seconds to be realistic about this and it all falls apart. No one has seen a Partial in eleven years—you don’t know where they are, what they’re doing, how to find them, how to capture one, what they’re physically capable of, or anything else. And if by some ridiculous miracle you manage to capture one without getting massacred, what then? Are you going to waltz a Partial right into the middle of East Meadow and hope you don’t get shot on sight?”

“We’ll take one of the portable medicomps,” said Kira, “and a generator to run it. We can do all the tests we need in the field.”

“No, you can’t,” said Marcus, “because you’ll be dead. You started this by being blunt, so here’s some more bluntness for you: Everyone who goes on this idiotic adventure will die. There is no other outcome. And I will not allow you to kill yourself.”

“How in the hell is that your decision?” Kira snapped. She felt her face suddenly hot, her blood boiling, her hands tingling with the sudden rush of blood and adrenaline and emotion. Who did he think he was? The room was hushed and uncomfortable, everyone staring at her outburst. Kira stood and walked away, not even daring to look at Marcus for fear that she’d yell at him again.

“This will take us at least a month, probably more, to put together,” said Jayden quietly. “Haru has access to the maps through his construction contacts, and I can go talk to a couple of people I know will help us out. We’ll say we’re doing a salvage run, with personnel I select, and no one will think twice until we don’t come back on time. By then it will be too late to stop us. But putting all of that paperwork in place, without raising suspicion, will take time.”

“That’s fine,” said Kira. “We don’t want to waste time, but we don’t want to rush this either. If we’re going to do it, we do it right.”

“How are you going to request me?” asked Xochi. “I’m not certified for salvage missions.”

“You’re not coming,” said Jayden.

“Like hell I’m not coming.”