“Students under your purview?” Before he could raise his voice in protest, she cut him off with a wave of her hand. “What if I were to tell you that I believe that we have at least one operative on board our ship working against Muungano’s interests?”

“A saboteur?” Paki fashioned a chair to collapse into. His voice drained at the possibility he hadn’t considered.

“If you will.” Easing behind her workstation, she leaned forward and bridged her fingers. After several heartbeats of hanging silence, to allow the situation to fully settle in him, she spoke again. “What conclusion would you draw if your lead investigator seemed to drag their feet at every turn? For events that happened on their watch. Under their direct supervision.”

Paki’s face darkened with a sinister fury. His words came out slow and fully measured. “That would be a serious implication to make.”

“Demanding a serious response, I’d say.”

“I’ll find your operative. If they exist.”

“I expect no less.” Stacia drew back in her seat, dismissing him.

Before he reached the exit, he turned over his shoulder. “You should probably keep these suspicions to yourself. Should word get out, people might start accusing even their most trusted, long-serving colleagues of being saboteurs. And accusations like that aren’t easily walked back.”

Stacia allowed enough time for Paki to clear the hallway before she stood to leave. Only then did it occur to her that she had nowhere in particular to go. She didn’t want to return to her room. Without Bek, it was a hollow space. And she was over the men in her life. Having a glass of wine while chatting with Maya seemed oddly sad. Now was a moment she wished she could link with Amachi.

Back when they were coming up together, she had vowed not to let a man strain her friendship with Amachi. Their friendship bounded the celestial orbits of her universe, existing in the space reserved for something romantic. And they felt its occasional gravitational pull, never quite finding the language to describe what they had.

Then along came Yahya.

Not insecure, but believing that a monogamous romantic relationship was the star around which other relationships should orbit. He felt he wasn’t her priority, knowing he was outranked by her best friend. Amachi was there before him and would be there after him. Trudging through the moments they had to spend apart. Sometimes years due to moving around for work, their relationship reduced to linkages and occasional visits. Reaching out less and less under the cascade of difficulties she called a marriage. And career.

Everything in their relationship became fraught.