They could barely repress their giddy laughter as they followed the passage between the mall and the Pentagon, trying to think of the excuse they’d use to explain why they weren’t listed as absent from the Pentagonal Spire. Finally, they decided to just show themselves to the officers on duty, and pretend they’d been caught sneaking out of the Spire, not sneaking in. They all got slapped with a weekend of scutwork duty and restricted libs, but they were ushered back into the Spire and no eyebrows were raised. In an installation filled with teenagers, catching trainees trying to sneak out after curfew wasn’t a notable or unusual event.

Tom was so wired up with adrenaline, he was sure he could sprint ten miles if he needed to. He volunteered to sneak the gear back into the armory. Anything to put off sleep. He couldn’t sleep anytime soon.

He was scrunching across the ground in the unlit Calisthenics Arena when a shadow moved, and Tom became aware of Lieutenant Blackburn waiting for him. Ice water flooded Tom’s veins. He found himself rooted in place, thinking of Heather. Thinking of what he’d seen.

“Well?” Blackburn said tiredly. He looked years older in the dimness. “I’m sure you’ve got some preposterous lie ready for me. Give it a shot.”

“I borrowed these. For a prank.” Tom lifted the optical camouflage suits.

Blackburn shook his head. “No, you didn’t. I was up working late tonight . . .”

Tom stirred. Working? So Blackburn hadn’t dropped off to sleep after what happened with Heather.

“. . . and I got to hear in real time the confidential channels lighting up with chatter about an accident at Obsidian Corp. An entire wing of the Antarctica facility was obliterated. Shockingly enough, my thoughts immediately turned to you. I checked on you and according to your GPS signal, you’d been in the bathroom for the last three hours. Coincidentally, so had Vikram Ashwan and Wyatt Enslow.”

“I think it was something we ate,” Tom tried. “You know Chris Majal’s Indian Hall . . .”

“Raines, have I ever, and I mean ever, fallen for any of these ridiculous stories of yours?”

Tom let out a breath. “Fine. You’ve got us. We did it. And you know it. The transmitter’s gone. We destroyed it. We freed Yuri. And I knew I had to do more damage to the place than targeting the transmitter, or it would be too conspicuous so we hit some other things, too.”

“Do you know what’s conspicuous? Burning down the heart of the security state.”