Page 119 of Coldwire
“No.” My fingers are tapping on the hatch, and I force them still. “But it’s only Nik who drops the bombs.”
“And there’s a reason our laws charge an accomplice of a crime the same to the perpetrator.” Teryn pauses. “I came to check if you were well. I didn’t think there would be cause for concern.”
“There isn’t,” I assure her at once. “I only fear we’re coming down hard on people who are misguided.”
“Misguided,” Teryn echoes. “You’re sympathizing with terrorists.”
“I’m not saying Nik was right to kill our soldiers. It’s just that maybe his team doesn’t need to be snuffed out in a back room.” I’m getting distracted from the point. That wasn’t entirely what I started out arguing. “The girl, Miz—she blames private forces for killing her best friend. I think it’s that simple. Her anger is misdirected. And Blare? They’re just a kid. We’re not dealing with bad people. We should keep that in mind.”
A muscle twitches in Teryn’s jaw. I see it starkly in the light, each minute movement speaking for her before she opens her mouth again.
“You’re parroting them. Their justifications.”
I jerk back. My foot almost slips on the ladder. “No, I’m not.”
“Sure, you are. Uncle said this would happen.”
Uncle?As in—
“James Moore?” I grip the latch hard, hiding the tremor that shakes down my arms. The NileCorp CEO was talking aboutme? “What do you mean?”
“He was concerned that you’d be recruited.” Teryn adjusts her stance, her nose in the air. “It happens often to soldiers planted into a situation among extremists. My instructions were that I needed to pull you out if it looked like that was happening.”
“No!”
I didn’t realize this had gone all the way up to James Moore. That the entirety of NileCorp was waiting for the outcome.
“I was entertaining possibilities,” I say firmly. “In no way do I intend to deviate from my orders, nor question instructions.”
Teryn folds her arms. She is quiet for a moment. Then she nods.
“I believe you. But it’s more important that my uncle does. Do you know what his head of security didn’t include in our briefing when they sent us on our capture missions?” She lifts her left foot slightly, swinging it in the air. Teryn starts to walk a straight line along the roofing sheet, each step summoning a soft, rhythmic creak. “We’ve had a tripled increase of violent crime directly linked to Nik Grant’s calls to action. Uncle James wouldn’t tell me this while we were at the base. I had to squeeze it out of him before he sent me here. He’s so careful not to incite fear. He wants the best for an orderly nation.”
Teryn halts at the edge of the roof. She’s turned her back on me. The thought occurs, in the snap of a finger, that she would have no recourse if someone suddenly came up behind her and pushed her off the building. As quickly as the notion entered, I shake my head to clear it.
“I understand,” I say carefully. “If we acknowledge the havoc he’s sowing in Atahua, it would only empower him to his supporters.”
The media can’t be stopped from rushing to his sites of activity and filming coverage, but they don’t need to find out about the copycats. Or the groups that form to take up his proclamations. NileCorp’s worst fear is spreading confirmation that Nik Grant’s stunts are achieving exactly what he wants.
“The outright murders are bad enough,” Teryn mutters. “Never mindall that spray-painting. Those leaflets with the ugly slogans. Those ludicrous claims that are sending protesters outside NileCorp centers nonstop.Indisposition!Can you imagine?” She shudders, and swivels around in a quick motion. “Get to Offron. Let’s put an end to terrorist activity.”
It’s as clear a dismissal as any. Without any parting words, I push away from the hatch and close the door again, climbing down the ladder. I have to assume Teryn got up there by scaling the exterior. How she extricates herself is not any of my business.
I pad back down the stairs, entering the apartment again. Nik still appears asleep. I put my finger under his nose, tracking his breathing pattern. It’s even.
Tripled increase of violent crime directly linked to Nik Grant’s calls to action.NileCorp is not going to let that go easily. The company will make an example out of him.
I sit myself back down, leaning against the wall. A horrible feeling has taken root in my stomach.
The apartment interior grows bitterly cold. Two hours later, when the temperature reaches a frigid peak, Nik is shivering as he opens his eyes, slowly raising himself up onto his arms. His fever must be gone, at least.
“What are…?” Nik trails off, squinting. Light drapes over the horizon, fighting to surface against the smog. When Nik looks back at me and focuses, I offer him one of those tight-lipped smiles that old Atahuan ladies do when you let them go through the door first.
“Are those my glasses?”
“Yeah.” I close the tab I’ve been on. Despite knowing better, I spent the morning going through posts about myself, everything fromEIRALE WARD NAMED THIS CENTURY’S WORST SPYtoTEN REASONS WHY EIRALE WARD IS BEING SET UP. As soon as I made a search on the feed, I knew I had sunk into a rabbit hole. I wasn’t only looking at sources frominternational news organizations anymore, I was reading some fifteen-year-old from Button State’s listicle on their personal page.
I take the glasses off, handing them back to Nik. “I didn’t call anyone, don’t worry.”
