Page 17

17

CONOR

As we crossed over the most southernly tip of Finland, I felt a change in the airplane.

We still hadn’t edged into Baltic territory but we were descending as if we were.

Frowning, I stared at the blanket of clouds below us as if I could figure out what was happening by sight alone before I turned to Temper, who’d been watching me throughout the flight like I was more interesting than the onboard entertainment.

I wasn’t altogether unaccustomed to being watched.

People tended to do that when I was hacking. It was easier to study my face for expressions than to read my code, so I didn’t gripe at her about it.

Not when she was clearly unhinged.

“We’re losing altitude,” I informed her.

She blinked at me. “It’s in hand.”

My mouth tightened. “We were supposed to be going to Moscow.”

“And I told you her location had changed.”

“So we’re being rerouted?”

She dipped her chin. “Why would you go to Moscow when she isn’t there?”

“I told Riggs where I’d be heading.”

“And she informed the people who need to know that you are, in fact, stopping in Finland.”

“Why?”

“Star said you were clever.” She huffed impatiently, her fingers toying with the bandage the flight attendant had applied to her palm. “We’re going to wherever Star is.”

“Why Finland?”

“Why not Finland? You’ll find out when you get there.”

I frowned at her. “I thought you were supposed to answer my questions.”

She glowered at me. “Her relocation was necessary because there was an attempt to rescue her.

“Star, however, isn’t in danger.” She sniffed. “She’s with the Union. She’s safe.”

“You sound like James Garfield.”

“That fits. He was a Brother too.”

My eyes flared wide at that. “Fuck off.”

Her smirk was smug. “See? You don’t know everything, O’Donnelly. The Old World Sparrows took him out. Bastards.”

I turned in my seat to better look at her. “You’re being serious.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Of course I am. I told you we were older than the Freemasons.”

“So, what, you’re benevolent overlords?”

She scowled at me. “You put a negative spin on everything, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry if I don’t like the fact that Boatman Jim was a part of some secret society!”

“O’Donnelly, secret doesn’t mean corrupt.”

“You’re living proof of that , I suppose.”

“There are ten different ways to kill you in this cabin and each one involves me not breaking into a sweat?—”

“That doesn’t confirm what I just said, does it?” Before we could start bickering, I demanded, “When did your indoctrination start?”

Her nostrils flared. “I wasn’t indoctrinated. In Afghanistan, I reported my CO for misconduct unbecoming, but I was the one who was punished. I was approached then. For my candor and honesty.

“Whatever you choose to think about me, I believe in my country, in its freedoms, and its inherent desire to provide its people with a safe haven.”

I’d bet my rig that Star didn’t feel free and in a haven at this goddamn moment.

She didn’t see my glower, too busy preaching, “I pledged my life to protect the United States, not knowing that its enemies weren’t just overseas but in our government and its Armed Forces.

“The United Brotherhood fights to correct that imbalance.”

I stared at her like the lunatic I believed her to be, but something in her words hit me on the raw.

The New World Sparrows had infiltrated every aspect of government in our nation.

Our enemies weren’t just overseas but inside the corridors of power that few traversed.

Their names were hidden and protected, their identities in the shadows.

Weren’t my brothers and I working to uncover the identities of Sparrows in office?

Hadn’t we already erased a couple of senators and a congressman?

Didn’t a Sparrow almost sit in the vice president’s chair?

And, worse than all that, hadn’t a Sparrow been seated in the Supreme Court? Not just any judge but the chief justice, and not just any Sparrow, but the head of them all.

Unable to school my expression, I turned away from her.

She might have believed she served a higher power, but that didn’t mean I did. Especially now that Da was dead.

Yet there was no denying the singular truth that our nation was imbalanced.

I never claimed to wear a white hat, but at that moment, I’d never wanted to right those wrongs more than I did now.