Thera lay on her cot, staring at the bottom of the empty bunk above her. Lada Rahn snored a few feet away. The sound rattled all of the metal in the room, like a kind of counterpoint to the hum of the fluorescent light fixtures from the hall.
Thera had destroyed the message in the cigarette box, but the words had been seared into her brain.
Dr. Tak Ch’o wanted to defect.
Why had he picked her? Was it a trap? A trick?
Thera wasn’t sure what to do. The scientist might be a big prize, but was he worth jeopardizing her mission for?
And even if he was, how would she go about arranging for his defection?
If there were answers, they weren’t in the dark gray light around her. But Thera continued to stare, unable to sleep.