Before Okwembu can do anything, Hale somehow gets away from the men holding her.
One moment she’s being held by her arms, the next she’s twisted free. Her hands are still cuffed in front of her, but it’s as if she barely notices. She’s at the table in two strides, launching herself across it. Her left foot lands squarely on the map, planting itself on the border between Alaska and Canada, crumpling the paper, and then she’s diving for Okwembu.
Prophet’s forearm takes Hale on the collarbone. Okwembu has just enough time to step to the side before Hale crashes across the floor.
Everyone on the bridge is on their feet, racking the bolts on their rifles. Ray plants a foot on Hale’s stomach, forcing her to stay down.
Okwembu finds her eyes, holds them. She may not know how Hale managed to get here, to escape the Shinso and make it all the way to Alaska, but it doesn’t matter. Her shock is starting to give way to anger, to pure righteous fury. She holds her ground, breathing hard, keeping her expression neutral.
Hale is a mess. Her clothing is ragged, mismatched, soaked from sea spray. She has a cut on her cheek, and dark rivulets of blood have dried on her face. She’s struggling, spitting mad, her eyes never leaving Okwembu’s. “You,” she says. “You. You. Y—”
Ray hits her, driving a foot into her stomach, and her body shakes from the impact. Okwembu’s hand strays to the data stick, still hanging round her neck. She was about to take it off when Hale attacked her. If it had been damaged…
Prophet looks at Ray. He’s deeply rattled, his lip shaking with fury. “What in the name of the Engine did you bring her up here for?”
“She’s from the plane,” Ray says, giving Hale a shake. “Her friend didn’t make it.”
Prophet walks over, lifting Hale’s chin.
“Now why would the Engine send you?” he says. His expression hardens. “Let’s start with the aircraft. Where did you take off from?”
Hale tries to get loose again, wrenching her shoulders back and forth. She doesn’t succeed, and this time Ray hits her across the face, his fist landing with a sound like a gun firing. Hale falls limp, blood dripping from her mouth, pattering softly on the floor.
Prophet leans in close to her. “I’ll ask again,” he say. “Where did the plane come from?”
Hale says nothing, flexing her jaw left and right, eyes squeezed shut. When she speaks, it’s to Okwembu, not Prophet. “Where are they?” she says. The aggression in her voice is like an open wound. She’s speaking around the blood, and more of it drips between her lips, coating her teeth “Prakesh. Carver. Are they here?”
“Now you listen,” Prophet says, grabbing Hale’s chin and turning her head towards him. “That plane. Are there others like it? How many people were with you?”
Hale stares at him, like he’s speaking another language. After a long moment, she swallows hard, then says, “Out of Whitehorse. Just the one plane.”
“Good. How many of you were there?”
“… Four.”
“And why did you—”
Hale cuts him off, speaking to him but looking directly at Okwembu. “I hope you realise who you’ve got on your ship. Whatever she’s told you, it’s a lie. That’s what she does. She lies. You let me walk out of here with her, and—”
Iluk grabs Hale’s hair and yanks her head back. She barks a cry of fury, and he spits something at her in Inuktuk.
Okwembu can feel Prophet looking at her, his eyes searching. She ignores him, looking right back at Hale. Get control of the situation.
“She’s the one who isn’t being honest,” she says. “I know her from Outer Earth. She’s responsible for the virus that nearly wiped us out.”
Hale tries to speak. It earns her another punch, snapping her head sideways and sending dots of blood onto one of the screens.
“Then why did she attack you?” Prophet says.
Okwembu shrugs. “She disagreed with some of the decisions I made.”
Silence. Okwembu keeps her eyes on Prophet. She suppresses the urge to elaborate, letting the seconds tick by.
“Should I take her downstairs, Prophet?” Ray says. “We lost another one yesterday. They could probably use the extra hands.”
Prophet shakes his head, looking Hale up and down. “She’s violent, this one. Something tells me she won’t be so comfortable serving the Engine.”
He turns away. “Take her to the stern.”