Icon by Genevieve Valentine Page B

contact Suyana had met on home soil had vanished—prison or dead, Zenaida never told her. He had been expendable; contacts always were. Suyana was the constant they risked it for. If she came back again, and there was more work that needed doing, it wouldn’t be Sotalia. Sotalia would be long gone.)
    â€œI couldn’t get much,” Suyana said, and rolled out the length of paper towel, sketching the rise of the hills in concentriccircles.
    After a few marks for the trees, Sotalia said, “Is it really that close to the forest? They must be serious about pretending they care.”
    â€œIt looks that way,” Suyana said, her stomach pulling tight, suddenly, from doubt. “The mud flat faces the entrance approach, but they keep most of the seeds right above the entry pod.”
    Sotalia looked at her, skeptical. “So what? We should be careful not to set the charges there when we burn the building down?”
    Suyana took a breath, straightened up. Not that she had much full height to draw up to, but she was taller than Sotalia. “You shouldn’t set charges anywhere yet. I talked with one of the administrators, and I think we should wait until they’ve gotten the first planting in, to hold back the erosion. The erosion is a bigger threat than the red tape right now. I want this to be a reconnaissance mission.”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œThey’re getting sponsors to buy enough plants to slow down the erosion. If they mean it, then the planting needs to happen first. And if they do it in good faith, then maybe they’re serious about conservation. I think you need to wait and see.”
    Sotalia folded her arms. “Yes, of course, I had forgottenthe meeting where we decided to believe everything we were told by the people in charge.”
    â€œI’m not saying trust them. I’m saying wait. It’s at least structured for conservation—it’s messy and we have to be careful before we let them get away with patents or anything permanent, but—”
    â€œAnd I remember how the mining outpost was supposed to create jobs that would make it worth all the trees they were tearing down.”
    â€œThey aren’t some American mining company,” Suyana hissed.
    â€œIt’s outsiders trying to make money off the forest! There’s no difference between one outpost and another!”
    Too young for this, Suyana thought. Reckless. Her hands were beginning to shake. She pressed them harder against the counter. “Maybe no one’s told you my connection to the last group of outsiders.”
    â€œOh,” said Sotalia, with weight. Her dark eyes glittered. “No, don’t worry, Lachesis. I know who you are.”
    Acid rose in her throat. The last man who did what you’re doing is gone, she wanted to say. The last time I did this, I was sure it needed to be done (I’m still sure, surer than I am of this, surer than I am of anything now). The last time this happened, I lost the only man I trusted in the world. Don’t ever say my name like you don’t think I earned it.
    What she said was, “Then you can be damn sure I know the difference.”
    Without looking away, she slid the paper under her hand sideways, right under the water. It ran over her fingers, ice cold, and it would take care of the ink.
    â€œI have specifics,” she said. “I have the names of the plants they’re hoping to patent—that has to be stopped, and I would think that’s something Chordata would be interested in. I know the facility layout, and their timeline, and their potential. And you won’t be getting any of it until I can be sure you know the difference, too.”
    On her way out, she scooped her tablet off the table, just in case Sotalia got any ideas about procuring information the hard way.
    Tell me I’m not a coward, she thought to Hakan as she met her bodyguard and walked through the lobby with a