Chapter 23 · Tell me why he ordered the aircraft captured

She shoved the pistol against his jaw. "Tell me why he ordered the aircraft captured."

"Because he wants the synchronization data."

"He already has the test results."

"Not mine."

"What makes yours different?"

Kane looked at the dead screens. A faint reflection showed Selena beside him, rigid and furious, her mouth set in the line he remembered from the execution platform.

She had worn that same expression when she gave the order to fire.

No. Not now. Not three years early.

"The machine recognizes a pilot who has crossed a failure point," he said.

"That means nothing."

"It means the aircraft can use my memory as combat data."

"Memory isn't a weapon."

"You've never watched an entire city burn from orbit."

Her finger tightened against the trigger.

"Don't talk like you know me."

"I know you ordered my execution."

The words left his mouth before he could stop them.

Selena went still.

Outside, the aircraft clipped a communications tower. The cockpit spun.