Aaron’s face darkened.
“There’s one person the network fears more than Ethan.”
“Who?”
“You.”
Maya almost laughed.
“I’ve been a civilian for eight years.”
“That’s exactly why they underestimated you.”
Aaron handed her a tiny storage drive.
“Ethan discovered the flight-control exploit. You discovered the evidence that made it prosecutable.”
Maya frowned.
“I never saw any evidence.”
“You did.”
“When?”
“Your final mission.”
Memory struck her.
A damaged enemy communications unit recovered during an operation.
Encrypted telemetry.
Maya had copied the data before turning it over because she suspected someone had altered the flight plan.
Two days later, Ethan supposedly d/i/e/d.
“Where is the copy?” Aaron asked.
Maya stared at him.
“I destroyed it.”
“No.”
“I did.”
“No,” Aaron repeated. “Ethan knew you better than that.”
Maya’s pulse slowed.
Aaron continued.
“You never destroyed evidence.”
A memory surfaced.
Her old flight helmet.
