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\u201cYou cut the feed?\u201d Hale whispered.<\/p>\n
She shook her head. \u201cCutting it bought you a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA minute buys us survival.\u201d He reached for his uniform and tore off the rank insignia, stuffing it into his boot. \u201cWhat do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA path to the perimeter. And a countdown.\u201d She checked her watch. Twenty minutes to dawn.<\/p>\n
Hale smiled, and for the first time since dawn, there was warmth in it. \u201cGood. Then let\u2019s make a path worth the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
They worked quickly. Hale, seasoned in improvisation, moved like a man who had memorized the calculus of risk. He whispered commands in the language of small adjustments \u2014 move that crate, wait for that patrol. He loosened two more bureaucrats of the enemy \u2014 men who made sure the prisoners were pliant \u2014 and left them gagged in a storeroom. He fashioned a disguise for Grace from a blanket and tied her hair into a cap. She buttoned his shirt to hide the knife scar along his ribs.<\/p>\n
Outside, the compound alarm began to wail. The enemy had discovered the blackout and now stirred like a hive. Grace and Hale stepped into the sand like thieves. The stars watched them vanish toward the west where a dry wash funneled toward the tree line \u2014 and toward the small canyon where Grace had stashed two explosive charges meant to take out a guard tower if things went wrong.<\/p>\n
They reached the wash and moved like ghosts through the scrub. Behind them, the compound erupted into confusion. Men shouted. Lanterns flared. An argument ended in gunfire \u2014 sharp, close, a sound Grace catalogued like an instrument note. They ran.<\/p>\n
At the canyon, Hale paused, the weight of a colonel and a man heavy in his posture. \u201cLieutenant,\u201d he said quietly, \u201cyou didn\u2019t have to do this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him \u2014 at the man who had been a teacher and a ruler and a protector. \u201cYou taught me how to decide, sir,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just following orders.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed once, a sound like a sigh. \u201cGod help my paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n