Trey
The door hits the wall hard enough that all of us move.
My feet are under me before I’ve processed it’s Nova in the doorway and not something worse.
She’s not hurt. She’s not scared.
“What the…” Rane blurts out.
She’s looking for something.
“My jacket.” Already past us, checking the hooks by the door. “The one I’ve had since the beginning. It’s here right? Where is it?”
“What—”
“Inside pocket.” Checks the back of the armchair. “There was a card in it.”
Beckett puts down his computer.
He doesn’t take his eyes off her.
“Linda’s card?” he says.
Nova turns around, eyes wide.
And we all realize at exactly the same time that we’ve fucked up.
“How do you know that?” she says.
Beckett looks at her steadily.
Glad he’s the one talking and not me.
“Because we found it. While you were gone. It fell out of your jacket.” He pauses and I know it’s because he’s choosing his words carefully. “It was the only lead we had.”
Nova stares at him.
I watch her get there.
“You called her.”
“Beckett did,” I say. “The first morning after we… got our shit together.” I run my hand through my hair. “She answered. Gave us coordinates, timing, the entry point.”
Nova doesn’t move.
“She met us at the door,” Kyron says. “Side entrance. Knew the patrol schedule. Knew the layout. Took us straight down to you.”
“She didn’t hesitate,” Locke says.
“She—” Nova stops. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that look on her face before. “She got you in.”
“She got us to you,” Beckett says. “Yeah.”
The fire pops. Nobody moves.
“Lena said she’s not Order,” Nova says.
Rane sits up. “What?”
“That’s what the loops are.” She looks around at us. “I went to see her today. Linda’s not Order. That’s what she’s been trying to say. The whole time.” Her jaw tightens. “She held onto it through everything they did to her. For me.”
It’s hard to think about that.
“If Linda’s not Order,” Kyron says. Slow. “Then what?”
“I don’t know.” Nova shakes her head. “She couldn’t — I don’t know.”
Vaelor’s turned from the stove. Dish towel over his shoulder. “She still got us to you.”
“That’s not the point,” Beckett says.
His voice is flat. Focused.
“Beckett,” Rane says.
“It was too easy.” Beckett looks up. “I’ve been thinking about it since the trip home. The corridor was clear. Every door open that needed to be open. Guards nowhere they should have been. The timing—” He shakes his head. “That’s not one person.”
“We had Linda,” Rane tries.
“One woman?” Beckett looks at him. “You really think she pulled all that off alone?”
Rane opens his mouth. Closes it.
Nova’s arms cross over her chest.
“Wait,” she says.
Everyone looks at her.
“I met her…” She swallows. “She was there for my intake. I only met her twice. But she seemed…”
Her eyes go wide.
“You found her card.”
“In your jacket,” Beckett nods. “I grabbed it when we left the Academy. Didn’t even think about it. The card fell out of the inside pocket.”
Nova shifts, lost in thought.
“She gave me that card,” she says. Quiet. “At processing. Before the Academy. Before any of this.” She looks around at us. “I’d been there for days. And she was the only one who — who treated me like a person.” She lets out a breath. “She said if I was stuck, if something went wrong. I could call.”
Nobody says anything.
“Before the Academy,” Kyron says.
“Before she knew any of us existed,” Vaelor says.
“Before the cluster was even confirmed,” I say.
Nova nods.
“So she wasn’t watching you because of them,” Rane says slowly. “She was already watching. And then they found you. And she—”
“Was there for a different reason,” Beckett says.
Not sure what to think about that.
“One person still couldn’t have done what she did at the facility,” Beckett says. “Which means she’s got something behind her. Resources. People.” He looks at Nova. “Something that isn’t the Order and isn’t us.”
“I think you’re right, Beckett.” She gives him a small smile.
He reaches into his pocket. Puts the card on the table between them.
She picks it up.
“Then we ask her ourselves,” Beckett says.
“Yeah,” she says. “We do.”