Doranna Durgin - Comeback

But it hadn’t taken luck to get Selena out of that embassy alive the previous winter. It had been persistence and a determined exploitation of all the tools she had on hand, from a sheaf of flying papers to decorative marbles and dry ice. It had been teamwork with Cole—an unusual remote teamwork where they’d each simply trusted the other to do what was necessary.

And now she was just as determined to do it again.

To judge by the action of the Starlifter crew, they’d been holding off departure. As soon as Selena and Dobry set foot on the plane, the pilot and co-pilot started takeoff procedure, assisted by the two flight engineers. One load-master double-checked the security of the pallets as Selena and Dobry settled into aft-facing seats, their gear stowed by the other loadmaster.

Selena waited for the crew to button up and take their own seats; takeoff wasn’t far behind. Once they were in the air one of the loadmasters offered them some MREs, and Selena was glad to supplement the pastries. She found herself with beef enchilada and used half the water from her appropriated bottle to trigger the flameless chemical heater. The loadmaster just grinned at her as Dobry ate his beef ravioli cold, shaking his head at Selena’s offer of the rest of her water.

After they tucked the resulting garbage away, Dobry cleared his throat and said, “I meant it, you know. I’ll do what I can to make this work—I want to stop that terrorist attack as much as anyone. Schoolkids? No way. And you’ve got Cole—JOXLEITNER—to worry about, but I’ve got my own motivations.”

“Motivation enough to get over how you feel about me?” Selena asked, and the loadmaster who’d been sitting with them suddenly found the need to inspect the pallets again.

“I don’t—” Dobry started, and stopped with a frown. No point in pretending, and he’d seen that.

Selena didn’t even try. “I took a lateral leap to a position you don’t think I deserve. Now I’m out in the field and you don’t think I’m good for that, either. Don’t even try to tell me those things don’t matter to you.”

He frowned, shaking his head. “I won’t. But other things matter more.”

She looked steadily at him, waiting for any sign of doubt, for his eyes to shift away from hers. They didn’t. She said, “Just keep that in mind. Whatever you think about me, getting Cole and Dr. Aymal out of Berzhaan is all that matters.”

“No arguments,” Dobry said, and when he saw her doubt, he added, “Look, I just want to get back in the field. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that. Anything.”

And that, she believed.

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