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Chapter no 66

Quantum Radio

In Katoโ€™s prison cell, the sound of the lock opening shot through the small space. The tall man with a goatee stepped inside again, this time holding a folder.

โ€œYeah,โ€ he said, drawing the word out. โ€œThat line you shot us before is not playing well upstairs.โ€

He threw the folder on the metal table. โ€œWhat I have here is a file on a Sicherheitsdienst Sturmbannfรผhrerโ€”โ€ He looked up. โ€œOof, thatโ€™s a mouthful. I guess when they integrated with the Covenant, the SSย reallyย wanted to keep their ranks and organization.โ€ He tapped the folder. โ€œAnywho, point is, this SD spook looks suspiciously like youโ€”as in, he is you. As in, we know who you are, and ergoโ€”by the way, I just learned that word, ergo, which means thereforeโ€”so therefore, ergo, you have info we want.โ€ He held his hands up. โ€œAnd weโ€™re not super particular about how we get it. Hard way. Easy way. All fine by us. Not a lot of love lost for the Covenant around here.โ€

He waited.

Kato said nothing.

โ€œHey, itโ€™s more paperwork for me if we go the super unpleasant way, but frankly, I hope you choose that. Frankly, I donโ€™t mind the paperwork. Itโ€™s a bit cathartic, really, writing it all down, sorting through what happened in a room like this and how I feel about it. Writing can be therapeutic, you know?โ€

He stared at Kato, eyes like lasers carving him up, unblinking, cold and deadly. โ€œSo, what do you want to do, SD spook?โ€

โ€œIโ€™m not who you think I am.โ€

โ€œThatโ€™s disappointing. I figured you SD operatives would have better lies than that. We get that one all the time.โ€ The interrogator made his voice whiny and pleading. โ€œYouโ€™ve got the wrong guy, really, Iโ€™m telling ya.โ€

โ€œI donโ€™t have the answers you want. Iโ€™m not supposed to be here.โ€

โ€œWell, on that last point, we agree. But weโ€™re going to start peeling the onion here and find out what you know.โ€

*

In the dank cell, Ty listened as the man called again, the same refrain he had repeated several times now: โ€œHungry? Talk, and weโ€™ll feed you. All you have to do is start talkingโ€”and youโ€™ll start eating.โ€

Tyโ€™s jailer left the hall and returned with a metal tray, which he set on the floor outside Tyโ€™s cell, out of reach. The smell of meat and butter and spices wafted through the small opening in the door.

It was a kind of torture Ty never knew existed: to be hungry and smell food. Still, he didnโ€™t say a word. He knew if he did, it might hurt Nora, Kato, or Maria. Or himself.

But each time they brought the tray and took it away, he felt himself breaking a little more.

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