“Do you want to join the ILF?” Cress asks.
“Not now. I need to get back to my island. I want to get my people back to the mainland and I need a boat.”
Cress turns over a glass and pours ice water into it. “And you want us to give you one?”
“Loan me one.”
She offers me the glass and I put my palm out in refusal. She takes a long drink from the glass and says, “See? Safe. I wasn’t even thirsty until you got here.”
Cheeky. I am thirsty as fuck, so I pour myself a glass of water.
“Well? Can you spare a boat?”
She sits back in her chair, studying me. “Possibly. Tell me what you know about Briar Hollis.”
My chest tightens. I’m not giving up any information about Briar beyond the basics.
“She’s on my island. What else do you want to know?”
“Why are people on your island afraid of her?”
I bristle, tired of being fucked with. “Enough of the games. You seem to know things about my island. How?”
“We have our ways.”
“You expect me to be completely forthcoming with you, but you won’t tell me shit.”
She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “You’re the one who wants something.”
“Aren’t we on the same side? Evander offered to answer every question I had, but you’re just fucking with me.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Is there anyone on my island other than Olin communicating with the ILF?”
“No.”
“Why are you asking me why people are afraid of Briar? Did Olin tell you that?”
“No.”
I shake my head, frustrated. “Look, if it’s a no on the boat, just say so.”
The man beside her bumps his upper arm against hers lightly. She sighs softly.
“Your island is the one we know the least about. But that doesn’t mean we know nothing.”
I’ve led both sides. Rising Tide and the Dust Walkers. No one but McClain has ever had communication capabilities. McClain was only able to communicate with the mainland through the computer with a direct link to it, which I suspect comes fromcables on the ocean floor. I know its limitations because he showed me how to use it and explained it to me. I can order more supplies through that connection and check records that were last updated several years ago, but nothing else.
“You’re surveilling us.”
She ignores me.
“Does Briar Hollis want what the ILF wants?”
“What does the ILF want?”
“The complete destruction of the New America regime. A restoration to democracy. Free and fair elections.”
