Page 298 of Reaper Said Mine

"Only the guilty ones," Ursa replies.

"Those are the governments."

She smiles, and something loosens inside my chest. Three days later, simply seeing her still has that effect.

Dangerous woman.

Ursa approaches the tactical table.

"I need a meeting."

Skahar immediately points toward the door.

"No."

Ursa blinks. "No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You used those words."

"What words?"

"'I need a meeting.'"

Skahar folds his arms. "Nothing good has ever followed that sentence."

Ursa looks at me, and I fail completely by laughing.

She points accusingly. "You are encouraging him."

"I am enjoying him."

"That's worse."

"Agreed."

For a few precious seconds, the command center feels almost normal.

Then Ursa places the datapads onto the tactical surface, and the mood shifts. Nobody carries three datapads into a war room with good news.

"Talk," I say.

Her expression sobers.

"I've been reviewing the evidence."

Krell groans quietly.

"See?" Skahar says, closing his eye. "Nothing good."

Ursa ignores him.

"The shell companies. The treaty negotiations. The intervention plans. The Combine communications."

She taps the first datapad.