Page 118 of Aviatrix

“Confused yet?” Sasha asks, her gaze fixed on me.

“It shifts,” I offer. “But what material allows it to shape-shift?”

Sasha smiles. “Granite.”

“It’s granite?” I frown, ignoring the throbbing ache in my chest. An Eli-shaped ache I can’t soothe. “I didn’t know granite had mystical properties that allowed it to shape-shift.”

Sasha rolls her eyes at me.

“Our team believes it’s an alloy mimicking granite in form and density. Unreadable. Untouchable,” she continues, undeterred. “Hard. Impenetrable. Smooth… until it isn’t.”

“What about a port of entry?” Lark asks.

Sasha shakes her head. “It’s solid. No seams. No visible access points. It’s like a floating rock.”

My eyebrows knit together. A floating rock? In the sky? Hovering over a major city? Just another mystery I don’t have the energy for.

“So, we know just as much as we did yesterday,” Lark grunts. There’s a smirk on his face, but something darker beneath it. It makes my heart pause. He’s staring at me like he knows something. Something he hasn’t said aloud. That makes me scared.

“We know the material is harder to destroy,” Sasha defends, her tone clipped. “We know there are no weapons or access points.”

“What about—”

The door swings open.

A woman strides in, recognizable and formidable. Lark bolts upright as the Secretary of Defense, Jan Ming, enters, and his eyes finally leave mine.

He stands at attention and salutes. “Madam Secretary.”

The rest of us stay seated, though the room goes still.

“Colonel,” Jan replies curtly. Her heels echo against the concrete floor.

Sasha’s mouth drops open. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting her to crash the briefing.

“Apologies for the interruption,” Jan says. “But we have logistics to finalize before tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Sasha frowns. “What’s happening tomorrow?”

“Today, Vice President Julian Rourke will be publicly sworn in as the President of the United States,” Jan announces grimly. “Tomorrow, President Jones’s funeral will be attended by everyone in this room.”

My heart sinks. Beside me, Thea reaches for my hand and gives it a light squeeze.

Sasha scoffs. “You’re sending the entire Alien Warfare team into a city with a hovering alien ship? Who authorized this?”

Jan shoots her a cold look, but doesn’t respond directly. Instead, she addresses the room. “The threat is currently low. We do not anticipate further attacks. Attendance is mandatory.”

Thea and I exchange a glance. This doesn’t feel like a non-threat. It feels like they’re lining up all the people who know too much.

“Everyone is dismissed,” Jan says sharply. “Except Colonel Jones and Captain Quay.”

Sasha looks at me, dread in her eyes. I nod subtly and gesture for her to meet me near the door. While everyone else files out, I whisper instructions, “Update Atlas and Fox. Wait in my room with Glitch.”

She shrugs and disappears into the hallway.

I return to my seat. Jan doesn’t acknowledge me. She just stares at the ceiling, bored.

“We’ve been friends a long time, Jan,” Lark says first. “What’s going on?”