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the emperor?” she asked quietly.
    “Aside from the men on this Halo, he alone knows the truth,” Gavin replied. “I was able to persuade him that keeping you alive could serve our interests better than seeing you dead. It took some careful convincing, I assure you. He did not take kindly to your conspiracy.”
    I suspect not , she thought wryly. He has begun to see enemies all around him . “So what is it you want of me?”
    “I’m sure you are aware what the men say about the Wilderness east of the Corridor.”
    Her eyes narrowed, “I am.” The Imperial Conglomerate’s presence in the Western Hemisphere had created an interesting side-effect. With the Great Army holed up within the cities, Silent Thunder was free to move through the Wilderness without fear of reprisal. Liz had tried to turn that to their advantage, believing two sides with a common foe should be able to reach some kind of agreement—even if only temporarily. But all her attempts to contact the rebels—much less negotiate a truce—had failed.
    “‘Napoleon Alexander may control the cities,’ they say,” Gavin intoned. “‘But Shadow Heart rules the Wilderness.’”
    “I know where this is headed, General. And it is foolishness. I sent countless sentries to find her, and none ever returned alive with word of her. Her people are like ghosts.”
    “I once knew a man who said that to find a ghost, you must send another after it.”
    Liz felt a pang of remorse. The words brought back the memory of the man who spoke them—the man who trained her, who she had never suspected as false. But once his true allegiances had been revealed, it forced her to question whether she truly knew McCall at all. It had taken time for her to decide that there was no reason for her to have felt betrayed. He had done what he thought was right, just as she had. In the end it had cost the old man his life.
    “You have a wealth of soldiers at your disposal. Why me?”
    Gavin smiled, “Oh, I think you know.”
    “I don’t actually.”
    “Put aside the fact that—as a Spectral-adept and a former high-ranking member of both great powers—you have knowledge that they can use. Put aside your brilliant powers of seduction and your virtually unsurpassed abilities as an intelligence officer, which make you keenly suited to this mission. Instead, think of something more base, more primitive—something that will get you access to Shadow Heart herself.”
    “And what is that, General?”
    “Shared loss,” Gavin replied callously. “Rumor is that the…event…which transformed Grace Sawyer from the dewy-eyed daughter of a notorious rebel into the Queen of the Wilderness we have today, was the death of a certain man. A man she loved dearly, and who supposedly—pure myth, I’m sure—took her heart with him into the grave. I happen to know that this man was none other than the Specter Captain, 301-14-A…a man you also knew, I believe.”
    That pang of remorse twisted into a gut-wrenching throb. For the past year she had tucked thoughts of 301’s death away, not permitting herself time to mourn and give Sullivan another reason to suspect her loyalty. She tried to think of him as the enemy, as a combatant whose death served her interests. But she could not find it within her to be so cold, not about him. Whenever he came to mind she couldn’t see anything but her friend, the boy who had stuck with her through thick and thin.
    Until she placed that knife at his throat, and betrayed him.
    “You want me to use her grief to forge an alliance?”
    Gavin chuckled, “No, my dear. Your ploy with Charles Justus was a good one, I’ll admit, but to make an ally of Silent Thunder could get a bit…messy. I want you to manipulate them into doing our bidding, into distracting Alexander while we make our way up from the south. Once we start taking cities, the Great Army will stir, but they might be reluctant to leave with Shadow Heart pounding on their walls.”
    “So we use