When they did, Aubrey hugged Josi and Rich, so glad to see them alive. “Where are the others?” “I don’t know how much you figured out on your own,” Jack said, watching the open field behind them. “But Tabitha was relaying false orders to you. We think she was trying to stall you so that the infantry would reach you.” Rage flared in her chest. “What? Why would she do that?” “To run away,” Rich said. “After the firefight started, Tabitha and Krezi ran for the bikes.” Aubrey was too stunned to answer. Tabitha had told her to go slow. To check every tree. Had told her she couldn’t kill the lambda until she got confirmation—confirmation that Tabitha never passed along. That was why Captain Gillett had come running. “She got Gillett killed,” Aubrey said, staring at Jack’s shadowed eyes. “They were all killed,” Josi said, her voice breaking. “They died protecting us.” “But I heard the order to fall back.” “They didn’t do it,” Josi said. “We don’t know why.”
