For a long moment, neither Kato nor his counterpart moved. They merely stared at each other.

Behind his counterpart, one of the two Gestapo officers said something Kato couldn’t hear.

The man barked a reply.

Kato thought his counterpart was going to charge toward him. To his surprise, the man turned and walked away.

Kato rose and pursued him, down the hall. There was no hiding now. He had to replace him immediately—or risk being exposed himself.

The three men turned a corner. Kato quickened his pace. When he turned the corner, the two Gestapo officers were standing on the right with their backs against the wall. Kato’s counterpart was gone.

Was it a trap?

Kato slowed his pace.

Alarm bells were ringing in his head.

Neither of the Gestapo men looked at him. They only stared straight ahead. Both wore sidearms at their hips.

On the left side of the hall, Kato saw a sign for a bathroom. On instinct, he pushed the door open. Immediately, he heard his counterpart’s voice. It was quiet, but direct, issuing orders in a hushed tone.

Kato let the door close behind him and locked it immediately. At the sound of the click, his counterpart stopped talking.

Kato’s heart beat faster, the sound echoing in his ears, a thrum-thrum-thrum that hammered out of control.

His fists closed. Ready.

He stepped forward, rounded the corner and crept into the bathroom’s open area.

His counterpart stood there, a small radio held to his mouth. He smiled. “I’ve already reported you. A security team is on its way here now.”

Kato swallowed. He couldn’t fight him here—not with reinforcements coming. And the Gestapo already outside. He was trapped. His mind went into overdrive.

“You’re right. I have been following you.”

His counterpart cocked his head, but remained silent. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why?”

“I have information.”

“What kind of information?”

“About the Pax. And the A21 launch. I want to trade it for Covenant citizenship.”

“I am not an immigration officer.”

“But you are an intelligence officer. One with rank. You can help broker a deal if the information is valuable—and it is.”

“Tell me.”

“No. I need to show you. I brought it with me. Photos and documents.” “You’re lying.”

“I’m not. I know that the Pax sent a team here to try to destroy the A21 missiles. You stopped them. You still have one of them. A woman named Nora Brown. What you don’t know is that they haven’t given up. They’re planning another attack. Today. I have the details. You need them right now.”

His counterpart studied Kato’s face, as if searching for cracks in the story

—or perhaps to confirm whether they were indeed the same person.

The light in the bathroom was dim. That was good. The man probably couldn’t see the makeup Kato was wearing, likely couldn’t tell the hair he saw was a wig.

“Please,” Kato said. “Take a look. You won’t be sorry. It’s in my room.” He motioned to the bathroom door. “You have two men with you. I’m a simple security guard. You can’t be afraid of me.”

His counterpart snorted. “Very well. Show me. But—we are going straight to your room. And the Gestapo outside will search it before I enter.” “Of course.” Kato motioned to the radio. “But at least call off the team

coming here. I don’t want people to know I’m defecting.”

Kato’s counterpart eyed him a long moment, then raised the radio to his mouth and spoke quickly in German. When he was finished, he nodded to the door. “Proceed. And be quick.”