“Then I stay with the boy?”
She didn’t answer.
“You’re taking him with you on a rescue attempt and leaving me in the mule? Or taking me with you and leaving him alone?”
“Shut up,” she said, wishing she could pound the sympathy from his sunburned, lantern-jawed face. He was right, which made it worse. She was stuck trusting him.
Time’s wasting, stupid. Decide.
“I’m locking you out of the Burrobrain,” she said. “I’ll enable manual drive in case the line moves. Get to Austin HQ. I’m alerting the drivers in front and behind you. Try to run for it . . .”
“Yes, yes, they’ll come in firing. What if someone pings me?”
“I’ll answer on wireless.”
“Fine.” He nodded toward the disguised Fiends. “They’ll head to the river valley.”
“Would they risk it? Squid cleared the mines on the highway—why
