Maya's POV
I woke in the underground facility's medical bay to the sound of my parents arguing in whispered Russian—a language they only used when they wanted privacy from me, forgetting I had learned it during my Georgetown years specifically to understand their coded conversations.
"We cannot keep doing this," Mom said, her voice breaking with exhaustion I had never heard before. "Running, hiding, watching our daughter nearly die repeatedly. There has to be ending that does not require one of us in casket."
"Then what do you propose?" Dad replied with analyst's frustration at problems that resisted logical solution. "Maya will not stop investigating. Network will not stop pursuing her. Those facts are immovable. We adapt or we surrender."
"I propose we make them stop," Mom stated wit
