Hello,

Hello, everyone, how you feelin?

Hello, everyone, how you feeling?

Because, you know, we ended on a cliffhanger last week, as all good stories should,

and a lot of pieces were in play.

Uzochi is keeping her tech and her plans a secret.

Nico and Asala are still at odds.

Soraya feels betrayed, and General

Sinrig, well, she's arrogantly optimistic her side will win the battle. I'm holding my breath

waiting for what will happen next. Hopefully I won't pass out while we hear a word from our sponsors.

All right, let's get back to Camp Gala and see where this adventure takes us.

I'm your host, Faith McQuinn, and we're about to hear the penultimate episode of the Vela.

Episode 9. As a sniper, Asala had grown accustomed to relying on herself.

She'd spent hours, sometimes days in Chaim's petty interneasing battles, lying prone,

while insects crawled over her and bit or stung any exposed flesh, miserable beneath

the unrelenting sun, and praying the dust wouldn't foul her equipment. In her head,

she kept a tally of every person she'd ever assassinated, alone or as part of a team. As a Gandesian

poet had said, The stars may be numberless, but we number our dead.

Even so, as a sniper, she hadn't been completely alone. At first, the rest of her unit had made

remarks on how the stuck-up Clanny was keeping to herself.

Then she'd been reassigned to Captain Ekram's company.

She hadn't trusted him exactly.

...