Nine Weeks Without Landing

They have flown together for nine weeks and never once been in the same room. Wren Achebe is a folding-wing pilot on a patrol that never lands; Hollis Yen is the analyst on the other end of her mission channel. They know each other's sleep schedule, swear words, and fear of the dark. Then the Union orders Wren to fly a decoy that will kill the relay where Hollis is stationed, and Hollis sees the order first. What they do about it takes two fleets to the brink of a truce they didn't want, one neutral dock, and nine hours neither was cleared to have.