It was rare someone could surprise Gretchen, yet Marconi seemed to have the ability. Gretchen filed that little observation away in the many folders she kept neatly cataloged in her head. That was for later, this was for now. Her fingertips brushed against ribbed wood just as she had the thought. She closed her eyes in silent thanks to Lena’s predictably paranoid soul, and pulled what, to the casual observer, would look like a book from behind a pile of old sci-fi classics.
