Alex spent thirty minutes searching for the room. Nicole had moved into Cheyenne Mountain with the other early arrivals, but Alex had no idea where her friend was staying. It turned out to be one of the new containerized housing stacks back near the complex’s expansive water reservoirs. The structures were three-stories tall with narrow catwalks and stairways leading to each level. The individual living quarters, all side-by-side and stacked atop each other, consisted of a specialized shipping container that each contained a bedroom, bathroom, and study. A handwritten sign on Nicole’s door advised: DO NOT DISTURB. Alex ignored the notice.

Nicole beamed when she opened the door. “Finally get time out of your busy schedule to come visit?” Then she noticed the distressed expression on Alex’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I come in?”

Nicole stepped out of the way. The room was small compared to Alex’s quarters at the Peterson lodge but expansive when put up against the living spaces within the mountain’s main complex. Of the four ceiling lights, Nicole had only turned one on and left it at the lowest setting. Alex’s eyes adjusted slowly. Then she let out a sharp breath. “You keep all of these in here?”

Firearms, loaded magazines, and ammunition filled the housing unit. Alex had never seen so many weapons outside an armory. Nicole’s sniper rifle occupied half of the bed, and her worn handgun lay on the nightstand by the alarm clock. Assault rifles and submachine guns in various states of assembly covered Nicole’s desk. An old machine pistol stood propped up in one corner of the bathroom. A ballistic vest hung beside Nicole’s clothes in the closet.

Nicole shrugged. “I told Harrison the only way he was going to station me in this place was if he let me bring all my friends.”

“But… only the guards—”

“How many times do I have to tell you? We can do whatever we want. We’re ‘kinetics. They only care about keeping us happy. I could ask for a nuke and they’d let me have it.”

You already have one, Alex thought and for the first time wondered if Nicole could also wipe out a whole city and kill thousands of people. Nicole must have considered the possibility. Of course, if Nicole could do it, then she wouldn’t she be infiltrating the NEA’s lines heading toward Boston, New York, or Washington instead of sitting inside Cheyenne Mountain?

It’s because we’re not like them. We’re not like the NEA. We’d never… But they had. Ellzey had been waiting in Kansas City with the young man who had touched her on the forehead and then an hour later smiled and slit his throat in front of her. According to Ellzey, the destructiveness of her outburst had been a miscalculation, but they had known something cataclysmic would happen. The Committee had known. The Directorate had known.

“Still in there?” Nicole’s voice took Alex from her thoughts. A welcome interruption.

“What were you saying?”

Nicole gave Alex a curious look. “I said we can do whatever we want. They’ll do anything to keep us happy.”

“Maybe that’s true for you. I don’t think General Harrison cares about keeping me happy.”

“That’s because he knows you’ll just salute and follow orders.”

“And you wouldn’t?”

Nicole grinned. “Anyway, what’s wrong?”

“It’s about Shepherd.”

“Break up already?”

“They’re MIA. The whole team. Harrison said we lost contact two days ago, and we haven’t heard from them since.”

“Did you find out what they were doing?”

“No.”

“Well, I wish I could help, but…”

“You could get a copy of their orders, couldn’t you? You have that kind of clearance.”

“I’m sure it’s classified. I’d have to go through Harrison.”

“What about my dad?”

“Sorry?”

“My dad would have access, wouldn’t he?”

“Why?” Nicole said cautiously.

Alex hesitated before saying, “I know how to log into his account. If you can’t get it, maybe I can. Although, I don’t know if they would have deleted his account or downgraded it by now.”

“If I know your dad, I’m sure he had it set up so no one could touch anything of his account without his authority. I’ll bet he still has access to everything.”

“Okay,” Alex said eagerly and tried to recall the location of the closest public computer terminal. “Thanks, I’m going to—”

“God, just hold on,” Nicole said and then went to her closet and rummaged through the top shelf. After knocking over several boxes of ammunition and cursing, she pulled down a laptop from under a pile of clothes. She plugged a long network cable from the back of the laptop into a port on the wall and then went to the bed and sat. Alex joined her.

“What don’t you have in here?” Alex said. “Does that thing even work?” The laptop was old. Chips of paint were missing from the chassis, and as Nicole opened it up, Alex saw a crack in the corner of the screen.

Nicole put on a hurt expression. “Of course it works. Found it and fixed it up myself.” She pressed the power button, and the laptop whirred to life. A screech sounded from inside the device and then transitioned to a scratchy whir. Alex gave Nicole a skeptical look. Nicole shrugged. “I’m better with guns than computers.”

The computer took several minutes to boot up. Finally, the Directorate’s login screen appeared. Nicole passed the laptop to Alex, and she typed in her father’s username and password before handing it back. There was another long wait as the computer loaded the desktop. “I could have done this faster from a terminal,” Alex said.

“Sure, but now I’ve got your dad’s login information. You have no idea how much fun I can have with this.”

“Wait! You can’t. My dad will—”

Nicole gave Alex a gentle shove. “I’m just messing with you. Don’t worry; I’ll probably have to throw this thing out once they notice someone on an unregistered computer is logging on as your dad from the CHUs.”

What are you getting yourself into? Alex wondered. A sharp, electronic chirping came from the laptop as it finished loading her father’s account.

Nicole went to work. Alex tried to follow Nicole’s keystrokes and taps on the touchpad, but she was soon lost. She looked over at the handgun on the nightstand. She wondered how much effort it would take to get her own handgun, the one that had belonged to her father, out of the armory. She was not interested in keeping it as a weapon, but as something else. She enjoyed running her fingers along the deep engravings that spelled out her name, imagining that her father had once held the weapon, and perhaps even her mother.

“Well…” Nicole murmured.

“What is it?”

“It’s strange.” Nicole turned the laptop. Alex looked at the screen but only gave Nicole a helpless expression. Nicole went on, “There’s nothing about Echo being assigned to a new mission.”

“You can’t find anything?”

“Sorry, girl. Got any other ideas?”

Alex looked down at her lap. Why wasn’t anyone else trying to help the team? It wasn’t even a matter of resources – there were plenty of analysts across Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson and Fort Carson. Even if those analysts were busy with the war effort, Harrison could have at least offered her access to the databases. As it was, she and Nicole were breaking into the Directorate’s systems, an offense punishable at the very least with time in prison. But there was no other way and no one else to help them. Or is there?

“Can you get onto the watch floor?” Alex said.

“The information won’t be any different there.”

“I know someone who can help. Sergeant Paul. He was part of the team for a while. I saw him the other day. He’s working here, now.”

“So you want me to go look for him and…?”

“Bring him here. Tell him I need help. He might know about the team.”

“You sure we can trust him?”

“Yes.”

Nicole sighed. “Fine, whatever.”

“You’re the best.”

Nicole got up and went to the closet. “You know,” she said while rummaging through the clothes on the hangers, “you should be glad I’m so fond of you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Why do you think my ass is stuck here in this mountain?”

Alex considered the question. With the NEA a mere four hundred miles away, it didn’t make sense for Nicole to remain in Cheyenne Mountain. Even if the Committee wasn’t going to use Nicole as a weapon of mass destruction, she was still one of the Directorate’s top operatives. Then she remembered what Nicole had said in Topeka, the reason she had been sleeping on the floor of the camper. “You’re here because of me.”

Nicole put on a jacket and turned to Alex. “Harrison told me to keep an eye on you. Not sure why. It’s not like you ever cause any trouble.” Nicole gave her a knowing smile but then hesitated. “He… told me some other things, too.”

“Kansas City?” Alex said.

“You know, I never knew you had it in you. Hell, I saw it with my own two eyes… well, your two eyes, and I still couldn’t believe it.”

“What would you do?”

Nicole cocked her head. “About what?”

“What would you do if it had been you in Kansas City instead of me?”

“Hell, I don’t know. I’d be glad to be alive. Sure, it sucks about all our guys, but it’s not like I knew any of them. Just don’t do it to me and we’ll be okay.”

Alex didn’t reply.

“Anyway, I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Nicole left the room, leaving Alex sitting alone on the bed. How could Nicole dismiss everything so easily? One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven. That number had stuck in her mind since the meeting with Harrison. In the dim lighting, she could almost picture herself back on the Kansas City overpass. She saw a vague outline of the young man who had been with Ellzey. His hand went up to his neck in slow motion. The knife was there, even though she hadn’t seen it at the time. Then the spray of blood as he plunged the knife into himself and tore apart his artery. She remembered the curtain of red coming down across her vision – not blood, but something else, that same creeping darkness just before she had struck Ellzey in the medical center.

And Harrison, too. I almost did it twice. And what would I have done? Broke his desk? The office? Him?

She got up and went around the room turning on the lights. Nicole was more comfortable in the darkness, but Alex disliked it. The dim lighting and the long shadows across the walls only reinforced her sense of Cheyenne Mountain as a claustrophobic installation that no longer felt like home.

She returned to the bed, lay back, and closed her eyes. Soon, she felt herself beginning to doze off. Before she could fall asleep, the door opened after a click of the lock disengaging.

A whistle of surprise came before Sergeant Paul exclaimed, “Didn’t know we were going to the armory!”

Nicole dragged Paul into view as Alex sat up. “This him?” Nicole said.

Paul appeared slightly bewildered. Alex nodded. “That’s him.”

“Hey, Alex.” Paul’s gaze drifted around the room, taking in the weapons and equipment. “Heard you needed some help?”

“I don’t, but the team does. They’re MIA.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“General Harrison.”

“I knew they left a few days ago, but… What can I do?”

Alex picked up Nicole’s laptop and held it out. Paul took it and ran his finger over the crack in the screen. “You need to me to fix this?” he said.

Nicole glowered. “It works fine.”

“I have it logged onto my dad’s account,” Alex said. “We were trying to find—”

“Whoa.” Paul cringed and set the laptop down on the bed. “Back up. You’re on the network with your dad – General Bedford’s – account? How’d you even get this thing on the network? There’s no way this was approved.”

“If I told you…” Nicole said and then looked at her sniper rifle.

Paul gave Nicole a nervous smile and moved closer to Alex. “Right. So, what were you trying to find?”

“We were looking for the team’s orders. I want to know where they went. But Nicole said she couldn’t find it.”

“There’s nothing to find,” Nicole said. “If any orders exist, they’re not in the database.”

“Well, I can try to dig up something. But you know, this is pretty… serious. I could get in a lot of trouble.”

“If anyone finds out, just tell them I put a gun to your head,” Nicole said. “In fact, that’s not a bad idea. Might help in case they polygraph you.”

Paul held up his hands. “No, that’s all right. Just let me see what I can find.” He took the laptop, went to the desk, and sat down. He pushed aside the parts of a disassembled gun, knocking a bolt and firing pin to the floor to clear room for the computer. Nicole winced but kept silent. They watched Paul as he worked. After a few minutes, he leaned back in the chair. “This sure is a lot easier with full security clearances.”

“Did you find anything?” Alex asked.

“Of course. Now, I couldn’t get that mission report.” Paul glanced at Nicole. “You’re right… it isn’t there. But I did find the flight log from an Osprey that left Peterson at 0603 on the 29th. Do you know if that’s about when they left?”

Alex nodded.

“I traced the flight path, and it looks like they dropped the team off in Kansas about twenty miles north of Fort Riley. That’s behind enemy lines. You know… word from the spooks is the NEA is using Fort Riley as a forward operating base. So, it sounds like they sent Echo in for something pretty important.”

“More like a suicide mission,” Nicole said.

Alex ignored Nicole and said, “Is there anything else on there?”

Paul shook his head. “That’s the best I can do. Sorry.”

“It’s more than General Harrison would tell me.”

“Sure,” Paul said, “but I don’t see how it helps.”

Abruptly, Nicole said to Paul, “You should go.” Alex and Paul looked at her. Nicole continued, “Don’t tell anyone you came here. If anyone asks why I came and got you, tell them I needed help finding a technical manual in the database. Got it?”

“Sure.” Paul stood and went to the door. He looked nervous as if he expected Nicole to lash out and attack him.

“Thanks for the help,” Alex said.

“Right. No problem.” Paul left the room. Nicole shut and locked the door behind him.

“What was that about?” Alex said.

“I got him out of here because I knew it was only a matter of time until you suggested we go after your team.”

“What? I never—”

“I can see it up there.” Nicole pointed and nearly poked Alex’s forehead between her eyes. “The wheels are turning. I know you. You’re all worked up about your boyfriend, and you’re willing to do something stupid to help him.”

Alex was about to argue but then she said, “Well… how would we do it?”

Nicole grinned. “You know, I overheard your dad say once that I was a bad influence. I think it’s the other way around.” She went to her closet and retrieved an empty duffel bag. One-by-one, she removed sets of fatigues from her hangers and placed them in the bag. Alex recognized the camouflage patterns as the same type worn by the NEA. After rummaging through the closet for a few more items, Nicole brought the duffel to the bed and set it down. She looked Alex in the eyes and said, “What would you do if I told you to go back to your room and not involve me in this? Would you just forget about it? There are plenty of other men out there. Hell, I could find you one better looking and just as experienced as Shepherd.”

“It’s not just about him. It’s everyone. I’m still part of the team no matter what General Harrison says. If they’re still alive, I have to do something.”

“Cute,” Nicole said and then knelt and picked up the bolt and firing pin Sergeant Paul had knocked to the floor. She reassembled the components while saying, “So you’d go after them by yourself?”

Alex considered it, but shook her head. “I wouldn’t know what to do, but I could find someone. Maybe the Committee—”

“Yeah, the Committee would have you sedated until your dad wakes up so he can talk some sense into you. I wouldn’t go asking them.”

“So are you telling me to just forget it?” Alex felt a hint of anger.

“Not much point.” Nicole finished assembling the weapon and picked up a clear plastic magazine from the desk. She slid the magazine onto the top of the weapon and then hit down on it with her fist. Nicole racked the charging handle and chambered a round. “Go get some sleep. You’re going to need the rest. Meet me at the blast door at midnight.”

Alex stood in the main tunnel and glanced nervously at her watch. It was cold and dark. The only sounds were the occasional and disquieting creeks and groans from the tunnel walls. She had spent most of the afternoon and evening sleeping except for a short trip to the mess hall for dinner. Then an hour ago, she had gotten up, taken a shower, and left the facility. It was now five minutes until midnight.

Still time to forget all about this, a voice in her mind urged.

She glanced back through the blast door. The warm, inviting light from within the complex seemed to beckon her to come back inside. Instead, she crossed her arms to bundle herself up against the cold.

This is a bad idea. Go back.

The voice was right; she would be disobeying orders as soon as she stepped out the north portal and through the security checkpoint. Nicole had kept her in the dark about the plan except for where and when to meet. But the plan would obviously involve breaking out of Cheyenne Mountain. After that, she could only guess.

Footsteps sounded from the blast door. Alex turned and saw Nicole hurrying out with one duffel bag slung over her shoulder and another in her hand. Nicole was sweating and looked exhausted. As soon as she reached Alex’s side, she dropped the duffels and sat down.

“Shit,” Nicole said after taking several deep breaths. “I should have had you help haul all this crap.”

Alex tapped one of the duffels with her foot. “What’s in here?”

“I’ll show you later.” Nicole glanced at her watch and stood back up. “Grab one. Let’s get moving.”

Alex stared at the duffel bags. The voice again urged her to go back inside. But the voice wasn’t enough. She pictured Shepherd sitting bloodied and alone in a cold, wet, and cramped cell. And that was if he and the team were still alive. Then her mind conjured something else, another face, not Shepherd, but her father. What would he think if he woke up and found her gone – his daughter branded a traitor for breaking out of Cheyenne Mountain?

“We shouldn’t do this,” Alex said. “I know I should have said something earlier, but… I can’t—”

“Shut up,” Nicole said. Alex was taken aback. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re worried about, but consider this: why do you think Harrison sent your boyfriend and his team out behind enemy lines without giving them any replacements for the guys you lost?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“It’s because of you.”

“What?”

“If you really wiped out a city and a couple thousand of our guys, then I can understand how we might want to keep things quiet. Harrison’s tying up loose ends.”

“No.” As much as she disliked Harrison, she refused to believe he would send any soldiers under his command out to die to support a cover-up. But it wouldn’t be his decision. It’s the Committee.

“Well, either way, Shepherd’s out there somewhere. Maybe’s he’s KIA, maybe not. You’re not going to find out by sitting here, and I’m sure as hell not going this one solo. You with me, girl?”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to help.”

“I may be good, but you can do some pretty impressive stuff.” Nicole grinned. “I’m sure I’ll find some use for you.”

“That’s not what I meant. I don’t want something to happen. I… I don’t think I can control it anymore. I attacked Ellzey this afternoon. I didn’t even mean to. I almost did it to Harrison, too.”

Nicole groaned. “You do realize we’re going behind the NEA’s lines, right? There won’t be a single friendly except for your team for fifty miles in any direction. If you just so happen to do your thing, you’ll probably get a medal when we get back here. Hell, you might single handedly save the Directorate! Now look, a patrol is going to come through here soon. Are you in or out? Yes or no?”

Alex looked up and down the tunnel. They were already taking a risk just by standing outside the blast doors after curfew. She disliked having to make a decision with so little time to consider the outcomes, alternatives, and repercussions. Then she thought of Shepherd. He always made decisions under conditions that were more stressful, when most people would run for cover or beg for someone else to take responsibility. She admired that confidence and his ability to remain cool under pressure. She wanted him back, and she knew how much she would hate herself if she slunk back to her room and abandoned him and the team.

“Let’s go.”

“Damn right.”

Nicole slung one of the duffels, and Alex did the same. The bag was heavy, but she was used to the weight; it was nothing compared to the equipment she had worn into Kansas City. They started down the tunnel side-by-side, and despite her initial misgivings, Alex realized she was at ease. This was how she felt with the team – when she was entering a situation she would never tackle alone but knew Shepherd and the rest of the men would be there to back her up. Even thought it was only two of them and not an entire team, Nicole was a professional, well-trained and deadly. If it had to be someone at her side other than Shepherd or any of the men, Nicole was the best choice.

Neither of them spoke for the first quarter mile. Eventually, Alex saw the opening of the north portal. “What’s the plan?” she said.

“Hell if I know, I thought you were coming up with that.”

Alex looked at Nicole in alarm but then saw her friend’s smile. Alex shook her head and grinned. “We’re just going to walk out?”

“Something like that.”

A cool breeze came down from Cheyenne Mountain as they stepped out from the tunnel. The sky was clear and starry. The moon was full with a faint hint of a yellow glow. At once, Alex and Nicole paused. They looked at each other for a long moment. This is it. Last chance to turn around. Then both of them started toward the checkpoint.

A soldier from the guard shack approached. He looked familiar. “Let me handle this,” Nicole said. “Don’t say anything.”

Alex nodded but then realized the guard was Lieutenant Harvey Beall. She had last seen him after the team’s return from New York. There were rumors he had a crush on her, but they had rarely spoken except when exchanging greetings at the gate.

“Alex,” Beall said with surprise. “And…” He looked at Nicole for a moment and then snapped to attention and saluted.

Nicole unenthusiastically returned the gesture. “We’re heading to Peterson, Lieutenant,” she said in a dry voice. “Mind opening the gate?”

“Yes, ma’am. I just need to see your authorization.”

“Authorization? I have clearance to leave when I want.”

“Of course, but…” Beall looked guiltily at Alex.

“It’s fine,” Nicole said. “She’s with me.”

“I’m sorry,” Beall said to Alex. “We can’t let you out unless we hear directly from General Harrison.”

“I understand,” Alex said. “But can’t you just open the gate and then call General Harrison? We have to go. Please. It’s really important.”

“Look, Lieutenant, this isn’t a request,” Nicole said. “Like Bedford said, we have important business. Do you think we’d be heading out in the middle of the night if it wasn’t an emergency?”

Beall glanced from Alex to Nicole and then back at the guard post. Alex felt sorry for him; he would eventually get in trouble if he let them out. But she also had a feeling Nicole would cause him quite a bit more trouble if he didn’t open the gate. After a moment, Beall waved back at the guard post. “All right. You two can go while I confirm with command.”

“Thanks, Harv,” Alex said, trying her best to give him a sincere smile.

“Make sure you talk directly to General Harrison,” Nicole said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Once they were beyond the gate and out of earshot, Alex leaned over and said, “Why did you tell him to talk to Harrison?”

“It’ll give us more time. I figure we have about five minutes for things to get high enough in the chain of command that someone wakes up Harrison. That’s when the fun starts.”

“And what do we do then?”

“By then, we’ll be in the air.”

“I thought we were going to Peterson.”

“Not quite.”

They reached the upper parking area, and Nicole gestured toward a Humvee. They tossed their duffel bags in the rear. Nicole went to the driver’s side while Alex got in opposite. Nicole keyed the ignition switch. Slowly, they backed out toward the sidewinder road leading down the mountain.

The blaring alarm caused Alex to cringe. Nicole cursed and stepped on the gas pedal. The Humvee jumped back, almost throwing Alex out of the seat before Nicole shifted gear and swerved out of the parking lot. Alex looked back and saw Beall and two soldiers running toward them from the guard post. One soldier shouldered his rifle but Beall held up his hand. It was the last Alex saw of them before the Humvee turned the first corner down the mountain.

“Looks like Harrison was pulling another late night in the command center,” Nicole said.

“What now? They’re not going to let us out of the perimeter.”

“I wouldn’t worry about them.” Nicole pointed up just as Alex heard the roar of an approaching aircraft. She spotted the giant silhouette of an Osprey racing in toward them from the northeast. The aircraft glided over the road, making a long arc as its nacelles swung to the upright position. Then it descended and settled with a jolt on the same heliport where the team had landed after New York.

Nicole gunned the engine. Alex pictured them skidding off the asphalt and exploding against one of the houses in the officer’s neighborhood at the base of the mountain. Somehow, Nicole maintained control, swerving at the last second into the lower parking area and landing pad. The Humvee slid to a halt with a screech and the smell of burning tires. Nicole leapt out of the vehicle, and Alex, somewhat dazed, followed. She went to the rear, but Nicole had already taken both duffel bags and was racing toward the Osprey. “Let’s go, Bedford!”

The blades were still spinning as they climbed into the Osprey. Alex held her hands over her ears until Nicole tossed over a headset and disappeared into the cockpit. Alex put on the headset, and the thundering roar of the turbines became a dull thrum. She leaned into the cockpit and saw Nicole yelling at the pilot and copilot, “Get us in the air! We have a timeline to meet!”

“We need to get clearance before we take off,” the pilot said, his voice broadcasting through Alex’s headset.

“Are you leaving that Humvee in the LZ?” the copilot said.

Nicole brushed past Alex out the cockpit and went to one of the duffels she had set down in the cabin. She unzipped the bag and rummaged through the contents. Then she withdrew her handgun, inserted a magazine from her pocket, and racked the slide. Alex tried to protest, but Nicole ignored her as she returned to the cockpit. She shoved the muzzle against the copilot’s helmet and shouted at the pilot, “Take off or you’re going to have one hell of a cleanup job!”

The pilot stared in shock. “B-But… you’re…”

“That’s right. Nicole Serrano. Now take off! My clearance is the only one that matters.”

Alex looked out and saw two Humvees speeding down the sidewinder road. Soldiers stood behind the machineguns in each vehicle’s turret. She was about to point out the vehicles when a voice came over the channel, “Harpy 3-1, this is General Harrison. Respond, over.”

The pilot looked at Nicole.

“Harpy 3-1, respond immediately,” Harrison demanded. “Serrano, Bedford, this is your only chance. Get the hell out of that aircraft and stand down. We will fire on you if you take off.”

“Ignore him,” Nicole said to the pilot. “You have five seconds before you’re going to have to find a new copilot. And if you’re worried about Harrison, anything he can do to you isn’t nearly as bad as what I’ll do if you screw this up.”

“What if they fire?” the pilot protested.

“Three seconds. We’re goddamn ‘kinetics. You think we can’t handle anything they throw at us?”

“But—”

“Two.”

“Fine. Just hold on. This is going to be rough.”

The pilot shoved the control stick forward. The thrum of the turbines whined and then intensified. Outside, the hurricane gale from the rotors kicked up clouds of dust. As Alex watched, the two Humvees skidded to a halt at the edge of the helipad. Guards jumped out of each vehicle and pointed their weapons at the Osprey. Alex stared at the turrets and the muzzles of the heavy machineguns. Before she could focus on the weapons, the rifles flew from the guards’ hands. As the soldiers scrambled for their rifles, the mount connecting one of the machineguns to its turret broke in half. The gun teetered and then crashed to the ground, leaving the soldier in the vehicle looking helpless and bewildered. The other machinegun disintegrated a second later.

The overpowering whir of the Osprey’s engines reached its peak. A few of the soldiers held up their arms to shield their faces as the downwash battered them. Others began to run from the heliport. One man retrieved his weapon and raised it to fire but then the receiver broke in half. He stared as the top half of the weapon clattered to the pavement. Then he turned and fled. Alex heard laughter over the headset and glanced over to see Nicole grinning. The Osprey shook, and Alex braced herself as they ascended from the helipad. Within moments, the ground had disappeared beneath them. The nacelles swung forward, and the Osprey sped toward the stars. Alex tried to catch a final glimpse of Cheyenne Mountain, but it was gone.

What did you get yourself into, girl? the voice in her mind said. And what the hell are you going to do now?