The escape routes Jade arranged were exactly as uncomfortable as promised. Adrian found himself in the back of a cargo truck crossing into Malaysia, hidden among crates of electronics, breathing air thick with diesel fumes and sweat. The truck stopped every few hours at checkpoints where border guards were apparently paid enough not to inspect too carefully. He emerged in Johor Bahru twenty hours later, disoriented and stinking, picked up by a contact Jade had arranged—a Malaysian smuggler named Rizal who specialized in moving people governments wanted disappeared. "You're the American who pissed off Singapore," Rizal said, not making it a question. "That's impressive. Singapore doesn't usually let anyone embarrass them like this." "Where's my team?" Adrian asked. "Scattered. Different routes, different timing. Jade's protocol—she said you'd understand why you couldn't travel together." Adrian did understand. If they'd been captured at the border, traveling separately meant not e

Singapore looked different the second time—less pristine, more hostile. Adrian and Mara arrived on separate flights, using different entry points, meeting at a hawker center in Chinatown where the crowds provided cover and the noise prevented surveillance."CIA wants to meet at the Singapore Flyer," Mara said, showing Adrian the updated instructions. "Public location, high visibility, supposedly safe for both parties.""Or excellent place for a public arrest," Adrian countered. "Giant Ferris wheel means contained space once you're in a capsule. Easy to control, easy to detain.""So we don't get in a capsule. We meet near the entrance, maintain exit options, leave if it feels wrong."They approached the Singapore Flyer at sunset, when the tourist crowds were thickest. Adrian spotted the CIA operatives immediately two of them, trying to look casual but moving with the controlled awareness of professionals. One was a woman in her fifties, the other a younger man, both dressed like touris

The safe house in Lyon became a war room. CIA flooded them with intelligence on the remaining fifteen Consilience Group members—locations, security details, operational patterns. All of them had gone into deep cover after the Geneva massacre, understanding they were being hunted."Fifteen targets in seventy-two hours across multiple continents," Coleman said, studying the tactical maps. "That's impossible even with unlimited resources.""So we don't try to eliminate all fifteen," Adrian replied. "We identify which ones are critical to Phase Four activation and focus on those."Martinez had been analyzing the infrastructure control systems through back channels into the Consilience Group's networks. "Phase Four requires coordinated activation across six regional hubs—North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific. Each hub needs authorization from at least two Consilience Group members. If we can prevent authorization at even three hubs, the global integration

One Year LaterPortland in autumn felt like forgetting. Adrian had been a security consultant for eleven months now—conducting risk assessments for tech companies, reviewing access protocols, training personnel who'd never face real threats. It was boring work that paid well enough, demanded nothing of his conscience, and let him pretend the previous two years hadn't happened.He lived alone in a small house in Sellwood, ran every morning through neighborhoods where the biggest threat was aggressive dogs, spent evenings reading books that had nothing to do with infrastructure or conspiracies or the systematic failures of democratic institutions.He hadn't spoken to his team since Montana. That was part of the agreement they'd made—scatter completely, maintain no contact, become separate individuals with separate lives who'd never worked together on anything. It was the only way to ensure CIA couldn't track them as a group, couldn't identify patterns that would reveal their locations.

The End of HuntingHong Kong hit them with familiar intensity—neon, humidity, the crush of humanity that made disappearing both easy and difficult. Adrian and Mara had been in the city for two days before Brandt made contact, using those forty-eight hours to establish what minimal security they could manage as internationally wanted fugitives with no resources.The meeting location was the same restaurant where Adrian had first negotiated with Brandt—Dim Sum Dynasty in Tsim Sha Tsui. Full circle back to where the final phase had begun.Brandt was already seated when Adrian arrived, looking no different than she had a year ago. Confident, composed, apparently unconcerned about being in the same city as two fugitives who'd exposed global assassination operations."Cross. Mara. Welcome back to Hong Kong." Brandt gestured to the empty chairs. "I'm glad you decided to accept my invitation.""We didn't decide anything," Adrian said, sitting but maintaining awareness of exits. "We're here be