The armored transport was a windowless box on wheels. Marcus sat in the back with Sarah, the jammer secured between them, watching the four subjects across the narrow aisle. Ellis and Agent Torres rode up front with the driver.Nobody spoke. The only sound was the engine's steady rumble and the occasional crackle of the radio as Ellis communicated with his teams.Whitmore stared at the floor, good hand pressing against his wounded shoulder. Park kept her eyes closed, head tilted back against the metal wall. Williams and Sergeant Torres sat rigidly, like soldiers at attention, though neither seemed fully present.Marcus understood that distance. That need to retreat somewhere inside yourself when the outside world became too much. He'd done it himself in Afghanistan, after particularly bad missions. After seeing things that couldn't be unseen.The transport hit a pothole. The jammer shifted, and Marcus's hand shot out to steady it. His shoulder screamed in protest, the wound from the b

The hunting cabin sat thirty miles outside of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, accessible only by a dirt road that hadn't seen maintenance in years. Marcus directed Ellis through the darkness, memory guiding them past overgrown markers and forgotten turnoffs. "There," he pointed to a gap between two massive pines. "That's the access road." The transport lurched by Ellis turned onto what could barely be called a road. More like two tire ruts separated by weeds and saplings. Branches scraped against the metal sides, creating an unsettling screech. "You sure about this place?" Sarah asked, gripping the wall as they bounced over a pothole. "My uncle bought it in the seventies. Hunting retreat. He died eight years ago, left it to my dad, who never came up here. Property taxes got paid automatically from the estate account, but otherwise it's been abandoned." Marcus watched the darkness slide past. "Nobody knows it exists except family. And most of them have forgotten." "Most?" Park asked f

"The USB drive," Marcus prompted. "What did it do?"Whitmore's eyes remained closed, his face pale and tense. "It copied files. Automatically. I didn't control it…just plugged it in and watched the progress bar fill. Two minutes. Then I pulled it out, put it in my pocket, and left.""Where did you take it?""I don't remember leaving the apartment. Next thing I knew, I was home again. The hour was over. The drive was gone." Whitmore's breathing accelerated. "But I could feel it. The weight of it in my pocket during the drive. Like a ghost memory."Marcus leaned forward. "Think about that drive, James. Focus on it. Did you see any markings? Labels? Anything that indicated where it came from?"Whitmore's brow furrowed deeper. "No markings. Black plastic. Generic. But there was something... a serial number. Etched into the casing. Small. I noticed it when I plugged it in.""What was the number?""I can't... it's fuzzy. Like looking through water." Whitmore's hands gripped the chair arms.

Marcus woke to shouting. His body jerked upright, ribs screaming in protest, and he was on his feet before he fully registered where he was.The cabin. Wisconsin. Safety.Except it didn't sound safe.Through the window, he saw Ellis and Agent Torres running from the transport, weapons drawn. Behind them, headlights cut through the dusk; two vehicles closing fast on the access road."We've got company!" Ellis burst through the door. "State police. Maybe worse. They followed us from town.""How?" Sarah was already moving, grabbing the jammer. "You said you were careful.""We were. But someone tagged the transport. Probably at the checkpoint." Torres moved to the window, assessing the approaching vehicles. "We've got maybe ninety seconds before they're on us."Marcus's mind raced through options. Fight? but they were outgunned and the subjects were unstable. Run? but where? The forest was dense, dark, and they had wounded. Hide? impossible in a structure this small."We split up," he sai

Park's weight pressed against Marcus's injured ribs with every step. Pain shot through his chest, sharp and immediate, but he didn't slow. Behind them, the helicopter's rotors grew louder, a mechanical thunder cutting through the forest."Marcus, there!" Sarah pointed to a rocky outcrop ahead, barely visible through the trees. "Overhang. Might hide us from aerial."They pushed toward it, legs burning, lungs screaming. The outcrop formed a shallow cave, barely deep enough for three people but surrounded by dense evergreen branches that might obscure them from above.Marcus slid Park inside, then crawled in after her. Sarah followed, pressing tight against the cold stone. Through gaps in the branches, they watched the helicopter pass overhead; dark silhouette against the lightening sky.It circled once. Twice. Then moved north, toward the ranger station."They're going to find the others," Sarah whispered."Ellis knows what he's doing. He'll keep them moving." Marcus checked Park's puls