Ray did not sleep. By dawn he had a plan, and by noon he had told only three people: Jane, his father, and Corran."The clone is in Washington," Ray said. "She stood right behind Wolfe. That means she's close to him and she's valuable. If we take her, we learn how the cloning works. Maybe we learn how to stop it.""It's a suicide run," Jane said. "Washington is full of stage nines and tens.""Not all of it," Corran said. "The White House has a service tunnel. I used it twice when I worked for Wolfe."They left that night with eight fighters. Ray's mother begged to come, but Priya refused to let her out of bed. Before he left, she grabbed Ray's wrist."She has my face, but she isn't me," she said. "Don't hesitate. She won't.""I know," Ray said.Eli stood at the gate in a blanket, watching them go. Ray crouched in front of him."Stay close to Dani. Don't talk to anyone you don't know."Eli nodded. "Be careful."The trip east took three days. They traveled by night, avoiding roads, pass

Ray reached the research tent in under a minute. The lantern inside was still burning, and Alex Wilson's chair was pushed back from the table as if he had left in a hurry."Priya!" Ray shouted.She came running from the clinic with Jane behind her. Ray pointed at the empty chair."Where is he?""He was here an hour ago," Priya said. "He said he wanted to double-check the new batch for Miami."Ray's stomach dropped. "What batch?"Priya ran to the cold storage crate and threw the lid open. Rows of vials sat in neat lines, all labeled in Wilson's careful handwriting. She pulled one out and held it to the lantern."The color is wrong," she said. "It's too dark.""Can you test it?""Not fast enough." Her hands began to shake. "Ray, these were packed for Ruiz this morning. The truck left at noon."Jane swore. "Then Wilson's been in here for weeks, doing whatever he wanted.""Find him," Ray said. "Now."*****He closed his eyes and reached out with his awareness. Camp after camp of faces mov

Ray left Kansas an hour after Ruiz's call. He took forty of his best fighters, Jane, Corran, Nichole, and Mara's portable radio kit. His father stayed behind to guard the camp and the two hundred sleeping bodies in the big tent."Three days," his father said at the gate. "The First gave you three days.""I know," Ray said. "Wolfe gave me less."They drove through the night and reached Miami at noon. The city looked tired. Every street had a barricade, and every barricade had a nervous face behind it. Ruiz met them at the stadium gates with dark circles under his eyes."They're still out," he said. "Nine hundred people, lying on the grass. Doctors say they're fine. They just won't wake up."Ray looked through the gate at the rows of sleeping bodies. He felt the First's cold will sitting inside every one of them, quiet but alive, like a coal under ash."How far is Wolfe's army?" Ray asked."Two days. The trucks are slow, and they keep stopping to burn farms along the way. They want us