“I need to go and take a quick look at something. Are you able to keep an eye on Carina?”

There was no response. “Are you okay?” Kane said.

Connor lifted the picture of his father and studied it. He looked up at Kane as if there was a question he wanted to ask but couldn’t begin to formulate.

“I’ll be back in one minute,” Kane said.

He walked away from the cabin, deeper into the base, in the direction Anne Lindgren had walked. It was the indigo hour before dawn, the sky beginning to pale at the edges. The base was all electronically monitored, Kane saw now. He would be stopped eventually, but he could say he was lost. Some of his association with Anne Lindgren would linger. And he wanted to see as much as possible while he could.

He passed a canteen, an officers’ mess, and headquarters buildings. Then the domed observatory appeared in the distance, its shutters opening.

Kane walked toward it, watching as the dome rotated. What was it looking at? Who did it belong to? A few hundred meters before the observatory he got to a fence. Alongside the No Entry signs was a crest: UNITED STATES SPACE FORCE—WHERE SPACE SUPERIORITY BEGINS.

He lifted the binoculars. He could see signs of rapid recent construction, including cameras and sensors securing the telescope but also several new arrays around it. The guard posts here also bore the Space Force logo. People were streaming into the surrounding buildings.

A security vehicle in the distance began to move toward him.

Kane turned, walking swiftly back toward the Lindgrens’ bungalow. As he got closer, he saw Thomas’s Buick parked outside. A second later he heard shouting, then Connor stormed out, jumped on his bike, and pedaled.

The security vehicle was behind him now. Kane looked over his shoulder. The man in the passenger seat had a submachine gun trained on him.

“Stop there, sir. Keep your hands out in front of you.”

Two men disembarked, both in black T-shirts, both with guns at the ready. They were young, but had the swaggering authority of special forces. Kane kept his hands away from his body.

“What are you doing here?” one of the men asked.

“I’m a friend of Thomas and Anne Lindgren’s. I was just going to that cabin there.”

The fact that he was a visitor alarmed them. He saw their expressions stiffen. One radioed in a check.

“Sir, please turn around.”

He did as instructed.

“We’re going to need to see some ID, sir. Don’t take it out, just tell us where it is.”

Then someone shouted, “Hey!” and they all turned to see Thomas leaving the house with Carina in his arms. “Hey,” he shouted at the guards. “Wait.” He put the girl in the car and marched over.

“What’s going on? This man just saved our son.”

“Step away, sir. This is not your business.”