“He lived,” Sam said. “At least a while. He told us to come to this barn at two in the morning. He said Lauren would be here. He said if we watched, we’d see a way to save her.”

Pierce looked up at Dani—she was still focused on the barn, her expression tense and unchanging—then dropped his gaze to Sam again.

“Did Coleman say anything else?” Pierce asked.

Dani spoke without looking down. “We asked him if we could just call the Army. If we could send them here to save Lauren. He told us not to. He said there were … insiders. People who might tip off the bad guys in advance. Meaning we could end up getting Lauren killed if we did that.”

Sam pulled a final loop of tape from Pierce’s wrists. Freed from the binds, the man’s hands shook just noticeably.

“What insiders?” he asked. “Did he give you any names?”

“One name,” Dani said. “Ellis. My last name. And my father’s.”

Pierce looked up at her again, though her own gaze stayed fixed on the barn. Finally the man lowered his eyes to the ditch wall in front of him. He didn’t look as confused as he had a moment before, but his mind seemed to be racing.

“Hey,” Sam said. “Do you know how we’re supposed to save Lauren? Do you know what Mr. Coleman meant, when he said we’d see what to do? You were with him. You should know whatever he knew.”

Pierce turned to him, still deep in thought. After a second he shook it off. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Oh Christ,” Pierce said. “Yeah, I know what he meant. But I don’t think it’ll work now.”

For the first time, Dani turned and looked down at the man.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Pierce sighed, his head resting in his hands now. He looked like he had ten things to say, and didn’t know which one to start with. At last he looked up, his eyes going back and forth between Sam and Dani.

“I don’t know how much you know about Rigel,” he said, “but as of right now, the people in that barn have a working version of it. Actually they have three. They moved them out of Station Nine last night, three trips by car to this barn. They were getting nervous, staying down there any longer than they had to. There was always some chance the military would reinspect that place, especially after Coleman’s disappearance last week. The Army would have known for sure there was something going on with Rigel, and Station Nine was the original fabrication point.”