“Very sure,” said Marcus. “Samm told us all about it—they have a nuclear reactor that powers the whole region, so they stay there to maintain it. If we can make it up there, which is an admittedly difficult proposition, they might be willing to work with us to end the occupation and perhaps find some of the answers we’re looking for before it’s too late. It’s worth a shot.”

“Shots are exactly what you’ll end up with,” said Mkele. “This is a blind mission into hostile territory with no guarantee of safety. If you go, you’ll be killed.”

“That’s why I’m coming to you,” said Marcus. “I’m not Kira—I’m not ready to lead something like this, I just came up with the idea.”

“So that when someone inevitably dies, it will be me instead of you,” said Mkele.

“Ideally no one will die at all,” said Marcus, “but you can plan your missions how you like. I recommend you live at least long enough to succeed.”

Mkele tapped his fingers on the desk, a surprisingly mundane gesture that seemed to humanize the severe man in Marcus’s eyes. “A year ago I would have chastised you for recklessness,” said Mkele. “Today, as it happens, we’re willing to try almost anything. I had a unit of soldiers already preparing for a mission on the mainland, and now that you’ve given us a clear goal, we can pull the trigger. It also happens that we have need of a medic, and of someone with experience behind Partial lines.”

“And I suppose you’re looking for a man to volunteer.”

“This is the Defense Grid,” said Mkele. “We don’t wait for volunteers. You leave in the morning.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Kira and her companions were on their way to Denver.

They’d left the data center at first light, wrapping Afa’s injured leg as tightly as they could before helping him to slog through two miles of filthy floodwater. The rowboat was right where they’d left it, and they paddled back to their horses in silence, Samm rowing with long, powerful strokes while Heron and Kira watched the overhanging trees for signs of attack. A lone dog stood on a bridge to watch them float by, but it didn’t talk or even bark, and Kira couldn’t tell if it was a Watchdog or simply a feral animal.