“Then we’ll want to make a search of this facility. Maybe we’ll have better luck with a landline.”

Gina moved off toward the front of the building, where they had seen some executive offices as they came in.

Logically, he knew that he should consider that the hybrids had won in this city, and it was time to save himself and Gina for another day. In a situation like this, an officer’s first task was to reestablish contact with higher command. But perhaps he wasn’t programmed to let such a thought direct his actions, no matter how logical it was. They had destroyed the drone, after all, which was a significant part of the hybrid operation, and he suspected they could accomplish more here on their own.

Or maybe the masterfully deceptive mind that controlled all this had not lost this battle at all. The drone might be gone, but he and Gina were here, in the middle of a city totally occupied by hybrids.

“The landlines are down,” Gina said as she returned.

So, logic or not, they were going to have to work within the much narrower focus that had been left them.

Outside, the sound of drumming rose.

“What is it?” a man shouted. “What are they doing?”

“For God’s sake, tell us!”

Gina said, “We’re not sure. Nobody’s sure.”

The hybrid woman spoke. “Where did you come from? Is there a bigger part of Delta Force here?”

“We’re paratroops,” Mark replied. “We were dropped in to do forward reconnaissance. There are two divisions about to land in the Marina District and start retaking the city.”

The woman’s eyes grew wary. He could see the hybrid mind evaluating his lie, trying to decide what it meant.

A restless silence followed his comment. Then the hybrid female spoke again. “Do you have any weapons?”

“They didn’t come in on parachutes,” a boy of about fifteen said. He gave Mark an edgy look. Mark could see that the boy was concealing a weapon he had not reported, his body language revealed it.

The hybrid woman said softly, “I told you, they’re part of it, they’re spies!”

Unsure now, people began to back away from them. She was certainly doing her job well.

Outside, the drumming was rapidly growing more distinct.

He realized that the hybrids had outmaneuvered him yet again. He and Gina had not come here on a crashing drone, they had been brought here on a drone that was intentionally scuttled. When it had failed to kill them in Big Basin, they had probably been allowed to board it so that they could be brought here, into the center of the hybrid infestation. But had they intended for it to crash? He wondered.

“We need to go outside!” the hybrid female shrieked. “We can’t stay here, they’re tricking us!”