“I’m not happy about the disclosure,” Rice continued. “We’ll begin operations immediately to gain access to Eko-Yi’s local feeds. We will also deploy to the Maghreb as planned in the next forty-eight hours. We have the resources and authorizations to go in, and I’m not giving that up, no matter what happens with Eko-Yi. The overseas mission will verify whether the al-Muwahhidun possess the same technology that the Machinehood operative has in her body. They’ll also attempt to gain intelligence on what—if any—connection the caliph has to the space station.”

Welga leaned toward Olafson and murmured, “We have to tell her about my seat.”

“At eighteen hundred hours, four government-contracted groups will deploy a temporary array of constellation drones to provide partial coverage across the country. Expect that communications will be slow. For all fieldwork, report to level three to collect a radio that prioritizes your usage on this network. Before you leave the building, update your local databases and maps with the locations of secure landline communication points. International calling is possible but must be cleared by your superior. Assignments will be updated every two hours. All field agents must check in with their liaison at least once every twelve hours.

“Peace officers and national guard are on round-the-clock patrols, working to maintain calm and to clear the roads. We will not have local resources to extract you if you fail to check in.” Rice paused to let that sink in. “You will be presumed MIA until you contact your liaison again.” The director’s tone shifted. “This is quite possibly the most important week of our lives. Thanks to Agents Ramírez and Olafson, we have a living Machinehood operative in captivity. We must take care to keep her alive and communicative until we can capture or eliminate the threat that she represents.

“I trust that all of you will use your best judgment in the upcoming days. Just because the swarms are down and the network is dark doesn’t mean you can’t be watched. The people of this nation will have their eyes on you as you go out there and do your utmost to restore order and safety to their lives. Good luck and Godspeed.”

The room stayed quiet for two seconds before chaos broke loose. Using their position in front to their advantage, Olafson closed in and spoke to the director.

“Ramírez has an alternate idea.”

As soon as they could get the words through, they had the director’s full attention. She thought for a minute, then said, “I like it better than this embargo shit. We can’t know what’s happening by sitting quietly on the planet, and until we have support from India and China, we can’t launch our own forces at the station. We’ll have to read Troit back in. And we’ll need authorization from the president to make sure the launch isn’t shot down.”