Sophie hesitated. She had a responsibility to her team, but a few more seconds wasn’t going to matter. She leaned down and kissed him. “I love you too, Emanuel, and I will return to you.”

He smiled grimly, letting go of her hand. Deep down he wanted to believe her, but he was a scientist. Even with Sergeant Overton’s protection, he knew the chances of their return were limited.

“Well, you heard her. Are you going to see me off or what?”

He couldn’t help but smile. No matter what adversity she faced—no matter what the odds of success—she gave 100 percent. It was what made her a leader, and it was, he hoped, the one thing that would help her stay alive on her mission to Secundo Casu.

The blast doors hissed open. A wave of adrenaline emptied into Sophie’s system as the dark summer night stretched out before her. Wiped clean of clouds, the sky had become an endless blanket of sparkling stars. In a way, it reminded her of what she had seen in Colorado Springs that first, horrible night, with the countless orbs glowing throughout the city.

“Let’s move,” Overton’s voice said over the com.

Sophie took off in a sprint toward the outline of a single Humvee at the edge of the tarmac. She blinked and her night vision powered on, spreading its eerie green over her display. A few paces behind her, Overton struggled. The metal device clanged loudly on his armored back.

“This thing better fucking work. It weighs a ton,” he grunted.

“It is functioning at 100 percent,” Alexia’s voice said over the com.

They had inserted her fuel cell into a small interface at the bottom of the RVM and uploaded her consciousness so she could connect to the wireless links in their helmet. While she didn’t have access to her mainframe, she could still operate at almost full capacity. Sophie had to marvel at NTC’s ingenuity.

Overton halted when he got to the Humvee, scanning the tarmac for any heat signatures before opening the door. “Gimme a hand with this, Doc.”

Sophie unclipped the cords holding the second and more powerful RVM, and he heaved it onto the seat of the vehicle.

“I’m driving,” he said, jumping into the front seat.

Sophie took one last look at the blast doors and climbed into the Humvee. “Good-bye,” she said under her breath as Overton punched the gas.

Sophie stared out the window, her eyes fixed on a crater to the east. She could see the outlines of dozens of boats lying sideways in the dirt of what had been a lake bottom weeks before. The sight disappeared as the truck raced on, zipping between the empty vehicles lining I-25.

“Where are all the orbs?” Overton asked.

“I was just wondering the same thing. My guess is the Organics have already processed them.”