She coughed, trying to clear her lungs and gather a breath. Then she helped Desmond stand, and the three of them limped out of the burning building.

Outside the front doors, in the gravel courtyard, two sets of footprints were visible in the ash-coated snow: Peyton’s from her arrival, and Avery’s.

She had left them.

Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Conner sat at the conference table, listening to updates. France and Greece had become the first Looking Glass nations. On the large wall screen, he watched footage of doses of the cure being distributed in Paris.

“Stop right there. Take the five seconds preceding that and use it.”

Someone behind him approached and handed him a note.

We have a situation. Hughes-related. Urgent.

Conner excused himself and made his way to his office, where an intelligence agent was waiting with a laptop. Though the government had taken control of the internet, the Citium’s private network, connected by satellite links, was still functional. The agent opened a connection to the Citium net and pulled up a satellite video feed. It showed three figures opening the iron gate that enclosed Site 79.

“Zoom in.”

Conner studied their faces. Desmond. Avery. William Moore. So Desmond had found the old man. Together, they could jeopardize everything he had worked for.

“How old is this footage?”

The agent checked the time stamp. “Fifteen minutes, sir.”

“Do you have cameras inside?”

The man worked the laptop, brought up the internal views, and rotated through them. On three of the feeds, he saw them moving through the building, searching.

They’ve separated, Conner thought.

“Do we have charges in the building?”

“Yes. Standard Looking Glass precautions. In the labs and file areas.” The young man paused. “Want us to blow them?”

“No.” Conner held a hand up. “Let’s wait.”

They sat in silence for ten minutes. When William reached the corner office, he stopped at the desk and looked at a picture frame. The night vision camera revealed the change in his expression. Recognition. Realization. Then he rushed to the filing cabinet and began searching through the files.

“Whose office is that?” Conner asked.

“Unknown.”

“Find out,” Conner snapped.

On the screen, William paused at the last drawer, studied a file, and said into his mic, “I’ve located the target.”

Conner stood. “Where’s Hughes?”

The screen switched to one of the quarantine wards. Hughes was holding a plastic curtain back, disgust on his face.

“And the girl?”

The view switched to the mechanical room, where Avery was trying to crank a generator.

“Blow the charge in the office.”

“Just the office?”

“Yes. And show me all the cameras.”

The screen switched to a split-view of thirty night-vision cameras. They were motion-activated and could run for up to thirty hours without power.

Six cameras went black. Two more showed smoke billowing into the corridors. Another showed the office in flames.

Desmond raced through the hallways. Avery, too.

Conner leaned back, wondering what the man would do.