They had no idea if anyone else on the flight was a spook for Blue Diamond, so the two of them kept their conversation to ordinary stuff. They talked sports and old movies, but mostly they slept. Conserving energy the way professionals in their line of work do. They had one beer each but nursed them.

In Spokane, they were met at baggage claim by a thirtysomething man in a crisp white shirt buttoned to the throat and blue jeans with severely ironed creases. He held a sign that showed only the Blue Diamond logo.

“You gentlemen should hit the head because it’ll be a long drive,” he said. That was his only comment from the moment they met him until he dropped them off at a checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, deep in Stevens County. The checkpoint was manned by two men dressed in military-style forest-pattern camo uniforms. The drive had taken more than three hours, and from the route, it was clear the driver was deliberately changing roads and even backtracking. Wary of surveillance.

At the gate, both guards wore masks that covered their features, and carried Sig Sauer MCX Rattler assault weapons.

The gate was set in a forest clearing and was the only part of the fence that was easily visible. From what they could see, the fence was high and wrapped in razor wire. A road led from the checkpoint, and it curved out of sight within a dozen yards. No other buildings were visible from where they stood.

Top and Bunny were asked to get out of the car, show their IDs, and to log in to a terminal using thumbprints and retina scans. This didn’t bother either of them, because Bug and MindReader had long since gamed the system. Their false identities were unbreakable, and all traces of who they had been were long since erased entirely from hospital, school, military, and other databases. The tapeworm search-and-destroy programs Bug wrote were hungry and thorough.

However, Top acted as if he didn’t understand how the thumbprint scanner worked. He kept putting the wrong finger on the pad or missed the pad entirely.

Bunny laughed. “How old are you, dude? You just put your freaking thumb on the freaking pad. It’s not rocket science.”

“I don’t like gadgets,” complained Top.

The guard overseeing the scan looked amused and gave Bunny a knowing wink, more or less saying, Old guys.