“It’s fucking awesome,” said Bunny, and Top thought that the big man didn’t need to feign his enthusiasm. As frightening as the demonstration was, the level of technology was so superior that it was, undeniably, impressive as hell.

Top tapped the K-110’s shell. “Can you run in this thing?”

“Yeah,” said the driver, “but she’s a pig. Turns fast, fires fast, runs like a cow. But hey, after all that shit, I can just stroll away.”

“I heard that,” said Bunny. “Totally badass. Like … serious next-level Star Wars badass.”

“You got that right.”

“How much of your ammo did you burn through?” asked Top.

“All of it except two grenades,” said the driver. “Once it’s spent, the weight is cut in half, but it’s still slow getting out of Dodge.”

“That why you have the ground troops?” asked Top. “Cover your back for exfil?”

“I guess,” said the driver. “We haven’t really gone into exfiltration logistics yet. That’s coming up, I hear.” He was about to say more and then indicated something with an uptick of his chin. “Here comes the man.”

Top and Bunny glanced across the room and saw that Santoro was heading their way, flanked by Eve and HK.

“Gonna peel back and let you get your kudos,” said Top.

“Totally awesome demo, man,” said Bunny. They swapped fist bumps with the driver and then melted into the thickest part of the crowd, angling away from Santoro’s path.

They saw the Spaniard embrace the driver and then link arms with him and walk the Fixer toward the door. They vanished into the sunlight outside.

A supervisor came over and herded the new recruits into a bunch, told them to go back to their rooms and get some rest. Armed Fixers accompanied the recruits, and once inside, Top and Bunny heard the locks click from outside.

That left them in their shared suite. There was no chance at all that the rooms were not being monitored, so they did not fall into conversation about what they’d seen. Instead, they took turns using the bathroom, made some food in the kitchen, and while eating had a conversation of exactly the kind men like they were pretending to be would have. Then they went to bed.

Top lay awake for a long time, replaying every detail about what happened. There were so many things about all this that scared the living hell out of him. And so few things on which he could hang the thin garment of his hope.

Sleep came reluctantly, and it was filled with very bad dreams.

CHAPTER 69

MARIA BEATRICE HOSPITAL

FLORENCE, ITALY

When the door to his private room opened and the man stepped in, Alexander Fong nearly screamed. The shriek got as far as his throat when he realized that this was not the same man.

This was not the monster.