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Chapters (48)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Chapter One: Fender Bender
  5. Chapter Two: Bigfoot Burrito
  6. Chapter Three: Treasure Hunt
  7. Chapter Four: Open Sesame
  8. Chapter Five: Central Intelligence
  9. Chapter Six: First Flight
  10. Chapter Seven: Park It
  11. Chapter Eight: Next Steps
  12. Chapter Nine: Search Strategies
  13. Chapter Ten: Overflight
  14. Chapter Eleven: Barn Doors
  15. Chapter Twelve: Saturn Fly-By
  16. Chapter Thirteen: Getting a Clue
  17. Chapter Fourteen: Hacked
  18. Chapter Fifteen: The Spy Game
  19. Chapter Sixteen: Investigations
  20. Chapter Seventeen: Break-In
  21. Chapter Eighteen: Battening Down
  22. Chapter Nineteen: Shoring Up Defenses
  23. Chapter Twenty: Third Time’s the Charm
  24. Chapter Twenty-One: Proxy
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two: Rescue
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three: Chase
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four: Spies R Us
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five: Surveillance
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six: Making Plans
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Going In
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Infiltration
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Accidental Captive
  33. Chapter Thirty: Interrogation
  34. Chapter Thirty-One: Reaction
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two: Kidnappings
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three: Reviewing Options
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four: Public Debut
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five: Distractions
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six: The Big Reveal
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven: Regrouping
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight: Waiting for Results
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine: It Hits the Fan
  43. Chapter Forty: Disassembly
  44. Chapter Forty-One: Wrapping It Up
  45. Chapter Forty-Two: Negotiations
  46. Chapter Forty-Three: Coda
  47. About the Author
  48. About the Publisher

Chapter Forty: Disassembly

Chapter Forty: Disassembly

We arrived at the industrial park in very little time. All the excitement seemed to have given Patrick access to a whole new warp factor.

A large number of black SUVs were taking up most of the traffic circle at the front of the park. That seemed odd. Why would the Covenant use SUVs? Or cars, period? I resisted the urge to go over and touch them to see if cloaking was involved.

Chief Rogers was standing on the sidewalk, hands on hips, watching the activity. We walked up to him, and he said, without turning or otherwise acknowledging our presence, “CIA. Apparently. I’ve got one of my guys checking their story, but for now, I’m just a spectator.”

I looked over the scene. The front of the Harris office building was wide open. More to the point, the doors were missing and the frame was bent. Subtle. People in black suits were going in and out in two lines, like ants queueing at the nest entrance. I noted in passing that, a) they were no longer all male, and b) unlike the group back at the barn, they only came in human-normal height. Either the Gen were taking a back seat, or they’d adjusted their cloaking fields to appear more normal.

It was a Saturday, but there were always brownnosers working weekends. A dozen or so Harris employees milled around on the ornamental lawn in front of the building.

“Looks like they’re out of a job, too,” Nat’s voice said from behind me. She stepped forward to join us. “I had Sheldon drop me off a few blocks away and I walked. I really wanted to see this.”

One of the supposed CIA headed toward us. As he got closer, I saw it was San-Joh, but shorter now. Chief Rogers started to step forward as he got near, but San-Joh walked right past Rogers without so much as a glance. He stopped in front of me. “Mr. Kernigan, notwithstanding my earlier commentary, I am temporarily glad to see you. We have something I’d like your opinion on.”

The third floor looked considerably different from the last time I was there. For one thing, every single drawer, cabinet, and cupboard had been opened and emptied, some apparently with the help of crowbars. For another, it was crawling with what to all appearances were CIA agents.

“The fourth floor is far more interesting,” San-Joh said, “although there is something here that I found very curious, and I hoped you might have a perspective on it.”

“Wait, fourth floor?” Nat exclaimed. “There’s a fourth floor?”

I face-palmed. “Dimensional manipulation. Wow. They can do that?”

“Only in the vertical dimension in this case, due to structural constraints,” San-Joh replied.

“I guess that answers the question of whether the Loranna own the place,” I muttered. “You can’t build something like that unless you’re in charge.”