Danny Diaz activates a recessed volumetric display, which rises to show the three-dimensional image of the Guardian’s starship rotating above the tabletop. ‘We’ve been able to access the Balam’s astrotopography program. We also located the source of the electromagnetic pulse weapon, which essentially prevented us from annihilating one another back in 2012.’

Lilith glides around the room, then abruptly stops and stares at her own reflection in the two-way mirror, inches from Jacob and Manny.

‘Who is she, Jacob?’ Dominique whispers.

Lilith suddenly smiles like an enchantress, then slowly lifts her silk top, exposing her tan, grapefruit-sized breasts at the two-way mirror.

Immanuel grins.

Jacob’s heart skips a beat.

And then the woman removes her wraparound sunglasses and reveals the sociopathic intensity of her azure-blue eyes.

Jacob grabs his twin by the arm and forcibly drags him from the room.

‘Jake, stop—’

‘No! You need to leave here, now!’

‘Jake, her eyes … was that—’

‘Yes. Now listen to me very carefully—’

They race down a corridor to a door marked EQUIPMENT. Jacob keys a code into a pad, then opens the door—

—revealing a stairwell that descends into darkness.

‘This will lead you outside to the beach. Give me two minutes, and I’ll cut power to the electrical fence. Your girlfriend’s outside.’

‘Lauren’s here? How do you know—’

‘Don’t talk, just listen. Head south. Stay out of the public eye. Find Frank Stansbury, he’s a friend of the family. Lives in Delray Beach, in the Western Estates.’

‘What about you?’

Jacob embraces his twin. ‘Don’t ask—just run! Remember, Frank Stansbury. And stay out of the nexus, or the Hunahpu will sense you. Now go!’

Immanuel hurries down the steps. Kicks open the rusted steel door and jogs out onto the beach, the wind gusting, the ocean spray blasting him in the face.

Searchlights activate behind and to his left. He dives forward, rolling to the base of the electrical barrier.

The searchlights’ motion detectors locate him. He tosses sand at the fence, which sizzles with static. Come on, Jake, shut it down!

He takes a few breaths, looks around, then throws another fistful of sand.

This time, the charge is gone.

Leaping to his feet, he grabs hold of the fence, scaling the forty-foot-high steel barrier like a lizard. He leaps into the night, drops and lands on both feet—

—as a familiar figure runs away from him, heading for the ocean.

Lauren sprints down the beach, away from the sirens, away from the searchlights. The wind whistles in her ears as the world-class sprinter races for the Amphibian.

‘Lauren, wait!’

Sam?

Lauren stops running as her fiancé stumbles, barreling sideways into her.

‘Lauren?’ Sam stares at her in disbelief. ‘Oh, God, it is you!’

She leaps into his arms, sobbing. ‘Sam, I’m in so much trouble—’

‘You and me both.’ Looking back over her shoulder, he spots the armed security guards. ‘Come on, we gotta move.’