The van picked up speed, which made standing on top harder, the wind against my hands cold. I’d have to trust. We had sent a message to Vista, urging her to be ready for March, and we’d told her to pull strings and cut all communications for now, at least until they’d weathered the initial attack.

The wind whipping over the top of the van caught my legs, sweeping them off the roof. I started flying the instant they were no longer touching, staying close. I wrapped the Wretch around myself, to shield against the cold wind, at the cost of making it harder to fly straight. Shifts in air resistance, a lopsided body.

If March couldn’t call other teams or mercenaries, then she couldn’t coordinate timing. She would still have an advantage, but it would be predicated on having the information to exploit.

The disc at my arm glowed. I checked the status. I wasn’t sure how to tune the default settings, because pulling up our red team still brought up a painfully zoomed out view, with three red dots miles away from another three red dots. I had to take nearly a minute to focus the view on one group of three, zooming in close enough to make out any pertinent details, and it looked like I’d have to do it every time I wanted to check. If I wanted to check on the other half of team red, then I had to reset, then zoom in on them.

Swansong, Lookout, and one of the Heartbroken kids were in custody. Bags over heads. Hands bound. Swansong had the power to free herself, but she couldn’t use it. Lookout had been positioned just behind her. Using her power would obliterate her teammate and friend.

The Heartbroken kid, one of the younger ones closer to Kenzie’s age, was being managed with a long pole attached to her restraints.

An indicator showed the direction to them. They were to our west and were traveling west. We knew they were heading to a portal.

They were near Fairbanks and were heading in the direction of the screwed up portal that had once led to Earth N. In the same neighborhood as Kenzie’s old house.

An attempt at checking on the other group provided only static. We’d known they were at the university, and that wasn’t far from the portal in question.

Was this a trap? That we could only see one target for the time being? Love Lost was a tinker, careful enough to have security on everything tech and traps riddling everything that wasn’t tech.

It was hard to imagine her not expecting us.

“Let’s try to intercept red team before they’re taken to where the larger group with Cradle is!” I called out.

I got a signal of assent from Foil. Rachel, to my right, nodded her head.

At least she wasn’t fighting me.