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"Nothing in the air right now, sir I’ out to our nearest air force friend, but I have the feeling they’ll want to stay out of it before shooting down their own expensive toys, even unrabbed for her phone and checked their location on the , and Joe was tossing in suggestions, but Bryn leaned forward and held out her phone "Here," she said "Go here Haul ass and ines It’s our only option"

"Go," Brick said to Joe, and got on the radio to deliver the orders To his credit, he didn’t even ask where they were going; Bryn supposed it didn’t ht, Wait until I tell Annie about this, because it was Annie’s teenage obsession with kitschy roadside attractions that had rung a bell for her, out here in theto the salt mines

Chapter 4

"Here," Riley said, and pressed a protein bar into her hands; Bryn wasn’t even really aware of her hunger, except as a gnawing constant, but she realized that she’d been staring fixedly at Brick’s neck, and that probably wasn’t a good thing She licked her lips and tasted salt, and nodded to Riley as she unwrapped the foil frolue, and fake chocolate, but it did, surprisingly, help--not as much as a thick, bloody steak would have done, but itzombie in the close confines of the truck That would be inadvisable, not to mention messy

She ate three of the barsand so did Riley, which ed as she was That was inherently dangerous, but at least they were still thinking, still understanding that the cliff was ahead of thee course

But the cliffwell, the cliff was always there, and she knew Riley was acutely aware of it, too

"Highway 50," she said, and pointed at the off-ramp The convoy took it at a speed just under insane, and she held on for dear life "Head west and floor it We’re heading for the Kansas Underground Salt Museum"

"Wait, a museum?" Brick said "You understand that this drone could be set to bomb the holy shit out of--"

"It’s a mine," she said "And it has a secured slant-drilled shaft they use to ferry heavy equipment in and out, which means we can drive our own vehicles inside--instant cover The mine itself is about seventy miles of tunnels under solid rock, and a block of salt so hard you can’t even drive nails into it The drone won’t be able to blow through that"

"We going to have to worry about civilian casualties?" Brick asked, which was a reasonable question, and Bryn had already checked it on her phone

"They’re closed Mondays, so I think we’re good," she said "It isn’t like they’re overstaffed Our eneht send in a teaet to us If we lock off the elevator and secure the vehicle exit, it’s a long way down--six hundred fifty feet of narrow stairs I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t risk it, because just one of us could hold that forever"

"Not ideal, but it’ll do," Brick said "They can’t keep the drone up there long; people get the idea that they’re conducting ly They were hoping for a quick, fatal strike in theout a tourist attraction won’t have nearly so much appeal They ain’t that desperate"

"Yet," Riley said

He didn’t argue They all rode in silence as the engine of the SUV roared, and Kansastires It felt effortless, the way momentum always did, but it wasn’t Bryn was acutely aware of the drone so its way to them with equally ruthless efficiency She wouldn’t even knohen it happened, most likely The weapons the drone carried would make the trucks infernos, and she doubted the nanites, no raded, could survive a direct strike like that

Good way to go, some traitorous part of her said Maybe it would be for the best if it ended right here, right now Before I do things I can’t take back

But if she gave up now, there was nothing to stop the Fountain Group--and their agenda was sos to accohts And she needed to stay alive and stay fighting if she wanted to have even an outside chance of stopping the as that fireball would be, she knew they needed to win this one