Mercer's brake lights flash ahead as we approach the final checkpoint. A rockfall blocks the road completely. He punches a code into a keypad hidden inside a hollow log and the entire obstruction shifts aside on hydraulic lifts disguised to look natural.
I drive through and the barrier closes behind us. Now we're in the final approach corridor, the last mile that leads directly to Echo Base's entrance.
The facility appears gradually. A cave mouth wide enough for vehicles, positioned at an angle that makes it invisible from aerial surveillance. Tommy installed camouflage netting woven with vegetation that adjusts seasonally.
I pull into the cave behind Mercer and kill the engine. Motion-activated lights flicker on, illuminating a tunnel that extends deep into the mountain's heart. Steel-reinforced walls replace natural rock after the first fifty feet. Blast doors stand ready to seal the entrance if Echo Base ever comes under assault.
Rachel takes it all in with wide eyes. Lucas wakes as I open his door.
"Whoa." His voice echoes slightly. "This is like a secret base from a movie."
"Pretty much." I help him out and hand him Ghost. "Come on. Someone's waiting to meet you."
The tunnel opens into Echo Base's main chamber. Operations center with multiple workstations and surveillance feeds covering the left wall. Weapons storage and tactical gear along the right. Living quarters branch off through corridors carved from solid rock. Training facilities, medical bay, communications hub. Everything needed to run long-term operations from a place the Committee has never successfully located despite years of trying.
Kane stands at the tactical table. He looks up as we enter and something in his expression shifts. Not quite a smile, but close.
"Stryker." He nods once, then focuses on Rachel and Lucas. "Rachel. Lucas. Welcome to Echo Base."
Rachel shakes his hand with controlled wariness. "Thank you for having us."
"You're not guests. You're under protection." Kane's voice carries flat certainty. "Which means this is your home until the threat is neutralized."
Lucas edges closer to Rachel but his eyes are everywhere, taking in the surveillance feeds and weapons racks and tactical displays. A kid who witnessed a murder and now finds himself in a military facility buried in a mountain. What kind of normal can he return to after this is over?
If there's any normal left to return to.
"Let me show you your quarters." I gesture toward the residential corridor. "You can get settled while Kane and I debrief."
We pass communal areas where the team gathers for meals and briefings. The gym where we train and blow off steam. Tommy's tech cave where he monitors global intelligence feeds and builds encryption systems the NSA would pay millions to crack.
Lucas stares at everything with wide eyes. "Do people actually live here?"
"Yeah. My team operates out of Echo Base full-time." I stop at a door. "This is yours."
The quarters are basic but functional. Two rooms connected by a shared bathroom. Double bed in the larger room for Rachel. Single bed in the smaller one for Lucas. Everything bolted to the floor or wall.
"It's not the Ritz," I say, suddenly aware of how Spartan it must look.
"It's secure." Rachel runs her hand along the steel-reinforced doorframe. "That matters more than comfort right now."
Lucas drops his backpack on the single bed. "Can I explore later?"
"We'll see. Might have someone show you around if that's okay with your mom."
Rachel looks at me for a long moment before nodding. "As long as someone responsible is with him."
"Khalid's good with kids. Dylan's adopted son. He's fifteen and he knows this place better than anyone except Kane."
"Dylan. The one protecting my sister?"
"Yeah. He's still in Phoenix with them. Should be back in a day or two once he hands them off to the protection contractors Victoria Cross vetted." I check my watch. "I should go. Kane's waiting."
Rachel catches my arm. "Who is Victoria Cross?”
“She’s an information broker and ally of sorts.”
“Of sorts?”
