Then he moves. Not continuing the search pattern. Coming directly toward us.
Sarah's hand moves to her comm. "All positions, target inbound with increasing speed. Bearing two-seven-zero."
Kane's voice comes back, calm and controlled. "Copy. Standing by."
I tighten my grip on Lucas. This is it. Reeve found something. Something that told him exactly where to look.
Minutes tick by like hours. Tommy tracks the approach, calling out bearings and distances. Sarah coordinates defensive positions. I hold Lucas and try not to think about what happens if Reeve breaches the facility.
Then Tommy exhales sharply. "He's stopping. Holding position."
We watch the display. The heat signature stays motionless.
"What's he doing?" Sarah asks.
"Don't know. But he's not advancing." Tommy adjusts his sensors. "Wait. He's moving again. Away from us. Heading northwest."
"He's retreating," Sarah says, disbelief in her voice.
Fifteen more minutes of tracking before Tommy confirms it. "He's gone. Back the way he came. Reeve's pulling out."
The tension in operations doesn't ease. Not yet.
Then footsteps in the corridor. Stryker appears in the doorway, exhaustion written across his face. But he's alive and standing and here.
"Is it over?" I ask.
"No." He crosses to where we're sitting. "Reeve retreated. Hawthorne thinks he was probing our defenses, not committing to full assault. But he got closer than we wanted. Close enough to confirm there's definitely something here worth investigating."
Everything in me goes cold. "So he'll be back."
Stryker looks at Lucas, then at me. "And next time, he'll come prepared."
I pull Lucas closer, his small body warm against mine. The testimony is secured. The recording exists in multiple locations. But none of that matters if Reeve breaches Echo Base and finds us.
We just made my son a documented witness.
Now we need to keep him alive long enough for that documentation to matter.
20
STRYKER
The operations center settles into controlled calm after Reeve's retreat. Tommy reviews the thermal tracking data while Kane studies movement patterns on the tactical display. Hawthorne stands beside me, both of us still in tactical gear, studying the same information from different angles.
"He's mapping," Hawthorne says. "Building a complete intelligence picture before committing resources. Classic special reconnaissance methodology."
"How long before he narrows our location?" Kane asks.
Tommy pulls up overlays showing Reeve's search grid. "Depends on what sensors he brings next time. He knows something's in this area. Each probe gives him more data. Eventually he'll triangulate our exhaust signatures, power generation, thermal anomalies."
"Timeframe," Kane says.
"Could be days. Could be weeks." Hawthorne glances at the display. "He's patient. Won't move until he's certain."
Which means we're living under siege without walls. Reeve circling, gathering intelligence, waiting for the perfect momentto strike. And when he does, he won't probe. He'll commit everything.
Kane turns to Hawthorne. "You know him. How does he think?"
