Page 125 of Silent Target

Darkness.

The train’s rear lamps shrink with every turn.

“How fast can this thing go?” Cobra asks.

“This is it,” Rook says.

“That’s disappointing.”

Fathom braces his tablet against the dashboard. “The seventh drive is still transmitting. Whatever is aboard that train is maintaining the purge connection.”

The six stolen drives flash red inside their padded case.

A new countdown appears.

Eleven minutes.

“Why did the timer reset?” Evie asks.

“Graves transferred the purge to another system.”

“The train?”

“Or wherever it’s going.”

Mac grips the steel railing as the maintenance vehicle swings around a bend.

“The rail line divides ahead. One track leads to the eastern exit. The other goes deeper beneath the mountain.”

“The command archive?” I ask.

Mac’s eyes remain fixed on the darkness.

“No. Something older.”

“How much older?”

“I don’t know.”

Cobra looks at him. “I’m beginning to dislike that answer.”

“So am I.”

I stand behind Rook and study the rails.

Fresh oil glistens on the left switch.

The right track is covered with rust and dust.

“They went left.”

Mac leans closer. “That leads out of the mountain.”

“No.”

“It does.”

“The switch was moved after the train passed.”