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wall moist with droplets of condensation and peered at the body floating inside.
    Abigail.
    “Get her out of there and let’s see what the hell is going on,” I said, but Zoe was already seated at the control panel, her hands blurring over a flickering display with more dials and levers than a spaceship. “I want answers.”
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
    THEN
     
     
    Maddix blitzed into the conference room, swooped the mug of what he thought was hot coffee from my hand, and stole a seat on the opposite side of Zoe.
    “Good of you to join us, Maddix,” I called out from the head of the table.
    “Sorry.” Maddix held his cup in the air and gave a wink. “Had to grab some cof—” His smirk dropped to the floor with satisfying quickness as he eyed the empty mug. “Damn. You blinked, huh?”
    I toasted him with the steaming cup of coffee I’d kept hidden in my other hand.
    “Cheater,” he grumbled.
    “All right, listen up,” I said, gesturing to the screen on my right projecting satellite imagery of Haiti’s jungle-infested coastline. “Crask set up camp here about six weeks ago.” The view zoomed into the densely packed foliage, revealing a squat concrete bunker beneath. “Since then we’ve been detecting huge fluctuations in the tachyon output for this entire region. We’re going in to figure out why.”
    “I really hate the jungle,” Maddix said. “Mosquitoes and hea—”
    “Colby,” I interrupted, locking eyes with the fly-boy stuffing his face with pastries at the snack table in the back corner. “Go get our chariot ready. Pack light, standard recon package.” He snapped a salute with donut in hand before ducking out of the room.
    I dragged my gaze over the room’s remaining occupants: Maddix was kicked back dangerously far in his chair, boots on the Formica table; Zoe’s gaze was locked on the data-pad in her hand; and Taylor and Abigail were sitting close enough for their shoulders to touch.
    Taylor was already suffering from a handful of premature wrinkles and a spattering of silver hairs, but Abigail didn’t seem to mind. She’d married the boy-turned-man-overnight and never looked back, even as Taylor’s blitzing pulled his body ever faster into old age. They had one of those rare relationships that made everybody else in the room simultaneously jealous and nauseous.
    That they’d worked the system to get assigned to the same team indicated just how desperate Central was for good Chronos. Fortunately, their relationship had never affected their performance in the field, and I’d never had a reason to get out the hose.
    “This is just a sneak-and-peek to confirm what we think we already know about this facility.” I cued up the schematics Administration had dredged up that morning. “Maddix and I will lead the sweep. Twenty second blinks, in and out.”
    I highlighted an area on the map and said, “Taylor and Abigail, you’re running a secondary sweep around the perimeter.” Abigail patted Taylor’s hand, but her expression remained frozen and professional.
    “Zoe, you’ll stay on the horse with Colby. We’ll call you if things go sideways, but—” I gave Maddix a pointed look, “—nobody’s getting shot on this one. Understand?”
    “Will the bad guys be playing by those same rules?” Maddix asked.
    “Let’s try not to find out,” I said.
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
    NOW
     
     
    Abigail spewed up a mouthful of blue fluid onto the dark wooden floor. It smelled vaguely of vinegar.
    I supported her head, stroking slimy black curls of hair from her face. “It’s all right, just breathe.”
    Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing pupils that pulsed with unnatural brilliance. Two phosphorescent orbs emitting an impossible blue. Icy dread slithered through my veins, worming its way into my heart.
    “Oh my god,” Zoe said, putting to words the shock I myself felt.
    “She’s full up on so many tachyons that her eyes are literally glowing blue,” Maddix said, mastering