"Where's Chikara?" Master Adept Sarah Kensington-Chelgren said, to nobody in particular, as the truck bounced down the highway.

"She's forward, I'll go get her, Master."

"Thanks, Steve."

They bounced along in silence, sheltered in the mobile command unit Katrin Goldfarb, which was, in fact, self-contained within a trailer speeding up the interstate toward Minneapolis.  There were four semis in the convoy—though calling it a convoy was a misnomer, as the trucks had left at staggered times, and were taking different routes to the same destination.

"You wanted…to see me…Master Adept Sarah-san?"

"Yes, Commander.  I wanted to talk to you before we get to the battle.  I'm going to have to give commands to you in English—I've got no Japanese, and your English is better than my French.  Are you going to be able to follow them?"

It was not an idle question; Sadako Wakahisa was a phenomenal officer—she'd made Commander faster than anyone since they'd begun training, and though she didn't know it, the command staff had already decided that she would be heading up Asian operations as soon as she made Teacher.  And her English was improving rapidly—but she was still far from fluent.

"Sarah-san, I will do my goodest, is…what I can do."

"That's all I ask, Sadako.  But I need you to let me know if you're having trouble understanding, and I need you to be willing to step aside if you feel you're not performing at your peak.  Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sarah-san­.  I place the…uh…team ahead of…me."

Sarah smiled at that.  "I know, Sadako-san.  I trust you.  I'm more worried about myself—if I'm unclear, please tell me."

"I will if you are.  Is there…anything else?"

"No, Commander.  Go get a bit of rest."

Sarah swiveled in her chair back to the bank of monitors that made up the mobile command unit, looking at the three-pronged attack they had planned, and fighting the twist in her gut that said this was a bad idea.

"You're nervous."

"No, Madame Chair, I'm fine."

Ronnie Ceres snorted.  "Right.  Sarah, we've been through enough.  You're nervous."

"I've just got a bad feeling about this one," said Sarah.

"I seem to remember a former Master who said he always had a bad feeling about stuff like this."

"I wouldn't mind having Jake along for this one," Sarah said, drumming her fingers.  "I don't trust it, Ronnie."

"I know," Ceres said.  "Go get some rest.  An hour of sleep will do you good.  That's an order."

Sarah got up and headed forward to a set of bunks.  Her husband was already asleep, she noted.  Smart of him.  Reducing him enough to accommodate her, she slid in beside him and struggled to sleep.

◘ ◘ ◘

The dream was extremely real.

Sarah even said so.

"This dream is—"

"—yeah, extremely real.  About time you got here."

She turned to the voice, and saw Scott backlit by the evening sun.  "You're dreaming too, I take it?"

Scott nodded.  "I think Jake wants to talk to us."

Sarah sighed.  It had been almost three years since their dreams had brought them to this place.  But she knew they wouldn't be there unless Jake had a pretty good reason.

"I do have a good reason," said D.X. Machina, as he wandered up to the couple.  "I don't just go popping in from the afterlife for fun, you know.  If I did, I'd show up more often."

"It's good to see you too, boss," said Scott, quietly, as he embraced his friend. Sarah followed suit; it was a bittersweet reunion, but bittersweet still has some sweetness in it.

"Come on," said Jake, motioning them along.  "No time for pizza this visit, but I've got drinks around at that bar over there—and it's best to talk in quiet."

They sort of appeared in the bar; Sarah thought they might have walked there, but had no memory of it, and she quickly realized that she shouldn't try to apply logic in a place where it didn't exist.

"Logic does too exist here.  But time's a-wastin'."

"Stop reading my mind, boss.  Or when I get here, I'll find a way to make your life miserable."

"I know you will," said Jake, genially.  "Hopefully, that won't be for some time.  Please," he said, gesturing them over to a table where an attractive young woman was seated, with dark hair and dark eyes, and perpetual smile lines.

"So, liebschen, these are my grandpupils, eh?"

"Sarah, Scott, I'd like you to meet my mentor, Katrin Goldfarb."

Sarah felt the twist in her gut.  As she extended her hand, she said somberly, "This isn't going to go well, is it?"

D.X. looked at her directly.

"No, Sarah, it isn't."

She exhaled slowly.  "Well.  Master Adept Goldfarb, it's an honor to meet you.  And I imagine it's important we begin to talk."

"Katrin, please. As for talk—is no time for talking, Sarah.  D.X. and I simply wanted to bring you here to warn you that this will not be easy, and to remind you that the League does not play fair."

"I know that," said Sarah, quietly.  "So are we up against?"

"Can't give you intelligence," said D.X.  "Against the rules.  Next thing you know, you've got God-Teachers whispering into the ears of two different Prime Ministers at the same time, and then God only knows that comes next.  All I'm going to say is to expect the unexpected.  And a bit of pain."

Scott grabbed his drink from the table—whisky, Sarah noted—and downed it in one gulp. 

"Any of us going to die?" Scott asked, directly.

Katrin closed her eyes and did her best Yoda impersonation.  "Hard to see, the future is.  But it is possible, yes."

"Not that you should be surprised," said D.X.  "I mean, I didn't get here by choking on broccoli.  But yeah, it's possible.  Which is why I'm warning you two to be extra-double-super-special on guard."

"We will be," said Sarah, leaving her afterlife cocktail to sit.  "Thanks for the heads-up."

"Yeah, guys," added Scott.  "It's been good to see you, Jake, and good to meet you, Katrin. We're going now, aren't we?"

Jake nodded.  "Just remember, both of you—the scientist, Mallory—he's a good resource, even if he doesn't think he remembers anything.  He does.  And there will be people on the inside who can help you if things go bad.  And fight like Hell, and don't let me see you on this plane of existence in the next century unless you're here to visit."

"We'll do our best," said Sarah, as the world began to lighten.  "Thanks."

Jake raised his glass in toast.  "I know you will.  To the battle!"

And as he downed his drink in one shot, the dream ended.

Sarah and Scott awakened as one, Scott unsurprised to see his wife had shrunk him; it certainly wasn't the first time.

"Damn," he said, looking at Sarah. 

"I know," she said.  "I told you I had a bad feeling about this."

◘ ◘ ◘

At about 0630 hours, the trucks arrived at their destination.  The Katrin Goldfarb pulled into the parking lot of a large high school down the road from the strike point; the sun was not quite peeking over the horizon, but already it had lightened enough that Sam blinked a little on exiting the post.

He had to go with.  Not just into the parking lot—he had to go in.

He wasn't sure why.  He just knew that he had to be there, be inside.  If he could get there, maybe he could remember more.  Maybe.

He just had to convince them to let him go.

"All right, listen up," said Veronica Ceres, as the troop transports disgorged a solid sixty officers and troopers.  "Operation Blazing Honor will begin in T-30 minutes.  I want all groups to assemble with their respective command teams and begin preparation for transport.  Titania, Alpha squad, over by the Madison, Oberon, Bravo squad, by the New York City, Anonymous, Charlie squad, by the Glenview.  I want everyone eyes forward and ready to go.  We get one shot at this.  Teams, after assembling, I want Explorer, Wollstonecraft, and Mallrat to report up here to me to go over coordination.  Dr. Mallory, Ms. McCollister, please come with me.  All right?  Fall out."

As the group began to disperse, Sam and Alyssa approached the woman.  "Madame Chair," Alyssa said, mimicking what she'd heard others say, but Ceres held up a hand.

"You're not in the Society—at least not yet.  Call me Ronnie.  Look, you two are taking a huge risk, and we're grateful, but I want to make that clear to you.  I know the League.  I used to be a part of it.  They'll kill cheerfully, if need be."

Sam said, simply, "I know, Ronnie.  Believe me, I know.  That's why I want Alyssa to stay back here, where she's relatively safe.  And that's why I need to be with the group on the inside."

Ceres smiled slightly, as if she'd been expecting that.  "The first request I'm happy to honor, Sam.  But I don't know if you know what you're getting into if you go in."

"I know I don't," Sam said.  "But I almost remember that I do.  I can feel it, just under the surface.  I'm going to be more useful in there.  I know the risk, but I also know what they tried to do to me, and I know if I don't stop them now, they'll do it to more."

Ronnie nodded.  "All right.  You'll be with Charlie squad—that's Anon's group.  Stay with the command group and don't be afraid to duck to get out of trouble.  We don't want you hurt."

"Me either," he said. 

Alyssa was staring at him, mouth open.  He looked back at her, and sighed.

"I know, honey, I know.  But…they tried to destroy me.  They took my mind, they took my memory, they took me.  Things have worked out—in some was, I'm really lucky.  But…I can't let them go without a fight."

Alyssa shook her head.  "I know," she said, a tear dropping slowly down her right cheek.  "I know, Sam, but—I don't want to lose you."

He grabbed and held her, and she grabbed and held him, and they stayed like that a good five minutes, before they broke, and kissed, and she said, "Go get those bitches."

Ronnie finished talking to three officers, and one of them approached Sam.

"So, you're joining us, are you?  Teacher Greg Robertson," said the man, proffering a hand.  "You and I are going to be close.  I have orders to protect you at all costs."

"Teacher—I—"

"Don't protest," Greg said, waving him over with him as Sam reluctantly let go of Alyssa's hand.  "This memory/shrinking drug is a bitch, but you might have some good luck trying to remember if you're doing so on site.  And if you can remember anything about the layout in there, you're going to be worth your weight in gold.  Just listen to me—if I tell you to duck, duck.  You're not an op—though you've got the guts for one.  If you make it through this alive, I'll vouch for you to come in as a Defender straightaway.  What do you think of the code name of 'Memento'?"

"I'm not sure I remember what that means," said Sam, as they headed over to the group.

"Trust me," said Greg, "it fits."

◘ ◘ ◘

It was a reasonably standard attack, if more robust than usual.  Alpha squad running interdiction at the parking lot and outside and around the building, Bravo and Charlie in a pincer action, seizing the building from opposite ends and working toward the middle.  In principle, it should work fine.

Of course, on paper, every plan should work fine.

"All right," Ronnie said from the command post, "we've got check-in with the local authorities, they're going to stay clear unless asked, but they'll be on alert; need a go/no-go, folks.  Alpha?"

Sarah grimaced, but ignored the voices telling her to waive off.  "Go," she said, evenly.

"Bravo?"

"Go, Ceres," Scott replied, shifting from side to side like a boxer trying to loosen up.

"Charlie?"

"Go," Anonymous said, simply.  He said a quiet prayer that this would end better than the last battle he'd been in.

"All right, we are go.  On my mark, transport your teams and attack.  Three…two…one…mark."

The teams hit their transport spells simultaneously, as they'd trained to do.  They streamed through quickly, Sarah's team fanning out, Scott and Anon charging the building with reckless abandon.

"All right!" Sarah called.  "We have three unknowns in the lot—Voy, secure 'em.  Chikara, I need help getting detention set up."

"I am ready," said Sadako, producing a small container that she placed on the ground.  She murmured the incantation in Japanese, and it became a largish shack.

"Nice work," said Sarah, already moving to cut off two more cars that seemed set to reverse themselves.  "Star!  Explorer!  I need you at the entrance to the driveway—we're detaining every car coming in, got it?"

"On it, Master," Steve said, nodding to Jana.  She enlarged herself to a solid twenty feet. 

"I think," she said, "it's best to be intimidating, don't you?"

Steve smiled.  He loved this girl.  He did the same.

 ◘ ◘ ◘

"Society!  Don't move!" shouted Scott as they stormed the lobby.  A confused looking receptionist looked on in mute shock as a Trooper guarded her.  "All right, fan out and lock it down, folks!" Scott said, feeling almost cocky.  He'd expected resistance already.  They really might have caught them off guard.  Maybe D.X. was wrong.

That's when the explosions went off.

◘ ◘ ◘

The ceiling caved in.

Sam covered his head and screamed, but there wasn't much more he could do.  He and Greg had just headed right through a doorway, looking for interference, when suddenly the bombs blew.

When the rain of rubble finished, Sam looked up, stunned to still be in one piece.  He had been just a few feet ahead of Greg, when he—

Greg.

He looked back at the wounded teacher.  He was on the ground, conscious but swearing and cursing, looking down at the stump of a right leg that wasn't connected to anything anymore.

"We need to get you out of here," said Sam, looking back at the doorway. 

It was sealed shut.

"Can we call for help?  Your radio?"

"Smashed," said Greg, grimacing.  "Dropped it when the thing blew—it's gone."

"Well, maybe I can dig through…."

"No time…you need to get clear, Sam…please, you need to tell Bekah that I love her. That I wanted more time.  You need to tell her."

Sam felt a sudden pain in his head.  He touched it, felt blood.  It was a nasty gash, but nothing compared to what Greg had.  "Like hell," he said, surprising himself.  "I'm going for help.  Here," he continued, instinctively stripping his shirt and tearing a long strip from it.  He lifted Steve's leg, and though his erstwhile protector howled in protest, he tied the tourniquet as tightly as he could muster.

"I'm coming back for you," said Sam.  "I don't want to have to tell your girl how you loved her.  I want you to do it yourself."

Greg, for his part, leaned limply against the rubble.  "Me too, Doc.  You're gonna make a good officer someday, you know that, right?"

"Stay conscious," said Sam.  "And stay on your guard."

He turned and headed into the bowels of research lab 12.

Sasha.

The name floated through, unbidden.  He didn't know if it was important.

He didn't care.  He pushed on.

◘ ◘ ◘

Anon took what was left of Charlie squad back to the left.  Not very sporting, using munitions—Leah must've shed what was left of her honor.  He'd lost Greg, lost Dr. Mallory—hopefully just on the other side of the wall, that's the way they were heading.  Lost Rice and Bellanger, too—damn it all, they were going to be promoted tonight if all went well.

"All right," he said to the remaining men and women in his company, "no time for dilly dally.  This way, we're going to get these bitches once and for all."

◘ ◘ ◘

Sarah was not expecting to be in a very difficult fight with a large, vicious, and angry Adept, but she was, and it was all she could do to keep her unit together while she tried to parry the attack from the woman.

It was Wafia, she knew even before she spoke.  The woman from Afghanistan—she was talented. 

Sarah smiled, though.  She wasn't without a trick or two of her own.  Throwing caution to the wind, she reached through and pulled her opponent through into another place.

"You have the team, Steve," she said, as she disappeared into nowhere.

◘ ◘ ◘

Scott had caught the rubble and shrunk it just in time.  Another split-second and he would have lost Ana.  As it was, they were now facing a sealed door that was evidently impervious to shrinking and growth spells.

"There has to be another way around.  You," he said, pointing to the receptionist.  "Is there another way in?"

"I don't know.  I'm just a temp.  Seriously."

"Yeah, yeah.  All right, we're going to have to do this the hard way," he said, looking to the ground.  "Everyone, stand by for miniaturization.

◘ ◘ ◘

Ronnie swore as she watched her main attack squad shrinking itself while the rear guard was decimated.  She had no telemetry on Mallrat or Mallory—though she was trying to hide that fact from Alyssa right now.  They were barely inside the facility.  And it was pretty obvious that they had managed a surprise for about eight seconds.

Even Leah wasn't that good.

She frowned.  She didn't like this one bit.

"All right, Little, where's Sarah?  I need her to break off half of Alpha squad, send them in with Bravo."

"She's engaged, Master," Stuart replied.  "Should I tell Steve?"

"Negative," said Ronnie, drumming her fingers.

This wasn't going well at all.

◘ ◘ ◘

Sarah rematerialized in a shoe, as did Wafia.  She knew there were mere moments.

"I'm leaving," she said.  "You probably—"

But Wafia was already pulling her through to another world.  A meteor-sized rock was hurtling toward Sarah.  She quickly reduced it, but saw a flurry more inbound.  She looked up, and saw where she was—the shoulder of a young girl, probably eighteen.

She wasn't moving.

Sarah cursed, and with a flourish, pulled herself and Wafia on.

◘ ◘ ◘

He shook his head, trying to will the memory through.  He knew it was important. 

He turned the corner, and stopped dead.

He was face-to-face with an attractive woman in her early forties, brilliant red hair tied back, mouth agape.

"Oh my God, Simon?  Is that—is that you?"

Sam started to turn, but somehow, something in his brain told him to stay.

He looked back at the woman.

He cleared his throat.

"I am Simon.  In a manner of speaking.  I—I was dosed with—"

"Oh my God, micromemor!  That explains a lot.  What's going on, is the League attacking?  We're shut down, they've sealed off everything lower than nine; I suppose it makes sense, that's pretty sensitive stuff—anyhow, look, I'm rambling, you probably don't even remember my name."

Simon looked at the woman, and raised an eyebrow.  "Sasha…I think."

Sasha Peterson smiled.  "Well, glad of that.  Come on, Jane and Jake were back with me, maybe we can help fix your cut."

He started off with Sasha, trying to shake the cobwebs from his head.

◘ ◘ ◘

They emerged at approximately one millimeter tall.  It had been a bit of a trek, but they'd cleared the underside of the door.  Now they just needed to unshrink, and they could continue.

"All right, stand by to—"

But before Scott got the words out of his mouth, they had been restored.

Master Chelgren looked around angrily.

"Who restored us?"

"Nobody on your team, Scott."

He turned to the sound of the voice. 

"Damn it, Leah, don't you get tired of losing?  Transport," he said, aiming a shot across her bow as she pushed a button on what looked to be a garage door remote.

He started to throw the spell when he got lightheaded.  He tried to push the spell out, but it was fuzzy—rubbery.  It rebounded, but not hard.  It wasn't going to affect him.  It just petered out and died.

"Interesting, isn't it?  It's still highly experimental—but it's going to help us out a lot, don't you think?"

Scott felt like a man who'd lost his sight.  He felt the field pushing in on him, cutting off his power, choking it off and clearing it out.  "It's a morphogenetic dampener," he said, quietly.

"Very good, Master Adept Chelgren!  Yes, it's a morphogenetic dampener.  Keeps you from doing any of your little parlor tricks.  Now, ladies," she said, as two dozen women entered the room, "secure this group.  We'll deal with the second attack squadron presently."

Scott grimaced as he was shackled.  "You can't have a field bigger than the main building here.  And one powerful enough to knock me out would have to be big."

"Oh, it is," Leah said, smiling wider.  "Too bad you won't get to see it before I kill you.  For now—take them to the holding area along with the rabble.  And begin countdown to departure, sixty minutes on my mark…mark.  Execute Decampment Procedure Stanton."

"Our base knows you've got us," said Scott."

"Right," said Leah.  "Like I'd have a morphogenetic dampener here and not have your signal scrambled like an omelet.  Move."

◘ ◘ ◘

"That's a nasty gash, let me look at it," said Jane, peering into the cut on Sam's forehead.

"No time," he said, pacing.  "Look, the Society is in trouble.  We have to get into the main facility."

"The Society can handle themselves.  Besides, all they have to do is lock down the facility and turn on the dampener; the League will never get through that."

Simon shook his head at Sasha.  "It's not the League attacking.  It's the Society!"

Jake looked up at that.  "Why would the Society attack itself?"

Sasha looked helplessly over at Jane, whose face was ashen.

"They told us that this was a Society facility…that they were the money behind…Oh my God."

Sasha closed her eyes.  "Jane, don't tell me that we've been working for the League the past three years."

"She doesn't have to," said Sam.  "I knew they were.  I left a message for myself.  They—they kidnapped me, shrunk me.  I don't remember how.  But…."

"You warned me," said Sasha, slumping against a wall.  "You told me that you didn't trust management, told me to take care if anything happened to you, but—Damn it!"

She threw a keyboard across the room.

"Well," said Jake, "There's only one thing we can do."

"What's that?" Jane replied.

"Help."

◘ ◘ ◘

Sarah was growing tired of the attack, and so she pulled a page out of D.X.'s old playbook.

They were back in Wafia's village, as Sarah had first seen it, in the aftermath of her rampage.  Wafia, for her part, was staring in shock.  She looked over at Sarah.

"It's a good thing you don't understand Pashto, or you'd be really offended by what I'm about to say."

"Language is irrelevant in this place," Sarah retorted, angrily, drawing Wafia's eyes even bigger.  "We're in your mind, in the wreckage of your home, and you're about to relive your glory moment forever—while out in the real world, your eyes glaze over and you start to drool.  Sound good?"

Wafia strode angrily toward Sarah.  "In the name of Allah (peace be upon him), surrender!   Whether I die or not is not important; your friends will be killed.  The League will survive today.  And all women everywhere will triumph."

"I've seen that kind of triumph before," said Sarah.  "Never works out evenly."

"Who cares about evenly?" Wafia shot back.  "We should pay them back, pay them back for thousands of years of servitude.  Surely you see that?"

Sarah shook her head.  "My husband never made me his servant—had he tried, I wouldn't be his wife."

Wafia said, angrily, "Yes, nice of the American to tell the rest of the world's women how good you have it.  My sister would have married who my father blessed; I was almost killed for being raped.  You have no idea how it is."

Sarah shook her head.  "I don't," she said, honestly.  "But I know that however much wrong is in your culture, it doesn't make it right to simply switch the sides around.  If it's wrong for men to abuse women, it's wrong for women to abuse men."

"I don't care," said Wafia.  "Men are a scourge, and the world will be better when we are rid of them."

Now, Sarah thought.  "Transport and bind for an hour!" she suddenly shouted, pushing Wafia away with all her might.  She pulled herself back to reality.

◘ ◘ ◘

Ceres heaved a sigh of relief when Sarah reappeared.  "Titania!  We're reds across the board, I need you and a small strike force ASAP—I'm going in too."

"Ronnie—"

"Sarah, we've got no telemetry on anyone inside the building, and there's every indication that things have gone badly wrong."

Sarah paused at that, and closed her eyes.  Claris, she thought, but nothing answered back.

"Okay," she said, "We're in.  Steve, Jana, you're with me.  Also Troopers James and Bolton."

◘ ◘ ◘

Sam fretted.  He knew that Greg was on borrowed time—as did the rest of his friends.  But he also knew that if he honored what Greg believed in, the mission had to come first.

He just hoped this would work.

"All right," said Sasha, peering through what appeared to be an oversized air vent, "It looks like the Jefferies Tubes are still clear."

"Jefferies Tubes?"

Jane rolled her eyes.  "That's your fault, Simon.  You were a big trekker back before your brain got scrambled.  Technically, they're interbay access portals, but your name stuck."

Sasha pulled herself inside, and proffered a hand to Sam.  "Good thing I never really mentioned these to our new corporate masters.  We haven't needed them much.  And…well, you've gotta keep some secrets, right?"

Sam smiled.  He didn't know why, but suddenly he remembered just a flash of him approaching Sasha romantically, being told that wasn't going to happen.  Not him, just that her type wasn't male.

He smiled at the half-memory.  It had actually helped, he though.  He remembered, vaguely, that they'd become good friends after that, for just a bit.

"Let's go," he said.

◘ ◘ ◘

Alyssa paced in the command center, which right now was largely depopulated.  "Are you sure—"

"We can't raise anyone," said Teacher Stuart Little, cranklily.  "Trust me, we're not happy about it either.  But we don't have much more we can do but sit tight.  Those were Master Ceres' orders, and I'm not going to ignore those again."

"'Again?'"

Stuart leaned back.  "Just hang loose, sister.  Hang loose."

◘ ◘ ◘

They moved slowly and deliberately, until Sarah felt the dead spot.

"Whoa," she said, swaying just a bit.

"What is it?"

"I felt something too," Ronnie said, reaching out.  "That bitch.  It's a dampening field."

Sarah shook her head.  "I'm no good in there, then."

"Right," said Ronnie.  "You're you.  You're good everywhere.  But we're not going to get anywhere just standing here."

"What's the plan?" asked Sarah.

"When you've got nothing—surrender," said Ronnie, walking forward.

Sarah looked up, surprised, but suddenly nodded.  "Yeah—it's our best way inside, isn't it?"

"Let's go," said Ronnie.  "Before I wise up."

◘ ◘ ◘

Bravo squad was locked in holding with about a dozen regular staffers of Laughlin labs—a few scientists, a couple accountants—not many people there before eight, which had been what the Society had counted on.

Charlie squad had hit a dead and, and was doubling back.  Anon had tried transporting, and got nothing.  He didn't know his team was completely sealed off from the main area, and he'd waste time finding that out.

Teacher Greg Robertson lay up against a wall, trying to hold his strength, even as he felt himself dying.  Things had gone terribly wrong.  He knew it.  Still, he remembered back to being a lost and wasted man many years before, of being given a crystal by a young D.X. long before this became mainstream, of working his way through the Society after Madison, of meeting Bekah amid the hell of Edinburgh.  If he was going to die, at least he'd had an interesting run.

Leah Ash had grinned wildly as Ronnie and company surrendered, and rewarded her with a backhand across the face, before sending them up to the detention level.

She had only to wait out another forty minutes, and her victory would be complete.

And in lab bay one, an access portal had just been removed, and four men and women clambered out.

"All right," said Simon, "now what?"

"They'll be running the dampener," Jane said.  "It'd be their best defense."

"Right," said Sasha.  "Well, you designed it; how do we disable it?"

"The key will be to alter the flow of neutrinos over the grid.  Should be easy—if we can get to it.  But you'd better believe it'll be guarded," said Jane.

"But what if it needed adjusting?  You can do that while the system's online."

"Yes," said Jake, "you can do that, Simon.  Nice memory.  So what?"

"Well, what if the League was noticing fluctuations in the intensity of the field owing to the DNA grid being catalyzed somewhat.  It's a slight adjustment, but we'd need to do it fast, or the field could collapse.  At least, that's a plausible story.  I think.  Actually, someone explain to me what I just said, would you?"

Sasha was grinning.  "God bless you, Sim, I've missed you.  All right, who's the best liar in the group?"

Jake, Sam, and Jane each pointed to Sasha.

"Yeah, I know.  All right, Jane, you're with me.  Jake, Simon—hide."

◘ ◘ ◘

Scott groaned as Sarah was pushed into the room.

"Well, that's it, huh?" he said, going to embrace her.

"Anon's group is still free—we think.  And we've got a chance together.  If the field falters, together we might be able to do something."

Scott shook his head.  "Honey—you should've cleared out."

Sarah kissed him.  "Scott, if you think I'd ever leave you to die, you're sorely mistaken.  If you're going down, I'm going down with you—and D.X. will just have to put up with us in the afterlife."

Scott hugged her.  "Yeah, I'd rather die with you than apart too."

◘ ◘ ◘

Ronnie, for her part, was not in the room.  She was instead manacled to the chair in Leah Ash's office.  Leah was quietly, unhurriedly removing a few pieces of bric-a-brac from the otherwise sterile room.

"So," Leah finally said, "I've finally got you, you traitor.  How should I kill you?  What would be the most painful thing I could do to you?"

Ronnie looked at Leah.  "Show me a tank full of tiny men, scared to death of women, and tell me it's the future."

Leah sighed.  "You could have had a place at my side in the new world, Ronnie.  But you couldn't get over your queasiness at what had to be done.  I have no such compunction."

"Then why haven't you killed me already?"

"Why bother?  I've got you trapped in the building with a full autodestruct sequence on, we've already managed to get most of the important equipment and files out, save for the dampener—it's too big to carry anyhow, and I'm not worried—in eighteen minutes, I'll be out of here, and you, your adepts, and the leadership of the Society will be dispersed in a cloud of nuclear rubble."

Ronnie's eyes widened.  "A nuclear—what the hell?"

"I have connections, Ronnie.  You should've learned that a long time ago.

"At any rate, sit back and relax, Veronica Koschei—your demon of a grandfather would be disappointed at how weakly you fought."

Ronnie sighed.  "I never knew you knew.  And he never told anyone."

"He never would, inscrutable bastard.  He never would.  But he set you up pretty, didn't he?"

◘ ◘ ◘

"Look, you don't understand," said Sasha.  "Ash is furious—this thing's unstable, and if we don't adjust it now, it's going to oscillate out of phase."

Alyssa Freitas leaned coolly up against the device.  "Look, if Leah—"

"There's no time!  We've got a minute, maybe two at most, to make this adjustment.  You want those adepts suddenly getting power?"

Freitas sighed.  "All right, all right, you can do your adjustment.  Just the quiet one, though.  You—I want you in sight if anything goes wrong."

"Of course, dear," said Sasha, grinning.

It was but a minute later when the alarms went off.

◘ ◘ ◘

It felt like they'd just consumed a thousand Red Bulls each. 

Scott and Sarah looked at each other, almost not daring to believe that they felt what they felt. 

They nodded to each other, and smiled.

And they were shouting out a mishmash of overlapping incantations almost immediately, dispatching their way with ease through their guards.  They were out of the jail within seconds, and out and into the facility.

"Split up!" shouted Sarah to Scott.  "We've got to find Ronnie and Anon!"

"10-4," Scott replied, leaping a banister and transforming himself into an army man, complete with parachute, until he alighted on the ground below.

◘ ◘ ◘

Leah, for her part, had looked up in horror.

"No," she said, quietly.

Ronnie mumbled two quick incantations, and rose.  "All right," she said.  "Let's go."

◘ ◘ ◘

Alyssa had been knocked out by a swift punch from Sasha, and Jake and Sam had rejoined the group.

"Come on!" said Jane, leading the way.  "We've got to get to the central security section!"

◘ ◘ ◘

Leah and Ronnie went after each other with all their might, neither one backing down an inch. 

Leah hit Ronnie with an AR, which Ronnie parried and came back with a shrink spell, but Leah was ready for that and moved and transformed herself into a cannon, but Ronnie shrunk herself as the shell volleyed forth.

Leah came back to herself, and smiled.  "It's too late, Ronnie," she said, looking at her watch.  Depressing a button, she said, simply, "All forces, evac now.  As for you," she said.  "Pokalechke."

Ronnie tried to parry the blow, but she was just a hair slow.  It hit her and suddenly began to mold her, to alter her, to eat her from within.

"Transport," said Leah, disappearing from the scene.

She felt her body swell in some places, collapse in others. 

It was, she knew, the mutilation spell.  It was said to exist, but to have been excised at Bergen-Belsen.

Ronnie knew this meant that Leah had an older codec.

She wanted to warn her friends, but she knew it was already too late.

With a groan, she collapsed.  She had time for just one message, and using a bit of blood, she scrawled out two letters.

And then she died.

◘ ◘ ◘

They entered the main chamber almost simultaneously.

"Where are the League officers?" shouted Scott.

"I don't see anyone.  There's an office—oh, God.  Ronnie."

"What is it, Sarah?  Oh, no."

Ronnie was dead, distorted almost beyond recognition.

Scott looked at her, angry beyond belief.  And then he saw the letters.

Pu.

Sam and company arrived just then.  "What the—my God!  What happened?"

"Ronnie—" said Sarah, blankly.

Scott looked at the letters.  This meant something.  He searched his memory.

"Plutonium?  Why would she write that?"

Scott looked at Mallory, wild-eyed.  "There's a bomb!  Sarah, get everyone out of here!"

"What about you?" Sarah asked.

"No time," he said, vaulting the table.  It would be buried beneath them.  He'd get one chance.

Sarah was moving people out as fast as she could conceive.  "Don't forget Greg—he's back at the entrance," said Sam.

Sarah saw him, and transported him.

And transported Sam, and Steve, and Jana, and Anon--everyone save herself. 

And then she turned to her husband, who was searching for it.  He knew it was here.

She closed her eyes and held his hand.

They felt it—just the tiniest twitch of a trigger, felt the explosion begin.

And they pushed it down.  Shrink.  Shrink.  Shrink.

◘ ◘ ◘

Sam embraced Alyssa.  She kissed him, hard.  "I never thought I'd see you again," she said.  Then—"Why are we in Chicago?"

"Bad stuff still going on there," said Sam.  "Bad stuff."

◘ ◘ ◘

It pushed against them.  It was protected.  It was powerful magic, and powerful technology.  It would not be denied.

◘ ◘ ◘

Greg was rushed out into an ambulance; Bekah leapt in before anyone could say anything.  She was but a Deputy, yes, but everyone knew their story.

She held his hand all the way to the hospital.  Halfway there, Greg opened his eyes, and smiled at her.

"I love you, Bekah," he said.

And with that, he let go of her hand, once and for all.

◘ ◘ ◘

It pushed, pushed with all its might, but it was but a force of nature, just one force represented that day.  It was not a match for them.

It detonated with a force large enough to send them sprawling backward, and to ignite part of the room—but not much more.

They looked at the fire, realized that soon, the building would be engulfed.  They looked at Ronnie, badly battered, almost inhuman.

"We're going to kill that bitch," said Scott.

"I know," said Sarah.

And as the fire began to spread in earnest, they transported out.