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ask, then thought better of how to phrase her question. “Was there any indication that she had suffered in any way at that point?”
    “No, thank goodness,” Lakesh said firmly. “Her heart rate had initially increased, naturally enough, but there was no other significant change.”
    “What about the craft she was in?” Mariah asked.
    Lakesh looked frustrated. “We’ve tracked back via the Vela satellite but there’s simply no sign of it. Wherever it went, we lost it.”
    “Same for the two visitors?” Mariah queried.
    “I’m afraid so,” Lakesh confirmed. “Which puts us soundly back at square one, doesn’t it?”
    “I’m not sure,” Mariah said, slowly shaking her head. “I’ve been thinking about this while I was prepping for the journey back—”
    “After you filed your last report?” Lakesh clarified.
    “Exactly. There was no engine noise from the vehicle that Domi was abducted in, and she entered it of her own volition,” Mariah said. “If it was meant as a trap, it was a very elaborate trap. I think those other two vehicles I saw—the streaks of gold that hovered briefly in place overhead—came and took the ship with Domi on it.”
    “Like some sort of...cosmic tow trucks?” Lakesh asked, trying to get his head around the idea.
    “Something like that,” Mariah confirmed, her easy smile showing once more. “I figure if it had been capable of moving under its own steam, it would have.”
    Lakesh rubbed at his long nose in thought. “Quite the proposition,” he mused. “You mentioned in your report about a film recording of the event?”
    Mariah was impressed; following his initial outburst of emotional concern, Lakesh was already back to professional mode, approaching this logically and methodically.
    * * *
    D RESSED IN A one-piece swimsuit that left her back exposed, Brigid Baptiste stood before the swimming pool in the Cerberus compound and took a deep breath, reveling in the sterile smell of chlorine. She was alone, just the way she liked it. The pool was an adjunct of the gymnasium facilities that had been set up here back in the twentieth century when this base had been built for the United States Army.
    The Cerberus headquarters had been constructed within a hollowed-out mountain in the Bitterroot range, where it had remained hidden from view for over two hundred years. In the years since the nukecaust, a peculiar mythology had grown up around the mountains with their dark, foreboding forests and seemingly bottomless ravines, and the Cerberus installation itself had remained untouched until Lakesh had repurposed it for his own use some years ago. The wilderness surrounding the redoubt was virtually unpopulated; the nearest settlement could be found in the flatlands some miles away and consisted of a small band of Indians, Sioux and Cheyenne, led by a shaman named Sky Dog.
    Though the redoubt was well hidden, it had not escaped the attention of Cerberus’s most relentless foe, the would-be god prince called Ullikummis. With his army of devoted followers, Ullikummis had stormed the redoubt several months ago and left the facility spoiled to such an extent that much of it had been considered unusable. It was only in the past three days that the swimming pool had finally been reopened, considered, as it was, a nonessential part of the facility.
    Brigid Baptiste did not consider it nonessential, however. While many of her colleagues might argue that the postnukecaust world provided more than enough workouts, Brigid had always enjoyed the calming effects of the pool.
    Brigid was a beautiful woman in her late twenties, with the trim figure of an athlete and a cascade of sunset-red curls falling to midway down her back. Her skin was flawless and naturally pale, and she had vivid emerald eyes that shone with curiosity. Her high forehead suggested intelligence, while her full lips implied a more sensuous side; in reality she was both of these aspects and many more, besides.
    Brigid had