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snorted. "Who have you already sent in?"
    "Stone. He went in two weeks after Kreitzmann."
    "You sent Eric in? What happened?"
    Faulk's voice was subdued. "We don't know."
    It was obvious that Faulk expected a string of questions. Instead, Elias sat back in his chair and
stared at him, waiting.
    Stammering slightly, he continued, "We had two elements in place, communication and extraction.
The first was a method the tech department came up with so that we could communicate with Stone
once he was inside. Every twenty-four hours at a prearranged time, the black-out shield, which prevents
anything electronic from entering or leaving Aegis, would blink off for a moment, allowing him to send
a flash transmission."
    "Like the subs."
    "Exactly. We didn't want to take down the curtain for a period long enough to allow anyone else
access. Eric was supposed to record his report each day. He carried a device, no bigger than a
smartphone, which would encrypt and compress the report. It was synchronized with the blink-off to
automatically upload whatever was in his queue and download any information we might want him to
have, all in less than a second. No others could use the interruption unless they were perfectly synched,
also."
    "What did he report?"
    At that point, Faulk hesitated for a moment. "We never got a single report."
    Faulk watched as Elias' jaw muscles tightened. He expected an outburst. None came. Slowly, Elias
clamped down his emotions until he was able to say, "I repeat, why the time lag? Especially since you
now had a missing agent."
    Speaking quickly, Faulk explained, "We still had our extraction date. That was two weeks ago."
    Faulk let his breath out slowly and finished, "Stone was a no-show."
    Elias turned away from Faulk and stared at the image on the screen of the two men and Rudy
Kreitzmann. Faulk did not interrupt his thoughts. After a full minute, Elias turned back and said, "I'll
leave today."
    Not surprised by his decision, Faulk added, "As I said, there's one more thing I want to show you."
    "There's more?"
    "Yes."
    His fingers again touched the keyboard, and the image on the screen changed. Whatever Faulk
wanted Elias to see was from the same camera inside Aegis, because it seemed as if the three men
suddenly disappeared.
    "What is this?"
    "Watch."
    Elias stared impatiently at the flat-screen – when, suddenly, something black and completely opaque
rose from beneath the camera lens, fully obscuring the view.
    "What happened?"
    "Not any sort of a malfunction. According to the technicians, someone covered the lense with a
black object."
    "Who could do that? Did anyone inside know about the camera?"
    "Supposedly not. Micro-lens integrated into the mechanical systems at the entrance. Essentially
impossible to spot."
    "When did this happen?"
    "Two days ago."
    "So it could have been Eric. He knew about the camera, didn't he?"
    "Yes. At the time I briefed him, he saw the same video of Kreitzmann that you just saw. But I don't
think it was Stone."
    "Why not?"
    "Keep watching."
    Minutes passed with no change to the picture. Abruptly, whatever was blocking the camera was
removed. Directly lined up with the camera angle, affixed with duct tape to the inside of the turnstile,
was a large cardboard square.
    Someone with a heavy felt-tip marker had created a sign. Scrawled on the cardboard in large, jagged
lettering were two words:
     
         HELP US!
     
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Elias sipped his vodka tonic and watched the lush countryside slide gracefully past the window of
the Crescent, a wry grin on his face as he recalled the tail end of the conversation between himself and
Faulk. After Faulk showed him the cardboard sign, the briefing continued for another hour, as they
discussed the details of what was expected of him and the logistics of the operation. He had, of course,
accepted the assignment, and Faulk obtained the approvals, if any were actually necessary, within
minutes. Predictably, Faulk asked Elias which