Mark Tiedemann: Mirage

"Which is what?" Derec asked.

"I was assigned to protect Senator Eliton. "

"Senator Eliton is dead, Bogard," Ariel said.

"Your pardon, Ambassador, but there is no evidence on which to confidently base that conclusion. My assessment is that a high probability exists that Senator Eliton is still alive, and it is my duty to find and protect him. If it is all the same to you, I would like to pursue that responsibility."

Among the weapons we confiscated at the garage," Bogard explained, "we recovered two sets of personal documents. I have run a check through civic records and determined that they are forged. However, both also included passes for above-ground access to the Manassas Preserves."

"Cupra said something about Manassas before you rescued me," Derec said.

"There is a section of the Preserve operated by a Settler colonial recruiting organ and leased by OSMA. They run a nature camp. There was a report filed the day after the Union Station assault that the OSMA camp was investigated and searched. Nothing was found."

"Who filed the report?" Mia asked. "Agent Gambel."

"Imagine that," Ariel said.

"So why do you believe Eliton is there, Bogard?" Derec asked.

"It is a matter of probabilities. Managins, apparently under control of Bok Vin Golner, staged the assault at Union Station. During the aftermath, Senator Eliton's body was switched and the legitimate one was taken to the garage where you found the ambulance used, contraband positronics, and were then taken as prisoner by the very same Bok Vin Golner. The Managins run a camp in the Manassas Preserve, which was investigated by one of the corrupt agents who have exerted an inhibitory influence on this entire matter. Obviously, there is something there they wish to keep undiscovered. Given all the possibilities, it is the most likely place to begin a search for Senator Eliton."

"Why hold him prisoner?" Ariel asked.

Derec shrugged. Mia pursed her lips.

"I have no conclusion on that matter, Ambassador Burgess," Bogard said.

"Call me Ariel, Bogard. 'Ambassador Burgess' is clumsy and, right now, problematic."

"Yes, Ariel."

"So," Mia said, "we go look and see. Bogard, are you game for a little open-air field work?"

"I am prepared to do this alone," Bogard said. "This is my responsibility, the risk is high, and I am capable of-"

"Bogard," Derec interrupted. "We're going."

"We?" Mia said. "Me and Bogard-"

"Of course we're going," Ariel said. "There's no question. It would make me crazy now to sit and wait while you two thrashed around in the woods."

"But-"

Derec shook his head. "Don't bother, Agent Daventri."

Mia looked at them, then shrugged. "I won't argue too much. Let me brief you on the weapons. Ariel, we'll need Hofton to get us some things. Bogard, whether you approve or not, we're going with you." Bogard bypassed the security lock on a Solarian embassy transport. They loaded a pair of packs in the back and piled aboard. Mia programmed the vehicle for their destination and sat up front during their exit from the garage.

"I only see one TBI vehicle," she called back as they rolled onto the main avenue. "There are more, I'm sure."

"If everybody keeps a level head," Ariel said, "we might get through this without starting a war."

The transport left the Anacostia District unchallenged. Mia came back and started changing her clothes, pulling on the same nonreflective, graphite-black suit they all wore, Bogard's surface was even less reflective; it made an ominous, cloudy presence by the rear doors.

"Anything else you need to go over about your weapons?" Mia asked. "The suits are invisible to most sensor arrays and give back no heat or light. If you're standing in the open under bright illumination you will be visible, but if you keep to shadows, close to larger structures, and avoid direct line-of -sight, we should be able to get in and out without being seen. I've set all your sidearms on heavy stun."

"What about yours?" Derec asked.

"Never mind that. If any killing has to occur, it's on my head."

"I thought with Bogard-" Ariel began.

"Bogard can't be everywhere at once," Mia interrupted. "We learned that. It also has limitations that we don't have; we found that out, too. I won't risk any of us over an ethical qualm. But it's my decision."

"How are you doing?" Derec asked. "Your leg-"

"Hofton got me some painblock that makes me feel like I could run a marathon. I feel wonderful."

"All right," Ariel said, "one more time. What is it we're looking for?"

"Any place where someone might be hidden or confined that wouldn't be obvious on a casual visit. So I'm thinking a storage facility or an underground bunker of some kind. We have the ground plan from the camp's registration file, but obviously that's not going to have anything new or illegal. We'll just have to do a thorough sweep."

"Bogard could do it a lot faster," Derec said.

"Bogard will do it, but I want us in there looking as well. Bogard might miss something we wouldn't."

"Unlikely."

"What I really want Bogard to do is sweep the perimeter, nullify as much security as possible, and plot us an escape route. Can you do that, Bogard?"

"Of course, Mia. That was my first intention."

"Excellent. Getting out might be a lot harder than getting in."

"You sound like you expect this to be an armed camp," Ariel said.

"If Golner had any say in setting it up, it will be."

"Overtly?"

"At night, what difference would it make? We assume the worst and hope for the best. Now, until we reach the transition point, go over the maps, memorize them." The Manassas Preserve occupied a vast area of land roughly fifty kilometers from the heart of D.C. Townships once dotted the countryside, all of them now gone or abandoned to wilderness. Densely forested, the Preserve had been one of the surface areas set aside for the Settler's program. Over time, other groups interested in "open" experiences had come to use it, and a couple had requested and received special licenses for continual use. To most Terrans, those who chose to spend long stretches of time outside the warrens of the cities were weird. They were watched occasionally, but largely left alone.

A main throughway, a major traffic artery that connected D. C. to Cincinnati, ran just north of the Preserve. A trunk line split off for the few transports that went directly to Manassas.

Mia directed their vehicle off the trunk line and into the service tunnels alongside. Most of the traffic here was automated and sparse. She found a garage for local technical vehicles and parked the transport among them. Unless an audit occurred in the next few hours, the system would log their vehicle and file the data, but would alert no one.

Bogard unfolded from the back of the transport. A jagged patch of night, he looked menacing and unpleasantly efficient. The white line of the optical array dimmed to a smokey grey.

Mia pulled her night veil over her face and the others did likewise. The garage sprang into full detail from the combination of radar, infrared, and neutrino-shadow-amplification the veils interpreted for them. Even with all that enhancement their suits showed almost no detail; Bogard gave even less.

"Ready?" Mia asked.

They nodded.

Bogard led the way back into the trunk line and they headed south. The road ended at a vast parking lot. Several transports clustered against one end, but it was mostly empty. Steps led up to the entrance to a wide pavilion in which booths and galleries provided a history of the area and related data. During normal hours, it was easy to imagine tours coming this far, people winding their way through the displays, still safely under a roof, and going no farther, retreating to the safety of the warrens after a brief, dissociated brush with wildness and the Outside. A few, perhaps, might later come back to take the last few steps into the open air.