"Shouldn't you stay put until we get you checked out?" Flynn asked, grabbing Jensen's arm as he started

to push his way out of the bush.

"Good idea," Jensen said, biting down hard as the pain level jumped into the red-haze zone. "Nearest medical facilities are back at the Ryqril camp. I'll wait here."

"I just meant-"

"I know what you meant," Jensen assured him. "And it's something we'll definitely want to look into.

But it's getting light, and we need to find some cover."

Flynn grimaced, but nodded. "You're the boss. Nice and easy, now."

With Flynn taking most of his weight, they managed to get him up out of the bush and back to vertical

again. "How's that?" Flynn asked as he freed Jensen's nunchaku from the bush and slid it into the blackcollar's thigh sheath.

"Not too bad," Jensen said. His side was throbbing even harder in this position than it had been when he was lying down. But at least he didn't feel like he was going to black out. "Okay, let's go. Westward, ho."

"Northwestward," Flynn corrected as he got under Jensen's arm and wrapped his own arm carefully around the blackcollar's waist.

"Whatever."

It wasn't a pleasant journey. With every step he took a white-hot pain jabbed through his side, and even with Flynn taking a good fraction of his weight his legs were shaking with fatigue by the time they reached the crest of the ridge.

Fortunately, the downward slope on the other side was fairly gentle, and there was one of the bowed- branch trees he was looking for a half dozen steps away. Flynn got them to its base and pulled up the drooping branches on one side while Jensen crawled beneath. The younger man followed, adjusting the branches again to hide them and then helping Jensen settle himself into a seated position against the trunk.

"How's that feel?" Flynn asked as he eased Jensen's pack behind the small of the other's back. "I think

there's enough room to lie down if you want."

"Maybe later," Jensen said, pulling out his medkit. Now that they'd reached cover and the danger of masking his injuries with painkillers was over, it was definitely time for a shot.

"I'll leave you all the food and water," Flynn went on, sliding off his own pack and setting it beside Jensen. "I'll signal via tingler before I come close so you won't have to worry that-"

"You going somewhere?" Jensen interrupted.

"I'm going to look for civilization," Flynn said. "Your report from the last trip said there were some small towns and villages scattered through these mountains."

"You think any of them will have a qualified doctor?"

"They should at least know where to find one," Flynn said doggedly. "Unless you'd rather sit here until you heal on your own."

"No, a doctor would be nice to have," Jensen conceded. "But neither of us is going to go walking around

out there in broad daylight."

"The residents will be easier to find during the day," Flynn reminded him.

"So will you," Jensen said flatly. "We stay put until dark."

For a long moment Flynn just looked at him. Then, with a sigh, he turned around and settled himself

cross-legged beside Jensen with his back to the tree trunk. "Fine," he said. "While we wait, how about telling me a story?"

"What kind of story?"

"You know what kind," Flynn said bluntly. "You didn't take us down to look at Aegis Mountain on the spur of the moment. You were planning it all along, or at least considering it. Given the present circumstances, I think I should know why."

Jensen grimaced. But he was right. "You already know most of it," he said. "A year ago one of the local blackcollars, Bernhard, took us to the back door the old Torch resistance group had opened up into Aegis Mountain and we all went inside."

"And found the Whiplash they'd created before they died."

"Right," Jensen said. "What you don't know-and Skyler may not know it, either-is that the day we went into the mountain, someone was watching us."

He sensed Flynn stiffen. "How do you know?"

"I saw a glint off the binoculars or telescope he was using," Jensen said. "It was halfway up a slope

about a klick west of us."

"And you didn't tell the others?"

Jensen started to shrug, quickly changed his mind. "I told Mordecai, who was staying topside on

rearguard duty. I didn't see much point in mentioning it to anyone else. It wasn't like we had extra personnel or reinforcements we could call on."

"I presume no one was waiting for you when you came out again?"

"Only Mordecai," Jensen said. "And we know that Bernhard, who left before us, didn't run into any opposition either."

"Maybe it was someone out hiking," Flynn suggested. "There's a good chance he was just admiring the

mountains and never even saw you."

"That's one possibility," Jensen agreed. "The other is that it was some kind of observation post someone had set up."

"Someone like Security?"

"If it was, the Ryqril at the main Aegis entrance would have had a conveyer belt already set up to cart stuff out," Jensen pointed out. "That's why I wanted to go check that out right away."

"I see," Flynn said, his voice suddenly thoughtful. "But if it wasn't Security, and it wasn't a random

hiker, the only possibility left is that it was Torch."

"Bingo," Jensen said, nodding. "And of course, a Torch observer wouldn't have interfered with us because we had Bernhard and Anne along, both of whom he would have recognized."

"Okay," Flynn said. "The question then is whether he's still there. That's the first question, I mean."

"And the second question?" Jensen asked, frowning.

"Whether he's going to like what you're planning to do."

Jensen grimaced. Had Flynn figured it out? "All I said was that I was going to make sure the Ryqril

didn't get into the mountain," he reminded the other."And there aren't a lot of ways for a couple of men to do that," Flynn countered. "Even if one of them isa blackcollar."

"There's no couple of men involved," Jensen said firmly. "I'm going in alone. You're going to Denver to hook back up with Skyler.""Jensen-""No arguments," Jensen cut him off. "This is my job, not yours."

For a minute neither of them spoke. "Well, at the moment it's all rather academic," Flynn said at last.

"I'm not dead yet," Jensen reminded him. "Give me the rest of the day. I'll be ready to travel by nightfall."

"Yeah," Flynn said. "We'll see." * * * The corridor outside the interrogation rooms was silent and mostly deserted, the bright overhead lights belying Bailey's own dark mood. He'd been pacing back and forth for nearly five hours now, stopping at each room in turn to eavesdrop for a few minutes on the intercom, then moving on to the next, eventually restarting the whole cycle. The interrogators had been at it for those same five hours, through the night and to the dawn that was breaking across the prairie land to Athena's east.

Six interrogation rooms. Six prisoners. Hardly the twelve suspects he'd hoped to bring in when he'd set

the operation in motion.

Still, he should probably consider himself lucky they'd gotten even that many. Only two of the rebels had actually escaped the nets, and one of those-Silcox-had had a good deal of help. Of the remaining four, three had been killed as they tried to escape, and the fourth was in the hospital undergoing

emergency surgery for the gunshot wounds he'd received after being clever enough to avoid the paral- darts.

At the end of the hallway the elevator opened, and Bailey turned to see Lieutenant Ramirez step out,

nodding as he passed the duty guard at his station. "Any news?" Bailey asked as the other came up to

him.

"Nothing from the hospital," Ramirez said. "And Major O'Dae says he's drawn a blank on the interrogations of Reger's men. They're all apparently standard homegrown thugs, with no idea what his involvement with Phoenix might be."