“I don’t know, i-...” Freyr stared into the opposite corner of the room, trying to remember. She saw the ‘O’ of Osman’s mouth as she shouted “good….luck” through her clear visor in their direction. She blinked out a tear when the thought of those infected people baying for live blood.

 Freyr remembered their walk through the flickering lights of the underground garage, and the ride through the subway under New Antioch. A shiver ran down her spine when she recalled their horrifying encounter with those bugs, and that massive amalgam in the park! 

Freyr bit her thumbnail, still looking into space. She couldn’t remember much about GCHQ, except that it led to her meeting the Navigator. 595 was just snatches of conversation in her recent memory. 

“She said she had to go for a while. Maybe that’s what she did.” 

Freyr exhaled deeply, her whole body juddering with the stress. She looked over at the Facilitator. “Have you heard from Dr Wetherall? Is he alright?” The Facilitator nodded. “He’s safe at the Bridge, keeping the link active as planned.” He resumed tapping at his pad, standing in the middle of everything. Lights blinked on the map of NA and countless sounds dribbled into Freyr’s ears. She nodded gravely. 

Hours passed. Despite everything, Freyr fell deeply asleep in her chair. Someone put a small cushion behind her head. David & Amy came to her in a dream, the fine details of their faces blurred and abstract.

Eventually, the battle map calmed down. The few remaining CraSec guards on duty inside the Vault were replaced by black-clad soldiers with ‘OCI’ freshly emblazoned on their chest plates. More high-ranking military personnel filtered in and out of the complex. At some point, Dr Wetherall wobbled from the harness room and plonked into a chair next to Freyr, his age-lined face pale and drawn. He sent for a cover, and carefully arranged it over his leader’s body. He then gratefully accepted a nice cup of tea.

The Facilitator took another phone call, then he motioned for Rareth to come over. “Top side is clear. You can take your team out. My orders are to move the CRD to Réunion while we check Vault integrity.” He talked quietly.