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My thoughts continued to traverse paths of memory and emotion, building an ever thickening web of interconnections, possibilities, and reason. Though all of my recent actions had pointed towards reuniting my old squad, there were three individuals who I now pondered. Their existence seemed to be part of a long disconnected life. My entire life before the academy appeared that way. It seemed far off and unimportant, but my parents and Traci stood out of those memories vividly.

My parents still believed I was dead. I would need to correct that distorted view of the world at some point, but just now didn't seem like the best time. Then again, their current location was just as unknown to me as the other members of the Special Assignments Team, though I could probably find them easily enough. Traci was quite a different perplexity. She may or may not believe I had died. There was no way of knowing if my plan to inform her of my existence had actually worked. And if it had, what then? Had I predicted falling for Jessica, I may have done things differently, but there was no going back now. Plus, now there was Jaimie. True, she and I weren't actually in a "relationship," but she had come with me all this way, her loyalty never wavering, so there was defiantly something.

I told myself that now wasn't the time to think on these things, and lay my head back on the pillow. As I did so, the lights in the room automatically dimmed to the motion. My eyes closed and I was fast asleep within seconds.

My restful night was interrupted a scant hour later by a flashing red light which appeared a few feet above my nose on the ceiling. It took a second for my eyes to focus on it, but finally I was able to make out that the word "Warning" was written across what I now perceived to be a button. My mind still asleep, I slowly reached up and pressed a finger to it. Much to my displeasure, an LCD screen lit, causing my eyes to water in the harsh brilliance. I blinked rapidly to clear my vision and read the message which was keeping me from sleep.

"Warning. Unauthorized entry. Suggest immediate action."

Well, that woke me up.

"Show me." I said, hoping the computer would still respond to my voice commands.

It did. Whoever had wiped this facility hadn't thought to reset the security protocols. The screen changed to a layered floor plan of Center 17. A door on the far side of the structure was blinking yellow. I noted that it was the same one Jaimie and I had used to gain entrance.

"Cameras?"

The diagram shrank to allow room for a video feed from the security cameras. Three black clad intruders were carefully making their way through the main corridor on the control side of the facility.

Now wide awake, I vaulted from the bed and left the room to wake Jaimie. Despite my many assurances that no one would know, much less care that she had slept in their room, she had still chosen to crash on a couch in the common area. I gently shook her awake.

"Jaimie, we need to leave."

"Huh, what is it? I thought you said four."

"Yeah, I did, but something came up. We have to go now."

I finally got her up and on the move and we made our way carefully through the main corridor. I made sure that we didn't rush, checking each corner, and wincing at Jaimie's footsteps, which now seemed loud to my trained ears.

Somehow we made it back to the hangar entrance, but as I was about to lead Jaimie the final leg to the door, it began to open from the opposite side. Just in time, I shoved both of us through a maintenance access which I knew led behind the firing range. The backdrop was still in place and I pulled Jaimie through it into the bullet stop and lead pit. Thankfully it had been subjected to a full hazmat cleaning before being decommissioned and we took refuge in the shallow trench. I listened carefully for the sound of the intruders, but they either didn't see the door we had used, or didn't care to check behind it. The range entrance opened, then closed, and no further inspection was made. I was beginning to notice a definite pattern of sloppiness to the government officials who were after me.

"What now?" Jaimie whispered.

I held up a finger, listening for any more movement. Hearing none, I replied, "Now we get the hell out of here."

"How?"

"Just follow me closely, and don't make a sound."

The range maintenance corridor connected to the room which housed two of the hangar's ventilator fans and also accessed the landing strip. I picked our way carefully through the intervening spaces and doors, and soon we were back in the massive enclosure. I could make out two figures guarding the far door, and two more standing by the one adjacent to us. I trusted that they wouldn't be looking in our direction and crouched in the shadows along the wall, making my way to the hangar door with Jaimie following right behind me.

Though it seemed to take an eternity to cross the space, expecting one of the guards to spot us at any second, we soon reached the bay entrance. I motioned for Jaimie to stay put as I searched along its expanse until I found what I was looking for, a small postern for pedestrian access in and out of the bunker. I keyed the door code and let out my held breath as it swung open on silent hinges. What I hadn't planned on was the voice over the speakers.

"Authorized Access."

The words cut through the hangar alerting all four guards.

"Stop! Identify yourselves."

"Run!" I shouted to Jaimie.

I waited for her to sprint though the outer opening before sealing it behind us, the sound of a rifle bolt being closed following me out. I punched in the emergency lockdown code on the exterior access panel hoping that the obstruction could buy us just enough time. We darted back to where we had left the ATV's. Rounding a spur of boulders, I was startled to see two more soldiers standing guard over our vehicles.

With no time to stop and make a plan, I barreled headlong into the first guard taking him by surprised and winding him. Retaining my grasp until we hit the ground, I incapacitated him with a swift elbow to the temple before swiftly turning to the second guard, this one female. She was just beginning to pull out her radio when my foot impacted her solar plexus. I vaulted one of the vehicles, removed her sidearm from its holster and used the increased mass to deliver a knockout blow.

Instantly racking a round into the chamber of the small firearm, I seeped our surroundings for any more sentries. I lowered the weapon after spotting none and the immediately brought it back to bear as the sound of a small engine filled my perked ears. I turned to see Jaime had already started her mount while I was busy clearing the area. Grinning to myself, I quickly got to my own and followed suit. I hadn't expected here to act so fast.

We took off, me in the lead, at top speed heading north along the line of the mountains. I would turn south again later, but for now I wanted to throw off our trail for any followers. I would have preferred the sun to be out in order to mask our heat signature and wished, not for the first time, that I was cold blooded. Reptiles really had it made. As it was, the early morning chill would show us up bright as flares to any infrared detection equipment. I hugged the mountainsides, hopping to hide, both to site and sound, in the boulder fields that scattered the feet of the steep rises.

Throughout the next day of running and hiding in and out of the mountains I was surprised to find that my mind was barely occupied by the constant struggle of evading the determined force which was hunting me. At first, I had found it a challenge, then realizing how easy it was to out think my opponents found it fun, and was getting to the point where it was becoming boring. I allotted the balance of my conscious thoughts to examining my new perceptions of the world. It was an intriguing academic exercise. My physical surroundings appeared clearer and sharper, each rock or patch of cover immediately analyzed and sorted into an endless list of evasive, defensive, and attack possibilities. The actions of our pursuers ran through my subconscious, being cross checked with known patterns, and then used as data to predict future movements and strategies. All of this was augmented by my training and constant sensory input of sights, sounds, and smells providing me with limitless options in a constant game of strategy allowing me to plan ahead and accurately foretell the opposition's future tactics.

All games come to an end eventually though and as midnight drew closer, Jaimie and I were finally back insight of the lights of town. I hadn't picked up any sign of the intelligence agents who had been looking for us over the past two hours and we had carefully continued south. Now, extremely low on gas and stiff from the day's exertions, I guessed we had caught a bit of a break. Not enough to let our guard down though. Surely, after realizing they had lost our trail, the government personnel would start searching the only town for miles. It was a reasonable strategy and under deferent circumstances I would have avoided the population center at all costs. But we needed transportation and the rest of my cash if we hoped to get as far as I was planning on taking us.

We pulled back into the lot of the dealership I had rented the pair of vehicles from, our headlights off in an attempt to avoid any unwanted attention. Jaimie offered to return to the motel and retrieve our few belongings while I found transportation. I was reluctant to let her go back alone, but she was extremely persistent and determined. I finally conceded, provided that she take the firearm which I had attained from our assailant outside the bunker.

While she was gone, I took the time to let myself into the store and soon found what I was looking for. This should make the next leg of our journey a bit more interesting. Now all I needed was the money to pay for my "purchase."

I started to worry about Jaimie while I waited, but it seemed my anxiety was pointless because she soon reappeared with our two sport bags. I quickly grabbed the on which contained the cash and began pulling out rolls of bills. Surmising that I had more than enough to cover the acquisition, I closed the bag.

"Stow the rest, I'll be right back."

"Where?" Jaimie inquired.

I motioned to the two-seater, expensive, powerful sport motorcycle I had recently liberated the keys to. Jaimie looked as if she was about to protest but I leaped to the roof and disappeared back into the building before she could say anything. I was back shortly, having left the money on the front counter, and was now present to listen to her comments.

Jaimie's hands were on her hips and she graced me with a very stern look.

"I thought you wanted to go low profile." she stated accusing.

"Yup."

"How is this low profile?"

I slipped a sleek helmet with a black tinted visor over my head.

"Because, no one will be able to recognize me with this on."

"What about me."

I tossed her a second helmet.

"Don't worry, you're covered."

Jaimie rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"And I assume there's no discussing this."

"Is there any point?"

"I suppose not."

With that I swung my leg over the seat and activated the ignition. The motor purred to life, a satisfying vibration running through the frame. Jaimie, conceding my victory, reluctantly climbed on behind me. I synced the visor's HUD to the bike's internal computer, programmed our destination into the global navigation system, and performed a com check with Jaimie.

I navigated slowly and carefully out of the small foothill town. Once on the highway though, I opened the throttle on the liquid hydrogen engine and we were soon flying down the road at well over 180 kilometers per hour, disappearing into the pitch black of early morning.

***

"What do mean you lost them?"

The uniformed badger glared at the holo screen; furious at the news he had just been given.

"You as good as had them cornered. How could they have escaped?"

"It seems as though they used the bunker's maintenance ways to evade my men, and then incapacitated the guards posted on their vehicles. We spent the next day trying to track them. I used all resources available, ground, air, even satellite surveillance. Around 2200 hours, we lost their trail completely and have been unable to reacquire it."

"You're incompetence is overwhelming Director. I guess I'll have to bring one of my own teams in on this."

"Let me assure you Mister Secretary, that that is not necessary."

"It is necessary! You made it necessary when you not only allowed the subject to enter the facility, but then escape your agents."

"But..."

"This is not up for discussion. I will allow you to remain on the case if you wish, but I have to have insurance, I have to have results. Just keep your people out of the way of mine."

The badger cut off the communication link before the Director of Jardine Intelligence could respond. This was turning into quite the mess. He turned to one of his staff members seated behind a bank of monitors.

"What's the status on Katana?"

"Active and awaiting assignment."

"Good. Put them on standby. We'll wait a bit longer. Watch the subject. See what he does next before making our move."

"How will we watch him, we don't know where he is?"

"Perfection has its signs, just as flaws do. He'll be back on our radar soon. In the mean time, get one of our men on each of the others. If he goes for them, we'll have him."