He smiled a little. He liked C4 explosive. It smelled funny but it does so much damage to people and property with so little effort and volume. Combine C4 with 650 tons of moving metal, like a passenger train, and one gets a good deal of bang for one's buck. One thing that was kind of a drawback was the blasting cap. And the funny smell. The smell that dogs could smell. Anywhere.
C4, or the common plasticized explosive stable enough to carry around in one's pocket, needed a impact AND heat to cause its ignition to accelerate exponentially. Otherwise it just burned like plastic, or when impacted, did nothing at all.

Carrying it around in his pocket all time did burn the skin on his leg sometimes, like when the zip lock bag melted or if the duct tape ripped the bag open.

All the C4 he had ever had used had a taggant added to it. All the C4 in the world, or as far as he knew, had a taggant added to it. It was a law or something. That is what the dogs could smell. Even when he wrapped it up will 6 layers of plastic, dogs could smell it.

If the talking dogs could lie, he could hide from their minds. Still, until dogs could verbalize that here was explosive nearby, he didn't care so much. He liked what the C4 could do. he fingered the two blasting caps he stole from the maintenance shed under Grand Central. He smiled.

"Moot", said Ferris. "You have to tell me where you think things are lining up. Who's taking sides with whom?"

There was a long lull as the lunch crowd cleared out, leaving the waitresses clustered in the back tallying their take. Moot drew a deep breath and began.

"My guess? Madonna's fighting Love for control. That much seems clear. Franken and Chapelle will happily go with whomever wins- they don't have loyalties and just want to keep their seats at the table. What I'm really concerned with, though..." he glanced around, scanning for familiar faces, "...is Knight. He could either upend the whole enterprise if he doesn't want either of them to win the day- which I think is likely." Moot lowered his voice further, to just above a whisper. "Or, he might see this as his big chance, and be angling for a coup that would put him in charge."

"I have a feeling we'll have to choose sides very soon." replied Ferris. "Who's side are you on?"

After a long pause, Moot said, "I'm inclined to bet against the odds and choose Knight. Not only are both Madonna and Love in the game for vanity, but they don't care about, nor do they even grasp what we do. Plus, frankly, I have nothing to lose... You, on the other hand...?"

Ferris demurred. "Another big question: will Valentine go with Knight?"

"That," said Moot "remains to be seen. Your guess is as good as mine. Ready to hit the road?" They paid their check and climbed into the rental car parked outside.

The train trundled through the yards out of Manhattan as the group reunited in the suite. The xolos, unsurprised by Rook, jumped on him and drove him onto the bench seat in the private suite. Nasrin asked, "Rook, what are you doing here, why have you made yourself known now?" Rook gently pushed the dogs away. "The situation has changed. I am here to bring you an updated 'walking' status. Your passports, ID's, all materiel have been compromised."
Atticus blanched, "No way! Valentine gave me these herself, no way would she give us bogus materiel."
Rook paused, "I am not telling you that Valentine is compromised, but I am not telling you she is not."

Knight looked up from his laptop. He gazed out the dirty window of the westbound Trailways bus at the Ohio farmland. He hated 'walking' missions. Food was bad, travel was slow, sleep was nearly nonexistent. Communication was unreliable. 'Walking' missions meant using code and conventional communications. That meant a cell phone with a barely serviceable encryption. He could speak to no one, Rook, Valentine, Obi Wan, even Love was unreachable while he was in this rural dead-zone.

He smiled his smile. This was turning out to be a very interesting assignment. First the lying dogs, then Valentine herself to pass the materiel to the subjects, now Rook appeared. Yes, yes, this was almost fun. He smiled his smile as he walked past the suite with the group inside, unaware. He smiled, this was almost a challenge.

Nasrin and Tay made their way down the narrow walkway to their suite led by the xolos, perfectly playing their service dog parts. Once inside the suite, they waited anxiously for Atticus.

"It's five minutes until departure..." said Nasrin anxiously. "I'm going to find him."

Tay opened her mouth to object but was interrupted by a light tap on their cabin door. Nasrin stood and slowly turned the nob. To their astonishment, Rook stood before them.

"Good morning." A hint of smile at their surprise turned the corner of his lips. He glanced around the cabin. "Where's Atticus?"

"He's patrolling, but should have come back by now."

Rook frowned. "Sit tight."

He bolted from the train. On the platform, he looked right, then left and felt for his sidearm. The platform was nearly deserted now, save for a few members of the train crew. "Where is he?" he mumbled to himself. Atticus had to be on that train when it pulled out. He moved toward the restrooms. Where else could he possibly be?

The door hung ajar. Rook watched as a well dressed figure, his back to Rook, talked softly to Atticus, whose face had frozen. "Obi Wan!" he thought. Obi Wan moved closer to Atticus and reached into his pocket. Rook suddenly swung the door open.
As Obi Wan whirled around, Atticus seized the moment, bringing him to the ground with one swift, decisive strike.

"Rook! What are you doing here?"

"No time- we have to make this train. C'mon!"

He leapt over the prone, mumbling Obi Wan and they sprinted together toward the train, which was just starting to roll out of Penn Station. They grabbed the door rail and pulled themselves on.

He smiled his smile as he watched them separate. Atticus is the one who would be the leader. Yes, that was right. The one that was the easiest to take away, however. He followed the boy through the crowds easily. He was tall and proud in his youth.

Really they all would be easy to follow if they kept using the materials that were provided by MASK. This part of the assignment was not as interesting as the talking dogs. The talking, lying dogs. Dogs can lie. He liked learning.

Ah, there was a mistake. The boy has walked into a corridor with only two exits. Should he separate them now? No, that was not as much fun as watching them.

He walked into the mens' room and shut himself in a stall. He would choose proper business attire for this next leg of the journey.

In less than 2 minutes he leaned down to tie the lace of his wing-tip. He had shaved and looked nearly presentable. The opened the stall door to see the boy, Atticus standing at the sinks.

He smiled his smile. Maybe it was time to separate the little group. He washed his hands in the sink next to the boy and smiled his smile. He look at his nearly presentable self. Yes, it was time.

The hounds suddenly grew edgy, intently sniffing the air. Tay noticed that the hair on their backs had bristled. She then felt the loco's voice trying to penetrate her mind with his words.

"Loco is trying to communicate with me."

"Can you tell where he is?" asked Atticus.

"He's not making much sense..." Fiel growled. The train pulled in to the cavernous tunnel, slowed, then stopped.

"You two get on board. I'm going to look around."

Tay gave Atticus a worried look, then reached in her small pouch and handed him a small vial. "This will disable him quickly." Nasrin, Tay, and the dogs boarded, glancing uneasily over their shoulders. Atticus sunk into the shadows at the edge of the end of the platform and watched, silently, carefully.

The cab screeched to a halt at Penn Station. Three students and two "assistance dogs" entered through the 33rd street entrance. Tayanna held El Sombre loosely by his harness as she kept an eye on Fiel in Nasrin's hands. The xolo kept turning to look a Tay then back at Nasrin, calm but concerned. The group made its way toward the ticket window selling tickets on the Lakeshore Limited. Atticus led the two women and their guide dogs to a few feet from the ticket window. He collected their MASK provided passports identifying them as citizens of Uruguay. The ticket agent cast a jaundiced eye over the trio then remembered his coffee break and sold them their 1st class tickets. Paid in cash.

Atticus led them then to their platform to wait for boarding.

It was getting late. Nasrin flagged a cab. "Penn Station".

She turned to Atticus and Tay and explained. "From there we can grab a Lakeshore Limited to Union Station. Should be an easy trip. You've both got your special IDs, right?"

All MASK students had been equipped with several equally convincing identities from which to choose. They each sank into their own thoughts.

Tay turned to Atticus. "Why do you think Valentine was sent? And what is on that data drive that is so critical?"

Atticus shook his head slowly and said "I wondered the same thing. Why would they send Valentine to carry out such a basic job? Not only that, but why didn't she take the drive back to MASK HQ? Why did she leave it with us? Is this some kind of test? And are we the ones being tested or are we pawns?"

Atticus glanced in the driver's rear view mirror repeatedly, expecting Obi Wan to appear yet again as the Manhattan skyline came into view.

Ferris walked into Miller's Pub and wrinkled her nose at wafting stale beer and crooning Jerry Vale over the din of conversation. She saw Moot at a table along the wall near the stairs. He was hunched over a burger and did not notice her until she sat down. She watched him chew as he watched her. When he finished chewing and wiped his mouth she said, "How can you eat in a place like this?" Her shoes were sticking to the floor.

"This is a heluva burger, an institution in the loop. Wanna bite?"

She smiled despite herself. He was the same as when she met him in Apon, months ago, irascible and direct. He might be in the fight of his career but she knew he was still several steps ahead of anyone at MASK, or she hoped.

She said, "Knight has not been in the Monadnock for 3 weeks. His swipe card and his terminal have been inactive. He has been logging on remotely, possibly from US or Europe, judging by the speed of his network. But he could be in some parts of Asia..."

Moot looked incredulous.

"I have a few allies in I.T." Ferris smiled

"I knew you were a good recruit since we flushed out that warren of FBI corruption. Well, that information does little to narrow down his location."

Ferris held up her hand, "I think this might." She held a copied receipt in her hand.

"Dated yesterday. There is no location on this, in fact I have never seen a receipt written.. is this lead pencil? What is this? Where is it from, what does it say?"

"He brought Fassnacht Kuche." Ferris said with a smile, "It is a square doughnut made by Amish. He is in western Pennsylvania or eastern Ohio. I also have allies in accounting. He submitted his expense report."