Atticus, Nasrin, Tay, and Rook perched just outside of the melee, trying to sense the patterns emerging there. They'd just spotted Moot and Ferris in the crowd with some dismay, concerned they might become enmeshed in the imminent danger encircling the scene below. Noticeably absent was Obi Wan, but the students weren't so naive as to think they'd shaken him.

"Holy...!" Atticus drew a sudden breath and passed his binoculars to Rook.

"Shit!" Rook exclaimed as he peered through the lenses. "It's Valentine. Why is Valentine here??"

Nasrin and Tay exchanged glances. As Nasrin turned her head back toward the crowded lawn, she suddenly caught a quick, metallic flash of sun on metal, coming from an adjacent wooded area. She signaled to Tay, and began silently moving toward the site of the flash, alone.

The sight of Valentine made Rook extremely uneasy. Something big was about to go down, and he wasn't in on the plan. No less than three MASK senior leaders were here, along with two mid-level admins. Christ, the only one missing was Knight! How am I supposed to bring this TIA exercise (Training In Action) home, he wondered silently?

The man sighed. It had seemed like they had walked for MONTHS through the dense forest that surrounded the isolated Chautauqua Institution, but now they had emerged from a gorge beneath the 19th century library. The woman had kept up with him. She had crawled with him under the train. She had scaled the chain link fence, over the razor ribbon, and as silently landed in the village trash dump with him. She had immobilized the junkyard dogs for him. She had ridden in the compactor of the garbage truck he had hot-wired and drove while he bluffed his way through the predawn FBI gauntlet. And she had not complained. He was impressed with her. Natasha, sighed with relief. They had hiked for several miles around the ring of FBI and local law enforcement that ringed the Atheneum Hotel. But now they had scaled the slate and shale culvert under the library and were inside the service section of the Atheneum. She picked the lock on the linen storage closet and they had both changed into staff uniforms, she as a maid; he as a custodian. As she sat and stretched her back as she watched him assemble the SIG-Sauer SSG 300 with a rail M1913 sighting system and suppressor nearly two feet long. The SIG-Sauer was an accurate sniper rifle. She knew he would follow the predetermined plan and her daughter would be far away when 7.62 x 51 mm caliber shells hurled through the air and tore into flesh and bone.