Extinction Machine

Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

VanMeer Castle

Near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Monday, October 21, 8:06 a.m

Top Sims tapped his earbud. “Sergeant Rock to Cowboy, copy?”

It was the fifth time he’d repeated the call.

“Damn, Top,” whispered Bunny.

“Is Joe all right?” asked Junie. She knelt between the two soldiers, a small, pale figure in the night, bracketed by hulking shapes in black combat gear.

Top touched a finger to his lips and nodded as a car came rolling over the hill and stopped at the main gate. The guard waved him in. Top watched the car all the way to where it parked by the side of the castle. As the two passengers got out he handed the binoculars to Junie.

“New arrivals,” he said. “Do you recognize either of them?”

She looked—and gasped. “The driver, that’s Erasmus.”

Top nodded and tapped his earbud again. “Sergeant Rock to Deacon, do you copy?”

“Go for Deacon,” said Mr. Church, his voice as clear as if he was standing right there.

“Bookworm confirms visual on Erasmus Tull at Shelton Castle.”

Junie looked at him. “‘Bookworm’?” she echoed.

Bunny leaned close. “It was that or ‘Stargirl.’”

“God.”

Mr. Church said, “Sergeant Rock, I cannot impress upon you strongly enough how important it is for this sighting to be without question. How high is your confidence in the target?”

Junie said, “It’s him. There’s no doubt about it.”

There was the slightest of pauses. “Thank you,” said Mr. Church. “That information is our lifeline.”

Then there was a subtle change in the white noise on the line.

“This is the Deacon. I am alerting all stations and all commands. We have high confidence in our target. Echo Team go to full alert. Backup, put the pedal down. It’s carnival time.”

Bunny chuckled. “Hoo-f*cking-ah.”