“Your perimeter sensors are offline, Charles,” I said.

“What?” Charles asked.

“The main gates are unlocked,” I said. “The cameras are looping a feed from three hours ago.”

“That’s impossible,” Charles said. “The system cost two million dollars.”

“Your security contractor used a standard military-grade firewall,” I said. “Orion wrote the code for that firewall twenty years ago.”

I pressed the button on the transmitter.

In the distance, the high-voltage floodlights lining the outer fence flickered once.

Then they went dark.

The only light left was the yellow beams of Mercer’s patrol car and the white LEDs of the SUV.

“You have ten minutes to get my daughter out of that house,” I said.

“And if we don’t?” Charles asked, his voice shaking.

“Then the people who came to help me will come inside to find me,” I said.

“Who is with you?” Mercer asked, his eyes darting toward the dark tree line.

“Nobody you want to meet,” I said.

The Senator took a deep breath, the damp air rattling in his chest.

“He’s telling the truth, Charles,” the Senator said. “If Hale is here, the transition team is already in the valley.”