I looked down at the tablet screen, my fingers moving across the virtual keyboard.

The connection block had terminated, but the network routing tables still held the trace.

I dragged a finger across the system map.

A single red line began to trace its way from our current location, through the underground conduits, and out toward the waterfront.

“It bypassed the external satellite link,” I said.

“Is it going to the civilian network?” Carter asked.

“No,” I said. “It’s staying inside the local military fiber ring.”

The red line on my screen moved past the main administration building.

It crossed under the concrete roadbed, past the security checkpoints, and directly into the wet slip terminal at Pier 12.

“Pier 12 is active,” Hayes said.

“The *Vanguard*,” Carter whispered.

I looked at Carter. “Is she still docked?”

“She’s scheduled to slip her moorings at 0500,” Carter said, pulling a plastic-laminated schedule from his pocket. “That’s forty-five minutes from now.”

“The transmitter in this building is just a bridge,” I said. “The receiver pulling the decryption keys is physically located on that submarine.”