Page 263 of Rangers Mountain Rescue

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The agent shakes his head.

“Bigger.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear.

“Then say it,” I tell him.

A pause.

Then—

“Extraction pipeline,” he says.

The words settle wrong.

“Extraction of what?” I ask.

His eyes flick to Aspen.

Then back to me.

“People,” he says. “Information. Assets.”

There’s that word again.

Assets.

I hate that word.

“And Tank?” I press.

The agent exhales slowly.

Then taps the screen.

A new image appears.

A name.

A face.

I don’t recognize it.

But the reaction behind me—

Aspen goes still.

“What is that?” I ask.

“That,” the agent says, “is who Tank was trying to bring in.”

My focus sharpens.

“Alive,” I add.

“Yes.”

I stare at the screen.

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