Gene Polanski, Male, 45

	- Business VP, husband of Tamara, father of Lauren, Finch, and Logan

	- tanned beige skin, 6'1, 210lbs, short peppered grey-black hair

Tamara Khouri-Polanski, Female, 43

	- Professor, wife of Gene, mother of Lauren, Finch, and Logan

	- dark olive skin, 5'6, 150lbs, shoulder-length curly rich brown hair with natural red highlights

Lauren Khouri-Polanski, Female, 15

	- High school freshman, daughter of Gene and Tamara, sister of Finch and Logan

	- medium olive skin, 5'8, 150lbs, back-length curly black-brown hair, colored white-streaked highlights

Finch Khouri-Polanski, Male, 14

	- Eigth-grader, son of Gene and Tamara, brother of Lauren and Logan

	- dark olive skin, 5'6, 145lbs, ear-length curly rich brown hair with natural red highlights

Logan Khouri-Polanski, Male, 12

	- Sixth-grader, son of Gene and Tamara, brother of Lauren and Finch

	- medium olive skin, 5'1, 110lbs, ear-length straight black hair

Holly Bridgewater, Female, 19

	- Agent of Marker 1, sister of Anna

	- Bronze-tanned skin, 5'1, 100lbs, straight shoulder-length straw-blonde hair

Marcus Hannigan, Male, late-30s

	- Former agent of M1 and Playa Gordo

	- Pale, freckled skin, 5'11, 185lbs, short sandy-red hair

Erol, Male, ~16

	- Turkish student

	- Light-brown skin, 5'7, 135lbs, short, wavy black hair

Hannah Henderson, Female, 15

	- daughter of Dr. Henderson and Juliana, twin sister of Georges

	- Dark beige skin, 5'10, 160lbs, long dark-brown hair in a ponytail

Georges Henderson, Male, 15

	- son of Dr. Henderson and Juliana, twin brother of Hannah

	- Dark beige skin, 5'10, 165lbs, mousy dark-brown hair

Dr. Erns Henderson, Male, 40ish

	- Associate of Panthea, husband of Juliana, father of Hannah and Georges

	- Dark beige skin, 7'0, 280lbs, unkempt black hair.

Juliana Henderson, Female, 40ish

	- wife of Dr. Henderson, mother of Hannah and Georges

	- Dark tan skin, 5'0, 100lbs, long dark hair

Adam (Silver) Silverbaum, Male, late-20s

	- M1 Technician

	- Ashy beige skin, 5'7, 150lbs, ear-length black hair

Marisa, Female, early-30s

	- M1 Technician

	- Light almond skin, 5'3, 110lbs, short dark-brown hair

Bendal, Male, late-30s

	- M1 Technician

	- Pale freckled skin, 5'8, 160lbs, shaved bald head

Black Forest Airport had been deserted when they landed on the small strip there. Gene and the others hustled off the aircraft carrying their supplies. He carried the small handgun at his waist as they moved off to the fields to the east to put distance between themselves and the stolen plane. They had to work their way through a few blocks of industrial buildings which were silent and dark in the early hours before dawn.

The fields offered no cover and they were forced to skirt along ditches and narrow hedges to avoid being exposed. They huddled together after a couple of hours to rest and take stock of their situation.

“We need a car.” Bendal suggested.

“Agreed. Why didn't we take one of the ones we saw on the way through the streets?” Gene asked.

“Too close to the airport. Too easy to figure out who took it. For those who know what to look for.”

“Will it really make a difference? If we steal a car a mile down the road, isn't that just as likely to point to us?”

“Probably,” Marisa offered, “I don't see why it matters.”

Bendal looked haggard. His stubble had grown in shadowy and ragged, dark circles under his eyes showed his weariness. He'd barely slept on the flight, and Gene had no idea how many hours the man had been awake. “We aren't going back that way. No chance. We gotta keep moving East.”

“Agreed,” Holly declared. “Regardless. We'll see what we find soon enough. The maps showed farms clustered about a half-mile ahead. We'll scout that for wheels. Agreed?”

Heads nodded and after everyone took the opportunity to urinate and eat a bit of dried fruit, they headed off again towards the east.

Marisa hustled ahead to scout the farmhouses in the dark. Silver whipped out his tablet and turned it on night mode, continuing to monitor his analytics program which was actively trying to find anything tangible worth investigating. So far, nothing interesting had turned up.

The woman came back quickly and crouched beside them. “Two vans looked good ahead, but they have logos on them. Too conspicuous. There's a little black four-door about a few hundred meters down the road. Other than that, not much to choose from. Most of the farms look deserted. Look at these fields.” Gene scanned what little he could see in the darkness. “They haven't been tended in weeks. Not a good sign for this area. Wonder if there's been fighting here.”

Holly shrugged. “Four-door. Get on it, Marisa.”

The dark-haired woman nodded and hustled off.

Holly was not in a good mood. She'd tried repeatedly to contact Jesus through back channel communications on the flight, but Silver's proactive-monitoring software warned that there were listeners on every one. She couldn't get through to the man without risking giving away her location to whoever had planted those listeners. Whatever was going on with Jesus, he held key information about Anna. “Goddamn I wish I had made more of my Burners, I need to focus!”

“Burners?” Gene asked quietly.

“What I call those pills we took in Africa.”

Gene groaned. “No, thanks. I'll take my chances without going through that again.”

“Baby.”

He gave her a flat look.

“Whatever.” Holly scanned the darkness. “Where the fuck is that woman? She should be back by now.”

Almost on cue, a small black sedan pulled along the dirt road nearby, lights off and moving cautiously. Gene piled into the back with Silver and Bendal, Holly taking the front passenger seat. “Let's move, Marisa!”

The car shot forward and kicked up a rain of dust behind them. Gene wondered if this long run was ever going to end.

Minover.

Gene groaned and felt sick as the hidden memory threatened to burn up from deep inside him. Silver looked at him with concern. Gene closed his eyes.

Random images flew through his mind, too fast to focus on for more than a second. He saw Utah laughing, then firing a gun. Poppy was there, or was she? I never met her in person, did I? There was a man arguing with Charles Utah. Motion. More gunfire. He heard a scream. Was that me? Fear. I must escape. Yelling. Men yelling. What is going on? A schematic, diagrams, something tiny. Something dangerous. Something he wanted desperately to remember. Or did he want to forget? Utah laughing again.

Gene pitched forward and blacked out.

- - -

“Mr. Henderson?” Logan said as the light was first warming the sky. “Why did we have to leave? I loved it there...”

“I did as well, young man. We left because there is a risk to staying there. For many years, my family has been safe there, and you have been safe there as well. However, someone is looking for your father, and they are willing to pull at anything which might help them find him. That means they're looking for you, too.”

“So... is Dad alive?”

Logan could hear Henderson smile as he responded. “Very much so, though I suspect, like you, he is caught up in something he doesn't fully understand. But yes, he is alive. So is your mother, I believe, though she has been much harder to find. I found evidence that your mother is alive from about a week ago, your father, I know he was still breathing two days ago. I won't say more, but rest assured, they are still fighting and I'm certain they wish to get back to you, my boy.”

Logan let out a sigh. Lauren smiled at him, the relief in her eyes was palpable. “Ok... th-thanks Mr. Henderson... I don't want them to be dead...”

“Me either, Logan. It took some work, to be sure. I'm not the only one looking for them. It seems they have lucked into to some resourceful companions. Perhaps you have done the same. Where we're going... well, let's just say that the man we go to see is perhaps the best companion I've known besides my wife and children.”

“Who is he?” Logan asked.

“A man who has risen from the grave and is seeking help to defeat evil. Just your sort of quest, I presume?”

Logan smiled. “So he's a hero.”

“Fits as good as any, my boy. Fits as good as any...”

- - -

Tamara watched the road from the treeline with Hannigan and Erol for twenty minutes in silence before Hannigan whispered. “They're moving faster than we can on foot. If people are fleeing west, there must be less fighting that way. We need to go west. Let's see if we can catch a ride.”

Tamara nodded. “Ok... so we just try to hitchhike? Would anyone stop for three strangers when they're trying to get away from Istanbul?”

“Worth a shot.” Hannigan turned to Erol. “You do all the talking. Give us a cover story, something plausible but not too detailed. We're just trying to get away from the fighting. All we need is a ride.”

Erol nodded, the glow from the morning's intense sexual experience still showing on his face. “Understood.”

They walked casually out of the trees and onto the side of the road as traffic buzzed by. It was heavy and moving quickly. Erol attempted to flag down drivers for almost an hour before a small white pickup truck pulled off. The teen raced ahead and spoke rapid Turkish to the driver. He waved towards Tamara and Hannigan then jumped in the bed. They joined him quickly.

The truck rolled back into traffic. The cold air rushing past forced them to pull out blankets and huddle together against the cab for warmth. Erol was between them and Tamara couldn't help wondering if the teen had positioned himself that way intentionally. Hannigan showed no sign of noticing, his eyes closed as he attempted to rest while they were moving west.

Several times, traffic came to a stop as more and more vehicles joined the flight away from Istanbul. Hannigan grumbled at each pause, but thankfully, within moments, traffic moved again and kept them making progress throughout the morning.

Tamara had no idea what they might find when they got to Saray, but she hoped that M1 agents there were not owned by Victor.

- - -

“Ditch it here.” Holly's voice was thin as the car slowed and pulled off into a small wooded area beside the narrow road. “Back behind that copse.”

Marisa did as directed, and once more they were on foot.

“The spot is about three miles to the north, tucked into the woods. Don't want anyone following that car straight to the place. Marisa, Bendal, scouts out. You know what to do. Gene, Silver, you're with me.”

Gene followed Holly as Marisa and Bendal set out at opposite angles before moving ahead of them a few hundred meters. “Think anyone else has made the connection to this place?”

Holly shook her head. “Doubtful. It took Silver a great deal of time and effort on top of what he already knew to find it, unlikely anyone else has made it that far. No reason to take chances, though. And we don't know for sure that we haven't been followed. I doubt more than a few hours pass before we're traced back to that plane. Regardless. We get in and get out quickly. Just have to see what's there, see if it connects to what Silver discovered.”

They walked in silence for a time before they met up with the scouts just inside a dense section of thick trees. “Far as we can go alone, Holly,” Bendal said quietly, “your show from here.”

“Follow me.”

Holly wound through the trees as if she'd lived in them all her life. Despite coming in through the woods, and having years pass since her last visit, she had no problem leading them straight to the overgrown second of briars and brambles which hid a small metal panel covering a hole in the ground.

They cut their way under the foliage, cleared the years of debris which had settled on top of the panel, and Holly used a small brass key to open the one ancient-looking lock securing it in place. She looked resolute as she opened the panel and dropped quickly inside.

Gene watched as Bendal and Marisa followed her, then lowered himself down, finding a thin ladder running down about twenty meters. At the bottom, it looked like abandoned but well constructed bunker with metal walls, course metal planks on the floors, and more metal panels on the ceiling. They followed a narrow passageway lit only by two flashlights held by Holly and Marisa.

The passage opened up into a good-sized room. It was dusty but orderly. Holly found a panel and turned a few knobs. Gene heard a generator fire up somewhere deeper in. In moments, lights warmed and showed them the space.

There was a small couch and a few old, wooden chairs. Board games were stacked in a corner next to a simple wash basin which was somewhere between a sink and and a bath tub. Gene suspected it probably served both purposes. “Toilet's down that hall. Just a hole in the ground, but it works,” Holly declared. “Don't touch anything until I have a look around.”

“Doesn't look like anyone's been here in ages, Holly.”

“I know.” There was disappointment in her tone. Gene wondered if she had never truly given up hope that she might see her father again. He watched her a moment as Silver and Bendal settled on stools. Marisa moved off towards the toilet. Holly took in the room, clearly reliving memories of a happier, more innocent time.

Holly moved towards the far wall. She looked at a picture of a seascape hanging there, said, “Dad used to hide candy for me in strange places to see if I was clever enough to look beyond the surface. I found a lot of them, including in this frame. I wonder how many are still hidden that I'll never find...” More sadness.

She froze, pulled out her flashlight. She held it close to the frame, examining the edges. “This has been moved recently!” she exclaimed. “Look! The dust is disturbed.”

Holly pulled the picture from wall and felt along the bottom edge. Gene heard a light click, then the blonde pulled a small hidden drawer out from its spot along the wooden frame. She dumped the contents into her hand.

“What? What is it?” Gene asked, moving beside her.

Holly didn't respond.

Silver joined them, his mouth open. “That's your dad's ring. The one we never found in Armenia... Holly... how...”

“And this is Anna's earpiece,” Holly's voice was a rasp. “She always had them custom made to fit her ear. I'd know it anywhere. I used to steal them when I was young but they never fit me well...”

“What does it mean, Holly?” Gene asked.

She shook her head. “I don't know. I... I can't... I don't know...”

“Your dad's ring. Your sister's earpiece. Not coincidence, I'm sure. What could it mean...” Gene mused. “Who else knew about this place, Holly?”

“Just me and Anna and Dad. Possibly Mom, but I doubt it. Perhaps he told someone else over the years, but I doubt it. He brought me here which means it was considered as safe as anywhere. I doubt he let on that it existed to anyone else.”

“Could Anna have put those there?”

Holly shrugged, looking confused. “I doubt it. I don't think he played that game with her. That was our thing. And this spot... He only brought her here once, briefly, and I was with her. She... I don't think she would have known about this hiding spot.”

Gene glanced at Silver and caught the wild uncertainty bubbling in his mind. “Holly...” Gene started.

“He's dead, Gene. I know that. I'm not a fucking child. Whoever did this is fucking with me. I'll find them and kill them. End of story.”

She pushed the ring and earpiece into Gene's hand and stormed off to the far corner, slamming herself hard onto a seat and burying her face in her hands. Whatever was going on in that bunker, it was seriously fucking with Holly's head.

Gene passed the earpiece to Silver to look over and held the ring in his hand. It was a fairly simple gold band with one small garnet embedded. The fitting was likely platinum. He turned it over, feeling compassion for what this was doing for Holly. Gene had lost his own father and mother many years ago and he still felt that loss regularly.

A small glint caught his eye and he looked closer. At first, it appeared to be a nick along the ring's inner band, but as Gene peered carefully, the nick became several. While they appeared random and rough, almost like a scrape, Gene began to doubt that they had gotten there by accident. “Silver, this look like anything to you?” he said quietly so as not to disturb Holly.

Silver took the ring and peered closely. His mouth slowly opened, then his eyes. He looked at Gene. “Holly... Holly... I think you should see this.”

“What,” came a sullen response from the corner.

“Just... here.” He walked over and showed Holly the ring's inner nicks. “I can't tell what it means, but I recognize this. I've seen it before, back when your Dad used to pass you secret messages on your toys.”

Holly's eyes were full of tears, red and angry, when she looked up. She blinked a few times trying to focus. “What the... fuck... WHAT THE FUCK! Whoever did this, FUCK YOU!”

Gene moved over as Holly became very angry. “What is it? What does it mean?”

Between curses, she said, “it spells out my dad's pet name for me, “Goldie”, and then says “La Bresse.” She continued to curse.

Marisa had returned and looked at Gene, said, “La Bresse is a tiny place a couple of hours from here in France. I went there once on assignment.”

“GODDAMNMOTHERFUCKER I'LL KILL YOU.”

“Holly!” Gene's voice stopped her rant just before her face turned from bright pink to angry red. “We're going to La Bresse. Whatever is going, whoever did this is clearly sending you to France. If they wanted you dead, you'd be dead here. I don't think this is what you think it is.”

Holly fumed a moment and finally took a deep breath. Aside from the red eyes and red cheeks, she appeared herself a minute later. “Fine. La Bresse. Back to the car. Now!”

- - -

“I need to pee.” Lauren had been squirming for an hour before she finally spoke up.

“Up ahead, we'll pull off beyond that rise,” Henderson called back.

“Ok.”

He turned the van towards a small field behind a hedgerow and parked it just over a hill.

“Thank you,” Lauren said as she opened the door.

“We'll rest here a bit. Logan, care to help us get some lunch together?”

“Sure,” her brother said as Lauren darted for a bit of privacy behind a small copse of trees.

She yanked down her pants and squatted, only noticing as her stream started to flow that Finch had followed her and had pulled his penis out, his own stream flowing strongly. Her eyes were glued a moment watching her brother piss. She noticed him grinning at her and laughed. “You and your brother really love to watch a lady pee.”

Finch cocked his head, “huh?”

“Nothing...” Her eyes locked again on where his pee slowed and dribbled out of the end of his dick. He shook it a couple of times before tucking it back in his pants. Lauren finished urinating and wished she had something to wipe with.

“Lauren... uh... can we do it? Real quick? I'm so hard right now.”

She'd noticed that his dick was rigid while he pissed and laughed. “Boys...”

“I'll be quick. Promise.”

Lauren glanced back in the direction of the van, felt private enough to stand and brace herself against a tree. “Quick.”

Finch was behind her immediately and in seconds, his hard cock was attempting to penetrate her vagina. “Easy... how about giving me some lube first, huh?”

“Oh,” he said, “uh, sorry, uh...”

She assumed he would just spit in his hand but instead his tongue ran through her slit, slathering saliva along her hairy labia. It felt incredible, naughty, having her brother cleaning her after she'd just peed. He didn't seem to mind the bitter remains caught on her flesh and in her pubes, and in moments, she felt herself growing excited and tingly.

Finch stood and once more pushed his fourteen-year old cock against her hole. Lauren's pussy yielded easier this time, slick from her brother's spit. She let out a low moan and tried not to be loud as he started to slide his penis in and out of her vagina.

Finch grunted with each stroke, his balls slapping against Lauren's rising clit. In moments, she was panting as hard as he was, and it took feeling him start to swell inside her to bring her to orgasm. Lauren stifled her moans as her body trembled and shook, Finch's incestuous semen flooding her body in a rush.

He held against her a moment, then withdrew. Lauren felt a small pang of loss when her brother's penis left her pussy. She wished they had more time to enjoy each other. She felt his cum start to run out of her gaping hole as she stood, some of it dropping into her panties which rested around her knees.

“Uh... thanks...”

She grinned. “No thanks needed, little brother. I enjoyed that too.” She looked down at her crotch, ran her fingers through her slit and drew a drop of sperm to her lips, tasting the salty jism her brother had squirted inside of her. “I think I should clean up a bit. There's a stream just there. Be back over in a minute.”

“Ok...”

Finch tucked his penis into his pants and headed back to the van while Lauren held her pants just below her crotch and shuffled towards where a small stream bubbled nearby.

- - -

“I don't know who, and if they followed us, it wasn't closely, at least at first. Not sure now.” Finch paused beside the van as Henderson spoke to his wife nearby. “Someone tried the farm, set off the silent alarm. Doesn't seem they went inside. But they probably know we left. Doubt they followed us beyond that, but we should eat quickly and get moving soon.”

Finch felt his pulse racing, doubled from the recent orgasm he'd shared with his sister.

“Ah, there you are. Where's your sister?”

“Coming.” He almost choked on the word. “She, uh, went to wash up in the stream.”

“Great. Well, here's a sandwich. Eat up, we should be moving soon.”

Finch turned his eyes to the sounds of flights of helicopters racing to the south.

“Looks like the battles to the south need reinforcements again.” Henderson shook his head. “War. Goddamn war.” He glanced at Finch. “Sorry, I should watch my mouth.”

Finch shrugged. “Goddamn war. Sounds right to me.”

Henderson kept a flat expression a moment before grinning.

- - -

Saray was not the endpoint for most of the people fleeing the fighting around Istanbul. It seemed most were intent on reaching United Nations refuges set up along the Turkish-Bulgarian border. Erol thanked the man driving the truck after he pulled off at the edge of town and dropped them off. The three moved quickly into the surrounding woods and tried to decide on what to do next.

“We don't even know exactly where the place is,” Tamara said. “Is it a base? Is it a house?”

“It's a complex. A small one,” Hannigan replied. “I know where it is, roughly speaking. That's not the hard part. Getting in could be... tricky.”

Tamara thought a moment. “You mean... getting you in might be tricky. Because of your past with M1.”

Hannigan nodded. “Not that I'm infamous or anything, but they'll run scans of our faces and prints. I'll be in their system, and it will throw all sorts of red flags. I'm endangering you by getting much closer.”

Tamara didn't like what the man was implying. “Are saying... no, Hannigan. No. I won't leave you. Not after we've come this far.”

“My going to that site will put you at risk. They won't trust you, and they'll certainly not treat me like a five star hotel guest. I can't go.”

She fumed. “You knew this all along. You knew that when we got here, you would leave. Why didn't you tell me?”

“Would it have changed anything? Did we have any other choices?”

“We could have hidden, Hannigan! We could have run some other way, gone somewhere else! I can't lose you now!”

His tone was measured, gentle. “What about your husband? Your kids? Have you forgotten about them?”

She sank down to her knees. “No.” Her voice was small. “Of course not, I just...” She rose again and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She whispered desperately, “I love you, Marcus. I love you. Please, don't do this!” Tears began to drip from her eyes.

He held her tightly. “I love you too, Tamara. No matter what. But I have to find my wife and daughter. And you have to find your family. I don't know what else we can do now. Saray is it. You and I... we have different places to go now. I'm heading to Thailand... last place I know she was. You... your family is closer... somewhere.”

She cried freely. Erol shuffled uncomfortably nearby. “Hannigan... no... please...”

“We'll meet again, Tamara. I promise you that. When this is over. And if it never ends, we'll meet again and we'll have our families with us. Look to that. Don't dwell. You're a strong woman. The strongest I've ever known. Your family needs you, and mine needs me.”

“Oh, Hannigan.” She accepted his reason but it did nothing to relieve her sadness. “At least... at least stay with us until we're close to the site. Please.”

“I will. I promise.”

- - -

“Who else knew that code? The one on the ring?” Holly's mood had run sour all day, and Gene tried to be gentle in his question.

Holly shook her head. “Dad and I. No one else that I know of...”

Gene nodded. “A friend then. Maybe a friend of his knew the code, maybe it was something he used professionally. Someone is trying to help you, knew you'd take it seriously if he used that code... and your nickname...”

Tears had fallen all day. Marisa drove, Bendal beside her in the front. Silver slept against one door. Gene held Holly against his chest, the wetness from her eyes soaking the front of his shirt. He kissed her forehead.

Holly's voice was a rough whisper. “I thought I'd put this behind me, Gene. I... I'm not a fucking child. People die. Dad died years ago... I dealt with it. We got our revenge. Why now, in the middle of all this, is someone doing this to me? Why?”

“I don't know, Holly.”

She sobbed quietly. “It's Anna.”

“What?”

“Anna's doing this. She always knew I was Dad's favorite. She used to tease me about it, called me 'Daddy's Girl' as if that was an insult. I used to think I knew her, though. She didn't used to be so cruel...”

Gene didn't have a response and could only squeeze the nineteen-year old tighter as the car rumbled into France.