The LOW FUEL light on the car's dashboard had been flashing for nearly an hour now. Squall had been ignoring it. Now the engine was beginning to sputter, which was a more difficult thing to overlook. Still, Squall did not relax his pressure on the accelerator, even as his acceleration became distinctly irregular on its own.

He was coming up on a turnoff where the road he was on, Lanker Expressway #17, merged with Continental Highway 3 leading into Timber. If he stayed on this road, he would be taken directly into the city; or he could take Continental back west and head for the Dingo province. It would be the first time he'd been faced with a major choice regarding his direction; after driving all night, he had bypassed every connecting road without any real thought.

Rinoa was strapped into the passenger's seat beside him. Since Squall had rescued her from the clinic, her condition had improved somewhat — if moaning from time to time with eyes half-open could be regarded as an improvement. Squall had been too busy driving to pay too much attention, however; much like when he had been piloting the hovercraft towards southeast Winhill, his eyes were unwaveringly fixed ahead of him. Even the sunrise off to the right side of his vision had failed to deter his focus.

He passed a sign reading CH 3 - TIMBER, 3 MILES. The car lurched violently for a moment, as the engine stalled; but then it seemed to settle into a smoother ride afterwards. Rinoa moaned.

"Turn it back on," she muttered.

"Rinoa?" Squall asked, taking his eyes off the road for an instant to look at her in surprise.

"Please," Rinoa continued, not looking at him or anything else. "Don't like cars. Can't...think."

She's delirious, Squall thought. It took him another moment to realize that these had been the first words he had heard her utter in nearly a year. But her voice hadn't sounded right at all; and he couldn't decide if this was because of her condition or because he had actually forgotten what she sounded like. The latter option ought to have been unthinkable; and yet, he found himself giving it far more consideration than the former.

The engine sputtered again, and this time Squall felt a distinct loss of velocity as the speedometer began to fall. His first reaction was to press the accelerator down harder, but this had no effect, so he steered the vehicle over to the road's narrow shoulder. The car rolled to a halt a few dozen meters ahead of the 427 distance marker, as the engine gave out completely.

For a minute or so, Squall simply sat in the driver's seat, as if he were still cruising along the road at 95 kilometers per hour. Well, now what? he thought, when his mind had reaffirmed thinking as the proper thing to do.

The first step, he decided, involved getting out of the vehicle, so he did so, and looked around. The highway ran through a mildly thick wood that had once been at the edge of the Timber forests, but were now more or less all that was left of them. The road was slightly elevated so that Squall could almost see above the treetops; while he couldn't see how far the woods stretched, they seemed fairly substantial. Squall decided to continue heading east, but to strike away from the road for a while, in case the Galbadians located his vehicle.

Then, he crossed over to the passenger's side of the car and unfastened Rinoa from the seat. She moaned again as he pulled her from the seat, though her posture remained completely passive.

"I wish I could do more for you, Rinoa," Squall said. "But I can't risk going to another hospital; people might get suspicious."

"Always looking out for me," whispered Rinoa. "I saw...never said anything. So sorry."

"Don't be sorry," said Squall, unsure and not caring whether she could hear him. "This wasn't your fault. I should have been here."

It didn't quite register that her words and his response didn't quite make sense together. Neither of them were in a particularly clear state of mind at the time.

Since learning of Commander Leonhart's defection, Naraka had remained in the Presidential office for nearly twenty-four hours, finally retiring to the Residence upstairs when it had become so late at night that absolutely no one was still awake in the world, save Esthar. Today, he seemed to be adapting back into his normal routine, where he would move about the building as it suited him and bark orders to Janis, who relayed them to the staff. He did not arrive in the office until late morning.

"General Tolmar is waiting outside, Mr. President," said Janis as Naraka seated himself behind the desk.

"Good," Naraka replied. "Do you have a copy of the intelligence report?"

Janis nodded, handing him a folder with the seal of the Armed Forces Intelligence Department on its cover. "Of course, Mr. President."

"Show the General in."

Janis nodded again, and departed. A moment later, General Tolmar stepped into the office, saluting as Naraka stood with the minimal level of courtesy, still holding the report.

"Yesterday," Naraka began, "Esthar began consolidating significant naval forces off its southwestern shores, in the vicinity of the Kashkabald Sea. Furthermore, all Esthar's land forces are at a readiness level that is generally associated with imminent war. What do you suppose they are doing, General?"

"Mr. President, we have a number of warships in the Centra region tracking the rogue element," Tolmar replied.

"Indeed," said Naraka, although it seemed likely that Tolmar had meant to say more. "And Esthar has in the past shown an interest in engagement with Garden. Interesting that these actions occur the very day after SeeD's commander turns violently against us, wouldn't you say?"

The other General frowned. "Mr. President, my analysts believe that Esthar's action is a response to our own forces in the region, and our increase of the National Alert status."

"Yes, yes, yes; but what sort of response, then?" Naraka turned away, as if delivering his speech to a more general audience than the single other person in the room. "Esthar's military policy has always been one of intimidation; if massing naval forces won't convince us to abandon our search and leave, they'll begin to harass our forces, and finally drive us out at the point of a gun."

"I agree, Mr. President," said Tolmar. "But our intelligence suggests that the bulk of Esthar's naval force is unlikely to come anywhere near our pursuit craft. This at least means that they do not intend to cause any serious interference for some time to come."

"You're assuming that our pursuit craft might not find their quarry retreating directly into their hands," Naraka said. "Our forces have been in North Centra for over a week; why is it that only now Esthar is concerned?" He shook his head. "No, something else is happening here, and I don't intend to be caught off guard for it."

Tolmar hesitated before her response. "Mr. President, I should point out that action on our part that could be deemed aggressive might produce a harsher response from Esthar in turn. With the naval groups moving into the Kashkabald sea, Esthar does possess a significant force superiority at the moment."

"I'm quite aware," said Naraka. "I'm also quite aware that we can't expect to outmatch Esthar's navy in east Centra. Which is perfectly fine, because I don't intend to strike them by sea." He sat down once again. "Inform the joint commands of the general staff that I'll want a meeting regarding our military initiatives as soon as it can be arranged; my office will be contacting them."

"Sir," Tolmar said, "If you have something in mind, I'd appreciate being aware of your intentions."

The Lord-General fixed the General with a cool gaze that seemed to carry rather more suppressed fury than Tolmar was used to. "The Sorceress is free," he said. "SeeD, some or all, are turning against us. The few who were always against us continue to elude our most comprehensive searches. And in the midst of all this, Esthar has chosen the moment to rattle the saber. I don't believe in coincidences, General; and I do believe that threats ought to be dealt with as effectively and decisively as circumstances permit. That is what I have in mind." He pointedly directed his attention to the papers in front of him and not to her. "That will be all, General; you may go."

Tolmar saluted, turned on her heel, and left. Naraka didn't watch her go, and saw nothing of the expression that, for just an instant, flashed across her face.