Convoy drove us round the mountain passes looking for a way down to the ravine, we found a sheltered spot not far from the facility, but it was up high, we'd have to climb down and set up rope and things for the escape of the families. Convoy's truck was kitted with all that we needed to set this up. Wizbit used a force wave to cover the rope in dust from the mountain side to camouflage it from any lookouts; he left a simple marker that could be astrally perceived so we would know where to look for it on the way back.

"Ghost, I think you should stay with Convoy on this part, when the families come out they'll need someone to help them find their way to the truck, and no offense Wizbit, but she's a lot less scary looking than you are" Lathain said "We'll get in and find them all, then once they're out we can talk business. Convoy, is your truck able to hold the number of people we're expecting?"

"It might get a little crowded but shouldn't be too bad" he confirmed.

"We'll need you for the initial infiltration" Wizbit said to me "After that you're to wait here" I shrugged; this was their mission, not mine. I rolled electricity over my body to vent it to the ground, that meant I should be able to get in without frying the sensors, or anything else I touched. Convoy watched the process with interest.

"Lets go then"

The caves were dark and smelled of bats; Lathain looked immensely uncomfortable as he stepped through piles of guano. At a nod from the elf we were clear of nodes and sensors; I cracked a few glow sticks to light the way. There was a steady stream of warm air coming from this particular cave, of the three we had found which looked promising this was the only one where air was coming out of it, not into it. With the air being warm too this meant air con units were likely nearby. The cave split into two, I lit a match and watched it blow out taking the left passage and dropping a glow stick as I went. Wizbit stuck close beside me, as humans we didn't have the superior vision that allowed Lathain to walk without light. Soon the hum of the air cons could be heard and it wasn't long before we found the unit, a large set of fans and pipes seemed to jut out from the rock. There was a small station there too with a door. Of course locked and only opened from the inside, this was maintenance access should the unit need repairs. We needed to get in.

"I'll sort this" I said flexing my back and removing my long coat and utility belt, I might just be able to squeeze through one of the vents, but I needed to loose some things first. "Wizbit, a boost?" The mage dutifully gave me a pair of hands to lift me to one of the pipe openings; I threw a glow stick in and watched it rattle down, there looked to be a fairly sharp bend, and I lost sight of the stick, but as it clattered to a halt there was no cutting of fans or spraying of fluid which meant there was no major fan down there. Alright, time to go. I slid in head first so I could see where I was going, the metal sides pressed against my skin. A tight fit, even for me, the pale green glow guided me to a grate which looked down over a thin corridor, the door could just be seen, I gave the grate an experimental tug, it came away with little resistance. Someone had tried to seal it with a sticky substance like PVA glue, why not just bolt them? I wasn't going to complain about the shoddy workmanship since it allowed me to get into the corridor, if this was how the other vents were attached then I might find getting around would be easier up above where I couldn't be seen, it was also noteworthy that the vents opened slightly further down, not so tight spacing then. I jumped down, grate in hand and opened the door, a simple turning locking mechanism, very low key. I smiled at the simplicity of it, had we known then Wizbit might have simply been able to turn it from his end.

Lathain grinned at me from the other side. "Ah fresh air" he smiled and stepped inside handing me my coat and belt, I resisted the urge to tell him it was probably heavily recycled and so not fresh, but I admit it had the added bonus of not being tainted with bat. I left the boys to go their own way, letting Wizbit know I would leave a clear trail for the families to follow then headed back towards the truck, cracking glowsticks as I went, the sticks were basics and would last only a couple of hours.

Convoy was waiting at the cave entrance just inside; he seemed uncomfortable away from the safety of his truck, he stood pulling leaves from the bush that grew at the entrance, rolling them between his fingers before flicking them aside.

"They're in" I told him, he nodded, a little of the worry falling from his face. "So who are these families then?" I asked, curious but not expecting an answer.

"They're the families of the scientists and mages who work in the facility" he said "Most of them just disappeared overnight, I dug into it and quickly found that they had all disappeared within a three day period across the whole of Indiana and Kentucky"

"You think they were taken on purpose for leverage?" I asked and he nodded.

"Makes sense, they're working on something big, maybe not something nice. If the rumours are to be believed they're creating a weapon and that doesn't sit well with a lot of folk, so I guess the military had to get themselves some insurance of cooperation" He flicked another couple of leaves away.

"When did all this start happening?" I asked, Convoy seemed to have an emotional attachment to this that I wasn't seeing, but I wasn't sure if I should push my luck with someone I didn't know.

"Six months ago" he said "There are a lot of strange things that have been going on in there, weird shipments, deliveries and things that just don't add up"

"Weird how?" Now my curiosity was peaked, if I knew what was coming in it might give me some more info on what kind of weapon they were creating.

"Well the game deliveries was one" he said "Hunters from all over bringing in creatures labelled as "Exotic" I mean what's exotic these days? And then there's the medical facilities on site, geneticists, mages, technomancers, even the food they're bringing in, some of it is pretty high class stuff, rare too. Rumours are it's genetic testing, it all started about five or six years ago, the rumours kicked up after a pair of jaguars were listed on a delivery note to the facility"

"Jaguars? As in the cats?" What was going on? It was around that time when the military had come in and started to buy out the facility.

"Yep, as in fur and four legs and a craving for meat and all things prey like" he said, he paused then and looked at his comm. link, he face twisted "Damn"

"What?"

"Comm. signal has gone" he said "For both of them, all I got is static" he stood and moved off in the direction of the truck "We have to boost the signal somehow"

"Can I help?" I asked following, I didn't like the idea of Wizbit and Lathain being stuck in there without help. I pointed out the marker and we climbed to the truck. Convoy climbed aboard and started flipping switches on a control panel.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" he hit the panel in frustration. "It's gone, the signal, there's too much interference, whether it's magical or just the density of the rock I've no idea, but I can't contact them." He slumped in his seat, head in his hands biting at his thumb nail "Think boy think" he muttered to himself.

"What about something on the inside to boost the outgoing signal, or jacking the internal comm. of the facility to steal their wavelength?" I suggested. Convoy shook his head.

"If Lathain couldn't crack their security then I don't stand much chance" he said then paused "Wait, what did you say?"

"Err we could jack the internal comm.?" I supplied, he jumped to his feet.

"No, no the first bit, about putting a booster inside"

"Yeah, can't we put something inside the facility to boost the signal?" he reached to clap me on the back then thought better of it, Wizbit's warning flashing to his head.

"Think you could get inside and place a few boosters for me?" he asked, I grinned

"Would love to"

Convoy spent the next half hour tinkering with some devices which I assumed were boosters, I waited nervously outside the truck keeping my eye on the cave opening in case the families began to appear. After a time he re-emerged from the truck, eyes on the cave a moment before asking silently if there was any movement, I shook my head, he looked disappointed.

"We good?" he nodded and threw me a small pack, inside were about two dozen small devices, each with a sucker pad for easy attachment.

"What's your comm. number?" he asked "So I can keep track of the signal"

"Don't have one" I said, he looked shocked, in this day and age it was surprising to see someone without one, even fugitives seemed to have a disposable one, but I didn't carry one for an entirely different reason "And I wouldn't offer me one either, that's a whole avenue of crap you don't want to go down" I told him, now he really looked confused

"So how am I going to keep track?" he asked

"No idea, maybe when you hear Lathain's stupid music"

"Music?"

"Yeah he usually has some kind of soundtrack blasting internally, makes him feel like he's in a movie or something" I swung the pack over my shoulder; removing my long coat and belt again, if I was going to be traveling through air ducts I didn't want it scraping along the sides and causing noise; besides I had my magic, a slight pistol and a couple of handy knives if I needed them "Where do you want them?"

"Every fifty meters or so, corridors, rooms, wherever you can get them"

"Air ducts OK?"

"Fine"

I half climbed, half slid down the bank from the truck to the cave entrance, Convoy close behind. At the bottom I sent a slight wave to the top, scattering dust over the rope ladder, it didn't cover as easily as Wizbit's cool move but it would certainly be better than nothing, and at least Convoy didn't need mage sight to see where we had to climb, just in case I didn't get out before the families.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright without a comm. unit?" Convoy asked "What if the guys come back and you're stuck in there?"

"I wouldn't worry" I told him "I can get out of anywhere, I'll drop the boosters then take twenty to look around for the pair, once I find them they can let you know by comm., if I can't find them after twenty minutes I'll make my way out" Convoy nodded, he seemed genuinely concerned for me, sweet guy.

At the cave entrance I left Convoy just inside and followed the glow stick trail to the door, though this was open I quickly jumped back into the open grate. I would move better if I knew I couldn't be seen. I clicked a booster by the grate, number one, now for the other twenty three.