Warden: A Novel by Gregg Vann

right before I left for the tomb.”
    “Wouldn’t using the datanet give away our location?”
    “Maybe… Yes…probably. But it would only show them where I am. And they aren’t looking for us. ”
    “Not yet,” Barent replied.
    “Hmmm… You may have a point. Maybe I shouldn’t activate it.”
    “I think that’s a better plan,” Barent agreed. “I would rather be lost and free than know exactly where I’m being imprisoned.”
    Tana wasn’t accustomed to hiding her actions from the military, but if… when they discovered Barent was gone, they would no doubt search the entire datanet for clues to his disappearance. Tana didn’t have permission to be in the Central District, and unless you lived here, you had to be invited in to get past the checkpoints. Well, legally, anyway. So if Tana went on the datanet now, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out that she was in the wrong place at the right time—and might somehow be involved in Barent’s disappearance.
    This isn’t a normal job, she reminded herself. This… This is a whole new level. I’ll need to be even more cautious than usual.
    Tana knew the police had limited resources, and couldn’t waste manpower searching for clues to individual crimes across the whole of the datanet. But she was going up against the Collective military this time, and there would be no limits.
    On anything.
    They spotted a lighted station platform up ahead and approached it cautiously, finding it deserted. Tana guessed that if anyone had been there, they’d probably boarded the train that blew past them while they were hiding in the escape tunnel. Before she could protest, Barent grabbed her around the waist with both hands, lifting Tana up and sitting her down on the platform. As she scrambled to her feet he clasped onto the edge next to her tightly, and then Barent pulled himself up as well.
    “Lead the way,” he directed, falling in behind Tana as she moved up the wide stairway leading to the street above.
    When Tana saw the station name on an overhead sign, she blurted out, “Oh shit.”
    “What is it?” Barent asked her.
    “This is the main stop for the government buildings,” Tana explained. “The very heart of the Collective.”
    “Then I suggest we move a little faster,” Barent replied.
    They ran the rest of the way to the top and then bolted from the station, ducking into the shadows as a couple strolled past them and disappeared down the stairway. From their hiding place they could see the Tomb of the Great Betrayer directly across the street, and Barent took a long look at the tall walls and impressive guard towers, realizing instantly that that was where he’d been confined for the last five hundred years. But he still felt compelled to confirm it.
    “Is that—?”
    “Yes,” Tana answered.
    “You got past those fortification to free me? My respect for you is growing.”
    Tana smiled. “Good. Now let’s— Wait, something’s happening.”
    They watched as all four guard towers rotated their main searchlights toward the inner courtyard, and then another series of lights activated within the walls, making it seem like the entire compound was glowing.
    “They know,” Tana said. “They know…”
    “We need to get the hell out of here,” Barent replied. “Now.”
    “Follow me,” she said.
    Tana led them to a narrow alleyway about a dozen meters ahead and they darted into it, stopping at a side entrance to one of the buildings adjacent to the subway station. Tana withdrew some tools from her backpack and began deftly picking the lock.
    “We’ll be trapped if we go in there,” Barent protested. “I thought you said these were all government buildings.”
    “Trust me,” Tana said.
    Barent was unconvinced, yet smart enough to realize that Tana was far more familiar with modern Le’sant than he was. He knew he had little choice but to follow her lead.
    “Very well,” he acquiesced.
    Tana pulled the door open and they crept inside. Then she