Fox and Josh followed the school buses discreetly, dropping back a block or two then taking a side street to avoid running into Marauder escorts. They didn’t really need to stick right on their tail now that Fox had spotted them, she explained. She had access to satellite telemetry now, and just needed to stay close enough to provide a secondary sighting.

And by the time they neared their destination, Fox already knew where it was, and poured on the speed to circle around and find a good vantage point. “Whoa!” Josh yelped. “Some of us are still meat and bones here!”

“Yes, and some others of us won’t be for much longer,” Fox said darkly. “Look.” A section of her windshield zoomed in to show the buses pulling through a door in the wall of a large industrial complex, passing into darkness. They were followed by a pair of cars and a few motorcycles and scooters.

Josh put two and two together. “You mean…this is their processing plant?”

Fox sighed. “Yeah. This is where they drill for human resources.”