There was something unexpected about her sudden departure. Something slightly implausible. Something almost sinister and I don't mean left-handed, either. You could tell by the way she strolled out of there: cool, defiant and almost certainly packing heat. There was a momentary standoff at the guard's desk which deserved its own soundtrack in a minor key, with heavy emphasis on the subsonics. The tension was so thick you could cut it with an U.S. Mil. M5A1 Bayonet, if only quantities weren't so damn limited.

Who was this woman, with her dark glasses and variable hair? Was she CIA, as some had suspected from the beginning? Or did the cover-up run deeper than that, all the way to the supposedly "defunct" catalog division of Gander Mountain? By that time, it was too late to find out. The best they could hope for now was to limit the sudden exodus of office supplies and confiscate the coveted salaried associate badge and parking tag.

There might have been a struggle then, if Tina hadn't arrived in the nick of time, her gargantuan bionic exoskeleton creaking ominously.

"Amy!" she shouted. "Are you leaving without saying goodbye?"

"Yes, Tina," Amy said. "I hoped you would understand."

Tina understood only too well. Understood how dangerous it was for her friend to stay in any one place for too long.

"Maybe..." she began, "...maybe I'll see you again someday."

Amy smiled gently. "Perhaps," she said. "But in the meantime, don't be surprised to see a few special buy bursts popping up in unexpected places."

Then, before anyone could reach for a taser, she was out the door, over a railing, past Brian and into the side door of a waiting ARAMark van. The smoke-tinted windows rolled up noiselessly to seal off the outside world and the door crashed shut with the finality of a drop dead date. Only the rotation of the GPS-enabled satellite dish on the roof gave any indication that the van was occupied, until the tires exploded to life in cloud of tar and burnt rubber and then she was gone.

Chip Howland
howland@skypoint.com