The flight had taken a half hour; the unconscious guard could wake soon, and she doubted his makeshift bonds would hold for long. Time to go. The only exit from the pad was a steel door to a concrete tube that ducked underground. She ran over to find a DNA lock, just as Four had predicted. Alice took the bronze wafer from her pocket and placed it on the DNA sampler. There was a click and she pushed through to enter an industrial staircase that wound downward. She recognized the aesthetic from her Southern Wall tour of duty—prefab steel treads and concrete paneling the children of military efficiency. She went down fast, stimulants powering her through, but her legs had a rubbery feel she didn’t like. Overworked and malnourished—if she stopped, she’d never get going again.