Between the tavern and the ice-covered road wait a collection of vehicles, a Sikorsky-Bell Red Ranger, small and swift and heavily armed, a Chrysler-Nissan G12A, and others, vans, pickups, all with custom mounts and oversized tires. Among them sits a boxy Mostrans KVP-14T Air-Cushion Vehicle. It has a weapons pod over the cab. Tikki slips through the shadows to the side of the vehicle and sniffs at the cargo door. At first, she isn’t sure what she’s smelling, but then something changes in the air and she catches the scent of her cub. The scent comes from inside the truck, she’s sure of it. But it’s old. Her cub was here, but now it’s gone. Gone where? She glances around, sniffs the air, then waits.