They were in the air for forty minutes when Jenna called.
Francis answered on the second ring.
"You need to hear this now," Jenna said. No greeting. No preamble.
"Talk."
"Mitchell knows you have Emma. He's not pulling back. He's escalating." Keys clicking in the background. "He's activated a secondary protocol. Something called Winterkill. I'm still pulling the details but what I have already is bad."
"How bad?"
"He's authorizing lethal force. All of you. Francis, Sarah, Emma. No exceptions."
The cabin was quiet. Colton was in the co-pilot seat. Diana sat across from Francis. She heard enough from the tone to stop what she was doing and listen.
"He's putting a kill order on a six year old," Francis said.
"He's calling Emma a biological risk. Arguing that as the child of two enhanc
