Ren spread the document across the table. Hunter had learned to read his silences the way he'd once read a capacitor bank's hum.
"Section four," Ren said, tapping the page. "Read section four."
Hunter read it. Section four created a standing federal panel with power to approve or deny anyone's entry into the designation, and power to revoke that entry at any time, for reasons the section didn't specify.
"They're asking us to build the thing we just tore down," Hunter said.
"Not exactly," Ren said. "The contractor program acquired people. This monitors them. Permanently. No appeal below the federal level." He sat back. "It's not acquisition. It's supervision with the serial numbers filed off."
Dayo hadn't spoken yet. He was reading a section further down, and when he finally spoke, his
