Nellis Air Station was our first stop, the closest site to Yucca Mountain with the facilities to handle our transport plane and the little half-squadron of robotic deathbirds that had followed us.

Now we were cruising over the Las Vegas suburbs, stuffed …

The Core Systems Alliance was not a great military power.

It was the only power, which is not quite the same thing. We did not have seasoned veterans, brilliant generals, or ambitious young officers. That had all been outsourced to private security com…

An hour later, we were in the air, strapped into the cabin of a supersonic transport plane. The engine howl was eerily muted at these speeds, and we could almost talk normally.

"What are we doing, Lieutenant?" Boris asked quietly, eying the pair of mar…

What followed was not so much a mission briefing but a series of pronouncements from the little computer.

"You have both been granted code word access to ELECTRIC RAVEN, and may not discuss information under this classification with anyone except…" the P…

"Is it correct that those present are only: Lieutenant Georgia Whitmore and Chief Petty Officer Boris Nenashev?"

I tapped "yes" on the onscreen prompt.

A synthetic voice began reading along as further text appeared.

"Voice interface authorized. Lt. Whi…

Back at my desk, things only got more bizarre.

"I've retrieved the plan files, sir."

"Good. Open them, and follow instructions. Thank you for your service, Lieutenant."

The SecDef hung up. Not even annoyed at the wait?

I stared down at the file case…