Weeks of camping, creeping about the forest, stopping to flash her badge at any wary traveller… it all came down to this moment. This moment, like the first breath after being dragged underwater like a powerful force. The moment she saw her quarry for the first time.

Sabriel held her breath, daring to feel her heart quiver a step out of beat. She recognised him not only from the pictures she’d been given on the mission report, but also by his manner. Everything about him, from the crop of his hair to the cut of his clothes and the way he ran straight-backed through the forest stank of professional soldier training.

She slid down from her perch on the tree, dropping like a cat onto all fours, and sprinted after him. They were perpendicular, but his route was clearer; by the time Sabriel had negotiated a small river, she had to curve round and follow up behind him. Speed, clearly, was Captain Mace’s foremost goal at the moment, since he was making little effort to keep the sound of his beating footsteps down. Sabriel followed the sound and the trail of broken branches and snapped twigs until he flashed into sight up ahead. She closed in, her fingers grasping for the badge clipped to her belt. He’d have heard or otherwise sensed her chase long before now; she was making no effort to keep quiet either.

“Iqer, Nakht, Ankh!” She yelled – the Alliance motto, Excellence, Strength, Life - and skidded to a halt, bringing her badge up to chest level and holding it out for him to see clearly. “Agent Sabriel, Brazilian Division, Base Four. Identification code 639427.” She clipped the badge back onto her belt and jogged forward, scanning him swiftly with a grim expression. An outlaw running that fast through enemy territory, with no concern for being spotted? Something was very wrong. “I’ve got a message from top brass but it can wait. What do you need?”