Dyna got out of the makeshift motor home in the middle of the loading and unloading zone. Leaving it abandoned would probably see it towed, but at the moment, Dyna was far too wound up to care. There just wasn’t time to figure out a better parking spot. Grafton was already inside the airport terminal.

Keeping the mirror up and ready, Dyna moved to follow him. The mirror was currently black, not showing anything useful. She tried to concentrate on the people in the airport, to perhaps use them as beacons as she had used the officer, but so far, she was coming up with nothing. Once again, uncertainties regarding her artifact were coming back to bite her.

Did she need to know the people being observed? Did it not count if the person whose perspective she wanted wasn’t focusing on someone? Did the officer just have a slightly higher psychic potential, leading to him being a better focus than some random person in the airport? Were there even people in the airport? It was late at night and this place was no LAX.

The Idaho Falls Regional Airport was just that. A regional airport. It was meant for smaller, shorter distance flights. LAX was a bustling city in its own right. Depending on the hour, its population probably exceeded that of Idaho Falls. Maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but only maybe.

The airport here had a mere two levels to it. Only four gates. Two were up an escalator, two were on the ground floor. All four were past a security gate. Given that the police officer had dropped Grafton off at the front of the building instead of going around to the runways, Dyna had to assume that he was not going to head directly to a private jet already out on the tarmac.

That was good for her. It gave her time. Maybe not much time, but more time than she would have had. A quick glance at the flight schedule showed only a single departing plane in the next hour. Then one in the hour after that. Then apparently nothing until the next morning. As long as Dyna was making assumptions, she figured that he would be taking the next flight. A three hour flight to Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was scheduled for departure in twenty-two minutes.

Ruby would be here shortly. Within the scheduled departure window.

That gave Dyna some measure of calm. She was making a lot of assumptions about how soon Grafton would get out of reach, but they seemed like logical assumptions. The only major concern she had was his ability to control the minds of others. Depending on how many people he could control at once and how far reaching his ability was, he might be able to just waltz onto the plane, order it to depart early, and disappear before Dyna could do anything.

But that didn’t seem likely. A flight departing ahead of schedule without boarding its passengers would be cause for alarm. Even if he mind controlled traffic control here, aviation was a complex industry with many points of contact that would all find an erratic flight concerning. He might even wind up shot down.

So he was trapped here. For twenty minutes at least.

Maybe walking up to a security guard and claiming that she heard someone talking about a bomb would get that flight delayed even further. But that might also force his hand into actually hijacking the flight. Or worse, he might make them think that Dyna was the threat, not him. If things turned out poorly, that could be a fall-back plan.

For now…

“How do I get past the security gate?”

Calling it a gate might be giving it too much credit, but it was still a security checkpoint staffed by two guards with some x-ray machines for bags and a metal detector for the people. A small line of future passengers moved through at a slow and steady pace, showing off tickets and letting the guards examine their bags. Grafton wasn’t among them. Either he had already made it through the line or, more likely, he simply walked through without submitting to checks.

It must be nice. Dyna was willing to admit that being able to see from people’s perspective had come in handy more than once, but having a more active power would not go unwelcome. Emerald would simply have been able to appear on the other side of the gate with no one the wiser. Melanie’s illusions could have provided a number of solutions, from making her appear invisible to showing off an imaginary ticket.

“Purchase a ticket.”

Dyna blinked, then turned her attention to one of the counters to the side of the security gate. A pair of attendants sat behind a large desk. Neither were occupied with customers, but…

Looking back to the security gate, Dyna frowned. The passengers were dumping their belongings into a tray to pass through the x-ray machine along with their bags. They themselves stepped through the metal detectors.

Dyna slowly shook her head. The holster under her arm was empty. No gun meant it shouldn’t set off the detector. That wasn’t what she was worried about.

Her mirror, made of metal, would certainly have to go into the tray. That would have been fine if it were merely a compact mirror, psionic energy emissions or not, but it wasn’t. It had a camera in it. A fairly obvious camera at that. The mere presence of the camera might see her pulled off to the side.

Rather than stand about looking awkward any longer, Dyna headed to the restrooms. After checking to make sure the stalls were all empty, Dyna held up her phone.

“Ruby, how would you get past the security checkpoint?”

“There will be other ways for employees. Probably unattended doors or elevators. It’s a small airport, right? Nothing happens here. Security presence will be low.”

“Just find another door? Should I wait for you.”

“I’d rather you got eyes on the target as soon as possible. Don’t want to come all this way only for him to already be gone.”

Dyna pressed her lips together, conceding the point. Her mirror was still dark. Presumably, that meant he was still nearby. But unless it lit back up again, she would have to do this the old fashioned way.

“Your life is not in immediate danger. The Carroll Institute—”

“I know. I know. You said that already,” Dyna said, interrupting Beatrice. She wasn’t quite sure how many felonies she had committed this evening. Probably a lot. What was one or two more in the name of keeping the Aztec calendar out of Id’s hands?

“Ignore her,” Ruby said. “She’s just a glorified secretary. Here’s a tip: Act like you belong. You know what you’re doing. You’re supposed to be there. If you can find a high-visibility vest and a hardhat, you’ll be completely invisible.”

“And where am I going to get a vest and hardhat?”

“High visibility vests and ear protection are standard uniforms for those working on the runways.”

“Exactly!” Ruby said, agreeing with Beatrice for once. “They probably have a room full of them.”

“The Idaho Falls Regional Airport faculty offices should be located to the left of the main security checkpoint.”

“Thank you.”

“The door will require a code or scanned card.”

“I don’t suppose you can help with that?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“This system—”

“Limited. I know.”

“But I have a hypothesis.”

“Is this the time for that?”

“This system was designed for analysis of large quantities of data. This system has dedicated significant resources to analyzing data relevant to Dyna Graves. This will be a test: The code is seven, four, one, four.”

“What?” Dyna wasn’t sure what Beatrice was talking about. Or rather, she wasn’t sure what the relevance data analysis on her had with the code to an airport’s employee room. But Beatrice was odd. She was willing to ignore oddities like that. “I thought you were limited?”

“Data analysis continues. Please provide additional data points.”

Dyna held the phone away from her face for a moment, noting the long call time, wondering if something hadn’t broken in Beatrice.

“Ignore the stupid secretary,” Ruby snapped over the line. “Get moving!”

“Right.”

Later, assuming she got out of this alright, she could warn Walter or Doctor Cross that Beatrice was acting up. For now…

Dyna took a breath and slapped her cheeks in an attempt to focus. She couldn’t look nervous or out of place. Ruby was right.

She needed to act like she belonged. People said that worked. More people than just Ruby. She had read plenty of stories online about people walking into concert back stages just because they looked vaguely like security and acted like they were supposed to be there.

The mirror wasn’t acting useful at the moment, so she slipped it into her pocket. She kept the phone, just in case either of the others had updates for her, but tried to make herself look as casual as possible by fake tapping on the screen. That had the added advantage of letting her keep her head down. Not that the nearly deserted airport had many people to watch her.

Leaving the restroom, Dyna followed Beatrice’s instructions. Just past a small quiet room, she spotted a plain metal door with an electronic handle. Dyna walked up to it like she was used to it, stopping at the keypad for only a moment before entering the combination Beatrice had provided.

A little red light turned green and some mechanical noises inside the handle clicked.

Dyna pushed into a hallway. A fairly short hallway with a few open doorways on either side. The first on the right was a small break room. The first on the left looked like baggage handling. An open form office followed after that. The last doorway opened to a locker room.

It didn’t take much effort at all to find what she was looking for. Right next to the door, a number of bright yellow vests hung on a rack. She didn’t see any hardhats or ear protection nearby, but those probably wouldn’t be needed if she wasn’t going out onto the actual airfield.

“Got it,” she said, wasting no time in grabbing the first one.

“Now find a way into the secure part of the airport,” Ruby said. “Avoid the main gate. There will probably be a door somewhere in the back rooms.”

“Okay. I can do that. Beatrice, I don’t suppose you have a map?”

“More exact layouts than the public maps are difficult to acquire for airports for security purposes. This system is ope—”

“Finding it myself then.”

It shouldn’t be difficult. She knew that the security gate was to the right of the door she entered, meaning it would have to be on the right side of the hallway. There was a sign posted at the far end of the hall, but that actually had an exit sign. Presumably for emergencies, though it wasn’t labeled as emergency only. It probably lead to the tarmac.

The locker room lacked any doors. That meant the office room or the break room.

Two workers in the hall made Dyna’s stomach clench. She almost turned and ran straight for the tarmac door, but they passed by with little more than a nod of their heads in her direction. They didn’t even stop their conversation about some local college’s football team.

Idaho Falls seemed like the kind of place where everyone would just know each other. Maybe the city itself was too big, but a small regional airport? They made sitcoms about the five people working at such places. But that was obviously not the case or they would have stopped her.

Confidence marginally increased, Dyna peeked into the break room. No door. That meant backtracking to the office.

The office looked more like another hallway that someone had dragged a few desks into. It screamed of a temporary setup that had been around for years. But there was a door at the far end. One that, as long as she hadn’t gotten too turned around, should open into the secure section of the terminal.

About half the desks were empty. The other half, maybe ten people in total, were working. Some talked on phones, others focused on computer screens. No one was paying attention to the woman standing in the doorway despite the bright vest she had on.

With a deep breath, Dyna started walking through. Her steps were firm and confident… hopefully.

“Hey…”

Halfway through, a voice just about made her jump.

“Super’s going to start shouting if he sees that phone out.”

Dyna blinked, confused at first. Her panicked mind didn’t quite process what he was saying fast enough to react accordingly.

“Are you alright?”

“No—Yes, I mean…” Dyna closed her eyes and slipped the phone into her pocket. “Just waiting on a call from my mother. She’s ill and the doctors were doing some tests…” She wasn’t even sure what she was saying. The words just fell out of her mouth.

And they seemed to work. The woman talking to her, a shorter lady with dyed orange hair, immediately took on a look of understanding. “Do you need to go?”

“No. No. There’s nothing I can do. If I leave, I’ll just think about it nonstop. I just need to focus on work.”

“I understand. But best do that with your phone away. It will help you to not think about it too.”

“Yeah. Thanks. You’re probably right. I appreciate the warning.”

The woman offered a smile, sat back down, and promptly started working again.

Dyna didn’t stick around. That felt as close of an encounter as could be, but the woman didn’t raise any alarms or call for security. She wasn’t even the least bit suspicious. Which did make Dyna a little worried about general airport security, but she was in no position to complain.

Reaching the end of the office hallway, Dyna opened the door to find just what she expected. The secure portion of the airport terminal. One of the boarding gates was just in front of her. Gate one. The doors were closed and the lights were dimmed.

Dyna’s eyes flicked to the television screen that acted as a schedule. The Vegas flight was departing from gate four. That should be upstairs on the right. Boarding was apparently due to start in five minutes.

Keeping her vest on just in case, Dyna hurried around to the escalators near the security gate. The guards didn’t bother her, not that she really went past them.

A small crowd of between seventy and a hundred people—far more than Dyna was expecting—were standing or seated around the chairs and couches at gate four. Some were children. Many were adults. A few looked like tourists, others looked like they were heading out on business.

Dyna hung back, pulling out her mirror. Just in case. The glass panes were still dark, unfortunately.

While the high visibility vest apparently did make her nearly invisible, she doubted it would work on Grafton. The man knew her. He had seen her up close. More than that, there were exceedingly few people with silvery hair running around the airport. A few old ladies, but that was a bit different. So one person, who just so happened to have hair exactly like that of the woman he had kidnapped earlier, would surely stand out.

Keeping back near a signboard advertising some restaurant simply called Katherine’s, Dyna scanned the crowd. She honestly couldn’t remember much of Grafton’s face. The prosthetic churning and chugging along had proved distracting enough to pull all her attention to it. Still, that was distinctive enough. That and his brown tweed suit.

“Now boarding flight J4184, seats A through D please come to the gate. Have your ticket ready to present to the attendants.”

A little less than a quarter of the assembled passengers started rummaging through their things, standing up, and otherwise moving about.

And that was enough for Dyna to spot him. Seated at a small chair up against the window, he casually browsed a magazine, ignoring the movement around him. He simply flipped the pages.

“Got you,” Dyna whispered.

Then…

Then what?

She hadn’t thought this far ahead.

“Ruby?” she hissed, pulling out her phone. “I see him. Now what?”

“I’m almost there. Keep him from getting on the plane. It’ll be more difficult if he boards.”

“Okay…” Dyna’s eyes snapped back and forth between the people lining up at the gate and Grafton. “Ideas?”

“Don’t start a fight. Security will pull you guys apart and he’ll disappear. You’re wearing that outfit, right?”

“Yes?”

“Use it. Got to go. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Just stall.”

“Ruby has disconnected her phone.”

“Yeah, I figured.” The passengers weren’t quite boarding just yet. Maybe Grafton was far enough down the list that he wouldn’t board before Ruby arrived?

Except, she couldn’t count on that. Ruby had given her a mission.

Keeping the line of passengers between herself and Grafton, Dyna jogged up to the attendants at the gate. She walked right up to them. A man and a woman standing just behind a ticket counter. Waving the man over, Dyna started whispering.

“One of the bag loaders noticed something leaking from one of the engines. Radios aren’t working right either, we couldn’t contact the pilots or the… control room?” Dyna tried to not sound too uncertain, but continued on with her explanation, hopefully before the attendant could think about it too deeply. “We need to hold off boarding for a bit while we figure out what is going on.”

“That… is not protocol.”

“Yeah, well. Things are broken right now. They just told me to run up and tell you in case communications weren’t working.” Dyna forced a scoff. “Don’t like it? Take it up with the super. My job is done.”

Shrugging, Dyna stalked off. Hopefully that would get them talking on the phone, trying to figure out what went wrong. Nothing was actually wrong, but maybe they would think something was wrong. It only needed to delay them by a few minutes.

Ruby would be here soon.

On her way away, Dyna peered between the lined up passengers toward the window where Grafton had been sitting.

Her blood ran cold when all she saw was an empty seat.