"I'm tracing it."
The vehicle route changed on the screen: the new path left the main county highway and redirected toward a series of rural roads east of the city.
Maya asked, "Did dispatch authorize that?"
Lena checked. "No."
A technician opened the remote session history: "The request came through a Sloan administrator channel."
Maya looked at the map: the new route moved away from municipal traffic cameras, cellular coverage became weaker farther east, and the city's relay network ended before the final section.
She picked up the secure phone: "Call the transport driver. Tell him not to accept any new navigation instruction until it is confirmed by voice."
Lena continued watching the route. "The system is still trying to update him."
Maya looked at the administrator session: someone with access to Sloan Integrated Systems was no longer trying only to change a record; they were trying to change where a federal witness was going.
Maya moved the transport operation away from Asheford's municipal navigation system and onto direct voice coordination. "Get the driver on a secure line," she told Lena. "No more automated routing."
Lena connected the call through the county communications network. The driver answered from the federal transport vehicle:
"Transport One."
"This is Agent Williams. Ignore the route on your navigation display. Do not accept any electronic rerouting unless dispatch confirms it by voice."
"Understood. The system has already tried to send us off the highway twice."
"Where are you now?"
"Eastbound on County Route 14. We're approaching the agricultural district."
Maya looked at the county map beside Lena's monitor: the route still displayed on the vehicle system led away from the highway and toward smaller roads outside Asheford's normal communication coverage. "Stay on 14 until you receive new instructions."
Nathan's voice came faintly through the background: "Is something wrong?"
The driver answered him before Maya could: "We're correcting a navigation problem."
Maya did not add anything; Nathan needed accurate information, not speculation.
A federal technician at the shadow server called from the next workstation: "The Sloan administrator session is still active."
"Can you isolate the source?"
"Not yet. It's moving through the contractor environment."
"Keep recording it."
"We can cut the connection now."
Maya looked from the live network capture to the transport map. If they disconnected every Sloan channel immediately, the remote commands would stop, but they could also lose the evidence showing who was issuing them.
"Not yet. Restrict write access everywhere except the channel we're monitoring. Mirror every command."