Maya picked up the secure phone: "Transport One, status."
Static answered first. Then the driver's voice returned: "We're still on 14. Signal is weak."
"Do you see the church?"
"Not yet."
The connection broke again. Nobody in the room spoke. Maya did not ask how long the signal might remain unavailable; there was no useful answer to that question.
The county dispatcher came back on the line: "We have another relay farther south. If they stay on 14, we should catch them again before State 8."
Maya nodded, even though the dispatcher could not see her. "Keep the channel open."
At the shadow server, the technician raised his hand. "Agent Williams, someone just tried to push another route package to the vehicle."
"Yes?"
"It's more aggressive this time. It's replacing the local navigation cache instead of just sending a recommendation."
"Can you block that function without closing the entire session?"
"I think so."
"Do it."
He restricted the navigation control permission while preserving the live connection in read-only capture. The outbound command failed. A system message appeared: Remote write denied.
The Sloan session remained connected. Maya looked at the technician. "Good. Now it can talk, but it can't change anything."
Mercer moved closer. "And if whoever is behind it disconnects?"
"Then we keep what they already sent."
Several moments later, the county dispatcher spoke again: "I have your transport."
Lena's map refreshed: the vehicle icon reappeared near State Road 8.
The driver came back over the secure channel: "We see the church. Feed store on the opposite side."
"Take State 8 south," Maya said. "Continue by voice instructions only."
Nathan spoke from inside the vehicle: "Agent Williams?"
"Yes."
"Was somebody trying to send us somewhere else?"
Maya paused before answering: "The navigation system received unauthorized instructions from Asheford. We're still determining the source."
Nathan was silent for a moment. "Do you still want my statement?"
"Yes."