"Remote control denied," Owen reported. "We've kept a record of the commands. The active path is no longer being modified by that session."
For the first time since the redirection, Maya allowed herself to shift her attention from the live route to the people in the room. Lena's shoulders relaxed slightly. Ben exhaled. Mercer remained rigid beside the door, studying the map as if he expected another danger to appear.
Then the transport icon stopped moving.
Lena waited for the next update. Nothing arrived. She checked the county link and saw the city signal had dropped near the edge of its coverage area. Maya picked up the secure phone. "Transport One, status."
Static crackled. The driver's voice came through in fragments. "Still on Fourteen. Signal weak. Haven't reached the church."
The connection broke before Maya could answer. For several seconds the room held the quiet concentration of people who had no useful action left except to keep working. Maya did not demand an estimate for when the signal would return. Helen Ward confirmed that the road ahead had another relay site and that a vehicle remaining on the verified route should come back into range near the State Eight intersection.
Owen reported one more attempted command, this time seeking to replace the vehicle's local route instructions rather than merely recommend a turn. The protective restrictions blocked it. The system captured the failed request. Maya told the team to retain the record and not pursue the remote operator at the expense of the transport's immediate safety.
A minute later Helen's voice returned. "County has your transport. They're approaching the intersection now."
The vehicle icon reappeared. The driver confirmed that he could see the white church and feed store exactly where Helen had described them. Maya gave the next instruction: "Take State Eight south. Continue by voice guidance until arrival."
Nathan spoke from the rear seat. "Agent Williams? Was somebody trying to send us somewhere else?"
"The navigation system received unauthorized route instructions through a contractor-access channel," Maya answered. "We've blocked further changes from that connection. We're still identifying who issued them."
Nathan took a moment. "Do you still want my statement?"
"Yes."
"Then please get me somewhere the computers don't decide where I'm supposed to go."
"That's what we're doing."
He did not thank her. There was no reason he should have felt grateful for a basic level of safety that ought to have existed without a federal intervention. Instead he looked out at the church passing the side window and tried to slow his breathing. He had wanted a video to prove that he had not carried a card. Now the process of obtaining that proof had become another event he would have to describe carefully for strangers.
Back at the station, a security banner suddenly appeared across the administrative monitors. External cyber intrusion response active. The alert covered Lena's console, the preserved audit window, and the command status display. Lena looked at the banner, then at Maya.
"I didn't activate that."
"Neither did we," Owen said after checking the federal workstation.