Columbus Electronics occupies several buildings at one end of an old airfield on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. The two story glass and steel administration building sits in front of a row of converted hangers. The next group of hangers all have "Miraldi Aviation" painted on the sides and roofs. Lili planted the shuttle next to the helipad and powered down. She did not look pleased. "You owe me lunch, Boone. Having to actually fly a Taelon shuttle down a published approach to this antique airfield is not my idea of a fun filled morning." "You should try having surprise visitors at 2:30", Boone replied dryly.

The were met just inside the front door of the building by a woman in her twenties flanked by two stocky and sour faced private security guards. "Hello", she said. "Welcome to Columbus Electronics. I am Connie Lockheed and I am here to help you through our security procedures. Follow me please." She led the way to the main reception counter. To the security guard at the counter she said, "This is Commander William Boone and Captain Lili Marquette of Companion Security. They have full facility clearance." The guard handed Boone a clipboard saying, "Sign here please." Connie turned to Lili and said, "I have taken care of all the deadly dull paperwork that it usually takes to get in here. Only your signatures are required on the entry and exit logs." Boone signed the clipboard and hands it to Lili. To Connie he says, "Your security seems unusually rigid." Connie Lockheed has a bright smile, shining eyes, and a bouncy poise. Her high pitched voice has the chirpy sound of a late night infomercial. The effect is almost like finger nails on a blackboard. "Yes it is.", she chirped. "In the face of all this advanced technology, we pride ourselves on doing some things the old fashioned way. Now you two wait right here and Mr. Miraldi will be here shortly." Lili hands the clipboard to Connie. "So you won't be our guide today?" "No, Captain. Mr. Miraldi himself will be your guide today. You are very lucky." Connie Lockheed handed the clipboard to the guard at the counter and walked away. Lili looked at Boone, who had a slightly pained expression. Under her breath, she said, "Very lucky indeed." Boone nodded. It was only then that the two of them realized that the two security guards that had met them at the door were still standing behind them.

Anton Miraldi, a man in his middle fifties, came striding out of an elevator at the center of the lobby. "Commander, Boone. Nice to see you." "Thank you.", replied Boone. "This is Captain Lili Marquette." "Welcome, Captain. Thank you both for coming." Then turning to Boone he said, "I have to apologize for a couple of things. First, the two gentlemen behind you must accompany you at all times. Our security protocols are old fashioned but very effective. Carl and John are here to enforce our weapons control policy. Otherwise you would have to disarm. That would be uncomfortable for you, Captain, and impossible for you, Commander." They both nod in agreement. Miraldi continues, "Secondly, we moved the butterfly into a safer environment.." "Where is it?", asked Boone. "We moved it into the Project ZERO facility." "Project zero?", Lili asked. "Yes, of course. It's the only safe place we could keep it." Lili looked lost and impatient. Boone sighed and asked, "What exactly is project zero?" Miraldi blinked at them in surprise, then broke into a smile. "Actually, I am glad that you are not aware of Project ZERO. It was a very secret project. We kept it because it was expensive to build and is still, occasionally, useful." Seeing the growing boredom on the faces of his two guests, Miraldi turned back toward the elevator, waved his arm in a beckoning motion and said, "Come. We have to go there in any case."

When the five of them had gotten into the elevator car, Miraldi pushed a floor button and the doors closed. Nothing happened. Miraldi took a key from his pocket, turned it in a lock on the panel, and then, using the floor buttons as a keypad, punched in an access code. There was a soft "ding" behind them. When Miraldi removed the key from the panel, the rear wall of the elevator parted into two panels which slid apart. Exiting the fake elevator via the secret door, the five find themselves in the center of a semicircular catwalk overlooking a very large circular room populated with lots of computer consoles, displays, and dozens of people. It looked like a much larger version of Liberation headquarters. Miraldi turned to the right and headed for the stairs at the far end of the catwalk. "Follow me, please.", he said. Lili, walking beside Boone, leaned over toward him. In a low voice she said, "What's with this cloak and dagger routine?" Boone said softly, "I thought that you enjoyed the cloak and dagger." "Sure.", she replied. "But only when I'm the one wearing the cloak, and carrying the dagger."

On the lower level, they made their way around the outer edge of the big room. They stopped at an entrance to a tunnel. The tunnel lead away into the distance both to the left and right. In the center of the tunnel floor, there were two square looking , shiny rails that ran the length of the tunnel. Clamped over the rails was an odd looking vehicle. It had two rows of three seats each. In front of the first row of seats was a sloped cowling that ended in a row of headlights. A large, clear plastic windscreen extended back from the cowling. There were rectangular boxes at the lower corners of the vehicle, where wheels should have been, extending down to and surrounding the rails. Lili could not decide whether this thing was a leftover from a roller coaster, or a six passenger snowmobile on rails. "Welcome to our Mag Lev.", said Miraldi. "We will use this magnetic levitation rail transport to get to Project ZERO, which is fifteen miles out and 6000 feet down." He indicated that they should get into the front seats. Lili climbed into the front left seat, but Miraldi squeezed past Boone and took the front center seat, leaving Boone to occupy the front right. The two, ever present, security guards got in to the left and right rear seats.

Once he was sure that everyone was seated, Miraldi raised his right fist straight up at arms length. Holding his fist up, he extended his index finger to point at a spot at the top center of the windscreen. A red lighted circle appeared at that spot, and, in a second, turned yellow. The Mag Lev began to hum. Miraldi rapidly lowered his arm so that arm, fist, and finger pointed ahead into the distance. The lighted circle followed his finger and rested in the bottom center of the windscreen, where it turned bright green and began to blink. With a loud pop, and an even louder buzz, the vehicle raised itself slightly from the rails and shot forward down the tunnel with sufficient force to pin the five passengers deeply into their seats. Miraldi lowered his hand and placed both hands in his lap. The Mag Lev accelerated rapidly to nearly 100 miles per hour. The air coming around the edge of the windscreen made a whooshing sound that was more of a roar that drowned out the low hum of the magnetic engines. Noticing, out of the corner of his eyes, the astonished look on the faces of Boone and Lili, Miraldi grinned broadly. He looked first at Lili, then at Boone, and finally directly ahead down the tunnel. He had to raise his voice over the roar. "Next stop", he said. "Project ZERO!"