Morning light hadn't fully broken over the base when the first vehicles rolled back in.
Hans was already at the yard by the time the rear doors opened.
Duffel bags spilled out first, heavier than they looked, straining at the seams the same way Pandora's had.
Behind them came sealed cases, a few cracked open just enough to show watches packed in like ammunition, and jewelry boxes still bearing store labels no one had bothered to remove.
Then the silver bullions and several gold bars—nine bullions and five gold bars from the base sweep alone.
And a lot more gathered from the nearest banks that the platoons could open in Westgate.
They looked smaller, rougher, industrial silver or gold rather than anything ornamental, but bars all the same.
Matilda directed the unloading without needing to be asked twice. Soldiers fell into the same rhythm Hans remembered from Pandora.
