Horizons Wake

Victor reveals Imran Hyderi to Helen as the Markwell engineer who built the drone backdoor. Helen confronts Victor about kidnapping Imran. Victor explains the Markwell/Air Force bridge through Imran hidden access layer. Francis reports developers found Imran backdoor.

Lyle and Peter discuss finding a backdoor in Markwell code. Peter reveals the code author Hyderi was based in Lahore and has disappeared. Peter mentions his wife Rachel and their Sunday dinner tradition with Lyle, showing the personal bond between friends before Peter's death in Ch 4.

Helen studies intelligence files on drone pilots Jack Wallis and Steven Beck at her Nevada hotel, preparing for Victor's honeytrap mission. She learns about Beck's hacking capabilities and the Markwell software vulnerabilities, struggles with her role as Victor's instrument, and receives word...

Opens with Lyle Goldman discovering a 40ms latency spike that leads him to an undocumented endpoint, foreshadowing the conspiracy. Scene break transitions to Victor Cross team extracting Imran Hyderi in Lahore.