[Steven Lyle Jordan]

It was already approaching dawn when we emerged from the building where we had changed. Soon, as I had been told during my briefing, we could expect the pandas to come out and start circulating about the zoo.

At once, Amy unzipped her pack, and removed a small device. It looked like a PDA, although I had been told that it was really a cheap Chinese knock-off, and it actually only did two things as purchased: It stored addresses; and it stored notes. She took the bogus PDA, and placed it on a low wall where it would be sure to be noticed. Then she nodded at me and my pack. I opened my pack, and we both began moving about, depositing identical PDAs around the zoo.

Not for the first time, I looked at our outfits... simple white shirts, white pants and white sport-coats, black shoes, and black gloves... not to mention the ridiculous white and black makeup on our faces... and muttered, "I can't believe that this so-called 'disguise' could actually fool any panda."

"Yes, hard to believe... isn't it?" Amy admitted. "It's due to the cloning process, apparently. It leaves the pandas less able to distinguish another panda, or to tell the difference between a panda or a human dressed like this."

I began to express my disbelief, but at that moment, Amy stopped walking, and signaled me to stop. I did so, and after a moment, I saw what was happening... I single panda had ambled around the corner, and was walking towards us. He saw us, stopped, and regarded us for a moment. Amy quietly reached into her pack, and handed a PDA to the panda. The panda looked at the screen of the PDA for a few moments, then walked off with it, heading for the beach.

"It works like a charm," Amy whispered, and started off again. I merely shook my head in amazement, both for the effectiveness of our disguises, and of our plan, and followed her.

We continued to leave the PDAs about the zoo. As dawn broke, more pandas began appearing, wandering about singly or in groups, or picking at stands of leeks along the sides of the road. As I continued on, I would occasionally look back and notice the pandas all finding PDAs, examining their screens for a few minutes, then heading off, always towards the beach. At one point, I reached a spot where I could look down the road, between the houses, and see the beach from my vantage point. There, near a distinctive outcropping of rocks at the water's edge, had gathered an enormous mob of pandas, and more could be seen approaching the rocks from the village.

Impressed at the sight, I was surprised when Amy and I came around the corner, and discovered a man, dressed in the same white suit and black-and-white makeup, crossing a street. He saw us at the same moment, and said, "Hoy! You two! What's going on?"

My blood ran cold, but Amy immediately veered his way. "Hey, Miles."

"Oh... is that you, Amy?" The man addressed as Miles seemed to relax. "Haven't seen you around for a few days."

"I had some leave time coming. Use it or lose it, you know."

"Oh, right. Who's this?"

Amy nodded at me. "This is Bob. New guy."

"Hi, Bob," Miles said, offering his hand. "Say, what's the deal with all the pandas? Where are they?"

"They're all heading for the beach," Amy explained. She handed Miles a PDA. "They've all seen this, apparently. Once they see it, they head down there."

Miles took the PDA, and turned it on. After he examined the screen, his eyebrows raised a bit. "Oh, yeah? That might be something to take a look at..." He paused, when he noticed our packs. "Hoy, what's all that, then?"

"More of the PDAs," I replied quickly. "We're trying to collect as many as we can... for evidence."

"Aye... good thinking, Bob," Miles said. He looked again at the PDA. "Um, I'm going to go and check this out... to make sure the pandas aren't... uh... hurting themselves. Heh." He grinned at Amy. "Catch you later, guys."

"See you," Amy said, as Miles headed for the beach. She turned to me. "Nice work, 'Bob'."

"Thanks," I replied. "Let's get on with this, shall we?"

We continued to leave PDAs about, and the pandas continued to find them, examine them, and head for the beach. Eventually, we were out of PDAs, and had worked our way to a wooded area roughly behind the green dome. Amy started picking her way carefully through the woods, until she reached a spot beside an ivy-covered hillside that caught her attention. She found a small rock on the ground, bent down, and placed her hand upon it. A moment later, the ivy on the hillside seemed to part like a curtain, revealing a steel door embedded in the ground. The door opened silently. Amy nodded to me, and I followed her inside.

"So much for phase one," she whispered. "Now it's time for phase two..."