testing out new inventions along with his trusted friend Mother and two other Marines. He is constantly tormented by Marius Calderon over the death of Gant and a side story is him trying to cope with the loss. Gena "Mother" Newman A friend of Schofield's who knows him better than most people as she has been with him since before the events in Ice Station. She tries to help Schofield get through Gant's death, which is also causing a strain in her marriage. Mother meets her perfect match and the two grow close. David Fairfax A geeky cryptanalyst working with the DIA who helps Schofield by obtaining information to help with the mission. Schofield and Fairfax are good friends who Schofield stays in contact with for most of the book. Fairfax saves a woman from being kidnapped by several members of the Army of Thieves and they work on trying to find out why the Army of Thieves is on Dragon Island. Veronique "Renard" Champion Champion, the cousin of Luc Champion who was killed during the events in Ice Station, is a French woman Schofield meets during a failed assassination attempt, is trying to avenge her cousin's, which she blames on Schofield. During the novel's events, Schofield and Champion grow close and by the end, it is possible they have started a relationship together. It is revealed that Renard is French for fox (Libby Gant, Schofield's girlfriend killed in Scarecrow, has the callsign "Fox"). Jean-Claude Francois Michel "Le Barbarian/Baba" Huguenot Mother's perfect match who is part of the French assassination attempt on Schofield due to the bounty on him. Mother and Baba share many similarities and they work closely together during the mission. Mother is offered the chance to be with Baba but in the end, she decides to stay with her husband. Marius Calderon A CIA agent who theorised that China will become more powerful than the U.S. almost three decades before it did. He is the leader of the Army of Thieves who uses Psychological warfare against Schofield, going as far as to taunt Schofield over the loss of Gant. Calderon even makes Schofield watch as he presumably kills Mother and Baba for no reason than for him to just see it happen. Schofield was informed that Calderon died, which is later found to be false when he leaves Schofield's anti-flash glasses that he took earlier and left