She heaved a sigh of relief as she put down the microphone and prepared
to stumble down the hill. She realized she had violated protocol by
breaking radio silence, but she was almost as worried about Michael
Vance as she was about the facility. And it was a disturbing
realization. Or maybe not so disturbing. True, he had screwed up, but
then everybody did that from time to time. Even Alan . . . there it was
again. But come on, the resemblance was almost scary. And she was also
beginning to hate him for the same reasons she had hated Alan. It was
the anger, and maybe the guilt. . . .
She had told them eight minutes. So get moving. It was going to be
tight. First find Mike, and Isaac. If that was possible. And then go on
to the real business of the morning. Whoever was on the Fujitsu had to
be stopped, even if it meant more damage to the facility. The cost no
longer mattered. SatCom could be rebuilt, everything. But if one of
those Third World bombs were set off somewhere, it would be another
Hiroshima. The horror of it would be unthinkable.
She prayed a short prayer, something she hadn't done in twenty-five
years, and started down the hill.