'That is some seriously weird shit, my friend,' one of the African language experts said as he was putting on his jacket to leave. He was a short, pleasant fellow named Lew Alvy. 'I mean, Reccondo Units. Die Organisasie. Jesus.'
'What do you mean?' Fairfax asked. 'What are they?'
Alvy took a quick look around himself.
'The Reccondos,' he said, 'are the baddest of the bad when it comes to elite units. They're the South African Reconnaissance Commandos. Before Mandela, they were the crack assassination squad of the white regime. Specialists in cross-border raids, covert hits — usually on black resistance leaders — trained to be ghosts. They would never leave a trace of their presence, but you'd know they'd been there because of all the cut throats.'
'Tough bastards, too. I heard once, in Zimbabwe, a squad of Reccondos lay in ambush for nineteen days, not moving, hiding in the veldt under heat-deflecting dirt covers, until their target arrived. The target came by, thinking the area was secure, and — boom — they nailed him. Some say that in the eighties they bolstered their numbers by enlisting Angolan mercenaries, but the argument became academic in 1994 when Mandela took power and the unit was disbanded in light of its previous missions. Suddenly they all became mercenaries, a crack hit squad for hire.'
'Shit,' Fairfax breathed. 'And Die Organisasie? What's that?'
Alvy said, 'Part myth, part reality. No one's really sure. But MI6 has a file, so does the CIA. It's an underground organization of exiled white South Africans who actively plot the demise of the ANC government in the hope of returning South Africa to the bad old days. Rich bastards — rich, racist bastards. Also known as the 'Third Force,' or the 'Spider Network.' Hell, it was listed last year on Interpol as an active terrorist organization.'
Fairfax frowned as Alvy departed.
What could an ultra-rich right-wing South African organization and an elite light commando unit possibly want with a remote U.S. Air Force base?
Typically, Hot Rod Hagerty and Nicholas Tate went straight over to the President. Elvis, on the other hand, rushed over to check on his wounded buddy, Love Machine.
Schofield stood in the center of the decompression area on Level 4, with Gant at his side.
Gant nodded at Hagerty and Tate. 'We found them inside Marine One, holed up inside the Presidential escape pod. Hiding.'
'He'll take command,' Schofield said.
'He is the ranking officer,' Gant said.
'He's never been under fire.'
'Shit.'
A few yards to their left, over by the test chambers, Brainiac and Herbie Franklin sat before a computer terminal.
Schofield stepped up behind them. 'So, what's the story?'
'This is very odd,' Herbie said. 'Here, look,' he pointed at the screen. It read:
S.A.(R) 07-A
SECURITY ACCESS LOG
7-3-010229027
TIME KEY
ACTION
OPERATOR
SYSTEM RESPONSE
06:30:00
System status check
070-67
All systems operational
06:58:34
Lockdown command
105-02
Lockdown enacted
07:00:00
System status check
070-67
All systems operational (lockdown mode)
07:30:00
System status check
070-67
All systems operational (lockdown mode)
07:37:56
WARNING: Auxiliary power malfunction
System
Malfunction located at terminal 1-A2 Receiving no response from systems: TRACS; AUX SYS-1; RAD COMSPHERE; MBN; EXT FAN
07:38:00
WARNING: Auxiliary power capacity: 50 %
System
Terminal 1-A2 not responding
08:00:15
Main power shutdown command (terminal 3-A1)
008-72
Main power disabled
08:00:18
Auxiliary power enabled
Aux System
Auxiliary power start up
08:00:19
WARNING: Auxiliary power operational. Low power protocol enabled.
Aux System
Low power protocol in effect: non-essential systems disabled
08:01:02
Lockdown special release command entered (terminal 3)
008-72
Door 003-V opened
08:04:34
Lockdown special release command entered (terminal 3A1)
