sister is looking for him. Some kind of plane took off from an old
field not far away, no ID on it yet, but it must have hugged the ground
for a ways. Nobody's radar spotted it.'
Howard's wife came back from the bathroom, and within a few seconds the
doctor came in. He was maybe sixty, iron-gray hair cut short, in a
white shirt and slacks and a lab coat.
'Good afternoon. I'm Dr. Clements. How are you feeling. General?'
'I'm ready to run a marathon. Right after breakfast.'
'Yeah, I bet. Let me poke and prod a little here. Folks, if you'll
step outside?'
'Nothing he's got we haven't seen,' Fernandez said.
'Humor me,' Clements said.
'You heard the man,' Howard said.
'Maybe I don't want you to see my new tattoo.'
Fernandez grinned.
'I got a few calls to make, anyhow.
I don't know why, but there are people who care if you croak.'
As he started to walk away, Howard said, 'Thanks for stopping by.
Sergeant.'
'Hey, no problem. It was a slow day at the office anyway.'
Nadine said, 'You stupid, stupid, stupid mea} Would it break your faces
to say you care?'
Fernandez looked at her deadpan: 'No, ma'am, but I'm pretty certain our
balls would fall off.'
You really shouldn't laugh after being shot in the gut, you really
shouldn't.
Quantico, Virginia
Tom stood outside HQ and stared into the cloudy blue sky. Going to
rain, she guessed.
Yeah, and maybe if you 're real lucky, lightning will strike you.
She sighed. How did she get into situations like this?
She had just come from her meeting with Director Allison, and the good
news was that she had been offered a job. The bad news was ... that
she had been offered a job. And what a job--a newly created position,
special assistant to the director, and liaison to Net Force.
She would be working with Alex, but not for him. And she would be
responsible for conveying the wishes of the director to Net Force in
such a way as to make certain that the 'interface' between the bureau
and Net Force would be more 'cleanly meshed.'
Translation: She would be looking over Alex's shoulder, making sure he
didn't screw up.
She didn't have to take it, of course. She could walk away, and she
would have, except that it was the perfect job. She'd be in fairly
close contact with Alex, she could cover him if he did stub his toe now
and then, and she'd still be working for the government. With a grade
and pay raise, to boot. Essentially, she would be Alex's equal at
work.
The thing was--how was she going to tell him? He might not see it for
what it was, and knowing Alex, he might feel, well, upset.
