turned to winter.
Sunday, June 12th In the air over Northern Idaho
The helicopter pilot pointed.
'Plinck Field!' he yelled over the copter's racket.
Ventura nodded. They were two thousand feet up and easing in for the
landing. He looked at his watch. Though it wasn't that far, the hop
to the private airfield via chopper had taken forty-five minutes; part
of that was for a couple of changes of direction, just in case. And it
was farther away from Smith's compound than the commercial airport at
Coeur d'Alene. Ventura had arranged for the helicopter before they'd
arrived, knowing they'd need it once the game was fully engaged. Inside
the militia's base, they'd be safe, but once they left, the odds
shifted.
Even Morrison understood this, once it had been pointed out to him.
'But why a helicopter?' he'd asked.
'Because they know you're leaving. They also know where you are
going--unless you can conduct your test by remote control, you have to
go back to Alaska to play the tune on your HAARP. I've got people in
place there, and anybody who shows up for hunting or birdwatching is
going to be considered armed and dangerous. But if I were the Chinese
and interested in grabbing you, I'd give it a try here, first. There
is only one road leading to this place, and a couple of half-wits in
camo with binoculars can cover it. Half my people will convoy out in
two of the rental cars an hour before the copter arrives, heading for
the airport at Coeur d'Alene. That'll give them something to look at
if they are out there. They'll probably expect some kind of
subterfuge, so the third car will leave fifteen minutes after the first
two, going the other way.
Probably this will draw any fire teams that might have been set up.
Forty-five minutes later, we take off. They won't be able to follow us
in the air without us seeing them, and I don't think they'll expect
that anyhow. Even if they manage to footprint us with one of their
spy-sats, we won't stay in range long, so they'll lose us while we're
still heading the wrong way. If they have that much going for them,
they'll probably figure out we're going to a private airfield, but by
the time they can figure out which strip and get people there, we'll be
gone. We have a chartered plane waiting for us when the copter touches
down.'
'What if they've anticipated this and already have people at the
private airfield?'
Ventura grinned. The man was beginning to catch on.
'If they're that smart, then I'll just have to shoot them.'
He digested that for a moment.
'This must be costing a fortune.'
'Not even a drop in your bucket, if you pull it off.
Besides, I haven't even run out of your retainer yet.'
Morrison hadn't spoken to that, but Ventura could see the man was
scared. Well he should be, dealing with these kinds of players. But
at this level of the game, if Morrison got deleted, it was likely that
Ventura would be crossing that bridge with him, and he wasn't quite
