minutes.”
“Did he say where?”
“No, sir, he just said 12.30 Washington time. That probably means it’s in some other time zone.”
“Did he give any indication of a nuclear device being in the country?”
“No, sir.”
“Recommendations?”
“General, the FedEx package originated in Las Vegas. If we called Air Force security at Nellis-”
“He’s long gone,” Connor interrupted. “Or soon will be. Anything else?”
“One terse handwritten note. ‘ We shall meet again’.”
“Directed at you, no doubt. You made him look like an amateur in East Timor. He’s not the kind to forget it.”
“No, sir, he’s not. And I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“It wasn’t a mistake to let him live, Carlos,” Connor said. “We got information, and now we have even more.”
“Are you going to present this to the president?” Carlos asked.
“I don’t know. I need to consider it. If, as you say, several cabinet level officers and congressional people are involved, it goes far deeper than we imagined. We’ll discuss it later. Twenty minutes, you say?”
“Twenty-two, General.”
Henderson Executive Airport
Las Vegas, Nevada
August
Jean Wolff watched as John Harford walked swiftly across the tarmac and boarded a Lear jet, which immediately taxied toward the runway. Wolff then departed his vehicle and boarded the Gulfstream 650 which was manned and ready for departure. As he took his seat and nodded to the pilot standing in the cabin doorway, he took out his cell phone again and keyed another text message.
Safe flight. Your horizon will not be as bright as it once was, but you will live… for now.
The Gulfstream spun up the engines and began to taxi toward the main runway. Wolff watched out the port side window as Harford’s Lear lifted off, turned northeast, and began to climb. He turned his attention to his cell phone once again, keying in a series of numbers and placing the phone beside him on the aisle seat. Then he buckled in as the aircraft turned to the west and the engines spooled up for departure. They lifted off and turned due south, beginning to climb out through cloudless skies. Wolff watched out the port window as Henderson disappeared beneath the wing and, slightly to the southeast, Boulder City appeared on the horizon.
To his left, the large body of water known as Lake Mead appeared and narrowed toward the southern end, capped by the massive engineering structure known as Hoover Dam. Millions of people downstream, as far as Los Angeles and San Diego, with hundreds of communities along the way, depended on the water and electricity generated by this 1930’s federal works project.
As the dam came closer into view, about twenty miles distant to the east, he could see the narrow ribbon of Highway 93 and the newly constructed Hoover Dam bypass bridge. He turned to his right and retrieved his cell phone from the seat next to him, glanced out the window once more, and pressed send.
Hoover Dam
Arizona/Nevada Border
August
Thor Campbell glanced again at his watch, which read 9:28 A.M., and shifted in his seat, wishing that he had taken a moment to use the toilet before beginning his observation. For a moment, he considered walking several hundred yards to the small, public restroom facility located on the southern end of the parking area. He decided to wait another ten minutes before making the trip. It was the last decision of his life.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Office of Information amp; Public Relations
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C.
August
General Pug Connor, United States Marine Corps, and Carlos Castro, Sergeant Major, United States Marine Corps, Retired, sat in the general’s office while Connor listened to the party on the other end of his telephone. He was silent, nodding occasionally, and then hung up the instrument.
“A two-kiloton nuclear explosion at Hoover Dam,” he said to Carlos. “That’s all they have so far.”
“It’s Wolff,” Carlos replied. “That bastard Wolff. I should have slit his throat in Timor.”
Connor nodded. “This will change the dynamics completely. If Harford is still alive, SI will gain complete control now, with unlimited powers for his domestic security operation, and Congress will be begging him to expand his force.”
Carlos stood, pausing behind his chair. “Not if I kill him first, General.”
Connor also stood, his jaw set and his voice soft. “I think we’ve come off the bench, Carlos. You and me, personally. And we’re back in the game. This may have to be done off the books. Off everyone’s books. I know one person I can contact for advice, but that will be the extent of outside knowledge.”
“Semper Fi, General. Semper Fi.”
