CHAPTER 37
The stocky old Russian lay in the hospital bed, the slow rise and fall of his chest the only movement in his body. The heart monitor mounted to the wall near his bed beeped in a soft continuous rhythm.
Agent Ross watched the unconscious man for several long seconds before turning back to Dr. Hogan. “How much longer is he going to be like this?”
Hogan glanced at the heart monitor, and then down at the medical chart in his hand. “There’s no way to know,” he said.
“Doctor, that’s not good enough,” Ross said. “We’ve got a madman holding three countries hostage with nuclear weapons. And some of those weapons are pointed right here, toward Japan.”
Ross exhaled through his nostrils. “This is a good sized naval base. Chances are, we’re standing at ground- zero for one of those nukes.”
He looked back toward the unconscious form of Oleg Grigoriev. “I’ve got to find out what that man knows. I need to know how much longer he’s going to be out.”
“I can’t tell you that,” Dr. Hogan said. “Because I don’t
“Agent DuBrul has given me his report,” Ross said. “But he’s not a doctor. He can’t tell me when the patient will be ready to talk again.”
“Neither can I,” Hogan said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you, Agent Ross. I
Hogan studied the patient. His voice was solemn. “This patient could open his eyes ten minutes from now, or ten days from now. Or he may never open them again. Even if he does, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be coherent. A pulmonary embolism restricts blood flow to the brain. The patient may have significant mental deterioration. There’s no way to know until he comes around.”
“
Dr. Hogan nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “
CHAPTER 38
When Ann opened the door to her stateroom, she found Sheldon standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, or the bulkhead, or whatever the damned thing was called.
She shot him a quizzical look. “Are you waiting for me?”
Sheldon nodded. “Come on. I’ll buy you breakfast.”
“How long have you been standing there?”
“A while,” Sheldon said.
“Why didn’t you knock?”
He shrugged. “I figured you needed your sleep. Anyway, it’s not like I’ve got anything to do today.”
He gave Ann a patented Sheldon smile. “You want some breakfast, or not?”
Ann looked one way down the hall, and then the other. “Lead the way. I can never find anything in this metal maze.”
“Follow me, Madam,” Sheldon said. “One guaranteed five-star military breakfast coming up.”
Ann followed. “Right. I’ll settle for not getting food poisoning.”
As usual, Ann was totally lost. Every door, valve, and electrical junction box was stamped or stenciled with a number. She knew the numbers were all part of some kind of coordinate system for locating equipment, and for finding your way around the maze. But she didn’t like ships enough to invest the effort required to learn the numbering scheme. So she was stuck with trying to recognize landmarks in a world where everything had the same utilitarian blandness about it.
She spotted the door to the wardroom, and was surprised when Sheldon walked past it without stopping. “I think you just missed our exit,” she said.
Sheldon started down one of the steep metal staircases. “I thought we’d go down to the crew’s mess, and eat with the enlisted personnel this morning.”
“Why? Have our wardroom privileges been revoked?”
“Not as far as I know,” Sheldon said. “But the Combat Systems Officer told me they’re holding a tactical planning meeting in the wardroom this morning. And we’ve sort of cut ourselves out of the tactical loop.”
“You mean
Sheldon stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned back toward Ann. “We’re a team,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who threw the penalty flag. We’re both out of the game. So I figure we should stay clear of the wardroom until they’re finished with the planning meeting.”
“What do you think they’ll do?” Ann asked.
Sheldon started walking again. “I’m sure they’ll try to helo us out of here as soon as possible,” he said over his shoulder.
“That’s not what I meant,” Ann said. “I mean what will they do without Mouse? What’s their Plan-
“I don’t think they’ve got a Plan-B,” Sheldon said. “Unless I’m mistaken, Mouse was something like their Plan-
He stopped again, and turned to face Ann. “Mouse is prototype technology,” he said. “It’s full of bugs, and it’s undependable. They know that. And you and I, Princess Leia, are civilians. That makes us unpredictable, and difficult to manage. They can’t order us around. In other words, we’re undependable too. And they know
Sheldon tilted his head forward and looked out of the tops of his eyes. “Do you really think these Navy guys would be calling on undependable civilians with undependable equipment if they had another option?”
Ann didn’t answer.
Sheldon continued walking. Ann followed. About fifty feet later, they came to a long line of Sailors, all dressed in blue utility uniforms.
“I believe this is what they call the
Ann wrinkled her nose. “Yuck!”
She sighed. “You think I’m wrong, don’t you?”
“It’s a matter of taste,” Sheldon said. “Shipboard food isn’t for everybody.”
“Not about that,” Ann said. “About Mouse. You think I’m wrong for not helping them, don’t you?”
“What I think doesn’t matter,” Sheldon said. “You’re the only person you have to look at in the mirror. And I can certainly understand your position. You didn’t sign on to kill people. Not even indirectly.”
