computers were on Dobbs’s desk, and at any time he could check on his operators and see what they were doing. He could do this manually or let the system run on automatic.
Messages came in off their satellite system and were encoded with a number designating their importance. Routine traffic came in preceded by the number one, and emergency traffic came in preceded by the number five. The computer prioritized these messages and queued them according to their importance. Level five traffic was not uncommon during a crisis in a given region, but since the global scene had been pretty quiet for the last several weeks, Dobbs was expecting a slow night.
When they reached the large yard to the south of Arthur’s estate, Stroble and Hackett headed for the stairs that led down to the water.
Michael and Coleman watched from the trees with their night-vision goggles.
Michael kept an eye on the neighbor’s house and Coleman watched his two men.
Stroble and Hackett disappeared down the stairs. From there, they were to get in the water and swim past Arthur’s to the neighbor’s just to the north, where the Cigarette boat was docked. Coleman and Michael ran across the open lawn to the brick wall that separated Arthur’s compound from the neighbor to the south. They found the large oak tree that they had scouted out the night before and climbed it in silence.
Stopping at the first rung of branches, they pulled their night-vision goggles back down and surveyed Arthur’s estate. The wall was ten feet high and the base of the tree was about six feet away from it. No one was in sight, so Coleman climbed another ten feet up the tree and scooted out onto a thick branch that hung just over the wall. He tied both ropes around the branch and carried the remainder of the bundle back down.
Michael stood on the east side of the base of the tree and Coleman stood on the west side.
Both of them hung on to branches that jutted out from overhead.
Michael was just about to comment on how difficult it was going to be to hang out in this tree all night when a guard and dog came around the side of the house. Michael and
Coleman moved as close to the main trunk as possible. The old oak still had most of its leaves, although they had turned to a dry, dark maroon. They would be safe unless the guard got close and shone a light on them from underneath. The guard continued his walk past the patio and down toward the water. Coleman spoke into his mike. “Hermes and
Cyclops, this is Zeus, where are you, over?” Coleman watched the guard while he waited for the reply.
249
Hackett and Stroble were on the narrow shoreline next to the dock unpacking their weapons when the call came over their headsets.
Hackett responded, “We just got out of the water and are getting ready to move up the stairs, over.”
“You’ve got a guard and a dog approaching the cliff. You have about ten seconds before he gets there, so hurry up, over!” Without hesitation, they grabbed their waterproof backpacks and scurried up the steep, zigzagging flight of stairs. The whole time, they looked to their left waiting for the guard to appear a mere hundred feet away.
They reached the top with seconds to spare. While Coleman was watching the guard, Michael kept an eye on the house. He listened to Coleman give Hackett and Stroble a second-by-second update of what the guard was doing.
Seconds after Coleman announced that the guard had reached the edge of the cliff, the
French doors of Arthur’s study opened, and the owner of the estate strode out onto the brick veranda. Michael felt his heartbeat quicken as he watched Arthur approach the far edge. As quietly as possible, he whispered to Coleman, “Our target has appeared.
I repeat, our target has appeared, over.” Coleman turned around just in time to see the bright orange flame of Arthur’s lighter licking away at the tip of the cigar. Hackett and
Stroble were asking for a verification, and Coleman gave it to them. “Hermes and
Cyclops, our target is in sight, and I have no idea how long he’s going to be there.
Move into position as quickly as possible, and give me the play-by-play, over.”
Hackett and Stroble ran toward the tree where Hackett had sat the night before and stopped at the base. Hackett whispered into his mike, “How many guards in the backyard, over?”
“One guard, over,” answered Coleman. Coleman leaned around the back side of the tree and whispered to Michael, “You keep an eye on Arthur, and I’ll watch the guard.”
O’Rourke nodded.
Stroble and Hackett quickly affixed the silencers to the end of their weapons and put on their backpacks. Stroble slung his MP-5 over his shoulder and clasped his hands in front of his stomach. Hackett slung his rifle over his back and put his right foot in
Stroble’s clasped hands. Stroble boosted Hackett up and he grabbed the first branch, pulling himself quietly into the tree. Not wasting any time, Stroble turned and ran along the wall toward the front of the house. When he reached the tree where he had been the night before, he stopped and checked for noise. Then, pulling himself up into the tree, he looked for the guard standing by the front door. He peered over the top of the wall and saw nothing. Quietly, he swore to himself and then called Coleman.
“Zeus, this is Hermes. I’ve got a problem. The guard by the front door is not at his post, over.”
250
“Can you see him anywhere in the front yard, over?”
“That’s a negative, over.”
“Get your rope set up, and we’ll wait as long as we can, over.”
Coleman stayed calm, telling himself these things never went exactly as planned.
