Jeff laughed. 'None of your business. Even if we did have somebody there you probably wouldn't know them.'
'So where is this base?'
Dieter waited; would his friend come through for him? Jeff had no particular reason to cover for the U.S. government, but at the moment neither did he have a particular reason to help his old partner.
'You're not going to blow it up are you?' Jeff asked sourly.
Von Rossbach laughed in surprise. 'No! That's not the plan anyway. I might try to rescue this young woman. Assuming she's there under duress, of course.'
'Tsk!' Jeff said. 'I thought you were out of the hero business.'
'You going to tell me or not?' Dieter asked.
'Don't make me regret this,' Goldberg warned.
'I won't. I swear,' Dieter said, fingers crossed. After all, who knew?
'It's in west Antarctica.' Jeff gave him the coordinates. 'The base itself is slightly inland.' He gave a brief physical description of the place. 'You could hike there from the coast in three days.'
'Thanks, Jeff.'
'Dress warm.'
'Yes, Dad. Give my best to Nancy.'
'You bet.' Goldberg paused. 'God, Dieter, don't make me regret this, please.'
'Don't worry.'
'Just don't. Okay?'
'You'll get old and gray worrying like that,' Dieter teased. 'I'm just curious, is all. I like a good puzzle.'
'If you hear from Connor—'
'I won't.'
'Yeah, right. Don't blow anything up,' Jeff warned.
'But that's the fun part!'
Jeff hissed in exasperation, then laughed. 'Y'know, you're right.'
Dieter laughed, too. 'Bye, buddy. Thanks.'
'I am so going to regret this,' Jeff said, sounding more amused than worried.
'No comment. Bye.' Dieter hung up.
This American base must be one of Jeff's projects, otherwise he wouldn't have the information at his fingertips like that.
He'd check with Sarah and John to see how their research on supplies was going.
Then he'd see about arranging transportation.
Sarah looked up as Dieter appeared in John's doorway. 'It's amazing how many Web sites there are dealing with tourism in Antarctica,' she said by way of greeting. 'Apparently going there is really popular. Who knew?'
'Give me Paris any day,' John muttered, typing rapidly.
'Ah, yes,' said Dieter, 'we'll always have Paris.'
Sarah smiled. 'I've always wanted to go there,' she said. 'My father said there was something special in the air of Paris. But, we could hardly expect them to put Skynet someplace so accessible.'
'Or so pleasant,' Dieter agreed.
'They could have at least put it someplace temperate,' John complained.
'That's right,' his mother said. 'You've never lived anywhere cold, have you, hon? We'll have to put some antifreeze in your blood.'
John gave her a look. 'Thanks, Mom. I knew I could rely on you.'
'What are mothers for?' she asked brightly.
'To justify Mother's Day?' John asked. He tapped a final key and the printer began to hum.
Sarah punched his arm lightly and turned to von Rossbach. 'Did you find out
anything?'
'There is a top-secret American scientific installation in west Antarctica,' he said. 'About three days in from the coast. It's a mostly underground facility with some sham huts on top.'
***
John took some papers from the printer and handed them to Dieter. Who took them and looked them over.
'A lot of stuff,' he said.
'I pared it down to the essentials,' John said. 'We're not there for the scenery, after all. It's the food that concerns me. We'll need a ton of it. I get the impression you're supposed to eat a pound of butter a day.'
'Cold burns calories,' von Rossbach said. He became quiet for a moment.
'What?' Sarah asked, coming into the room and sitting on John's bed. Dieter looked up, his eyes meeting hers. John turned to look at him and von Rossbach glanced his way.
'Why are we doing this?' he asked. 'We don't know for sure that this woman is there, or that Skynet is there. We could be running off half-cocked here. And to do what, exactly?'
Sarah and John stared at him as if he'd suddenly broken out into a Broadway show tune, then glanced at each other and away. After a moment of chewing her lips Sarah looked at von Rossbach.
'If that thing is there, and we have good reason to think it is, then it's there for Skynet. That's what all of these things are for—the Terminators, whatever Serena Burns was, whatever this thing is. They exist to protect Skynet, and/or to kill us. It's just a question of who strikes first.'
'What about the rest of the facility?' Dieter asked.
'Our one goal is to destroy this thing and Skynet,' she answered. 'Nothing else.'
'So you're talking surgical strike?' Dieter said.
'By preference,' Sarah said. 'But what I'm talking is whatever we have to do.'
'Same as ever, big guy,' John said. 'The goal is always the same, however many times it takes.' He sighed and lifted his arms, then dropped them in a full body shrug. 'Hey, at least we get to travel.'
Dieter was silent a long time. Abruptly he rose.
'All right,' he said. 'I'll arrange travel.' As he walked toward his study he thought,
'Yes?' The woman's voice was sultry and inviting, a voice designed to tickle and suggest.
'I would love to take you out to dinner.'
'Dieter!' Vera Philmore exclaimed in delight. 'How marvelous to hear from you! Where are you, darling?'
'I'd rather not say,' he answered carefully. 'But as I said, I'd love to take you to dinner.'
'When and where?' she purred.
'Tierra del Fuego.'
Vera laughed out loud. 'Do they even
'Some very good ones.' He picked up a pen and tapped it on the desk. 'But I must confess, I need a favor.'
'Oooh. I knew there'd be a catch,' she said, putting a mock pout in her voice.
'Maybe I should put in a catch of my own.'
'Careful, you'll frighten me away.'
Vera gave a throaty laugh. 'What do you want, sweetheart? Not more money. I hope.'
'No,' he assured her. 'I'd prefer to explain to you face-to-face.'
Suddenly the banter was gone from her voice. 'So this is a serious thing?'
'Yes,' he agreed. 'But—always excepting the seas and the weather down there—
what I'm asking shouldn't put you, or your crew, in any personal danger.'
'I see.'
