Edge of War

“She’d have them eating out of the palm of her hand. God, she’d be fantastic.”

“A week after her parents were killed?”

Greene frowned. His wife was smart, but sometimes she didn’t bring the proper perspective to things.

“These are good,” said Cole, reaching for another cannoli.

“She’s going to get the best care possible,” said Greene. “Believe me.”

“I’m sure,” said his wife. She looked over at Cole. “Try some milk with that,” she told him. “You look a little tired, Turner. I hope my husband isn’t working you too hard.”

13

Off the Vietnamese coast

The ship that had struck the Zodiac continued speeding northward, most likely unaware that it had hit anything. Zeus stood in the rubber-sided raft, trying desperately to see if there were any remains of the boat. Meanwhile, Christian’s two boats came up from the west and started searching as well. They moved in small, concentric circles, the marines grimly looking for their comrades.

“What happened?” asked Quach as his boat drew near the others.

“There was a ship without its lights running north. It struck the other Zodiac.”

“A smuggler,” said Quach. “Avoiding the port taxes. Or something else.”

“I heard someone call out,” said Zeus.

“We can’t wait to look.”

“We’ll take another look around, then catch up to you,” said Zeus.

“We don’t have the GPS,” said Quach. “You have to lead.”

Quach was right. Zeus was sure the marines and the girl were still here somewhere, but the timetable was tight, and waiting jeopardized the mission.

“Where are you?” he yelled. “Where are you?”

“We have to go, Major,” said Quach.

“Hey, Zeus, he’s right,” yelled Christian from his boat.

“Cut the engines for sixty seconds,” Zeus commanded. “Quiet everything down. And then we’ll go.”

One by one, the engines shut off.

“Where are you?” yelled Zeus. “Where are you?”

“Day,” said a weak voice in the distance. Here.

“Where?”

If there was an answer, he couldn’t hear it.

They restarted the engine and turned the boat toward the north. Even though it was on its lowest setting, the motor drowned everything out. He took the binoculars and scanned the water, but it was next to impossible to see anything. Finally he went to the bow and leaned out across the water with the flashlight, shining it across.

He saw a head, two heads, in the distance.

“There!” he yelled. “There!”

The Zodiac slipped toward them slowly. The heads rose on a wave, cresting above them, then disappeared.

Zeus cursed. He grabbed the marine on his right and put the flashlight in his hand. Then he went over the side, looking for the men he’d just seen.

It was darker and far colder in the water than he’d realized. He came up quickly, empty-handed. He swam forward, then to his right, then back. The salt water stung his eyes, making it even harder to see.

If it weren’t for the flashlight, he wouldn’t have known where the boat was. He realized he had to give up, and swam back to the Zodiac, clinging against the side.

Quach pulled nearby. “Major, your dedication is admirable. But we must go.”

Wordlessly, Zeus pushed himself into the boat. Clearing the salt water from his eyes, he opened his bag and took out the GPS, regaining his bearings.

“This way,” he told the marines.

They started back to the east. The air felt as if it had turned cold, close to freezing.

“Commander! There!” shouted the marine with the flashlight.

Zeus struggled to focus his eyes. All he could see was a black blur, with a dim yellowish white light moving back and forth across it.

The marine leaned over the side. Zeus crawled over the bag of debris in the middle of the raft and reached his hands out, blindly helping as the Vietnamese soldier pulled something into the boat. It was long and dark, and for a moment Zeus thought it was a giant fish.

It was the female intelligence agent, Solt Thi Jan. They laid her out across the large body bags containing the debris. Zeus thought she was dead, but when his fingers touched her face, it felt warm. His training kicked in, and he began following first-aid procedures buried somewhere deep in his consciousness. He bent and started giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Within three breaths he felt resistance; she started to vomit. He managed to get her up and over the side of the raft for most of it.

“Back on course,” he told the marines. He pointed east, then realized he wasn’t sure that it was east and had to hunt around for the GPS to make sure his instincts had been correct.

14

New York City

Josh woke in the middle of the bed, the covers off, his body naked. He had no idea where he was or how he’d got there.

He was cold. Very cold.

And he had to sneeze.

He pushed himself out of the bed. The curtains were drawn, but light was peeking through the sides.

He was in a New York hotel. Mara was in the next room.

The bathroom was near the door, to the right.

Up, up, up!

Just as he reached the bathroom, he sneezed. The sound echoed against the marble floor and walls.

He couldn’t find the light. Finally he got the switch that turned on the overhead heat lamp. There was just enough dim light for him to see the box of tissues.

The sneezes ripped through his nose.

“Goddamn,” he cursed. “I’m not in the jungle anymore. Stop, already.”

But his sinuses wouldn’t give in. Sneezing like a maniac, he reached into the shower, turned on the hot water, and let the room steam up, soothing his nasal passages. He buried his face in a towel.

A soft beep began to sound, quickly growing louder. Josh looked around for the source before realizing it was coming from the shower faucet. The water flow slowed, gradually falling to a trickle.

There was a cardboard placard on the sink counter.

Dear guest:

Please conserve energy. Be sparing with the hot water. Due to NYC and state regulations, we have placed limiters on our hot water. Showers will cut off after three minutes’ use. The device prevents the water from being turned back on for twenty minutes.

Josh turned the faucets off, then went and got dressed. His stomach and bladder felt better, but he’d lost track now of when he’d taken his last pill. Better to take an extra one, he decided, and so he took one, then checked the time. It was just after one.

He decided he’d go get some lunch. He opened the door and was surprised to see a man sitting across the