Page 165 (1/2)

The Situation Room’s main monitor showed the next step in mankind’s downward spiral: nuclear first-strike options against China. Porter wanted to launch. Albertson wasn’t putting up much resistance. No hydras, nuclear war about to erupt — Murray realized it was all over.

The Converted had won.

He jumped a little when his cell phone buzzed. That was the one on his inside left pocket … the direct line to Clarence Otto.

He answered. “Otto?”

“Yes sir, Director,” Otto said. “We’ve got Cooper Mitch.e.l.l. He’s alive.”

Murray felt a slight pain in his chest.

“How the f.u.c.k did you get out of there? I saw Predator footage, they were all over you.”

“Never mind that,” Otto said. “We have Cooper and we can still get him out of the city. To do that, we need to call in an air strike from the B2. We need it right now. Can you make that happen?”

“You bet your a.s.s I can. Hold on.”

He lowered the phone.

“Porter! Put those nukes back in your pants for a minute, we’ve still got a chance.”

ANTIc.i.p.aTION

Cooper Mitch.e.l.l knew he was going to die.

No way this would work. But it wasn’t like he had a choice, and maybe he’d get to see some of those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds die before he found out if there was an afterlife.

The SEALs all crouched down low behind the tea shop’s counter, waiting for the boom.

“It’s going to be a powerful explosion,” Klimas said. “It’ll probably knock us silly for a bit, but you have to get up fast and be ready to go.”

Klimas was pretty bada.s.s. Cooper knew that all SEALs were bada.s.s, but this guy didn’t seem fazed that his unit had been hacked to pieces and — probably — eaten.

“We go straight through their lines, and we stay together,” Klimas said. “If you get separated, the rally point is First St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, at LaSalle Boulevard and Goethe, seven blocks north. Everyone clear?”

Cooper saw the SEALs take cover behind anything solid that stood between them and the impending bomb.

Feely was trembling. Dude looked scared as h.e.l.l. Cooper was scared, too, had been for days, but better a bomb or a bullet than a barbecue.

They ain’t gonna eat me, Sofia.

Klimas looked at Cooper, and at Feely.

“You two boys stay with me,” the SEAL said. “Visibility is going to be s.h.i.+t. Whatever it takes, do not fall behind. This is our one chance. Don’t f.u.c.k it up.”

Nine faces looked upward simultaneously, ears all responding to the same thing: a faint whistling sound, rapidly growing in intensity.

“Incoming,” Klimas said. He tucked into a fetal position, laced his fingers behind his head and pressed his arms tightly against his ears.

Cooper did the same.

INTO THE BREACH

Tim Feely’s world shook; it roared.