Part 79 (1/2)
”You know, I don't know why you're doing this, but it seems awfully dangerous.”
”Maybe I'm trying to make amends for being such a screw-up.” He was half serious.
”That's very n.o.ble, but frankly I think we'd better wait for your friends from ARM.” She picked up the automatic and examined it again, then looked him over. 'To be brutally honest, they've got a slightly better track record.”
”Good point. Except now they've got a casualty to worry about, and we're running out of time. So this has to be solo.” He kissed her, this time on the lips. ”Wish me luck.”
”You're really going to do it, aren't you?”
”I'm going to try.” He finished tucking in his s.h.i.+rt.
”You're crazy. You won't listen to anybody.”
”Sometimes that's a help.” He kissed her again, more lightly than he wanted to. Was she still mad? It was hard to tell, but she was definitely distant. ”Okay, get ready. And for G.o.d's sake, don't hit me.
Fire wide.”
”Wide?” She grinned.
”Extremely wide.”
7:24 A.M.
”Thought you might be getting lonesome.” Vance had walked into Launch Control, directly through the entrance next to where the fallen gantry had been. Ramirez had met him, with his Beretta 9mm trained on him from the instant he came in the doorway.
”Always the joker, Mr. Vance.” Ramirez did not appear to think he was very humorous. ”I see you're roaming around again, like a cat.”
”Nine lives, remember.”
”Yes, I should have put an end to them earlier.” He gestured Vance forward with the automatic. They now were in Launch Control, the wide windows looking out over the vehicles. ”But then I wanted you to myself.”
”Here I am.” He felt a chill. Was Ramirez just going to shoot him before he had a chance to do anything?
The terrorist, however, seemed to have other things on his mind. ”You know, you've been missing out on a lot of the fun. There was something of a ruckus in Command just now. As it happens, it was on that TV there.” He pointed to a monitor, its screen now filled with snow. ”A decidedly second-rate entertainment, but I watched awhile anyway.”
”Sounds exciting. Want to tell me what happened?”
”The broadcast encountered technical difficulties before the end. For all I know, the show may still be going on. But perhaps I should break some news to you. That a.s.sault force, whoever they were, merely saved me the trouble of tidying up myself.”
”You were planning just to murder all your helpers anyway, right?” He settled into a sculptured chair next to a console, as casually as he could manage. ”Neatness. Guess I should have thought of that.”
”You should have thought of a lot of things, Mr. Vance.”
”And how about you? Did the ransom money come through? I a.s.sume this operation had a price tag attached.”
He laughed. ”Of course the money came through. All eight hundred million. What do you take me for?”
”Respectable chunk of change. So why in h.e.l.l are you going to still launch an A-bomb?” Even Vance was impressed by his perfidy. ”That's not very sporting.”