Part 40 (1/2)

”Uh, yeah. I got it.”

”Is there anything you want to say to me?”

”Uh . . . thanks-I think.” I added, ”I'll know when the bleeding stops. Uh, I'm awfully embarra.s.sed.”

”Listen, all new officers make the same mistake. You're lucky you made it here instead of someplace serious. You think the bars change you somehow. They don't. So don't let them get in the way. You're not your rank-you're just a person being trusted with that amount of responsibility. So I'll let you in on the secret. Your job isn't to order people-it's to inspire them. Remember that and you'll be very successful.”

”Thank you,” I said again. There was something about the way she spoke. ”Are you related to Fromkin?”

She grinned. ”I trained with him. Nine years ago.” She stuck out her hand. ”My name's Fletcher. Call me Fletch.”

I shook hands gently. My wrist was still sore.

She said, ”If you still want the bugs, take them.”

I glanced back at the cage. The third baby millipede had finally gotten out of its sh.e.l.l. It was trying to crawl up the surface of the gla.s.s. Its belly was bright red. It stopped and stared at me. Its eyes were large and black and unnerving.

I shrugged. ”I don't know now. I only wanted them back because I thought n.o.body around here cared. Now, I see that's not so. If you can do a better job . . .”

Fletcher grinned again. ”Yes, we can.”

I made a decision. ”Well, then-keep 'em here. I just want to know what there is to know about them.”

”I'll put your name in the computer,” she said. ”You can plug into the files any time you want. Our job here is to disseminate information, not hide it.” Then her eyes twinkled and she added, ”Visiting hours are every day from noon to five. Next time, bring flowers.”

”I will,” I said. I dropped my gaze away from her eyes. For some reason, they were suddenly too beautiful to look at. I made a show of looking at my watch. I was embarra.s.sed again, but this time for a totally different reason. ”Well-” I said ”-I guess I'd better get going. I have a plane to catch. Thanks again. For everything.”

I turned awkwardly toward the door. She stepped in front of me. ”Just one thing. That was a pretty fair piece of shooting. I was there. My compliments.” And she stretched upward and kissed me warmly on the lips.

I could feel myself blus.h.i.+ng all the way to the jeep.

FORTY-ONE.

WE WERE on a high hill overlooking a shadowed valley, almost a canyon. At the bottom, a glittering stream sluiced down between the two sheer slopes, zig-zagging from north to south and forming a wide, shallow pond where the canyon opened up. The surface of the water reflected back the sky; it looked like blue gla.s.s. At the far end of the pond, the water poured gently over the edge of a low earth-and-wood dam.

A long shelf of land bordered the little lake. Near the dam was a rounded dome, almost unnoticeable against the black earth of the hill behind it. I studied it through the binoculars for a long time. The dome seemed darker than usual. It looked as if mud had been smeared all over its surface. Not a bad camouflage, but still not good enough to fool the computers. Satellite reconnaissance was monitored, processed and a.n.a.lyzed on a twenty-four hour basis for telltale changes in local terrain. The particular rounded b.u.mp of the worm hut, the dam, the local harvesting of trees-any of these things alone could have triggered an investigation; all of them together had put this valley on the ImmediateAttention list. It had taken us three weeks to get to it.

I pa.s.sed the binoculars over to Duke. He peered through and grunted.

”They're getting smarter,” I said.

He nodded. ”Yeah. This one is just plain inaccessible. There's no way we can get down there unnoticed.”

Larry was studying the canyon upstream. ”Can't raft in,” he said.

Duke nodded in agreement. ”Didn't think we could.” He turned to Larry. ”Call the blimp. We're dropping the team in.” Larry nodded and thumbed his radio to life. Duke looked toward me. ”What are you thinking?”

I said, ”It puts it all on the shoulders of the first man. He's got to hold the position until the others are safely down.” I closed my eyes for a second and visualized what it might be like. ”I'll do it,” I said.

”You don't have to,” Duke said.

”Yes, I do.”

”All right,” said Duke. ”Fine. Do you have any problems with the plan?”

”No,” I said. And then I shrugged and grinned. ”I hate it-but I have no problems with it.”

Duke eyed me steadily. ”What's that about?”

”I hate blimps. I have this thought the worms will hear us coming. Or see the shadow.”

”Anything else?”

”Yeah. I hate heights.”

”Is that it?”

”Yeah.”

Duke looked at Larry. ”You?”

”I'm fine.”

”I don't get that from you-what's going on?” Larry shook his head.

”You still obsessing about Louis' death?”

Larry shook his head. Louis had died two weeks after his finger had been bitten. He'd started s.h.i.+vering one afternoon, then collapsed. He sank into a coma that evening and was dead the following morning. The autopsy showed that almost every red blood cell in his body had been exploded-from the inside. The killer was a virus that behaved like malaria. There were now thirty-four viral or bacteriological agents that had been identified as active agents in the Chtorran infestation. Louis had been lucky. His death had been quick, and relatively painless.

Duke said, ”Larry, are you going for revenge?” Larry didn't answer.

”-Because if you are, you'll stay behind. It'll get in the way.”

”I'll be fine!”

Duke looked at Larry. ”You f.u.c.k up, I'll put a stake through your heart. I promise you.”

Larry grinned, ”I got it, boss.”

”All right.” Duke included me again. ”Let's get moving. Be sure your teams are clear. We'll have a final briefing just before we go.” Duke looked at me. ”Jim, you and I will go over the attack plan with the pilot. You're right about the shadow-we have to keep it off the dome-and the engine noise, so let's see what the wind is doing. If it's light enough, we'll float across the valley.”

We slid back down the hill. We'd left our jeep a quarter-mile away, on a fire road. It took us another half-hour to get to the landing site where the blimp was waiting. Our three attack teams were going through a last check of their equipment as we pulled up. Larry hopped out even before the jeep had finished rolling to a stop. ”Only three torches-” he called. ”There's too much fire danger. We'll use the bazookas-”

Duke poked me. ”Let's talk to Ginny.”

I followed him to the command tent, where a 3-D map of the valley was displayed across the situation table. He nodded perfunctory greetings to the watch officers and tossed his pack to one side. ”All right, let's get to work.” He stepped up to the table and picked up a light pen. He drew a red target circle in the large clearing next to the dome. ”That's where I want to put the team.”