Ben nodded. "Yes. Like you say, better the devil you know than one you don't. I kinda like having Claire president of the U.S. I know what to expect. If she were to be killed or otherwise ousted from power, there's no telling who would take her place."

"And then we'd have to worry about the domino effect her a.s.sa.s.sination would have on the situation back in Iran and Iraq," Mike added.

"Yeah," Ben agreed. "As far as that goes, I want you to get on the horn to Jean-Francois Chapelle at the UN. and tell him what you've heard. It might be prudent for the UN. to put some troops in place in the oil fields to prevent any mischief from Farrar's followers."

"Will do," Mike said.

Ben slapped him on the back. "Good. And now that you've rested, we'll dodoubletime back to the office."

"Oh, s.h.i.t," Mike groaned to Ben's back as he began to jog after him.

That evening, Ben gathered his team to eat with him in the officers' mess.

Coop looked around at the variety and quant.i.ty of food and whistled softly. "Man, I never realized you officers had it so good."

Ben smirked. "It's a small consolation for having to put up with insubordinate junior officers and enlisted men who continually fail to obey orders and make our lives miserable."

25.25.Coop a.s.sumed a hurt expression. "I can't imagine who you're referring to, General Raines, sir!" he said, snapping to attention.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, knock it off, Coop," Ben said with a chuckle.

"Yeah," Jersey said, shaking her head, "the only orders you follow are the ones leading to food."

Harley Reno, accompanied by Anna, Ben's adopted daughter and the latest love of his life, took a seat at the end of the table.

"I don't know about you guys," Reno said to the rest of the group, "but I get awfully nervous when men with stripes start offering me extra-special food. It usually means we're gonna get some news that might otherwise ruin our appet.i.tes."

Hammer Hammerlick nodded his agreement as he took a seat on the other side of Anna. "Never known it to fail," he said.

"Aw, you boys are just too suspicious," Coop said with an easy smile.

"Nothin's going on in the world right now. Ben's just being nice to us 'cause we did so good in the last little fracas. Isn't that right, Ben?"

"Not exactly," Ben said, a serious look on his face.

"Uh-oh, now the ax drops right on our necks," Jersey said, glaring at Coop as if it was his fault.

Beth, the statistician, and Corrie, the radio tech, both took their seats, their eyes fixed on Ben.

"%u want to eat first, or hear the a.s.signment first?" Ben asked the team.

"h.e.l.l, give us the bad news first," Coop said. "I never could eat when I was worried about something."

"Since when?" Jersey asked, her eyebrows raised. "I've never seen you lose your appet.i.te, not even when you were up to your neck in slime in that jungle a few years back."

"All right, maybe that's so, but I don't enjoy it as much when I'm worried."

26"Go on, Ben," Reno said. "Give it to us straight."

Ben nodded and began to fill them in on the situation in the U.S., with Claire in danger from an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt by El Farrar and his men.

"You really think they'll be able to get to her?" Reno asked. "I'd bet as paranoid as Osterman is, especially after her own cabinet tried to kill her, she's got a pretty good detail of men in place to protect her."

Ben grinned. "The best protection in the world can't stop an a.s.sa.s.sin who's willing to die to kill his target," he said. "We only have to look at history to bear that out."

"So, you're gonna send us in to help protect the woman who's declared war on us several times?" Coop asked.

"In short, yes," Ben answered.

"Will she cooperate with our efforts?" Jersey asked. "After all, I cut a notch out of her ear last time we met. She might just hold a grudge."

"She's not going to know you all are helping out," Ben said. "You're going in undercover."

"Come again?" Reno said.

"Your mission is not to protect Osterman exactly," Ben said. "It's more to find the a.s.sa.s.sins and either kill them or run them out of the country before they can get to the president."

"You think that's possible?" Hammerlick asked.

"It shouldn't be all that difficult," Ben said. "The kill team will have to be in Indianapolis, and will almost certainly be made up of Middle Eastern types. They should be pretty easy to ferret out."

"If it's so easy, why not just give the information to the FPPS and let them do the work?" Coop asked.

"Because Mike Post thinks El Farrar may have some inside connections working with him to get rid of Claire Osterman, and we don't know who in her government we can trust."

"So, what's our cover going to be?" Beth asked.

27."You'll go in as one of our medical teams. That'll give you reason to be roaming around the city of Indianapolis, knocking on doors and asking questions. You can fake an outbreak of the plague virus there, and I'm sure most of the citizens will cooperate with you in your search for the a.s.sa.s.sins."

Coop nodded, "Yeah, we can say these Middle Eastern types have been identified as carrying the virus. That way anyone who's seen them will be sure to let us know."

"That sounds good," Ben said. "I'm going to have Dr. Buck work with you for a while to get you ready to pose as a medical team. That way you'llknow how you're supposed to act."

Coop laughed out loud. "Acting like a doctor will be easy... just walk around with a golf putter in my hand with my lips pursed, nodding wisely and saying h-m-m-m occasionally as if I am in deep thought."

Jersey socked him in the arm. "I'll be sure and tell Dr. Buck what you said, Coop. And I'll make sure he remembers it the next time we need our shots."

Coop's face paled at the mention of shots, one of his most terrible fears. "All right, I take it back," he said, glancing at her out of the corners of his eyes.

Jersey grinned and winked at Ben. "Nope, it's too late for that, Coop."

She looked up at Ben. "What is Dr. Buck's extension number, Ben? I need to give him a call as soon as the meeting's over."

"Jersey, I'm warning you," Coop said. "You know I was just kidding around."

"Tell you what, Coop," Jersey said, turning slightly to face him. "My Uzi's getting pretty grungy with all this target practice we've been doing lately. You give it a good cleaning for me, and I might just forget to give Dr. Buck a call."

Coop leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "OK, you win. I'll do it tonight after mess."

Harley Reno asked, "When are you planning on sending us in, Ben?"

28."Day after tomorrow. That'll give you time to get a heads-up from the doctor and get your equipment together for the insertion."

Harley looked around at his team members. "Better dig in, guys. From what I hear about the U.S., this may be our last chance to eat real meat for a while."

29 Four The insertion of the team went without incident. They were flown into Indianapolis on one of the scheduled flights from the SUSA to the USA.

Armed guards of the Federal Prevention and Protective Service, the black-shirted men known as FFPS who'd taken over the old FBI functions after the war, stood watch to make sure only medical personnel were allowed on or off the airplanes.

Harley and the others carried their weapons in their black doctor's bags or in shoulder holsters under their white coats.

Everyone had a Beretta Model 93R on their persons. The handgun fired a 9mm Parabellum bullet, had a twenty-round magazine, and could fire singly or in three-shot bursts. When it was fired on full automatic, a small lever dropped down in front of the trigger for the left hand to hold onto.

In the doctor bags were mini-Uzis, which could fire up to 640 rounds per minute and were small enough to be held like a pistol, though both hands were needed if fired on full auto.In some large trunks labeled medical equipment, Harley had stashed a few of the shotguns he preferred for close-in fighting, the SPAS Model 12.

The Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun had a seven-shot tubular magazine, weighed only four kilograms, and on full automatic could fire at the rate of 240 rounds per minute.

30.As the men unloaded their equipment, Coop muttered, "I hope those FPPS guys don't try to look inside these crates."

Harley grinned. "They won't. On the manifest, I listed the contents as being vials of plague viruses needed to make more vaccine. I bet they stay well away from us until we're outta sight."

Sure enough, the black-shirted guards glanced nervously at the team until they were in one of the SUSA HumVees that'd been sent to use as ground transport for the medical teams.

Coop got behind the wheel of the big vehicle while everyone else piled in the back. "Where to now, Boss?" he asked of Harley, who was the team's designated leader on this mission.

Harley pulled a sheet of paper out of his breast pocket. "Ben's got us set up with a suite of rooms at the Indianapolis Hilton, right on Main Street downtown."

"The Hilton, huh?" Coop asked as he began to drive. "That sounds nice. I wonder if they have room service."

As they drove through downtown Indianapolis, the team could hardly believe their eyes. It was like driving through a Third World country.

There were many people actually begging on the streets, dressed in rags, dirty and thin to the point of emaciation.

"Jesus," Corrie said with feeling. "Some of those people look like they haven't eaten in weeks."

Hammer Hammerlick nodded. "They probably haven't, Corrie. From the news reports, there is widespread famine all across the country."

"I thought we and the U.N. had sent in tons of food and other goods,"

Anna said.

Hammer looked over his shoulder at her. "We have, Anna, but if it's like anything else in this country, most of that went 31.to the higher-ups in the government, or to friends of the rich and powerful."

"So, I guess the socialist/democratic form of government is like all the others, in spite of their rhetoric about everyone being equal?" she asked.

Harley Reno glanced at her, his eyes warm. "You don't repeal the laws of nature by pa.s.sing man-made laws, Anna. Man is an animal just like the lion or tiger in the jungle. When push comes to shove, he'll take what he can in whatever way he can in order to survive.""Yeah," Coop said in disgust, "I'll bet Claire Osterman and her group of sycophants haven't lost any weight lately."

He turned the HumVee around a corner, and in front of them was the Indianapolis Hilton, a twenty-story ramshackle building that had obviously seen better days.

After he parked and they unloaded their own bags and trunks of equipment, there being no bellboys around, they went up to the front desk.

A seedy-looking man in a tattered black coat stepped to the counter.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"We're part of the medical team from the SUSA," Harley said, putting the paper Ben had given him on the countertop.

"Ah, yes," the man said. "I'm Wilford Riley, the manager of the Hilton."

He turned, grabbed a handful of keys off a board behind him, and placed them on the counter. "Your rooms are on the tenth floor." He hesitated.

"In fact, you have the entire floor to yourselves."

"Business not too hot, huh?" Coop asked.

Riley glanced at him. "Not since the ... war. No one seems to have any money for traveling anymore."

"How about room service?" Coop asked.

Riley laughed quickly, then caught himself. "I'm afraid room service has been discontinued due to the shortage of food lately."

32.He looked around, as if to see if anyone were listening, then leaned across the counter. "However, if you have sufficient funds, cash I mean, I'm sure you can get just about anything you want."

"You mean on the black market?" Anna asked.

Riley held up his hands, a look of horror on his face. "Oh, no.

Certainly not! Engaging in the black market is a capital offense, madam."

"Then what do you mean?" Coop asked.

"It's just that there are certain stores and restaurants, owned by prominent people, that still have plenty of goods. The prices are extremely high, of course, but"-he spread his arms wide-"that should pose no problem for you people from the SUSA."

Harley took the keys and they walked toward the elevators. "By prominent people, I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts he meant Claire Osterman and her government cronies."

From behind them, Riley called out, "I'm afraid you'll have to take the stairs. The elevators have been shut down due to scarcity of electricity."

"Great," Jersey said, hoisting a forty-pound crate onto her shoulders."Ten flights of stairs."

"Look at it this way," Coop said, following her up the stairs. "It's a great way to get your legs in shape."

Jersey glanced back over her shoulder. "And just what's wrong with the shape of my legs now?"

Harley shook his head and smiled. "Uh-oh, Coop. You know there's no way to answer that without getting into major trouble."

"Don't I know it!" Coop agreed.

On their floor, the team spread out and each took a different room, leaving a large two-bedroom suite in the center of the floor to use as their conference room.