0110.

THE CLOUDS HAD CLEARED, ALLOWING THE MOON TO SHINE brightly. Voda saw more of the woods around them, but this wasn't a good thing-it meant the men searching for them would have an easier time as well.

He and his wife and son cleared the crest of the hill and started down. There was a bald spot a few yards from the top. As Voda reached it, his footing slipped. Julian fell from his grasp and both father and son tumbled down against the rocks, rolling about five yards before coming to a stop.

Voda's knee felt as if it had been broken. The pain seized his entire leg, constricted his throat. He felt as if he couldn't breathe, as if his head had been buried in the dirt.

Julian began to whimper. Voda forced himself over to the boy, pulled his arms around him.

"Alin?" hissed his wife.

"Sssssh. We're here. I'll call now."

Voda pulled out the phone. His hands were trembling. What if it had broken in the fall? He should have called earlier, no matter the risk.

He pressed the Power b.u.t.ton, waiting for it come to life.

If it didn't work, they'd go down the hill, they'd find a way past the soldiers, they'd walk, they'd crawl all the way back to Bucharest if they had to. They would do whatever they had to do, just to survive.

The phone lit.

Voda tapped the number the amba.s.sador had given him. It was an international number-but it didn't seem to work.

Voda realized he had not remembered it correctly.

"We can't stay here. It's too easy to see us," said Mircea, reaching them.

"We're not going to stay," he told her. "Come on."

He grabbed her side and pulled himself up, thumbing for the number of the amba.s.sador while they started down the hill.

Aboard EB-52 Bennett,

over northeastern Romania

0110.

"ROMANIAN AIRCRAFT ARE RETURNING SOUTH, COLONEL," said Spiff. "No more Russians. I think we've seen the last of them."

"Don't place any bets," said Dog.

The Dreamland channel buzzed. Samson was on the line.

"Bastian."

"Locusta claims he'll the shoot the Osprey down if it flies over the hill," said Samson. "He implied that the guerrillas have the president's son and wife as hostages, and that they'll kill them if we get too close. I think it's a bunch of bull."

"All right."

"What the h.e.l.l do we do now, Bastian?" Samson asked. "If we can't use the Osprey, how do we get him out? How do we get our people in there?"

"Let's ask them," said Dog.

"What do you mean?"

"Conference everyone in and see what they think."

Samson didn't say anything. He was used to working from the top down-he came up with ideas, and people genuflected.

Dreamland had never worked that way. Neither had Dog.

"All right," said Samson finally. "How the h.e.l.l do we do that?"

THE PROBLEM WASN'T JUST GETTING THE PRESIDENT OUT-they had to find him first. The Bennett's radar couldn't spot him because of the trees, which would also block the infrared sensors aboard the Flighthawks unless the aircraft descended low enough to be heard.

Zen took Starship onto another channel to give him some pointers for tweaking the filters the computer used to interpret the infrared, even though he knew it was a long shot. The sensors' long-range capabilities were designed primarily to find objects in the sky; they simply couldn't do what they wanted.

By the time they went back on the conference line, Danny was suggesting that he and his men parachute into the hill.

"Even with the moon out, it's still dark enough to jump without being seen," he said. "If we take the Osprey to 25,000 feet, it won't be heard."

"How do you get out of there?" Dog asked.

"There's a spot at the base of the back hill that's not covered by the patrols the troops have set up," said Danny. "We can come down the hill, work our way across and then out. We get across the road, then we have the Osprey pick us up on the other side of this second hill here."

"That'll take hours," said Dog.

"I don't think he's getting out on his own," said Danny.

"General Samson, incoming message from the amba.s.sador," said Breanna.

"Good. Stockard, can you plug me into him?"

It took Zen a moment to realize Samson was talking to his wife. No one spoke, waiting for the general.

"I want this on line. Can you get it on line?"

Zen could hear Breanna explaining in the background that they could conference it, though the quality would be poor.

"Well, do it," said Samson gruffly. "Is everyone listening?"

"We're here," said Dog.

"Stockard, can you get us on line?" Samson asked again.

"It's on."

Zen heard someone breathing in the background.

"President Voda, are you there?" said Samson.

"Yes. The men with the dogs are on the other side of the hill," answered a soft, distant foreign voice. "But there are many soldiers around."

"Where exactly are you?" asked Danny.

"We're on the other side of the hill from my house."

"Below the bald rocks?"

"The rocks? Yes, yes. About twenty feet below them, in the center."

"Good."

"They're coming!" Voda shouted, his hushed voice rising.

There were m.u.f.fled sounds.

Oh G.o.d, thought Zen, we're going to hear him get killed.

But they didn't.

"I have to leave," whispered Voda a few seconds later. "We have to move."

The phone dropped off the circuit.

"Stockard, get Dreamland Command to call him back," said Samson. "Osprey-get moving. We'll have him vector you in."

"If we call him and they're nearby, they'll hear and kill him," said Dog.

"Holding made sense earlier," said Samson. "Now we're ready to grab him."

"General, there are Zsu-zsu's lined up all along the roads around the property," warned Spiff, the ground radar operator aboard the Bennett, referring to the antiaircraft guns the Romanians had moved into the area. "They'll shoot the Osprey to pieces on the way in, or the way out."

"We're just going to have to risk it," said Samson. "Osprey-we'll help you plot a path."

"I have a better idea," said Zen. "I'll get them."

VII.

Flying Man

Aboard EB-52 Bennett,

over northeastern Romania

29 January 1998

0112.

TO ZEN'S SURPRISE, IT WAS DANNY WHO RAISED THE MOST strenuous objections.

"The MESSKIT was designed to get you out of the aircraft, not haul people around," Danny said.

"No, it was designed to help you guys get around," said Zen. "Annie adapted it to use as a parachute. It's still basically the same tool you started with. Which means it's a lot more than a parachute. We picked that car up the other day, General," he added, making the pitch to Samson himself. "The exoskeleton is extremely strong. To conserve fuel, I'll glide all the way down to the mountain. I fire it up when I get there."