"Yes, sir, Commander. Have we met?"

"Naw, but I hear such good things about ya, I feel like I know ya, know what I mean?"

"Thank you, sir."

"'Preciate the info you gave my aide today."

"No problem."

"we're 'bout ready to roll here, Nels, and I just wanted to give you a heads-up so you can let your guy Aristotle know we're on our way. I'm a.s.sumin' your phone's secure. "

"Of course, Commander."

"Good, good. Now I don't want them gettin' spooked. They should be expecting us and not start shootin' the minute they hear us.

We want to protect them too, so we won't be drivin' right to their door. We'll approach on foot and when we're within range I'll give out two loud whistles. They should respond with one, and we'll know it's safe to come on ahead."

Got it. You whistle twice; they whistle once."

"And they understand that as soon as I'm on the scene, I am the ranking officer."

"Oh, yes, sir. Absolutely."

"Pretty creative, the code names, by the way."

"Thank you. I--- " "Right. This one's real name is Elena, last initial A. Hmm, the only one whose actual name is given. Guess they don't feel any need to protect her. Then a couple of no-account locals, both of which it looks like tried to get out of Peacekeeping duty but wound up on this vigilante squad. Oh, get a load of these monikers."

"One of them's the leader, Mac," Hannah said, pointing.

Mac shook his head. "Aristotle. Other one's Socrates. Real creative. Given this, shouldn't Elena be Helen? Of Troy, get it?

And the big guy, the one that's supposed to pa.s.s for George.

Plato? Oh, for the love of all things sacred! Well, whatever you gotta do to keep track of each other. He's French. Brought in just for this. Sebastian would be insulted. This guy's heavy, but he's under sixtwo. He's no George."

Mac kept glancing at his watch, and as night fell, they kept reading, memorizing. They finally had to resort to the dome light and three tiny flashlights. "The original plan wasn't half bad,"

Chloe said. "Only somebody didn't cooperate."

"I don't know the boy or the other old guy, the driver," Mac said. "But from what I know of Miklos, my money's on him. Anyway, somebody smelled a rat. They were supposed to pick up the girl eight kilometers north of the airport, then have Plato, pretending to be Sebastian, show up just down the road."

"But Sebastian was expecting to hook up with them closer to the airport," Hannah said.

"They must've wanted to be sure the deal was done "How

"Firing squad."

"It took a squad to shoot a teenage girl?"

"Squad is a euphemism we use, sir."

"I'm listening."

"Anyone past a certain level is authorized to attack enemy personnel with extreme prejudice."

"Shoot them dead?"

"Exactly."

"And then whoever did it shares the credit with the rest of the team? The squad?"

"Right."

"You shot her, didn't you, Commander?"

"Yes, sir, I did."

"Well, that showed remarkable, almost indescribable, fort.i.tude there, Nelson."

"Thank you, sir."

"I know you did it on behalf of and with the deep grat.i.tude of the Global Community, starting right at the top."

"Thank you very much."

"Don't thank me, Commander Stef anich. The fact is that I wish I could personally reward you for that act-"

"Merely doing nay duty, sir-"

"Pay you back, as it were, for that service to the cause."

"Tell, I don't know what to say. That would be just-"

"All right, Nelly, time's a wastin' here. You inform the Greek philosophers and their lady friend that we'll drop by to see 'em in a bit, hear?" "Will do. Uh, sir?"

"I'm here," Mac said.

"We're hoping you can help, of course, but you need to know we're pretty happy with this operation."

"Oh, I can see how you would be."

"Well, I may have read something into it, but I got the impression from your aide that you might want to express some impatience with the crew because the prisoner has not yet been forthcoming. We're planning to honor them for what they've accomplished."

"I hear you, Commander. I wouldn't worry about that. I think it's fair to say that we want to respond proactively to their actions as well." "We'll want to give thanks also, of course, for the miracle at Petra today," Buck said. "That two experienced pilots could miss with such huge bombs at such close range, well, praise the Lord."

The others laughed. "Yes," Alble said, "and for the fact that somehow all the people caught fire anyway, well, talk about amazing."

"But seriously," Buck said, "G.o.d is acting in ways beyond description, and we never want to take for granted his power and sovereignty, his care for us, his protection of our loved ones."

And with that, several kneeling at the safe house began spontaneously to pray and praise the Lord. Enoch led in and sisters Mac, Chloe, and Hannah, as they undertake a dangerous mission. Protect them, go before them, send angels to guard them, and may they bring our brother from California out safely so we can all thank him and rejoice with them." Chloe was grateful when Mac turned in his seat and held out an open palm to her and to Hannah. They both grabbed hold, and he prayed. It wasn't long, and it wasn't eloquent. But it was Mac, and he sounded as if he knew who he was talking to. And that settled Chloe. A little. Temporarily.

When Mac pulled to within what he said should be a half mile from their destination, Chloe was glad for the chance to get out of the vehicle. The ground was uneven but not bad, and she knew a short hike would be good for her nerves. They all turned off their cell phones and carried them in their left rear pockets.

Tiny walkietalkies were set to a unique frequency, set on Low, and carried in the right rear pockets.

Chloe took the safety off the ancient Luger on her right hip, and Hannah unsnapped the leather strap over the grip of her Glock.