"You thought it through, Maj," Winters said to her, much later. "You thought it through, and you followed the hunch when it came to you-and the hunch bought the time that was needed for response by those equipped to respond. You can't do much better than that. I'm proud of you."

She said nothing, and simply walked along by him, basking in the praise.

"Now," he said, "we'll talk about why you didn't call me earlier." And he talked about that, earnestly, for about fifteen minutes, during all of which Maj's ears burned so fiercely that she thought they might set her hair on fire.

Finally, though, her father, walking on the other side of James Winters, spoke up. "She would probably have called you the night before, Jim," he said, "if I hadn't talked her out of it."

"True?"

"True."

Winters simply looked at Maj's father and shook his head. Her father shrugged. "I invoked Occam's Razor," he said. "Mea culpa."

"Mmm," Winters said. "Now that you remind me, I seem to remember having put Tabasco in your vodka once."

"That was you? you?"

Winters nodded. "Another mistake. So we've made one apiece, now."

"Can I have that in writing," said Maj's father, "and will you give it to my wife? At your earliest convenience."

The men stood there grinning at each other.

"Where will Laurent and his dad go now?" Maj said after a moment.

Winters sighed. "It's no surprise we have a protection program for witnesses and other a.s.sets," he said. "I think we can fairly qualify Armin Darenko as an a.s.set, since he has apparently invented one of the most useful surgical and therapeutic tools of this century. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets the n.o.bel out of it. That will come later, though. Right now, since he shows no particular interest in returning to his native country"-and his smile went appropriately wintery-"we'll 'adopt' him and Laurent, find a quiet place for them to settle where they won't be bothered...and let them fade into the background."

Maj smiled. "New ident.i.ties..."

"I have a feeling your group may acquire a new member," Winters said, "with a new name. A couple of your Net Force Explorers a.s.sociates, of course, are likely to be privy to the information. But I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"No," Maj said, "I don't think so, either."

She smiled, hearing, in the back of her mind, the Galaxy singing; though not nearly as loudly, at the moment, as her pride.

Seven for seven, she thought. Or nine, or ten... Or nine, or ten...

Whatever!

NOVELS BY TOM CLANCY.

The Hunt for Red October

Red Storm Rising

Patriot Games

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Clear and Present Danger

The Sum of All Fears

Without Remorse

Debt of Honor

Executive Orders

Rainbow Six

The Bear and the Dragon

Red Rabbit

The Teeth of the Tiger

SSN: Strategies of Submarine Warfare

NONFICTION.

Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship

Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment

Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force

Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier

Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces