"Major Lee, I confess to being surprised."

Lee tensed. "About--?"

"Do you know that in my five years sitting here, this is the first requisition I've had."

"But it's all in order."

"Perfectly. And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After what happened in town today, nobody wants to get caught with their jockeys around their ankles."

"Well spoken."

Major Carter read from the requisition. "There exists a state of high alert in the southwestern corner of the DMZ." He shook his head. "And I thought relationships were improving."

"That, apparently, is what the North wanted us to believe. But we have evidence that they're in the process of digging up the chemical drums they've kept buried there."

"Really? Damn. And these quarter-size drums are going to do the trick?"

"If used efficiently. You don't need to hammer the enemy with it."

"You're right about that." Major Carter rose. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I assume you've been trained to handle tabun. It's not particularly volatile in the drum--"

"But it's easy to disperse in vapor or spray form, has little smell, is highly toxic, and works quickly when absorbed through the skin and even faster when inhaled. Yes, Major Carter. I've got Grade One certification, Colonel Orlando's class, 1993."

"And you have one of these?" He patted his chest.

Lee undid a button under his tie. He reached beneath his undershirt and withdrew the key.

Carter nodded. Together, the men removed the chains from around their necks and walked to the vault. The keyholes were on opposite sides where one man couldn't possibly reach them both: when the keys were inserted and turned, the door retreated into the floor until a foot of the top remained: this impediment was designed like a speed bump, to keep soldiers from rushing off with the chemicals and having an accident.

Replacing the key around his neck, Major Carter returned to his desk to get an order fulfillment form while Major Lee supervised the careful loading of the two-foot-high orange drum onto a dolly. These dollies, specially designed to cradle different sized containers, hung on a rack on the back wall: if an enemy ever got through security and made it this far, they might not know that the dollies contained chips that sounded an alarm when they were taken more than two hundred yards from the HMV.

The drums were strapped to the dollies and taken outside, in turn, to the waiting truck. As each was loaded, an armed guard from HMV stood watch; she remained behind with the Korean driver each time Lee and his men returned to get another.

When they were finished, Lee went back in and signed the fulfillment order.

Carter gave Lee his copy. "You know to take this to General Norbom's office for his stamp. Otherwise, they won't let you out the gate with this."

"Yes. Thank you."

"I wish you luck," he said, offering Lee his hand. "We need men like you."

"And you," he replied flatly.