“But you’ll be able to do it. Stop whining. Her parents will be flattered you called and grateful that you were able to get her away from the monsters. You’ll know exactly what to say, you always do. You’re the golden boy.”

“Was that bitterness?”

“No, just the truth,” she said wearily. “You have talent and people skills. Use both of them to help Jeanne. That’s what Sasha would want you to do. When we get her back, I want to be able to give her good news.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“And I’m sure it will be a superb best.” She was silent a moment and then added, “Much better than when you said you’d make certain Masenak wouldn’t be anywhere around to cause Sasha danger.”

“Now, that was bitter,” he said. “But I deserved it. The drone explosions on the infantry at the main camp were right on schedule. I had to stagger the delivery of the bomb I’d zeroed in to take out Masenak and the crew at the helicopter pad so that it wouldn’t interfere with the main strike. There couldn’t be any interference with the trajectory because the drones were spearheaded at such a low altitude. But I calculated that the shock and disorientation Masenak would feel after the first strike would still give me the time I needed to do it. Only it didn’t work out that way. That bomb at the pad landed only a little less than a minute behind those first drone strikes on the main camp, but evidently that was enough time for Masenak to recover and guess he might also be a target. That helicopter pad and every single person at the site was destroyed. Except Masenak. The bastard must have hit the ground running and bolted immediately.”

A little less than a minute, she thought. Such a short time in that instant of fire and screams and exploding bombs. Who would guess that Masenak would be able to realize what was happening and react that fast to save himself? “But he still wanted Sasha enough that he ran toward the main camp to get her.”

“And almost killed you,” he said harshly. “I can’t blame you for being bitter. But you’re no more bitter than I am. I’ll make this right, Alisa.”