Chapters (72)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION
- CONTENTS
- PROLOGUE
- PART I
- CHAPTER 1
- CHAPTER 2
- CHAPTER 3
- CHAPTER 4
- CHAPTER 5
- CHAPTER 6
- CHAPTER 7
- PART II
- CHAPTER 8
- CHAPTER 9
- CHAPTER 10
- CHAPTER 11
- CHAPTER 12
- CHAPTER 13
- CHAPTER 14
- CHAPTER 15
- CHAPTER 16
- CHAPTER 17
- CHAPTER 18
- PART III
- CHAPTER 19
- CHAPTER 20
- CHAPTER 21
- CHAPTER 22
- CHAPTER 23
- CHAPTER 24
- CHAPTER 25
- CHAPTER 26
- CHAPTER 27
- CHAPTER 28
- CHAPTER 29
- CHAPTER 30
- CHAPTER 31
- PART IV
- CHAPTER 32
- CHAPTER 33
- CHAPTER 34
- CHAPTER 35
- CHAPTER 36
- CHAPTER 37
- CHAPTER 38
- CHAPTER 39
- CHAPTER 40
- CHAPTER 41
- PART V
- CHAPTER 42
- CHAPTER 43
- CHAPTER 44
- CHAPTER 45
- CHAPTER 46
- CHAPTER 47
- CHAPTER 48
- CHAPTER 49
- CHAPTER 50
- CHAPTER 51
- CHAPTER 52
- CHAPTER 53
- CHAPTER 54
- CHAPTER 55
- CHAPTER 56
- PART VI
- CHAPTER 57
- CHAPTER 58
- CHAPTER 59
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“RIFFRAFF, this is OVERWATCH. East-to-west surveillance run found the camp, which is shaped like an X. In the middle of the X, we spotted five Olive Garden–size buildings and what looks to be an Olympic-size pool, which is empty. I know the restaurant thing is an odd comparison, but that’s all I could think of. Olive Garden or Applebee’s.”
“We get the picture,” said Rich.
“Copy. The middle space with the buildings and pool is mostly open, in the shape of a square, with a few big trees in between the buildings. The structures look to be one story. The cabins are arranged in three rows along each branch, extending outward from the center square to form the X shape. You’re looking at four branches of cabins. Does that make sense?”
Three rows? How many cabins in each row? The camp sounded significantly larger than what would be necessary to host the seventy-three families his mother had uncovered. Even if the actual number was double.
“Yes. Keep sending,” said Rich.
“We spotted a few dozen human heat signatures in the center, at least half of them gathered around two firepits. S’mores with Stalin. We also have a few people walking around the southwest branch of the X. I suspect that’s the active housing branch, because we got no hits in the other three branches of cabins.”
“How many cabins per row in each branch?” asked Rich, clearly on the same page as Devin.
“It’s really hard to tell. The tree canopy is thick, and they built the cabins right among the trees. Before we make a few more passes, I’d estimate twenty. Minimum.”
Marnie elbowed him again before whispering, “That’s way more than your mother found.”
He nodded. “Two hundred and forty at the low end. More than three times the number, if my math is right.”
The threat was far more extensive and potentially damaging than they had originally thought. The stakes for this mission had just been raised.
“Did I hear you correctly? Twenty?” asked Rich.
“Minimum. It might be bigger. I’m sending you waypoint coordinates for the tip of the northeast branch of the X. Looks like your best bet will be to start there and determine how you want to approach the center. The active housing area is on the opposite side of the X, so you should be able to get fairly close to the larger structures without running the risk of detection. We’ll send updates with every surveillance pass.”
“What is your blind time?” asked Rich.
“Six minutes once we pass the camp. Two for the climb and boogie at max speed. Four on the glide back down. I could climb higher and spiral around the camp, but it’s a nightmare to use the camera manually that way. It would be hard to provide real-time data if you got jammed up down there. It’s your call.”