Only one helicopter was left in the air and it was turning and heading for the desert that surrounded Talas. An armed force of vehicles and troop columns was waiting out there to attack the city after the choppers had softened it up, but the plan hadn’t worked. As the Angel watched, swarms of countless tiny insects caught up to the copter as it tried to right itself and flee. It barely got away from the city limits before the bugs caught up to it and enveloped it within the dark haze of its million little bodies. The chopper swerved, jerked, and then dove.

The ground forces beneath it tried to escape but it crashed hard and exploded into a ball of flames and metal shrapnel that cut through flesh like bullets. The troops broke, heading back to wherever they had come from.

The Angel let them go, chased by what was left of her airborne flotilla. She wanted to return to the heart of the city to claim the prize that had been offered her.

The message from Jayewardene had been terse: Earliest Bruckner release two days. Not earlier. Will keep working, but …

The trailing ellipsis said all that Barbara needed.

Barbara and Billy Ray, now joined by Michelle Pond, were back in the same conference room Barbara and Ray had been in earlier, but no one watched the flat screen, and Barbara let her wild card power wash out over the entire room, putting them in a safe bubble of understanding that anyone outside wouldn’t be able to understand. Billy Ray, in his immaculate white outfit, looked almost half bored as he leaned back. Michelle stared into empty space.

“I’ve heard from the Secretary-General,” Barbara said without preamble. “The earliest Bruckner can be released from prison is two days from now. We don’t have two days. We have eighteen hours at the most. We need Bruckner, which means we’re going to have to go and get him. Then convince him to drive to Talas.”

“I just fucking got out of there,” Michelle said. “What a bitch.”

“I know,” Barbara said, knowing she would be thinking the same thing if it were Klaus sitting there discussing their options. I don’t want you to go back there, she’d tell him. Please don’t go back. And Klaus would shake his head. She could nearly hear his voice. “I have to. I must…” he’d say.

The debate continued all around her. She closed her eyes, letting her power seep out, and they were all shrieking nonsense to each other. Slowly, the hubbub died down as they realized that they could understand nothing of what anyone was saying. When the room was silent, she let the power dissipate.