She led them to one of the buildings used as a bunkhouse. Eve came with them but remained aloof and apart, not even bothering to look at either of them and clearly tuning HK out completely. They were put in a large, nicely appointed two-bedroom suite, with king beds, soaker tubs and showers, a small dinner table, a big couch, and a massive wide-screen TV.

“No cable out here,” she said, “but there are a few thousand DVDs in the rec hall. And if there’s something playing in the theaters you like, just ask and we can get a screener.”

“Cool,” said Bunny.

“Not that you’ll have much time for watching movies,” laughed HK. “We have a lot in store for you fellows.”

“Like what?”

“Drop your bags, and I’ll give you a quick taste before dinner. How’s that?”

“That,” said Bunny, “would rock.”

They went outside, found a golf cart, and HK drove the four of them to the far side of the compound—an area that proved much larger than they had first thought. There was a cluster of buildings that were actually linked to a larger central structure. Top noticed that Eve began to brighten and become more visibly focused as they entered the building. This, for whatever reason, was clearly important to her.

Once they went inside, Top and Bunny found out why.

Despite the rather mundane exterior and the rustic setting, the interior was at the bleeding edge of advanced technology. There were racks upon racks of combat exoskeletons, and unlike the stripped-down model Top glimpsed in Texas, these were complete, with structural armor to protect the drivers, belt-fed machine guns, rocket launchers, and other gadgetry that was so exotic Top didn’t know what it was.

“Pappy,” said a very excited Doc, “do a slow turn and let me see everything.”

There were dozens of the exosuits, each hung on a rack that approximated the dimensions of a person. And, Top saw, each rack was different, suggesting that these machines were designed to the specs of individual users. That was not good. Not at all.

Along another wall were racks of rifles and handguns, some of which were augmented with different kinds of high-end scopes, personalized trigger mechanisms, and variations on standard designs. On the opposite wall were racks of backpacks. Top recognized some as a new generation of flamethrower, but the others looked like they were built to deliver other payloads. Perhaps RPGs or other heavy explosives.

“Oh, lordy, lordy,” said Doc. “We are way up the brown smelly river, and not one of us has a paddle.”

No joke, thought Top.

This was not any kind of mercenary training camp. This was a base for staging an all-out war.

Staging, and maybe winning it.

Beside him, Eve was smiling like a little kid on Christmas morning.

CHAPTER 63

THE DARKNESS

I came back to myself.

Slowly.

As if from a far-off place.