"The invasion force was well organized and armed to the teeth," Nimec said. "It had land and air elements that performed with exceptional tactical coordination and were equipped with a French integrated weapon/helmet-mounted targeting package that gave them the equivalent of our country's Land Warrior system--ordnance that's technically still in field trials. The airborne teams that we think took out the robots made their insertion using high-altitude-high-opening para techniques. Again, we're looking at skills, experience, and equipment generally associated with elite commando units. They made the terrorists who hit us in Russia a couple years back look like toy soldiers."

"I assume none of the men we captured gave up information about who sent them?"

"There hardly would have been a chance if they'd wanted to," Megan said. "Brazilian federal police scooped them out of our hands within an hour after we notified them of the strike."

"Which is pretty much what I expected. Have we made official inquiries of the gendarmes since then?"

"Several, but they haven't exactly been eager to respond. Nobody we've contacted even seems sure where the prisoners are being detained."

"And I'd be willing to bet they're never seen or heard from again." Nimec rubbed his thumb over his fingers. "Whoever could launch an operation of the kind we saw the other night has got to have plenty of grease. The hinky bastards that pass for lawmen down there would be just the ones to soak it up. Mark my words, Gord, we'll get zero disclosure from them."

"We have our own intelligence resources. The ground units would have needed to stage from positions somewhere relatively close to the plant."

"The key word being 'relatively,' " Nimec said. "There are hundreds of miles of wilderness in the Mato Grasso. Territory where you could hide a fair-sized encampment if you have the know-how. As those people clearly would."

Gordian rubbed the back of his neck.

"They've got concealment and cover, we've got the Hawkeye," he said. "Let's put our new bird through its paces and see who wins the Kewpie."

"What I was just about to suggest," Nimec said. "I'll order the satellite jogged into position soon as I get to Brazil."

Gordian shook his head. "You can do that from a ground station right here in the states, Pete."

"Sure, but my point is that with Rollie's situation uncertain, we need somebody in charge down there--"

"I agree," Gordian said. "However, right now I'd prefer to have you in Florida as our liaison and advisor to the Orion investigation."

Nimec looked at him. "I thought you'd wrangled it so that Annie Caulfield was chosen to head the probe."

"I did. And I have complete confidence in her leadership."

"Yet you still want me to keep an eye on things?"