Nicole sat up, bringing a thumping welcome from Cricket, who was stretched out at her feet. The air had taken on a definite chill now, and for a moment she debated about snuggling back into the pleasant warmth of the bag. But she had seen the radio strapped on the packhorse and wanted to hear what was going on.

After a burst of static, Cliff Cameron’s voice answered, clearly recognizable even through the distortion of the speaker. “Eagle One, this is Home Base. We read you loud and clear. Over.”

Nicole moved with infinite slowness, every muscle in her legs and hips screaming in protest, as she put on her tennis shoes, then walked stiffly to sit down next to the fire. A twig snapped under her feet, and Eric’s head jerked around. He watched her for a moment, then turned back to the radio. “You’re coming in fine, Eagle One. How’s everything going? How’s Nicole holding up?”

Eric half turned again. “She’s sitting right here. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Nicole?” Cliff called. “Is Eric treating you okay?”

Eric held up the mike in her direction.

“Hardly!” she muttered.

“I didn’t catch her answer.”

Eric watched her across the fire as he put the mike back to his mouth. “She said, ‘Superbly.’ How are things in Shalev?”

There was a deep chuckle. “Alert. I think that would be the best word.”

“Are you out of the city now?”

“Yes. We’re all clear.”

“Have you done the other operations yet?”

Nicole’s head jerked up. Operations?

“Yes, they’re all complete.”

“Any problems?”

“Not really. It’s too bad we couldn’t use Sodium Pentothal on you. Once we gave them a shot of that, just enough to put them in a state of relaxed euphoria, they didn’t have a moment’s problem.”

“Good. Who all have you done?”

“We did Dick Andreason and his wife and their two children first. He’s the radioman Chet told us about. In fact, these are his radios we’re using now. We cleaned out a bit of his equipment before he closed up his shop. Also, he’ll have walkie-talkies, set on an unused frequency, for each of us once we reach the dam.”

Nicole leaned forward to hear better. Dam? That could only be Hungry Horse Dam, a few miles northeast of Shalev. The only other dam in the area was Libby Dam, but that was almost ninety miles west of the city.

“Good,” Eric was saying. “Who else?”

“We also did Dick’s friend, a man by the name of Rod Loopes.”

Nicole leaped to her feet. “Rod Loopes!”

“Hold it, Cliff,” Eric said, turning to stare at her. “I think you just got Nicole’s attention.”