“The computer banks are on the lowest level, at the very back of the building. Just to be sure, what if we put a third squad of men in the equipment room, which is just two doors away from the Monitoring Room. If for some reason the other two teams let anyone past them, the third group would still be in their way. For that matter, we could attack too, from the outside, the minute he’s inside. We’ll cut him off from both directions.”

The Major slapped his hand down against the table. “Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I agree. How long will it take you to get ready?”

“Less than half an hour. Shirley said the target time was set for roughly two in the morning. That gives us plenty of time.” He picked up a pencil and rolled it back and forth in his palms. “We also pinpointed the location of the mountain camp from Shirley’s transmission. We’ll sweep in there at dawn and get the rest of them. We can end this thing once and for all.”

“It’s time, Travis,” the Major said grimly. Then he gave the younger man a long, appraising look. “And if something does go wrong, we always have our ace in the hole.”

Travis’s head shot up and then he finally nodded.

“If it becomes necessary, will you be willing to use it?” the Major asked.

“Nicole, you mean?”

The Major nodded, watching him closely. “Shirley confirmed that she will be with them. If it comes to that, can you watch Nicole suffer?”

Travis stared at the table for several moments; then he snapped the pencil in two and let the pieces bounce noisily off the polished surface. “Nicole who?” he said bitterly.

CHAPTER 34

So where is he?

Travis paced back and forth like a caged animal. His head turned each time he changed directions so he could watch out the huge glass windows of the Shalev City Library across the quad toward the dark shape of Central Control. Once again he glanced at his wrist computer. It was seven minutes after two.

The Major watched him check the time and stirred in his chair. “Well,” he asked, “where do you suppose he is?”

Travis shook his head, the tension and frustration pulling down at the corners of his mouth. Then suddenly the radio crackled behind him, and the young woman manning it jumped to turn up the volume. “Command Base, Command Base, this is Charlie Four. Someone is coming into the quad from around the president’s mansion.”

Travis leaped to the microphone. “Charlie Four, how many do you see?” Charlie Four was the four-man team Travis had hidden on the top floor of the building closest to Central Control.