The men went in quickly, Eric going first, rifle at the ready, the others following. For a moment they stood together in a tight clot inside the main lobby; then one of them (Travis couldn’t tell which) moved over and peered behind the desk.

“Where’s Hendry?” Travis asked.

“Who’s Hendry?” the Major demanded. “And how come they got in so easily?”

“Hendry is the desk sergeant tonight. I told him not to appear too alert and not to fight them coming in. But he’s not even at his desk. That could make them suspicious.”

“He was there when I went in,” Joe Jensen said.

Just then the lights inside the lobby went out, except for a dim light over the desk. Travis half turned. “Winters, tell Zebra Six they’re inside and should start moving down the hall any moment now. Tell them to stay alert. I don’t know what’s going on with that desk sergeant. Tell him to report to us the minute things are secure.”

“Yes, sir.” The young radio operator began barking out the order into the microphone.

For the next two minutes no sound from the radio broke the growing tension in the room, and Travis grew more and more impatient. Suddenly the Major swore. “What’s the delay, Travis? They should have them by now.”

Travis stared first out the window and then at the back of the radio operator’s head, willing him to make the radio speak. “I don’t know. Carlson has probably forgotten us in the excitement.” He strode to the radio and snatched up the mike.

“Zebra Six, this is Central Control. Come in, please.”

No answer.

“Lieutenant Carlson, this is Captain Oakes. What is your report? Have you made contact?”

Silence.

The Major leaped to his feet. “Something’s wrong! Why doesn’t he answer?”

“Lieutenant Carlson!” Travis shouted. “Anyone in Zebra Six! Come in, please! What’s going on over there?”

Suddenly the silence was shattered by the shrill, synchronized buzzing of their wrist computers. As the four men jerked up their hands and stared, the bright yellow letters flowed across the tiny screens.

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ALL CITIZENS OF SHALEV! STAND BY FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. PLEASE TURN YOUR TELEVISIONS TO CHANNEL FOUR. AN ANNOUNCEMENT CRITICAL TO ALL CITIZENS WILL BEGIN IN EXACTLY TWO MINUTES ON KSHV-TV, CHANNEL FOUR. And then it began again. ATTENTION! ATTENTION!…

The Major, his face purple, grabbed Travis’s shoulder and spun him around. “What’s the meaning of this?” he screamed in fury.

Travis was stunned. “They’ve gotten into the Monitoring Room. But that’s impossible!”

“Van Dam!” Jensen cried. “Mark Van Dam left camp the day before we did. I asked Eric about it, but all he said was that he had to go down and get some things ready for us.”

“He’s going to announce his victory to the people!” the Major shouted, almost incoherently. “We’ve got to stop them, Travis!”