“Before we get under way, I want to tell you that in your quarters you will find a packet with your name on it. It will explain how we’ve taken care of your properties, your banking needs, and any special requests you might have made. You will also find cell phones. In order to make a call, the phone has to be activated by the communications room. You can, of course, call any of us here on the mountain. Any call you wish to make to somewhere off the mountain will be monitored with a five-second delay in case you try to…outsmart us. We bounce the calls off a satellite so they can’t be traced. Any questions?”

There were none. “When you leave this room, you’ll go directly to the company store, where you will be outfitted with suitable gear. At the moment, it’s summer gear. At the end of September it will be full winter gear. It gets cold up here in the winter, and we do get a lot of snow. No civilian attire is allowed after today. Tomorrow is a day off. You will find an itinerary with your packet. A full schedule. All times will be Zulu, but we’ll get to that later. It takes a little getting used to.” He looked around to see if there were any grumblings, and when his steely glance was met with silence, he continued.

“We are on no one’s radar screen. This operation is funded by a private consortium in the interests of justice and the American way. We do what other people can’t or won’t do because of rules and regulations. Do we break the law? Yes, sometimes we do so in the interests of justice. We pick up where the judicial system fails. Do we get caught? No, we do not. The reason we don’t get caught is because we train our people not to get caught. It’s that simple. Now, if you screw up and somehow manage to get caught, you’re on your own. I want you all to think about that. I also want you to think about this. You belong to a team. You have to look out for one another and protect your teammates, the way you protect yourself. You are only as good as your teammates. There is no room here for pettiness, egos, or pecking order. Each team will pick a leader, purely to streamline the communication process, and that’s the person I will deal with. There will be no sensitivity-training classes. I won’t humiliate any of you by starting one. We’re all equal here; it makes no difference if you’re a man or a woman. I’d like to see a show of hands on this one. Do you read me, ladies and gentlemen?”

Twenty-four hands shot in the air.

“Good.”