“I don’t believe that’ll be necessary,” Susan said. “They are keeping themselves imprisoned on the ship—I see no reason to risk any lives just so we can take them off to another prison. Let’s go have a talk with them.”

“The Egyptians are being extraordinarily cooperative all of a sudden, Muck,” David Luger observed. He had just entered the Combat Information Center aboard the Egyptian frigate El Arish and joined Patrick and several other members of the Night Stalkers, looking over charts and satellite photographs of Libya. “The cordon around us has relaxed—they moved their patrol boats out another half- klick. Still within visual range and easily within helicopter and deck gun range, but it takes the pressure off. All their fire-control radars and jammers have shut down. They’ve also agreed to send more medical supplies and extra food and water for our prisoners.” He set a folder on the chart table. “More NIRTSat photos, hot off the press.”

“Good,” Patrick acknowledged. David looked at his friend and former commanding officer with great concern. Patrick looked bone-weary, with large dark circles under his eyes, his face drawn and haggard. He still wore the Tin Man battle armor—he had taken it off for only a few moments for an inspection several hours earlier before donning it again—and he kept it and the exoskeleton, standing near the bulkhead in quick reach, plugged in and fully charged. “Any word yet from anyone on Wendy?”

“No,” Luger replied. “I’ve put in several back-channel requests for support to the Intelligence Support Agency, Muck, but our status is only a little bit better than the Libyans themselves. They don’t go for freelancers, even if it’s experienced operators like us. They wouldn’t like us even if the White House and Pentagon were supportive— but Thom and Goff are out gunning for us too, which makes matters even worse. Too many heads will roll if they get caught helping us.”

Patrick looked discouraged, rubbing his eyes and lowering his head wearily. “Screw ’em,” he growled. “Between Dr. Masters’s photo recon birds and UCAVs and a few soft probes by us, we’ll find her.”

“If she’s still alive.”

“She’s alive, dammit.”

“I hear you loud and clear, Muck,” David Luger said pointedly. “But I want to make it clear to you, at the same time, that we have no hard information that she survived the attack. The Egyptians say they found bodies, including women—”

“They never made a complete search.”

“I know—the ship went down in Libyan waters, not Egyptian waters,” Luger corrected himself. “But it went down close enough to Egypt to examine wreckage that has drifted east. They have not found any survivors. If she somehow survived and the Libyans got her, they will keep her tightly under wraps until they’re done interrogating her, and then they’ll dispose of her.”