held incommunicado, I could do it. There’d be hell to pay eventually, but
until someone outside of my world heard of it, you’d be in jail. He stared
at her face and noted with grim satisfaction she was starting to
understand.
Tombstone directed his gaze to the copilot. “Do you agree with the
answers your pilot has given?” he demanded.
“Yes.” The copilot took less time to make up his mind.
Finally, Tombstone turned his gaze to Pamela. “And did you ask these
men to commit this deed, knowing full well that I expressly said I did not
want you on board this ship?”
“Me, in particular, or the news media in general?” Pamela snapped.
“Honestly, Stoney, this has gone on long enough.”
“My name,” Tombstone said quietly, “is Admiral Magruder. Please bear
that in mind from now on, Miss Drake. Do you desire to answer the
question, or is it your wish to remain silent?”
“Of course, I hired them to fly me out here,” she stormed. “You can’t
cut the news media off from an event like this. It’s not fair.”
“Fairness has little or nothing to do with conflict, Miss Drake.”
Tombstone studied her carefully, watched the color rise in her cheeks.
Pamela had never been particularly good at accepting no for an answer. Now
it appeared that her insatiable desire to get the story at any cost had
finally landed her in serious trouble. How serious, she would find out
shortly. “I’ve spoken with our JAG attorney on board, and he advises me
that you three have committed several serious felonies. As I said in the
beginning, the least of the penalties will be the loss of your pilot’s
license.” He smiled, a trace of bitterness at the corners of his mouth.
“Not that that matters to you, Miss Drake. Even if you’d thought about the
consequences to these two men before you decided on this course of action,
I doubt it would have stopped you.”
“Damn Stoney–all right, Admiral Magruder, if you wish–you can’t do
this,” she stormed. “I demand-”
“Gag her,” Tombstone said simply. He watched horror and shock chase
each other around Pamela’s face as two master-at-arms stepped up to her
side.
CHAPTER 10
Thursday, 29 December
1000 Local
Aflu
White Wolf pointed first to the north, then to the south, and eyed his
grandson. The young army veteran nodded. He, too, had seen both armed
patrols crisscrossing the island. Not very covert, given the fact that
they were invading another country. But then again, they had no way of
knowing any other ground forces were in the area.
The veteran made a motion as though hoisting something onto his
shoulder. White Wolf looked puzzled for a moment, then comprehension
dawned. He scanned the skies overhead and was relieved to note that there
were no aircraft there.
The younger man moved closer. “Stingers,” he said, automatically
turning the s’s into a th sound with the reflexive caution of a foot
soldier who knows how far sibilants carry in still air. “Very deadly
against helicopters, easy to use.”
White Wolf shrugged. If they’d been arriving airborne, he might have
been concerned. But the small assault force with him had come across the
ocean in craft built in keeping with their native traditions. Slow, but
silent and virtually undetectable by modern technology, the boats were
lightweight and easily transportable. They were already tucked in among
the spires on the eastern side of the island, invisible unless a patrol
happened to stumble right on top of them. And given the patrol patterns
he’d seen, that wasn’t likely. The two sets of guards remained on the flat
western side of the island.
“They are ready?” White Wolf asked, gesturing to the men behind him.
“Yes.” The veteran eyed him uncertainly. “As ready as we can be.
You understand, I’m not certain what weapons they have here. There is a
chance-”
White Wolf cut him off with a sharp gesture. “It is decided. We will
not second-guess ourselves.”
Morning Eagle sighed. Moving back away from the escarpment, he talked
briefly with the men following them. They were broken into two teams of
eight men each, and carried pistols and shotguns. Their strength, mused