Sighing in frustration, Silas walked to the lab and locked the door by throwing a dead bolt. Luxuriating in the air-conditioning for a moment, he limped to a computer console and continued the diagnostics on the new software. Building the dish was only the first step in controlling the Kite. They also needed precise calculations to focus the power station. Even the slightest mistake could result in nothing happening to the target, or his own sec men dying in droves.
The intercom buzzed.
“What?” Silas snapped, pressing a button. “I told you I was never to be interrupted in the lab!”
“Glorious news, sir!” A voice crackled through the speaker. “Ryan has been captured!”
A minute passed before Silas could speak. “What was that again?” he asked in disbelief.
“One of our patrols caught them in some ruins east of here. The major has them in the main courtyard. Do you wish to talk with the prisoners, or should we chill them, sir?”
“Do nothing!” Silas ordered, sliding a rainbow colored CD-ROM from the mainframe computer and tucking it into a shirt pocket. “No, summon more guards in case they try to escape. I will be there at once!”
Turning off the intercom, Silas hastily hobbled from the lab and headed down a hallway for the exit. Could it be true that after so long a time, he was finally going to chill Tanner? Maybe that would stop the nightmares. His heart beat faster with hope. Yes, it had to! Free, he would be free from that cursed man once and forever!
Rushing from the building, Silas found a dozen sec men around a LAV-25 that was parked in the courtyard. Sheffield stood nearby with an unreadable expression.
“What’s wrong?” Silas asked.
“Judge for yourself, sir,” the major replied, crossing his arms.
An iron cage was attached to the rear of the APC with heavy chains, and it had obviously been dragged behind the transport through mud and fields. Horribly jammed inside was a group of wounded men, arms and legs sticking out of the bars of the impossibly tight confines.
More chains had been attached to a cross made of wooden beams. A man was chained and tied to the beams, his arms outstretched. He was covered with dirt, sweat cutting paths through the caked road dust. Dressed in combat fatigues and military-style boots, he had long black hair, was tall, heavily muscled, and a terrible scar bisected his face. But the prisoner had two eyes, and his teeth were filed to sharp points.
A smoking cigar dangling from his mouth, a grinning sergeant stood nearby the prisoners, his AK-47 leveled and ready as if expecting trouble.
“Are you in charge of this patrol?” Silas asked in a deceptively calm voice.
“Yes, sir, Dr. Jamaisvous!” the sec man stated proudly. “Gave us quite a fight, but we brought Ryan in alive and kicking.”
“Dullard! Poltroon!” Silas raged, hobbling closer. “This isn’t Cawdor! Can’t you see he has two eyes!”
His smile fading quickly, the sergeant puffed nervously on the cigar. This wasn’t going as planned. “Well, we sort of figured he took the eye from a dead man and shoved it in as a disguise. But we found him with those five others—one’s a blonde, another a redhead and they had plenty of blasters.”
“And he admitted to being Cawdor?” Sheffield asked in a monotone.
The sergeant scratched his head and looked at the other sec men, watching from the hatches of the LAV. “Well, no. Not exactly, sir. But we figured out who they were pretty fast. Who else could they be?”
“Anybody, you ass!” Silas lowered his bushy eyebrows until they touched. “Mercies, coldhearts, ville sec men, anybody at all. Ryan travels with six other people, not five!” he reminded harshly. “Two of them women, not men. Can’t you tell the difference, or haven’t you read the posted description? As per standing orders!”
“I…” The sergeant swallowed hard, losing his cigar. “My apologies, sir. None of us can read.”
Conflicting emotions raged within Silas, and he glared at the sweating sec man for several minutes without talking. Finally, he spoke.
“You will have to do better next trip, Sergeant,” Silas said sternly, the threat of severe discipline clear in the tone.