Strike Zone

That alone made him worth watching.

Chief Master Sergeant Terrence ‘Ax’ Gibbs popped up from a desk near the side of the room as Stoner entered.

‘Stoner, right?’ asked the chief.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Jackie, go get Mr Stoner some coffee. He likes it on the weak side. Grab some sticky buns too. The cinnamon ones.’ The chief master sergeant turned to him and grinned. ‘It’s okay, Mr Stoner, one or two buns isn’t going to hurt your girlish figure.’

Stoner had never met him, much less told him what he liked to eat or drink, but somehow the chief had nailed it.

‘Thanks, Chief Gibbs,’ he said.

‘We take care of people here. Zen’s inside already, along with the colonel. You call me Ax,’ added the chief. ‘You need something around here, you get ahold of me. You got that?’

Ax reached back to his desk and hit an intercom buzzer, then stepped up to the door.

‘We all know what you did to save Captain Stockard,’ said Ax. ‘We appreciate it.’

‘She saved me as much as I saved her,’ said Stoner.

The chief smiled and pointed at him, then opened the door.

Dog nodded as the CIA officer entered his office, listening to Zen as he continued laying out the game plan – two Megafortresses, one to act as agent provocateur and the other hanging back to gather information. When the clone showed itself, Flighthawks from the second EB-52 would come forward. Operating at the far end of their range, they would gather information on the clone without its being able to detect them.

‘We could even turn them loose,’ said Zen. ‘We could program them to home in on their own, gather whatever information they can get, then return.’

‘No – too risky,’ said Dog. ‘I don’t want to chance losing one. But otherwise, this makes sense.’

‘We need a remote base,’ said Stoner. ‘I’d recommend the FOA in the Philippines we used last month.’

‘It’s a good distance from the area you two have mapped out,’ said Dog.

‘We’re not quite sure where exactly the clone is flying from,’ said Stoner. ‘If it’s China, this is far. But if it’s Thailand, say, or even off a ship –’

‘The Philippines also limits our exposure,’ said Zen. ‘We’ve been there already. And in terms of the operating radius, it’s the same.’

‘Still a stretch,’ said Dog.

‘Better than locating in a country that has the clone,’ said Stoner.

‘As unlikely as that may be,’ said Zen.

‘Start working on a detailed deployment plan,’ said Dog, ignoring the bite in Zen’s voice. ‘I’ll talk to Jed and get the wheels in motion. It may take a while to get approval.’

‘This may not work,’ said Stoner.

‘Don’t be a pessimist,’ said Zen. He wheeled himself backward and spun toward the door at the right side of Dog’s office, which had been widened so his wheelchair could easily fit through.

‘I’m just being realistic,’ said Stoner, standing.

He went to open the door for Zen, but the major had already gotten it himself.

‘Play nice, boys,’ said Dog as they disappeared.

Dreamland Visiting VIP Office Two 1350

‘Name.’

‘Minnie Mouse.’

The technician handling the lie detector suppressed a grin.

‘Name,’ repeated Colonel Cortend.

‘Jennifer Gleason.’

‘Age?’

‘What’s yours?’

‘Age?’

‘Twenty-five.’

‘Um –’ said the technician, raising his finger.

‘I’ll be twenty-five next month.’

‘The needle was okay, but I saw the, I mean I knew the answer was wrong,’ said the technician.

Cortend folded her arms. ‘Continue.’

‘This needn’t be an adversary procedure,’ said Danny, standing near Cortend.

‘Thank you for your advice, Captain. Miss Gleason –’

‘Ms. Gleason.’

‘Miss Gleason, how long have you been at Dreamland?’

‘You could at least call her by her proper name,’ hissed Rubeo. ‘She’s a doctor. Her Ph.D. was a brilliant piece of work. Classified need-to-know, I might add.’

Rubeo had passed his own lie detector test earlier, which obviously had put Cortend in a bad mood. The colonel ignored him.

‘Miss Gleason,’ insisted Cortend, ‘how long have you been at Dreamland?’

Jennifer realized that Cortend was trying to rattle her. She also knew the best thing to do was simply answer the questions and get on with her life. But something inside wouldn’t let her do that. She was just so put out, so angry with it all, that she had to fight back somehow.