There was an angry squeal, a sharp blue-white flash—and then all the lights went out. From the entryway, a sputter of curses rose in response.
Before the first monosyllabic profanity was complete, Caine had the knife in hand and was taking long leaping strides to close the distance.
Before the emergency lights snapped on, he saw the first intruder’s bioreadout panel glowing. On a hardsuit, that marked the location of the left clavicle. But my target is fifteen centimeters lower.
Caine leaped, knife point first.
The emergency lights flickered as the knife point hit, and bucked against, the body armor. But, glancing downward, it found and slid through the articulation point that separated the breast plates from the belly panels. The intruder—visor now up, and struggling with a pair of night-vision goggles—grunted and went down backward.
Caine, landing on top of him and already trying to locate the other assassin, realized that his knife hand was now coated in hot, rushing wetness. He pulled himself up, hoping he could get to the other attacker before—
But he never made it to his feet. The world—sounds and images both—seemed to be rushing away from him, pulled further and further down a darkening tunnel. The gas. I’ve got to . . .
He was sucked into the tunnel, felt it close around and behind him.
TELEMACHUS
Trevor noticed that the small hand shaking his was both very shapely and very strong. Uncle Richard was talking—as usual—but the words were a lot less interesting than the eyes staring up into his. Richard was saying something that sounded like: “Opal Patrone, I’d like you to meet Trevor Corcoran.”
“Pleased,” she said. “Wait—Corcoran? I’m sorry; are you the admiral’s son? I mean, the late—” She blushed: it looked good on her, he thought. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I didn’t know—”
“No, that’s fine,” he reassured her. “That’s okay.”
“Well, I just—I just want to say that I’m very sorry about your father. I only met him once, right before—” Her blush intensified.
Trevor sent some reassuring pressure through their handshake. “I appreciate your sympathy. Really.”
She smiled, nodded gratefully, glanced over at Downing—and when she did so, her expression became a whole lot less friendly. “Sorry I didn’t get here on time. I got busy. With work.”
“I see.” Downing stared at her gi. “Well, I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to get our security precautions put right, which means that you two had to meet. Opal is the only security asset who is not in your table of organization, Trevor.”
“Since you bring it up, Uncle Richard, who else is in my tee-oh-oh?”
“Just your three friends from the Teams and the two associates of mine that I mentioned earlier.”
“Yeah, ‘mentioned.’ Details, please?”
“One is on detached duty from the Special Forces. He’s an expert at working with indigenous groups. He had five combat commands leading two-stick A-teams on extended insurgency ops.”
“The other?”
“Secret Service. On leave. President Liu will express official regret over his resignation a month from now. Of course, she’s already approved it.”
“I see. IRIS seems poised to become the beneficiary of several ‘fortuitous retirements.’”
“So it would seem. Get them working together ASAP, Trevor: they’re all going to be needed at tomorrow’s memorial service—particularly given the incident with your sister.”
One of Opal’s eyebrows rose slightly. “And what incident is that?” she asked.
“Ms. Corcoran was—abducted—late last night.”
“And?”
Downing’s eyes flicked over at Trevor momentarily. “Commander Corcoran recovered her. Unharmed.”
Both of Opal’s eyebrows were now raised as she looked over at Trevor. She looked both impressed and mischievous as she asked, “Tough day at the office, Commander?”
Trevor smiled. “I command a desk, now. And I’m only a lieutenant commander.”
“No, you’re not.” Downing pushed a small black box across the table. Trevor frowned as he opened the box, glanced down—and kept staring.
Richard’s smile was somewhat pinched. “A field promotion, lad. You’ve earned it, and you might have to re-earn it many times over in the coming months.”
“But I wasn’t up for—”
Richard waved his hand in a circle to indicate the suite. “It may not look like it, Trevor, but this is the field. And this promotion is necessary.”