Jordan blinked, rubbing a hand over his eye. “What?”
Connor smiled. “We've still got to go fishing!”
“Now?” His face brightened. “We're going fishing now?”
“No, buddy. Not right now. But in a little while.”
“But ... I don't like it here. I'm scared.”
“It'll be okay,” Connor said, leaning forehead to forehead. “Daddy's got to talk to someone for a minute and then I'm coming back to you. And then we'll all go home.”
“Home?” Jordan's eyes brightened. “You mean a real home? Where it's not cold and I can play in the woods and where you can play with me?”
“Of course I'll play with you!” Connor smiled, eye to eye. “We'll play all the time! Because we're going to go back to Kentucky to live with your grandmother and she's got a farm.”
“A real farm?” Jordan smiled.
“Yeah, buddy, a real farm. With horses and cows and chickens and peacocks and everything! You can even ride a horse.”
“Yeah!” Jordan whispered. “That would be fun! And will you ride it with me?”
A brief, touching pause, and Connor nodded. “Yeah, boy. We'll ride together. And play together. And do everything together. Just like we're supposed to. How do you like that?”
“You promise?”
“Yeah, son. I promise.” Connor kissed his son on the forehead, placing him gently in Beth's lap before he kissed her also.
Her voice was a whisper. “Connor ... I've still got the disk.”
Connor knew instantly what she was planning. “How hard are they watching you?” he asked.
“Barley doesn't seem to care what I do,” she replied quietly. “He seems more disgusted with this whole situation than anything else. But Blake told those other two Rangers to keep a close eye on me.”
“What do you need?”
“I need time on a terminal. But I think I can break this encryption and then I can call for help.”
“Can Frank help?”
She shook her head. “No. Not really. Frank knows about GEO and this experiment of his, but I don't think that he has the communications expertise to break a satellite code. Not by the seat of his pants, anyway. Not like I can. Frank would probably need the help of GEO and he doesn't even have access to it any more. But I can do it alone. I just need time.” She stressed, “I need access to a terminal, Connor. And I need it soon.”
“All right, Beth,” Connor replied quietly. “I'll see what I can do.” He stood and took two steps before she spoke again; spoke in a voice so soft that it wounded him.
“Connor ...”
He turned back, frowning.
“I know you're a fighter,” she whispered. “But please be careful in this. You know what I mean.”
A pause, and Connor nodded. Then he turned and walked to Barley, becoming angrier and more determined with each step to come up hard. He saw the big lieutenant scanning the cavern. His eyes were mean, narrow and concentrated.
“All right, Barley. I'm through messing around. Where's Blake?”
“He's at the Command Complex,” Barley responded, as if his mind were occupied. “I'm going to have one of the guards escort you down there so you can go head to head with him. But be careful, Connor. Blake is an idiot. He doesn't have a clue. I've seen his kind before. He's a bootlicker and a yes-head but he ain't got the guts to do the job. Or the brains.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“I don't know, Connor. I don't know what I can do. This whole thing is just a fiasco. It's dishonorable, man.” The big man shook his head. “I can't believe that I'm being forced to hold a woman and child hostage for some crazy colonel.”
“Well I know what you can do, Barley.”
Barley focused on him.
“Find a room where Jordan can sleep,” Connor said. “A place where Beth can be alone.” He paused. “Find a room that's got a working computer terminal and maybe, just maybe, if you want any of us to survive, you can make sure that she's left absolutely alone.”
Barley stared, somehow knowing. “You think she can do it?”
Connor nodded sharply.
There was nothing evident in Barley's face for a long moment. Then his chiseled features softened, with a nod, and Connor knew it would be done. He whispered, closing, “We have to get off this island, Barley. Because if that thing gets out of the Containment Cavern we're all gonna die. You know it. I know it. And Chesterton knows it.”
“Yeah,” Barley whispered, his finger curling round the trigger of his rifle. “Tell me about it.”
Connor entered the Command Center's War Room to find Chesterton in a violent screaming match with a pudgy Army official that Connor identified instinctively: Blake.