“These are good,” she said. She tried changing the subject. “How’s FDR?”
“We’re fighting the Depression,” said Zen. “You know what’s amazing?”
“The fact that you’re actually reading?”
“I read all the time before I met you,” said Zen.
“Sports Illustrated and Penthouse don’t count.”
“Penthouse Letters,” he told her. “Big difference.”
“I was wondering where you picked up your technique.”
“Roosevelt never really gave up trying to walk, not until he was in the White House,” said Zen, suddenly serious. “I think he really thought he would walk again. He kept telling people, next year. Next year. You know the thing he did with his legs, leaning on people? I bet he really thought he was walking. I bet he did.
“Geez, Bree, you got to chew those things.”
She stopped mid-bite—half a pancake slipped form her mouth.
Zen laughed and took a sip of coffee.
“Me, I’m a realist. I know I’m not going to walk again.”
“Except when you were in ANTARES.”
“Yeah. Well, the drugs did that,” he said. He looked into his coffee cup, then put it down and picked up a spoon, fishing out a fly. It was a minute or so before he began speaking again. “I understand what Frank was thinking.”
“Frank?”
“Hey, all that reading gets me an’ old Franklin on a first-name basis,” said Zen. “Except only his enemies called him Frank. I think.” Another bug dive-bombed into his coffee. “These flies must love this coffee.”
Jeff held it out, laughed—then tapped the spoon at her as if tossing the bug.
“Hey!”
He’d actually slipped the bug off the spoon, which he delighted in pointing out.
“You shoulda seen your face.”
“Ho, ho,” said Bree.
“Finish eating and let’s go recreate. I have to practice the Piranha controls in an hour.”
“Oh, you’re suave,” she said.
“Comes from reading Penthouse Letters.”
Philippines
1103
They ran is as a classic encirclement, using four squads of Marines as well as Danny’s people. Two groups were dropped east of the village, each led by one of Danny’s Whiplash troopers, while two other groups came down from the ridge. Using so many people decreased the likelihood they would achieve surprise, but Danny reasoned the available resources made it the way to go. It was a conservative choice, one that couldn’t be faulted. As he boarded the Quick Bird helo to supervise the mission from the air, he realized he’d probably chosen to do things this way to compensate for screwing up earlier.
Not screwing up. Just not acting aggressively.
Danny had his helmet plugged into the helicopter’s com circuit, which allowed him to talk on the radio channels and the interphone. He wasn’t just observing—both Quick Birds were packing rockets and chain-guns. A Megafortress and a pair of Flighthawks pilots by Captain Fentress were also supporting the mission. The two teams coming in from the coast were aboard Marine Super Stallions, helicopters the size of Pave Lows, but with an additional engine.
Stoner sat in the back of the helo. He had suggested bringing the girl with them, but Danny wasn’t convinced she’d be much of a guide. Besides, she’d inadvertently see a lot of their technology.
Another conservative choice. Late.
“Squad One is down,” said Powder, who had the northeastern approach.
“Two is down,” said Liu, heading the southeastern team. As always, the Marine helos had made their deliveries precisely on time.
As the remaining teams reached the stream, Danny checked in. fentress’s bird’s-eye view of the area showed the swamp and the area surrounding the village looked quiet. The village itself was almost completely hidden; Fentress would have to get much lower and use the IR sensors to give them a meaningful view.
“No boats,” said Stoner as they circled off the coast of the island.
“Yeah,” said Danny. He switched the feeds on his helmet visor back and forth in quick succession, checking for any sign of movement. A small zigzag of smoke made its way up from the trees, most likely a cooking fire. Danny would have his men check the ashes, make sure the locals weren’t burning documents.
“We’re ready,” said Powder, a good ten minutes ahead of schedule.
“Hold your position,” Danny told him.
“Got it, Cap.”
Danny clicked into the feed from Powder’s helmet. He could see two thatched roofs to the left of the team’s position. Something moved on the right—a kid maybe, or an animal. The range-finder said Powder’s squad was seventy-two yards away. Trees and low brush blocked the approach, but a clear path down to the ocean was just to the team’s left. Two Marines would grab anything that used the path as an escape route.
“Squad Two ready,” said Liu.
Danny ordered the two squads that had come from the ridge to move across the stream toward the swamp. Five minutes later, they were in position at the south edge of the wetlands.