Executive Intent

Whack sent: GIA.

Patrick replied: NO WORD.

Damn, Whack thought, it’s gotta be tough on the old guy. He wrote: GIA OK.

Patrick: CUSTOMS.

Whack: CURIOUS.

Patrick: GEAR.

Whack: ALL HERE.

Patrick: ASSEMBLED.

Whack: VISITORS.

Patrick: COPS.

Whack: MAIDS.

Patrick: LUCK.

Whack: GIA OK, then LATER.

Check-in done, he prowled around the house and the grounds. He found plenty of Irish whiskey, Scotch, bourbon, and tequila semihidden in the kitchen, got out a bottle, dumped a little in the sink to make the bottle look used, poured himself a half glass of water, and strolled outside-just in case he was being observed, it hopefully would look like he had fixed himself a drink and was settling in for the night. He then went back to his laptop and reviewed the information on the robotic fish-trap thingy he was supposed to demonstrate in a couple days.

About an hour before sunset, the motion sensor alerted him to a vehicle in the driveway, and a few minutes later Salam al-Jufri’s family arrived in a dilapidated Toyota pickup. Whack thought they acted as if he’d given Salam a yacht instead of a twenty-dollar tip-they bowed profusely every time they made eye contact, they brought enough food to feed a family of six, and they lit enough lanterns around the place to land a Boeing 747. The mother handed Whack a message written in broken English saying that they’d be back around seven A.M. for their morning chores, and reminded him to keep the big lantern near the front door lit so they would know not to disturb him in his bedroom as they worked. After they departed, Whack took the time to look around the compound for signs that any of the family had stayed behind. Satisfied he was alone, he got to work.

It took him just minutes to assemble the Tin Man armor exoskeleton from the parts in the big duffel bag, then hide it in the bathroom. He waited another hour until well after sunset, do

Now using the suit’s built-in secure communications system, he radioed: “Whack here.”

“Good to hear your voice,” Patrick McLanahan responded.

“Same here, General. Anything on Gia?”

“Navy helicopters have been on station for about two hours. They found wreckage but no survivors. No beacons. A destroyer from the Reagan carrier group will be there in a couple hours to assist.”

“She’s okay, General. They’ll find her.”

“Head back in the game, Whack. You copy the message about the guards?”

“I’ll be ready for twice that number.”

“You think customs suspects something?”

“The inspector didn’t look like your run-of-the-mill Jamaican glorified skycap-turned-customs-agent, General,” Whack said.

“He made me as military right away. I’d be surprised if he didn’t drop a dime.”

“Then maybe we’d better wait another night or two,” Patrick suggested.

“They won’t be expecting a Tin Man, General,” Whack said. “I assume the Russians are watching the house, and I assume they’ll be watching to see if I take off in the Range Rover-I’m a good six miles from the airport and to town at least. My tails will stay with the car, and I’ll be out and back in no time while they twiddle their thumbs. I say we press on.”

Patrick hesitated, but only for a moment, before replying, “Okay, Whack. Press on.”

WENCHANG SPACEPORT, HAINAN ISLAND, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

THAT SAME TIME

Riding an immense column of fire, the Chinese Long March-5 booster rocket lifted off from its launchpad on Hainan Island into the chilly, clear early morning sky. The massive rocket, China ’s heaviest-lifting model, had a three-stage, fifteen-foot-diameter core, with four ten-foot-diameter strap-on boosters, for a total of almost a million tons of thrust.

The launch window was very narrow for one reason: The payload for this mission was Shenzhou-10, the next component of the Chinese military space station, which was to link up with Shenzhou-7, already in orbit. Like the earlier spacecraft, Shenzhou-10 comprised three modules: the orbiter section, where most work was done; the command module, which was designed for reentry and had accommodations for the three-man crew; and the service module, which had all of the systems and equipment to support the spacecraft and also provided storage space. The payload also contained a docking module.

The launch was a complete success, and Shenzhou-10 entered its orbit in perfect synchronization with SZ-7. It would take just two orbits to close the distance between them, and then docking would commence. That would double the size and perso

…which happened to be in precisely the same orbit as Armstrong Space Station.

TEN

The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they ca

– ARNOLD PALMER

SOCOTRA ISLAND, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN

A SHORT TIME LATER

Whack waited until two A.M. before venturing outside via the back patio and roof of the house. He made careful scans of the area with the Tin Man suit’s millimeter-wave radar, infrared sensor, and sound amplifiers. Sure enough, there was a car parked about thirty yards east of the driveway, tucked behind a tree, with a view of the Range Rover parked at the base of the lighthouse.

“One tail on the main highway,” he radioed to Patrick McLanahan via his secure satellite transceiver built into the Tin Man armor.

“How many observers?” Patrick asked.

Through his telescopic low-light sensor he could see a lone white-ski

“Roger.”

Whack dropped off the house, then down the embankment to the shore. He ran until he saw lights from a fishing boat, then climbed back up the rocky ledge and sca

“It’s getting more rugged farther west,” he radioed. Northeast of the town of Qadub, he found himself ru

“You got the second set of batteries?” Patrick asked.

“Yes, but I might have to risk returning via the coastline and avoid this terrain on the way back if I’m burning watts like this.”

“We might need a third set of batteries?”

“I thought of that, but I also thought it might arouse suspicion-that’s an awful lot of weights for a beefy saltwater diver. I’ll be more careful.”

From his premission target study, he knew he had to cross the highway east of Qadub, because the plateau dropped quickly south and east of town. Locals in Qadub seemed to be having some sort of festival or mass gathering. The town was actually split into three neighborhoods, divided by the highway and by the dirt road leading from the main part of town to the sea: the fishing village near the ocean, the town itself south of the highway, and a cluster of farms and orchards to the west. South of town was impassable-the town sat at the base of two sheer plateaus. The only way around was a narrow strip of sand north of the highway and south of the fishing community.