Piranha

“And she’s involved in that?”

“I doubt it, but we won’t know till we look in her village.”

Da

Which, in a way, he was.

“The gear’s pretty sophisticated,” said the CIA officer. “They wouldn’t be able to hide it.”

“Those atolls,” said Da

“Probably.”

“All right,” Da

Stoner shrugged. Da

Dog figured he could sneak fifteen minutes away with Je

Now, if he were really taking advantage of the situation, he would ask someone else to fill in for him as pilot, which he wasn’t.

“Miss Gleason, if I could have a word,” he said as the others began filing out of the trailer.

“Miss Gleason?” she said, her face red.

“Um, Ms. Sorry.”

“Miss Gleason”

“Uh-oh, Colonel, you stepped in it,” said Zen.

“Hmmmph,” said Brea

“I had an idea about adding something to the com section of the computer,” said Dog. “A language translator. As part of the regular communication area. “We had—”

“Which communication area?” she snapped. “In the flight-control computer, or the master unit? Tactical or the mission-spree areas?”

She wasn’t angry with him, he told himself, she was just busting his chops.

She was, wasn’t she?

“Well here’s the situation,” the colonel told her, starting to explain how they had tried to talk to the Chinese yesterday.

“Important officers in the Chinese military all speak English,” she insisted, absentmindedly taking a stray strand of hair and pulling over her ear.

“They may speak it, but in the heat of the battle, they don’t understand it too well.”

“You can have language experts on call at Dreamland.”

Damn, she was being difficult. “In the heat of the moment, it would be easier if you could press a button and what you said was translated and broadcast,” said Dog. “It would prevent misunderstanding, and there’d be no time delay.”

“Mmmm,” she said.

“Can you insert some sort of translator into the communications sections?”

“I’d have to think about it.”

Busting his chops, definitely. He could see the start of a grin on her face, a slight hint.

Man, he just wanted to jump in bed with her.

“We should be ready to preflight in ten minutes,” said Rosen from near the doorway.

“I may be delayed,” the colonel said. “I have to check back with Dream Command.”

“You can do that from the flight deck, Daddy,” said Brea

“Colonel Bastian, I need a word,” said Da

“Well, I was just leaving,” said Je

Dog managed to sit down in the chair without stopping her.

“Have a good sleep?” asked Da

“Yes, Captain, I did,” said Colonel Bastian. “Go ahead.”

“The girl we picked up, from the village.”

“We still have her?”

Dog listened as Da

“I should have told you she tried to shoot me,” said Da

“Why didn’t you?”

“I—it’s a little hard to explain.”

“You better try, Captain.”

“Yes, sir. This isn’t an excuse.” Da

As Dog listened, he noticed Da

Dog rubbed his forehead, unsure exactly what to say, much less to do. conceivably, his captain could be charged with dereliction of duty for not taking the situation seriously.

On the other hand, if this woman was just a housewife in the village—hell.