“Maybe if we had a base nearer the mountains, sir,” said Tom Jabiel, seated across from Henry and Sarah.
Grimes shook his head. “Not even then,” he said. “Too high.”
Four of the SEALs stood up and looked at their commander. One of them, a black man whose name badge said “Stanley O’Doule”, towered over the others.
He leaned across and whispered something to Grimes.
Grimes shook his head and said, “I doubt it, but you can try. Later.”
He watched his men leave the room, then turned to the captain. “O’Doule is convinced that an oxygenated fuel would be our answer,” he said.
There was a moment of silence.
Breaking it, Henry asked Grimes if he could get a closer look at the helicopters they were talking about.
“They are really neat-looking ‘birds’,” he said, trying to sound hip.
“Need to know, Henry,” said Grimes. “Need to know.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Henry.
“That’s military jargon, Henry,” said Sarah. “It means no.”
Six
Captain Halsey seemed very interested in anything Henry had to say. Much of the conversation was about Henry’s experience in Antarctica, covering subjects ranging from penguins to aurora. Inevitably, he found himself reliving his encounter with the faux-Norwegians. Eventually he excused himself and begged for a different subject.
“I know you’re curious about it, Captain, but I’ve been over this a hundred times at least, and it’s real y painful for me.”
“Getting shot can be like that,” observed Grimes.
Henry smiled slightly, then his face fell again. “It’s not that, so much. I just miss Sadie, my lead dog. Every time I think of them shooting her… I mean, what was the point?”
The captain seemed sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Henry.
I’m a dog lover too.”
Grimes was looking away in obvious disdain.
Henry noticed. “I guess the commander is a cat person. Right, Kai?”
“Just a lover,” said Grimes, giving Sarah a lascivious look. But he didn’t succeed in rattling her this time. It was obvious that he liked to get a rise out of people.
Henry couldn’t help laughing. He was beginning to understand the way Grimes thought, and to appreciate the man. If anyone was well geared to deal with mercenaries and terrorists it would have to be Kai Grimes.
The captain mentioned how much he missed his family in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. “I guess I miss Billy, my collie, as much as the rest of my family.”
Grimes stifled a snicker.
“Have there been any developments back in the world?” asked Henry. “I feel really cut off here — not to mention bored to death.”
“Actual y, the Pentagon seems to be narrowing their search to Chile. Seems the commander’s hunch was a good one.”
“But we still don’t know shit,” said Grimes. “And nobody seems sure what our next move should be.”
“I’ll bet you have some thoughts on that, Commander,” suggested Sarah.
Grimes shifted uneasily in his folding chair. “Not real y,” he said. “The next move is up to Suarez.”
“So you’re convinced he’s the perp?” asked Henry.
“Pretty much, but it’s just my hunch. We don’t have any hard evidence I can point to.”
The table grew quiet as everyone devoted their attention to their food, thinking things over.
Finally the captain looked at Henry and Sarah in turn.
“You know, there’s no reason you two have to stay cooped up on this ship. If you’d like to see something of the country, I could arrange for you to go to Santiago.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up. “You could?”
“What about customs and all that?” asked Henry.
“Are you sure it would be okay?”
The captain nodded. “No difficulty. It’s been explained to the Chilean Government why we’re here, and they’re being very receptive. As a matter of fact, I have an appointment with President Frei in the parliament building there tomorrow. I could arrange for a limousine and driver to take you to Santiago. We’d even put you up in a hotel.”
“Thank you, Captain,” said Henry. “We’d love to go.
Can I bring my dog?”
This time Grimes failed to stifle his snicker.
The captain squinted. “I guess so. Sure. Why not?”
Henry felt a little seasick by the time the launch reached the Navy Yard in Valparaiso. A large group of Chilean brass was gathered at the dock waiting for their arrival.
There was a lot of saluting and posturing, which concluded in their being escorted towards two black limousines surrounded by armed guards.
The door of one limo opened and a portly gentleman in a tan suit stepped out. “Welcome, Captain, to our city,” he called with a wave.
“President Frei,” said Halsey, “Admiral Schumacher insisted I give you his sincere apologies. He has to stay behind on the Enterprise trying to deal with our… problem.”
The President smiled broadly. “It is no problem, Captain. I am most honoured to make your acquaintance.”
The captain spoke for a while with Frei while the military moved around them, watching for enemies. Henry had the impression of soldier ants scouting around a disturbed nest.
Their activity made Sarah very nervous. “I hope they don’t shoot us before we get on our way,” she whispered.
Shep pulled at his leash, intrigued by the smells around him. Henry had to struggle to keep him at his side. “Sheesh,” he said softly, “get a grip, you two.”
The captain begged off the tour for himself, but suggested Sarah and Henry take full advantage of the offer.
Henry was sweating. He wiped his brow and told Sarah that the place reminded him of Southern California.
“It sure looks like it,” she agreed. “But it’s not that warm. Must be only in the high seventies.”
“Maybe. But Shep and I are used to it a little cooler than that,” he said. “I hope the limo is air-conditioned.”
Not long after that they were driving off the coarse gravel of the dock onto the highway paralleling the harbour. The President’s limousine went off in the opposite direction, and the motorcade of motorcycles and military cars went with it. Sarah, Henry and Shep were the only passengers in their limo.
“Finally we’re out of that brass-and-buckle bul shit,” said Henry with a sigh.
The limousine was exceptional y warm and Shep began to pant. Henry leaned forward to rol down the window but couldn’t find the mechanism.
He rapped on the glass separating the driver from the passenger’s section.
A voice came over an intercom. “Si, Sir Henry. I am your driver, Enrique. You haff a question?”
Henry saw the driver looking at him in the rearview mirror. He smiled. “He’s a sled dog — not used to the heat. Could you turn on the air conditioning?”
Without hesitation the driver reached for the dash and a rush of cool air flooded the limo.
“It is a frio… cooler day, Sir Henry. Most days go much hotter.”
“Thanks, Enrique,” said Henry. “How do you know my name?”
“Oh, Sir Henry,” said the driver with a laugh, “you are a friend of the captain from the Enterprise, yes? A good friend of the Presidente. I haff received order to escort you to Santiago and make damn sure you are happy and protected.”
“ ‘Protected’?” asked Sarah.
“Si,” said Enrique, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a large chrome-plated pistol. “Someone hurting you will be killed. I am most fully trained with security forces.”
“That’s most reassuring, Enrique,” said Henry, “but I think you can relax. We’re just here to sightsee.”