Remo had to take a leak. He excused himself and left the boss to his console.
As he closed the door, he looked back to see Suarez slumped in his chair, looking almost sleepy. But his eyes were wide open, full of life, and fixed on the screen of his computer. Remo heard his boss laugh as the latch clicked.
The big living-room was full of dazzling light. Remo walked to a panel at the edge of the Lexan window, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. He reached for a dial at the edge of the window and the glass began to darken.
“Amazing stuff, that glass,” he muttered, appreciating the photo-electrical properties of the window.
In the distance a glint of light caught his eye.
“What the —?”
It was a truck — no, two trucks — cruising along the highway.
Soon he and Suarez were looking through binoculars at two government vehicles coming up the smooth dirt road that led to the front gates of the Hacienda. When they arrived at the gate, they stopped and two unarmed Chilean Government employees wearing hard hats got out. Suarez ordered the gates opened immediately, leaving the two men standing in front of their truck. This gave his security cameras a chance to study them closely.
His heart raced. “Let them come,” he ordered. “Let them come.”
“But what do they want?” asked Remo.
Suarez continued to examine the men through his field glasses as they got back into their trucks and drove up to the main building.
After a few moments he smiled and patted Remo on the back. “What have we to fear from the water department?” he said. “We got a notice a few days ago.”
Remo looked at him blankly. “We did?”
“Let them check the sewer and the water lines. As long as we have Chilean Government employees on the premises, our enemies will hold their fire.”
Reluctantly Remo signalled to one of his security men to allow the visitors inside the main building.
Over two miles away, the US forces watched the Hacienda. As expected, the diversion was in place. Taking his eyes away from a pair of telescope-sized field glasses mounted on a rock, Grimes nodded to Hayes. “Piece of cake.”
Henry stood a few feet away, looking perplexed.
“Let me get this straight,” he said. “You’re breaking into the place with a sanitation squad?”
“Best ones to ream their…”
“Thanks, Kai,” interrupted the general. “Well, Henry, the place is having its annual inspection. Good diversion, right?”
“Did you plan this?” asked Henry.
“Sort of. Some good old office work turned up a date with the Chilean Government’s annual sewer inspection. We just moved it up a bit. To be honest, I didn’t think the ruse had the remotest chance of success — I’ve had everyone prepared to shift straight to the backup plan. I still can hardly believe Suarez has been stupid enough to fall for it. Only a megalomaniac wouldn’t have put two and two together.”
“Time to move,” reminded Grimes.
Coming out of the sun, with surprise and a diversion for cover, gave them a good chance of infiltrating the Hacienda with relative speed and ease. In a way it was, for the SEALs, a fairly straightforward mission. But the gravity of what was at stake if they failed made it one of the most important military operations in history. To a man, the SEAL force was taut and bristling with conscious professionalism. No one wanted to drop the ball.
Henry and Shep stayed with Grimes and his men, who headed on foot towards the southern edge of the compound. Hayes and the backup force took up a position about a thousand yards from the Hacienda. Finally the SEAL force arrived at the white-painted steel fence surrounding the Hacienda. They fanned out and, using sensors, soon discovered an infrared security laser array that traced a line six inches above the fence, relayed by units buried inside decorative white columns every fifty feet or so along it.
The entire US force, from the SEALs to support troops farther afield, talked via line-of-sight laser com. Within fifteen minutes of their deployment around the Hacienda, an intricate laser net was established that led ultimately to the com of the Big E, two miles off Valparaiso, where Captain Halsey and Admiral Schumacher were monitoring the situation. From there, news was being relayed to the White House, and vice versa.
At the south gate of the Hacienda, Henry waited with Shep about twenty feet from the fence behind a patch of shrubbery. He was relieved to see there appeared to be no guards or patrols protecting the place. Clutching Shep’s leash, he sat with his knees pulled tight to his chest and his butt pressing into the stony earth, trying to be as small as possible while still keeping an eye on Grimes and his SEALs. Nearby, Grimes’s weapons expert Dan Hoy was loading a grenade rifle with silver- tipped canister shells.
“How are we gonna get inside that fence?” asked Henry.
“Quickly, I hope,” said Hoy.
Henry wasn’t amused. Tucked nervously behind the bush, he asked himself what the hell he was doing here.
“You know,” he said, “I never would have dreamed…”
“Me neither,” said Hoy. “I say that every day.” He laughed. “Well, I wanted adventure. I signed up for this shit. What’s your excuse?”
“That’s what I’m wondering.”
Shep had his head down, but his eyes were wide open, watching Henry and Hoy as they talked. His twitching eyebrows gave Shep an almost human appearance.
“I still don’t see why you brought that dog into all this,” said Hoy. “How’s he supposed to tell anyone when he spots Suarez?”
Henry nodded. “I know it sounds stupid. But he did tip me off to Suarez once already, back in Santiago. He’s actually better at spotting the bastard than I am.”
“I can believe it. He’s a beauty. Hope he doesn’t get hurt. I have a dog myself, back in Harrisburg.”
“A dog like Shep? A malamute?”
“She’s a Chihuahua named Ginger.”
Henry laughed, but Hoy didn’t.
“If you saw her take on a rat in a wood pile you’d not mock…”
“They’re bred to be ratters, right?”
Hoy stopped talking and put his finger to his lips. “Mission.”
A side door opened directly across from Henry’s position, and two government workers appeared. They pointed to the fence and began walking towards Henry and Hoy.
“What the fuck?” said Henry, crouching low.
Behind the government sewer workers followed two security men and a smartly dressed woman. She was saying something in Spanish.
Henry observed Suarez’s security men keenly, but didn’t recognize either of them. They seemed more interested in the ground near the fence than in the fence itself or the surrounding landscape.
The sewage men were arguing with Rudolfo’s people.
Hoy picked up a few words and smiled. “They’re quarrelling about the position of a sewer outlet,” he whispered.
There was a slight rustling in the high dry grass behind. Grimes and his SEALs were crouched there, like large cats ready to strike. Henry jumped in startlement. How the hell could they have got there without him knowing?
Grimes smiled and whispered into a lip microphone. “Looking good, General.”
The wind began to tug at the people on the Hacienda lawn. The woman folded her arms around her shoulders. Three more government workers, carrying tools, came out of the Hacienda and the two who’d first appeared went to greet them. This left Suarez’s people briefly cut off from the view of anyone watching from the house.
A light popping sound came from behind Henry. Immediately Suarez’s three people began slapping their necks as though they’d been stung by bees. Seconds later, they collapsed to the ground — tranquillizer darts, Henry assumed.
As the victims hit the ground, Grimes’s SEALs sprang towards the fence with amazing speed, removing a section of it next to one of the square stucco support columns, their movements concealed by a large agave that grew inside the compound.