Solstice

She was looking at her watch. An annoying habit, one she hoped to lose. 'We need to keep this short, Michael.'

'I know. All I wanted to say was… be real careful out there. Charley just loves surprises.'

"Thanks for your advice.'

He winced. 'Oh right. There goes the ageing hippie academic telling Miss CIA what to do. Sorry.'

'No. I appreciate it. I apologize if it sounded like I didn't.'

'Right. I'm going back to my algorithms now. We'll talk on the other side of this thing.'

The screen went dead, and as it did the note of the helicopter's engine changed, dwindled down several tones.

'Some guy, huh?' Barnside grunted. 'What the hell was all that about?'

'He's just nervous, wanting to do something. Touching, in a way.'

'I guess so. But he's got an idea about something. He's soft on you too. You get that?'

She shook her head and groaned. 'You know, sometimes, Barnside, you start to remind me of the bad uncle I never had. The one who always embarrasses you at birthday parties.'

He roared out a laugh. 'Hey. I like that!' And even she couldn't stifle a stupid grin. Then the aircraft lurched. She held on to the passenger rail to steady herself and looked at Larry Wolfit. He was really close to throwing up.

Green pointed out the window. 'We're going in. You can see the first four ships on the ground already.'

'So,' Barnside said, 'I just go ahead of you people and follow the route marked on the chart?'

'Yeah, sir. There's a bluff right beneath the dome. You can wait there until they give you the all-clear to go into the farm. You ought to get a good view of the fireworks, provided they're not over by then. And we just work our way behind you, a little more leisurely, I think. I don't want to bump into those guys in the middle of the night. You should remember that too.'

The helicopter was hovering now, descending slowly to the desert floor. It came to earth with a jolt. Green had been right. Outside it was pitch-black. From where they'd put the Sea Knight down, it was impossible to see even a single other aircraft, though the stench of Avgas that came through the door when the crewman threw it open suggested they couldn't be far away.

'Ride ends here, folks,' the crewman said jovially. 'We all booked you on return tickets, so you take care.'

Then they were out in the night air, and Helen felt her breath disappear inside her. In the desert it was cold, a dull, sluggish cold that could sap her energy. And there was a smell too: of dry vegetation, something distantly rank in the air.

Barnside walked off into the darkness. The rest of the S&T crew headed toward the dome, a single grunted 'Bye' as they disappeared into the night. Green switched on his flashlight, though they didn't need it yet; the downward-pointing landing lights of the helicopter saw to that.

'A half a mile?' Wolfit asked.

Green nodded. 'All nice and straight and level. There's some rock cover between us and the farmhouse we can use to screen us. That dictated the landing site.'

'How are you feeling, Larry?' Helen asked. He seemed happier to be out of the helicopter.

'I'll be okay,' he said with a weak grin. 'I just hate those damn things.'

'Join the club.' Green grinned.

'That call from Lieberman?' Wolfit asked.

'What about it?'

'You think he's on to something?'

'He's one smart guy. We won't need it, though.'

'No,' Wolfit sighed, and she wished he weren't so tense, so scared by what was ahead of them.

'What if the farm has lookouts or something?' Helen asked.

Green shook his head. 'We'd have picked them up with the aerial scan. I guess everyone's in the house. That's nice. How it should be.'

Wolfit coughed loudly. 'Maybe we should be moving.'

Green nodded. 'Sure.'

And they set off, the HRT man in the lead, flashlight casting a lone yellow beam into the night. He'd been right about their eyesight, she thought. Once they moved away from the dim presence of the helicopter, once there was nothing in the darkness except the puny beam of the flashlight, you really could see a little more. The desert made its living presence known to you. There was life there: the high-pitched rustling of insects, and farther off the long, low howl of something larger.

'You been in the Bureau long, Green?' Wolfit seemed eager to talk. Nervous, Helen guessed. She was happy just to listen and think about what lay ahead.

'Two years, sir.'

They were out of sight of the helicopter now. It must have been a good four hundred yards behind. Ahead, looming larger in front of them, was the rock ridge he'd talked about, a small hogback that now stood solid black against the grey, starlit backdrop of the night sky. The team must have crossed it by now, she thought. Soon there ought to be some sign of the attack.

'Guess this must be the biggest thing they ever gave you?' Wolfit asked gloomily.

Green laughed. 'Nice try, sir. You know I can't talk about operations or that kind of thing.'

'Sure.'

Wolfit walked a little faster, left Helen behind, caught up with Green, put an arm on his shoulder. 'But we can talk in generalizations, now, can't we? This must be the biggest thing. It's the biggest I ever got, what with the President, our new President, breathing down our necks, huh?'

'I guess so, quite something, really.'

She caught up and touched Wolfit lightly on the shoulder. 'It's okay, Larry. We're just here to run up a network. Nothing dangerous.'

'Sorry. Guess my mouth was running away with itself. And me the nature lover. I'm supposed to feel at home in this place.'

Then he jumped as if he'd stood on a rattlesnake. The first flash had exploded on the other side of the ridge, and even partly blocked as it was by the solid mass of stone, it seemed incredibly bright, a veil of phosphorescence that put spots of colour at the back of their eyes. And no sound. The silence was strange, unsettling.

'It begins,' Green said, and laughed. The sky became alive with the dancing lights of the flash grenades, and Helen stared at the ground, trying to keep them out of her head, fumbling in her pocket for the goggles.

Green stopped walking. 'I think we should stay here for a minute or two. Stay in the lee of the ridge, try not to look at the sky. You see what I mean about the brightness now? And we don't even get a direct view of those things. We just stay out of sight.'

'I see,' she said, and worked the goggles onto her head in any case. They made the night go black again. What little detail there was disappeared except for the flashes overhead, and that made you want to look at them even more. She snatched the things off after a few seconds.

Green watched her. 'Yeah. They don't suit me either.'

'Fucking technology,' Wolfit yelled, loud enough to make both of them jump. 'You believe the stuff they make us work with these days?'

'It's a little late to get into that conversation, Larry,' she said, puzzled. 'I think you could pick another occasion.' And the thought came out of nowhere: Larry was really nervous.

There was a huge ripple of light in the sky, and noise now too, maybe gunshots, maybe just the popping of more grenades. It was impossible to tell.

'They give you Bureau guys all that stuff,' Wolfit continued. She tried not to listen; he was starting to embarrass her. 'Take those new P54S the Army is giving out. I mean, they sound real interesting.' Green's silence was palpable.

'You going deaf or something?' Wolfit asked flatly. 'I know guns. Sometimes when I'm out in Yellowstone they call on us to go shoot some wolf that breaches the area, kills some stupid cow. You believe that?'

'Sir, you can't expect me to calk about operational issues.'

'Oh no. Oh no. It's called culling, Green. You know that term?'

'Larry…' Helen murmured. 'Calm down. This is going to be okay.'