Edge of Tomorrow (26 page)

“My leg was going to sleep. I thought I would
shake it out,” she explained.

“You might be more comfortable if we sat here
in the lounge for these drinks,” he said.

“I kind of liked it the way we were,” she
whispered.

He looked sideways at her, and she met his
gaze.

“So did I,” he said.

Gulf Stream V, 45,000 Feet

Friday, August 3, 2001

11:05 A.M.

Syd awakened when she heard Janet start
coffee in the galley. She checked her watch as she sat up and
looked toward the rear of the aircraft. Everyone was still asleep,
including one of the pilots. She waved at Janet, who waved back,
and grabbed her duffel and went to the restroom. She stripped off
her sweats and panties and used a wash cloth to clean up as best
she could. She brushed her teeth and put on clean panties and bra.
She applied her makeup, and dressed in black pants and a dark green
linen blouse. She brushed out her hair, grabbed her duffel bag, and
returned to the lounge.

“Hi, Janet. That coffee smells good!” she
whispered.

“Good morning! No need to whisper. It’s time
to wake up Hatch and Sara. We’re landing in about forty-five
minutes. Pour yourself some coffee. I’ll go roust ’em out,” she
smiled, heading for the rear of the cabin.

Syd poured herself a mug of steaming, black
coffee and sat down in the lounge. She watched as Janet roused Sara
and Hatch. They got up and headed for the restrooms. Syd saw that
the two prisoners were stirring, finally.

• • •

“That was delicious, Janet,” commented Syd as
Janet cleared the table. Janet had served a Continental breakfast
of sweet rolls, a choice of juices, and lots of hot coffee.

“Yes, it was,” agreed Hatch and Sara in
unison.

At that point, the pilot’s voice was heard on
the loud speaker.

“Buckle up, folks. I’m turning onto the final
approach.”

They all found a seat and buckled their seat
belts. The aircraft touched the runway like a gentle kiss.
Following instructions from the tower, the pilot taxied to the far
limits of the airport and shut down the engines in front of a large
hangar with its huge door open. An airport tractor hooked up to the
nose wheel and dragged the jet inside the hangar.

“Now, no prying eyes can see Uri take custody
of our guests,” explained Hatch to the others.

As the pilots exited from the cockpit door,
Janet opened the passenger door. A stocky, brown-haired man was
standing near the door. “Permission to come aboard?” he boomed.

“Granted, Uri! Come aboard,” answered Hatch.
The two men shook hands when Uri was aboard the aircraft.

“This is my right arm, Uri. Meet Sara Smith.
Uri Stein, Sara.”

Sara shook his hand. He had a strong
grip.

As Syd moved into the group, Hatch said, “I
think you know this young lady.”

Uri saw Syd and rushed to her, crushing her
in a bear hug.

“Anna, my dear! I’ve been so worried about
you! I don’t know why, though. You’ve always taken good care of
yourself! Your current predicament is all my fault! How are you?”
he babbled with emotion.

“I was fine until you crushed my ribs!”
she laughed. “How are you, Uri? I’ve
missed
you!”

“I don’t think so! You are just being polite!
I’m sure that you never wanted to see me again!” he chuckled
loudly.

Uri looked toward the rear of the aircraft
and saw the frightened prisoners. He stepped to the door of the
plane and motioned to someone on the ground.

“I’ll see that those two are properly taken
care of. Why don’t you all come and have some lunch with me while
they refuel your plane,” Uri stated. “Bring your travel documents
and I will have Customs take care of them for you.”

Two soldiers with sidearms came aboard and
went to the prisoners. Hatch followed them and unlocked the
handcuffs from the seats and handcuffed them again behind their
backs. He handed the key to one of the soldiers, who then took the
prisoners off the plane and disappeared out a door in the back of
the hangar.

Hatch and his harem joined Uri in a small
room at one side of the hangar where a light lunch of kosher cold
cuts and salads had been set out on a table. Syd fixed herself some
lox and cream cheese on a bagel, something she had acquired a taste
for during her stay in Israel. Besides, she was not very hungry,
since she had eaten only a half-hour earlier. When they were all
settled at a table nearby, Uri said, “I’m on duty, but I have a
cooler of cold beer here. Also, some soft drinks, if you prefer.
Help yourself. Now, let’s get down to business. I think it wise if
you leave as soon as your plane is refueled. Fewer questions that
way.”

He passed a folder across the table to
Hatch.

“These are copies of documents which came
from files marked TOP SECRET. So, I suppose I’m committing some
sort of security breach here. However, these bastards make no
secret of where they hole up, so all you have to do is watch the
news, but this will speed things up for you. To be safe, however,
destroy these after you have gleaned whatever information you are
seeking,” said Uri.

“I appreciate this more than I can say, Uri.
No one will ever know that we saw these,” answered Hatch, taking a
pull on his cold bottle of beer.

“I do this in the hopes that it helps Anna—or
I should say, Syd. I’m so used to calling her Anna. I can’t imagine
what good these documents will do you, however. Attacking their
stronghold will be very difficult, and politically sensitive,” said
Uri. “As wealthy as you are, Hatch, I don’t know that you can get
any mercenaries to attempt this—failure is highly probable.”

“Well, Uri, greed is a powerful thing.
We’ll see what we shall see. And
failure
is not in my vocabulary. Something has
to be done or they will continue to stalk Syd relentlessly. I will
not allow that. There must be something that I can do. I will study
these documents thoroughly,” Hatch answered.

“My heart goes out to you, Syd! I wish my
hands were not tied, but they are,” Uri said to Syd. “My thanks for
bringing those two bastards to me. We will make the proper example
of them. That will, perhaps, enrage Hamad enough to attack us on
our on soil. Then I can act! I will be ready for him.”

“Very iffy, Uri, but good luck! We must leave
now,” replied Hatch. “Thanks for the lunch and the info. I owe you
one.”

• • •

En route toward Istanbul, Hatch had spread
the documents on the lounge table. There were pictures of Hamad and
many of his henchmen, as well as maps, and satellite photos of
their headquarters.

“I’ve been to this city before, Hatch. Their
building is on the outskirts of Tabriz. From these documents, it
appears that it is heavily fortified and filled with armed men most
of the time. It is so flat around the building, it’s hard for a
sniper to get close enough to do much good. That’s why they feel so
safe, I guess,” said Syd.

“They won’t be safe from us. The Shadow will
level that place, and kill everyone in it. I like the fact that
they are so isolated: no collateral damage to civilians,” he
replied.

He got up and moved to the NAV/COMM Center
and sat down in front of the computer screen.

“I’m going to program one of our satellites
to take some pictures of this building and its surroundings. That
will help us plan our attack.”

His fingers typed in a few commands. He
entered the latitude and longitude of the building, then typed in
more commands about the angles of approach, and other information
he would need to view this place in 3-D later. He returned to the
lounge table.

“It will take a while to gather the info I
need, a couple of passes from two satellites. Then we can build a
3-D model of the area,” he explained.

“Sounds very technical,” observed Syd.

“You’ll learn. It’s simple once you accept
it, and use it a few times.”

“Uri doesn’t know about Lincoln’s Liberators
or the Shadows, does he?” asked Syd.

“Heavens no! He thinks I might hire a team of
mercenaries and try something foolish with them. I think he views
me as a rich amateur meddling in things that even the pros can’t
solve,” laughed Hatch. “He only saw me today because he feels
guilty about getting you in trouble, Syd. It salves his conscience.
Plus, we had to deliver the prisoners to him.”

“You’re such a cynic, Hatch! He’s really
trying to help,” Syd said.

“Why don’t I scan these photos into the
computer so we can shred these documents,” laughed Sara, “while you
two bicker.”

“We’re not bickering!” exclaimed Syd. “We are
having a discussion.”

• • •

The living quarters on the Triple Eye estate
in Istanbul were in a huge building at least 300 years old. It had
been upgraded—thanks to Hatch’s endless supply of money—with air
conditioning, up-to-date plumbing and kitchens, and other modern
comforts, while retaining its historic charm. To Syd, it was even
more impressive than Klaus Haus. Hand-tied Turkish carpets covered
the floors, massive pieces of furniture which were centuries old
filled every room. Dozens of rooms.

“Do you own this place, too, Hatch?” asked an
awed Syd.

“No. It’s too difficult for an American
to own land here. I have a very long lease. I pay an exorbitant
fee—read that as
bribe
—to the
government to ensure our privacy here. I do not need people nosing
around and finding Shadow-3, and the other improvements I’ve made
here. It’s 584 acres, but that helps hide things here and
there.”

They were sitting at a huge table in a
gigantic dining room having dinner. Several Turkish waiters hovered
to make sure no desire went unfulfilled. The Shadow-3 crew had
joined them. Syd had met them all earlier over cocktails, including
the three wives of crew members who lived here. She had felt
underdressed to go to a cocktail party, but no one else was dressed
any better than she was. She thought this dining room, however,
deserved better. It was fit for kings and queens and the royal
court. It certainly did not bother Sara, who was dressed in very
tight jeans and a top which seemed painted on, so Syd relaxed. Sara
heartily hugged all the men, all of whom she had trained, and their
wives.

The crew consisted of Mike Brawley, Command
Pilot, former Marine gunship pilot in Viet Nam; Samuel Vickers,
co-pilot, ditto; Carl Price, Chief Engineer and Weapons Specialist,
former Master Chief, U. S. Navy; Marli Carson, Defensive Systems
Specialist, MIT graduate in Engineering; John T. Blanchard,
Offensive Systems Specialist, former B-2 bomber WIZZO; and Shirley
McNally, Medic and backup Weapons System Specialist, former
paramedic.

Syd noticed that Hatch was not averse to
using women on his combat teams, so Sara was not an anomaly. She
had learned during the cocktail hour that this team had been the
one that had wiped out the terrorists in Syria, as well as some in
Libya and Iraq, which Syd had heard of while she was in MOSSAD. She
was quite impressed, but she was getting used to it. Mediocrity had
no place around Hatch Lincoln.

Syd had asked where the crew of the GS-V was
and Hatch had explained that they always stayed with the airplane,
or close by, so they would be ready for takeoff on a moments
notice. Also, the less they knew about what Hatch really did in
various countries the better.

At dinner, Hatch explained the upcoming
mission in broad terms—detailed briefings would take place the next
day—and informed the crew that he and Sara would replace Blanchard
and Marli Carson on the Weapons Stations, and Syd would go in place
of Shirley McNally. He explained that Syd’s knowledge of the area
and her language capabilities made her presence necessary. No one
grumbled or argued with the boss. They just enjoyed his presence in
this part of the world, which was all too rare. He was usually just
a voice on the other end of a communications channel. This crew was
up for rotation to the Arizona base in two months for some training
on the new Shadow-5. All of them were looking forward to that.

The wives of Brawley, Vickers, and Price were
especially happy to have two American women to chat with; they
asked a lot of questions about fashions back home and for gossip
from Sara about other LRD members and their wives. They treated Syd
well, even though they were not exactly sure of her status in
LRD.

After dinner, the smokers left the dining
room and went to a place called the “Smoking Room.” Hatch went with
them, thinking he might get away with a few puffs on a cigar.

Syd sought out Shirley McNally, the crew
member whose place she was taking on the mission. McNally was about
Syd’s height, but small-breasted, with short red hair and freckled
skin. She was 28 years old, unmarried, and a former paramedic.

“Hey, Shirley!” Syd said, touching her elbow.
“I’m sorry that I’m knocking you off this mission. I hope you’re
not upset with me.”

“No problem, Syd,” she replied with a
smile. “Hatch
always
knows
best. I’ve never known him to make a major mistake—or a minor
one—now that I think of it.”

“I’ve only known him a very short time, but
everyone I’ve met who knows him seems to have the same feelings.
You can help me out, if you would. I know why Hatch wants me on
this mission, but if I’m replacing you, I would like to know a
little bit about your function on these kinds of flights, in case I
have to do something you would do normally,” said Syd.

Shirley looked at Syd with new respect,
wondering what this woman’s background and training were.

“I was a paramedic before joining Lincoln’s
Liberators. Of course Sara gave me additional training before I was
allowed to fly any missions. My main function on a mission is
Medic, in case anyone needs emergency medical attention. So far,
thank God, my services haven’t been required. We’ve been extremely
lucky. I’ve also been trained as a backup operator on the Defensive
and Offensive Weapons Stations,” she replied proudly.