But sitting in the truck and waiting was dangerous. At any moment he would slip into the past, into a day out with his father as they cut wood for the fireplace, into a night when Dad had tried to explain why he and Mom were getting divorced.

Jenkins shuddered and glanced at all the charges they'd been preparing. C-4 for you, C-4 for me, C-4 for everybody--over fifty pounds in all. Buddha and his little buddy had supplied the materials; now it was up to Jenkins and Hume to call upon their old engineering training to create a glorious diversion, should the need arise.

The transformer station was located at the base of a curving row of foothills in a heavily wooded area at least a quarter kilometer from the nearest house. Their CIA driver, who was running with lights out and wearing a pair of night-vision goggles, parked them about a hundred meters south.

Jenkins's pulse rose. Time to rock 'n' roll.

Beasley and Brown leapt out first and charged off to secure the area. Jenkins and Hume loaded the bags with C-4, hoisted them onto their shoulders, and waited.

"Breakers on the left. Remember," said Hume.

"No problem."

Within three minutes Beasley gave the signal. Jenkins led Hume out of the truck, and they rushed up a dirt road and reached the chain-link fence crowned with barbed wire. Beyond stood the transformer station, rising out of the ground like the exposed bowels of some slain electronic beast, poles like intestines, cables and wires like arteries and veins spanning the gaps between large metal organs.

Brown had already cut the lock on the gate, so Jenkins followed Hume inside.

A schematic of the entire transformer station with its switching, connection, and control equipment was already being displayed in their HUDs, and the two of them got to work, first setting up the small and carefully placed charge that would trip the breakers and cut the power to the castle and the surrounding area, then rigging up the larger charges to destroy the entire transformer station and darken an even larger portion of the province.

Meanwhile, Jenkins knew that Beasley and Hume were relieved to lighten their equipment packs. They had been carrying the team's Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), a tracked recon robot equipped with thermal infrared and digital cameras, along with a loudspeaker system. After opening the bot's waterproof packing, they began assembly. The SUGV was barely larger than a kid's radio-controlled tank, with rubberized tracks supporting the folding camera neck. Although armed only with smoke grenades to delay an oncoming adversary, the SUGV would stand watch over the transformer station and ensure that no one could tamper with the charges. Beasley controlled the bot and would be automatically alerted should it detect movement, heat sources, or any other signs of entry within its target discrimination hemisphere, which was adjustable by the operator.

When Jenkins and Hume were finished with their charges, the SUGV was already powered up and online, and any member of the team could call up its camera images in their HUDs. Jenkins did so and glimpsed panning images of the fence line, as captured by the bot.

Brown slipped a brand-new lock on the gate, one nearly identical to the original, while Beasley used the wireless handheld controller to position the robot into a cover position beside two large poles where it could still maintain good surveillance. Once they got out of range, commands to the robot would then be routed through the network, although the SUGV would respond more slowly because of the satellite delay.

From start to finish the entire operation took 19.45 minutes, and Beasley signaled the captain that they were leaving the area and heading for the castle.

"We'll cut the power on your order, sir," he added.

Back inside the truck, Jenkins removed his Cross-Com earpiece/monocle and tugged off his balaclava to palm sweat from his face and massage his tired eyes.

"You all right, Bo?" asked Hume.

"Yeah, why?"

"You just look tired."

"I'm not. Let's get up there and get this done."

Mitchell took a deep breath. "Here we go."

The truck had turned off the road and driven through a narrow path between the trees. Then Buddha had stopped and said, "We are here. Everyone out."

He led them farther into the adjoining forest, where they found two vehicles: late-model four-wheel-drive SUVs, both black and parked under camouflage netting.

"We ride up in crap for a good disguise. But we ride out fast and in style," said Buddha.

Mitchell grinned. "Good surprise."

Buddha winked. "We take no chances for our escape. Now check your map. The castle is right over the next hill. I will hide the truck and remain here, waiting for you, along with Boy Scout, after he drops off the other team. If you need us to come up, okay, but I would rather not. And I warn you, my partner is a rookie."

"So a good surprise comes with a bad one," Mitchell said with a groan. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"No, Captain. I am just a fat man with two cars." After a lopsided grin, Buddha trudged off.

"All right, let's go to our eye in the sky," Mitchell said as he waved them on and started back toward the road, reaching up to his earpiece. "Cross-Com activated."

Live streaming video from the castle revealed dozens of lights shining from the windows of all five buildings, and Mitchell zoomed in on each structure, noting the men posted outside. They were only silhouettes, and it was hard to positively distinguish between them and the several dozen civilians still milling about. Occasionally he would spot the end of a rifle barrel. The place was a cluster of anthills, with their targets hidden deep inside.

Once they reached the edge of the tree line, Mitchell led them up the hill, and near the crest, they tucked themselves deep into the underbrush and set their own eyes on the valley, a rolling, dark green mat speckled with a cluster of yellow diamonds.

"It looks a lot bigger in person," said Diaz.

"No kidding," Smith added. "And those buildings do look like missile silos from up here."

"Paul, get the drone ready for deployment," ordered Mitchell, cutting off the small talk.

"You got it, Boss."

Paul Smith dug into Mitchell's pack and withdrew the MAV4mp Cypher, a newly designed man-portable drone not much larger in diameter than a Frisbee and even quieter than the UAV3.

While Mitchell continued studying the satellite images, Smith activated the drone via its controller, then announced that it was ready for launch.

"Bravo Lead, this is Ghost Lead," Mitchell called over the radio. "Stand by to cut power."

"Roger that," answered Beasley, whose truck had just stopped to let off his team. "And we're inbound for the choppers and vehicles."

Mitchell switched views to his Situational Awareness Tactical Display showing the four green diamonds--Bravo Team--heading toward the north side of the castle, where two choppers were parked in the field, along with two more trucks. The map was color-coded, with hostile terrain glowing orange, secured terrain in blue, and inaccessible areas in gray. Bravo Team would quietly ensure that none of those rides remained operational. If any Tiger tried to escape, he'd be doing it on foot.

Abruptly, the uplink channel window crackled to life with the image of a young man with bleached blond hair impaled by a headset. "Captain Mitchell, this is Lieutenant Moch, sir."

Ah, yes, Mitchell had met him briefly and heard more about him from Diaz. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."