"Nothing to it, they said," James Rogers mumbled as the car rolled past the security entrance to Andrews Air Force Base. To say they had misfigured this one would be an understatement. Cutting his eyes briefly toward the front passenger seat, James could not help but notice the concern on the face of his companion, Lt. Paul Jankowski. Things were not going according to plan but when, he wondered, had they ever?

A quick glance in the rear view mirror showed that the older man seated there might need the thick, horn-rimmed glasses to see but there was obviously nothing wrong with his hearing.

"I say, young man. Is there something wrong?" Doctor Herbert Strouss asked. "You are mumbling and I can't quite make out what you are saying."

James tried to infuse a smile and a light tone into his voice as he replied. He failed miserably.

"Doctor Strouss, I'm not really sure what is going on here."

"I thought you were worried about getting me past the security check," Strouss said. "There didn't seem to be any problem there. Should be quite simple from here on in, don't you think?"

Lt. Jankowski cleared his throat and turned to face Dr. Strouss.

"Doc, the Presidential Boeing is kept here. No one is waved through these gates, no matter how well they're known, without a proper security check. They didn't even bother to stop us, much less check our credentials, and they don't know us from Adam."

"I see."

"No," James interjected. "I don't really think you do. This wasn't exactly in the bosses plans. We had a good lie and plenty of false paperwork to bluff you through security and even then we weren't sure it would work. But they wanted us to bring you onto the base so they have a reason. This could be a rough flight out."

Jankowski opened a briefcase and extracted an object from it. Offering it to Strouss, he asked, "Ever use one of these before?"

Herbert Strouss stared at the automatic pistol with pure trepidation.

"Surely you don't think -"

"I don't know what to think," James said ruefully. "My instructions are to bring you back with me. I intend to do just that. It's too late to quit now. Our lives aren't worth a plugged nickel. Our only hope is to get you to your destination. I'd take the gun if I was you. Just don't use it unless I tell you to."

Strouss reached forward and accepted the weapon from Jankowski. He wasn't happy about it but then, neither of the other two men seemed very

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Novel excerpts: Facing death?
We want to hear your view. Write now!