Page 96 of Radar

Elyssa shook her head. He was making a point that she didn’t get.

“They do an extensive background check. I have to disclose everything in order for them to move me through my security clearance. I know they looked into her because they look into every nook and cranny of your life. They have security to maintain.”

He rubbed his thumb over her “little bit” tattoo.

“It’s not my turn, but I told you about my tattoo. Would you tell me the significance of yours?” Elyssa asked.

Xander slid down in his chair, so he was talking right near her ear. He had a way of speaking that seemed to hold the sound waves in tight, so that nothing said would drift off to some other interested listener. It felt very spy-craft to her. And it reminded Elyssa what this trip was all about. They were depending on her to remember which tree she stood under almost two weeks ago to save the Western world.

Her heart vibrated.

“It’s the symbol for the AWG, the Asymmetric Warfare Group,” Xander said. “Our job, before the group was disbanded, was to find the dangerous ideas that put our national defense at risk. We were looking for the ideas that pushed the envelope and were off the radar. And in that way, we found the Zoric plot years ago. But we didn’t understand it. We still don’t. We have pieces. We basically know the how and some of the ramifications. But we don’t know the end event. We don’t know what they’ve planned or why.”

Elyssa shook her head. She couldn’t contemplate that. Instead, she asked, “Finding dangers that were off the radar, is that how you named your dog?” She put her hand down between the seats to scritch Radar.

“Radar came pre-named,” Xander said. “But I took it as a sign.”

“Ender was your AWG name because that was your job to find the off-the-books kinds of dangers and end them?” she whispered.

“It was,” Xander whispered back.

She squeezed his arm. “Will you end this one?”

“Me?” he shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not alone. But for the world’s sake, I hope like hell that together we can.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Elyssa

Monday

Atlantic Ocean

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I have received word that a major solar storm has caused a glitch in electrical activity. There are widespread outages that began in Morocco and Iceland and have now hit southern England, including our destination city, London. London is rerouting all international flights due to power outages and intermittent communications. Our plane will land in Paris, adding one hour and twenty minutes to our flight time.”

Moans moved through the cabin.

“Once there, I cannot tell you what your next steps should be, as this is an unforeseen weather event, and we don’t have a timetable for when the airports will be functioning again. Check with the company that provides you with travel insurance to see if they can assist you. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

Elyssa lifted her head from Xander’s shoulder. “It’s the Zorics, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“Without evidence, I don’t know. But my gut says it is.”

“Have they done something like this before?” Elyssa asked.

“They interrupted communications between the tower and the planes in Newark just after your flight took off.”

“I read about that. That’s brazen. Did The Family know Orest was at the airport?”

“Orest is the one who did it.”

Orest did it? Elyssa thought back to their flight out of Newark. She and Eddie had barely scraped through the door before they took off, and Orest had looked nervous. She remembered thinking he looked pale and a little sweaty. And she remembered thinking that there was a distraction in his eyes that wasn’t typically there. Then he’d looked at his watch and said, “No, no, right now all is good. I had anticipated a slight delay. Perhaps not this long. But the benefit is that you made the plane.” He’d anticipated a delay, so perhaps changed a timer on something? And the delay was longer than he’d considered, so he was at risk from his actions. Their plane should have flown out of range to the watch of a different tower. He only wanted other people to be endangered. Yes, his relief seemed to come when they were over the farmland, and she naïvely assumed he hated takeoffs, too.

Elyssa pushed herself up taller in her chair. “Did the Zorics tip us over on the way to D.C.?”

“No. That was the Secret Service, playing with a new toy. They’re sorry. They won’t do it again.”

Elyssa frowned. “Huh.”

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