Page 83 of V-Day
Nick gave a tiny shrug. “I’m nobody, Duardo. I’m the brother of the former President. I’m not even military. I know my place.”
Duardo shook his head. “You may fool the general public with that. I know different.” He hesitated. “You won’t like this,” he added.
“About the bomb? I haven’t liked anything about it so far.”
“Serrano played a huge game of bluff…and it worked.” Duardo lowered his voice, because the partition was only a heavy-duty plastic and anyone standing on the other side of it would hear him as clearly as Nick. “Captain Graves and her team really did destroy the dirty bomb. They dropped several hundred thousand tons of rock on it, which left Serrano with no leverage over the United States. He had to keep them out of the war in any way he could.”
“So he rigged the drone to make it look radioactive?”
“Itwasradioactive,” Duardo said. “There was plenty of toxic dirt around the caves at the north end of the island, when the dust settled. They scooped up a few buckets of it and dumped it in the drone. Then they connected the original missile back onto it and flew it toward Washington. The dirt gave out all the radiation, which scared everyone into freezing on the spot.” He scowled. “The missile was experimental, too. The most powerful warhead in the world thatisn’tnuclear.”
“How did they figure this out?” Nick asked.
“As soon as the drone dropped its bomb on the Palace, it reverted back to basic programming. The pilots at Los Alamitos in California flew it home, parked it on a lonely airstrip in the desert and investigated.” Duardo straightened. “Collins over-explained. I think he’s feeling guilty. That might be useful, by and by.”
Nick grinned. “It will pay to remind him of it every now and again.”
Nick and Calli were released two days later. Less than eight hours after, Nick commandeered a Jeep, and he and Calli drove north.
“You have this under control,” Nick told Duardo. “You don’t need me.”
“Idoneed you,” Duardo replied. “That isn’t the point, though. You’re a hero, Nick. People need to see you.”
Nick shook his head. “I only took on the presidency because there was no one else. I don’t like the public eye. That’s not how I work. When you really do need me, you know where to find me. In the meantime, I’m taking my wife back home for a honeymoon we never got. You can have your Chief of Staff back in two weeks. By then, you’ll have a staff which needs leading.”
Eight hours after Nick and Calli had been brought in, Duardo was informed by the Vistarian Captain he pressed into service as his temporary aide that a Captain Graves of the US Army Rangers requested a moment of his time.
Captain Graves, like every military person Duardo had seen in the last few hours, was in dress uniform, her cap under her elbow. Duardo could spot the evidence of a hasty wardrobe change and fold lines in her jacket from being flat packed. “You’ve just come in from the field, Captain?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Graves said. “I brought some people with me who I thought you might like to see.”
“Is that so?”
She stepped to one side and gave a little whistle.
The flap of the tent Duardo was using as HQ was pulled aside by the corporal who was checking passes and IDs.
The tall man who stepped under the flap straightened up with a sideways grin.
“Cristián…” Duardo breathed, stunned. He tore his gaze away from his little brother to look at the other person. “Chloe,” he added, as she smiled.
Captain Graves grinned. “I found them in the mountains. It’s been an adventure sir. Without Cristián and Chloe, this war would have ended very differently.”
Duardo lurched to his feet and crossed the room to face Chloe. “It was you who sent out that countdown, wasn’t it?”
Chloe swallowed. “Yes.”
He hugged her, unable to think of anything adequate to say.
Cristián rested his hand on Duardo’s shoulder. “She has a way of leaving you speechless quite often,” he said in a warning tone.
Duardo turned and hugged him, too.
Cristián stiffened for a moment—he had always hated hugging. Then he relaxed and tightened his arms.
“Duardo, I heard there was a Ranger Captain—” Adán Caballero limped into the tent and came to a halt, his eyes going to Captain Graves.
“Sorry, sir! He wouldn’t stop!” the corporal called through the flap.
