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Leah's town house.
They got into the car and Rayford drove straight down her street, something he
had not dared earlier. The horses breathed great clouds of black and yellow
smoke that chased GC forces out of the neighborhood, many falling and
seemingly dying on the spot. As the smoke billowed through the area, people
burst from their homes, gagging, coughing, falling. Here and there the horses
snorted enough fire to incinerate homes.
 Wait here, Rayford said, shifting into park in front of Leah's garage.
 Rayford! No! Let's get back!
He leapt out.  Yeah, I'm gonna leave that kind of money ...
 Please! she called after him.
Rayford strode past bodies and into the garage. He zipped up the sack and just
managed to hoist it over his shoulder. Walking through smoke and flames he
neither smelled nor felt, he pushed the bag into the back of the Rover and
slid behind the wheel. As he pulled away, he looked at Leah.  Welcome to the
Trib Force, he said.
She merely shook her head, still holding her ribs.
Rayford speed dialed the safe house. He turned again to Leah.  Better buckle
up,
he said.
Mac slipped past the Fortunato party as they were being served and left the
plane to monitor fueling. That allowed him to watch the cargo transfer.
Abdullah opened the hatch, and a squadron of forklift trucks buzzed onto the
tarmac, up the aluminum ramp, and into the belly of the plane. While Fortunato
was eating, 144 computers and more than a ton of foodstuffs were smuggled off
the GC's own Condor 216 and
would be appropriated by their enemy before sunset. Brilliant, Abdullah, Mac
thought. Nothing like breakfast to keep the supreme commander oblivious.
Buck awoke when Chloe answered the phone.  What time is it? he said.
She pointed to the clock, which read 12:30.
 Shh, she said.  It's Daddy.
 His note said he and Leah"

She shushed him again.
 Outside? she said.  Why? ... All right! I'll do it. ... Tsion? Are you
serious? You want me to wake him? . . . Well, hurry!
She hung up.
 Buck, get up.
 What? Why?
 Come on. Daddy wants you to wake Tsion and look out the window.
 What in"

 Hurry! He and Leah are on their way.
 What are we looking for?
 The 200 million horsemen.
 It's started? You can see them?
 Get Tsion!
Airborne again, Mac asked Abdullah to oversee the controls.  I want to see if
Leon starts talking strategy.
He reached back to be sure the door was locked, unbuckled his seat belt,
slouched in his seat, shut his eyes, and depressed the bug switch. One of
Fortunato's aides was trying to impress the boss.
 It'll be so neat when he finds out Carpathia's not here, and that it's just
you on the plane.
 I didn't just hear you refer to the potentate by merely his last"

 I'm sorry, Commander. I meant His Excellency, the potentate. I would love to
be there when Ngumo discovers that Potentate Rehoboth not only knows about the
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meeting, but that he has also been invited.
The other aide waded in.  What's the point of this trip if you're just going
to put
Ngumo in his place?
 A valid question, Leon said.  Naive, but valid. First, this is a
particularly clever
way to do it. It's not just an insult; it's a stinging insult. Despite our
smiles and subservient attitudes, there will be no doubt in his mind that this
is a slap in the face.
It's not a meeting with His Excellency. It's not even a face-to-face with the
supreme commander in private. He will get nothing he asks for and will be told
to like it. It could have been done by phone, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it
as much. Anyway, this is an alliance-building mission.
 With Rehoboth?
 Of course. It is crucial that His Excellency be confident of his regional
potentates.
A few more accommodations to Bindura, and we'll guarantee his loyalty. There
are rumors of insurrection, but we're dead certain of six potentates, 90
percent sure of
Rehoboth, and not so sure of the other three. They will be in line by the time
of the disposition of the Jerusalem problem, or they will be replaced.
 The Jerusalem problem?
 Don't disappoint me. You have worked hand and glove with me this long and you
don't know what I mean when I refer to the Jer"

 The two witnesses.
 Well, yes ... no! That's what the rebels call them. And they call themselves
some biblical thing, lampstands or trees or some such. Don't stoop to their
terms. They are the crazy preachers, the wall-bangers, the"

That last had sent the aides into paroxysms of laughter, which served only to
start
Leon on a string of comments he thought funny. To listen to his yes-men, he
had only underestimated his comedic gift. Mac was shaking his head at the
absurdity when Abdullah startled him with a slap across the chest.
Mac straightened up as if snapped with a wet towel.  I'm sorry, Abdullah
shouted,  but look! Look! Oh! It was there!
 What? Mac said. With the sun climbing behind them to the left, the cloudless
expanse before them appeared an endless clear blue. Mac saw nothing, and so
now, apparently, did Abdullah.
 I saw something, Captain. I swear I did.
 I don't doubt you. What was it?
 You'd doubt me if I told you. Abdullah's eyes were still wide. He leaned
forward and looked in every direction.
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