"Sir, we have the escort plan for the four supertankers we're attaching to the Nimitz battle group. The Nimitzis currently steaming to their appointed rendezvous and will join with the Royal Navy, who is escorting the four tankers. They plan to make the Atlantic run from Devonport, England, and convoyed by the frigates HMS Monmouth, HMS Somerset, and the Royal Navy submarine HMS Trafalgar. At the same time, we are coordinating a simultaneous convoy with the Chinese--they have a group leaving Venezuelan waters tomorrow with a Chinese battle group surrounding the two tankers. Our mysterious enemy cannot be in two places at once."

At that moment the president's secretary entered the office and gave him a message. He read it and then passed it around the room.

"Nellis?" he asked the secretary of defense.

"Damn it, the missile launch from the Atlantic made contact with ten F-22 Raptors out of Nellis," General Caulfield explained to the fifteen men in the room. "Eight were destroyed by a cruise missile system undocumented by any intelligence service."

"Do we have anything happening at Nellis that would warrant an attack?" Fuqua asked, looking to the secretary of the air force.

"Nothing. Red Flag is there--war games, that's it at the moment," the secretary answered.

The president lowered his head for the briefest of moments when he realized what else was at Nellis Air Force Base.

"Gentlemen, proceed with your plans, and keep me informed. For now, please excuse me."

The secretary escorted the security council from the office as the president turned, opened his top left drawer, brought out a small laptop computer, and opened the lid. He tapped in a command and then waited. A simple line appeared: DEPARTMENT 5656. The president waited, but no one came online.

"Jesus," he mumbled as he picked up the phone and dialed a ten-digit number. He pulled the phone away from his ear when there was a loud screech and then a recorded voice.

"The federal agency you are trying to reach is currently experiencing an emergency shutdown. This is a temporary situation. Please try this department at a later time."

The president lowered the phone into its cradle and leaned back in his chair. The feeling that he was nothing more than an amateur started to creep into his thoughts. Nellis being the target of a missile attack and the Event Group being offline was not just a coincidence, but because of the Group's secrecy from Congress and the law-enforcement community, there wasn't much he could do at the moment. For now he would have to wait for Niles to let him know just what in the hell was going on out there.

It would be a long night for the president of the United States.

THE EVENT GROUP COMPLEX,

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA

Jack, Everett, Ryan, and Mendenhall assisted the injured pilots, crew members and the field security team into the complex using the giant elevator inside the hangar. As the grated floor cleared the first level, they could hear alarms sounding from below.

"Whatever happened here, happened on my watch. Jack, I don't know ..."

"Stow it for now, Captain. Someone opened the door for these people. Our men can't be expected to secure the complex if someone's passing out keys to the damn locks."

Everett slowly nodded, not at all appeased he had failed the Group.

The elevator hit level 3 and the men were met by security, who at first stared in shock as Jack Collins stepped from the large platform. Men and women gathered at the loading dock and stared at the man who had returned from the dead. A sergeant wearing the insignia of an army soldier stepped up and saluted the colonel, then turned and looked at Captain Everett, his immediate commander.

"Sir, we have five dead and seventeen wounded. Thirty-two tranquilized Group members, one of whom is in shock. We have damage to gate two and gate one. We have five missing personnel that we assume have left the complex with the hostile assault element."

"Thank you, Sergeant. Has all power been restored?"

"Yes, sir, Dr. Golding has all systems back online."

Jack didn't wait to hear anymore as he started for the elevator across from the loading dock.

"Carry on, Sergeant. Lockdown is to be strictly enforced. Get every available security man and shut this place down tighter than a drum."

"Yes, Captain."

As the elevator doors opened on level seven, Jack stood in the doorway for a brief moment. The hallway facing them was a tangle of wires, broken plastic, and personnel. They all turned and saw who it was standing just outside the elevator doors looking at them. All were shocked to see the colonel, and one by one, they broke their paralysis and made their way to greet him as he stepped into the hallway. He was patted on the back and heard whispers of welcome home. Then he saw a familiar face parting the crowd in an attempt to reach the elevator.

"Colonel?" Pete Golding was shocked beyond words as he stared at Jack.

"Doc, I take it we had a problem?" Collins said as he took Golding's hand in his own and shook.

"They hit hard and fast, Colonel," Pete said sadly. He escorted the four men past the Group personnel and finally entered the computer center, where Pete sat on the edge of one of the desks.

Jack saw the damage to the bulletproof glass and the blood that still streamed down the wall nearest the door.

"It was my fault. I assumed the virus planted in Europa had run its course after having delivered the message. I never considered that the virus would mutate at a chosen time and shut down all security systems and ... and ... well, everything, just everything."

Collins looked at Everett and shook his head. Everett had given a complete report on what was happening in the world since his trip to Valhalla, but Carl just didn't know how much of the information Jack had retained.

"Doc, is Europa online?"

"Well, her peripheral systems, such as lights and phones, yes. But until I can tear down her advanced programs and find that bug, she won't be of help to us for at least twelve hours."

Jack patted him on the back. "Get whatever help you need, even if you have to bring in the Cray people, but get her up. We need her." Jack shook Pete's shoulder until he finally looked up. "Is there anything else, Pete?"

Golding looked away and then down at the floor.

"We tried to help her, Colonel. She was right there in front of us, but we couldn't get to her."

"Who?" Everett asked,

"Sarah. She was fighting back ... hell ... she was the only one fighting after security was taken out. When we thought they were going to kill her, a man came out of nowhere and stopped them. They took him also." He looked into Jack's eyes. "I'm sorry, Jack."

With a pat on Golding's back, Collins looked around the computer center at the many technicians that were already tearing into Europa's peripheral systems. He knew Pete would have to head for the clean room to get into her deep-seated programming. He decided to leave Golding to his daunting task.

"By the way, Doc," Jack said, turning around and facing Pete before he reached the door. "You're in temporary command of the department--acting director. We'll meet again in a few hours, so get a replacement lined up in the comp center." Jack looked at his watch. "Until then, I'll report to the president--he'll want to speak with you, so don't get lost."