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respond, but O’Malley uttered
a quick snort of laughter that left Andrew bristling.
    “Later today, I’ll send a squad out with
shovels, the Bobcat front-end loader we have on site,” Prendick
continued. “We can probably clear a way through the road in a week
or two.”
    “A week or two?” Andrew shook his head. “I
can’t stay here that long. My crew has no idea where I am, what’s
happened to me. I’ve got to get word to them.”
    “Let me put it to you another way, Mister
Braddock.” Prendick motioned with his hand demonstratively,
indicating the cramped, empty office. “You can either remain in
here as a prisoner of the United States Army or you can join us as
a guest until such time as we can extricate you from this facility.
But either way, you’re not leaving.”
    The two stared at each other, Prendick’s eyes
like glittering pieces of flint, brittle and hard-edged. Sighing,
Andrew threw up his hands in disgusted resignation. “Fine.
Whatever.”
    Prendick nodded. “Good. You are to remain in
this building at all times during the course of your stay here, and
are free to make use of any and all of the public areas and
amenities provided. If you feel the need for a spot of air, you can
step out onto the parking lot or courtyard, but may go no further
than the paved perimeter of this compound. You may not under any
circumstances enter Dr. Moore’s apartment or laboratory. Failure to
comply with these instructions will result in your being arrested
and charged with felony trespass on government property as per our
discussion a few moments ago. Do you understand?”
    Again, Andrew glared. “Fine.”
    Glancing over his shoulder at O’Malley, he
said, “Corporal, escort Mister Braddock to the barracks wing. Take
him to Lieutenant Carter’s room.” With a slight frown, he added,
“He won’t be needing it anymore.”
    “Yes, sir,” O’Malley said.

CHAPTER FIVE
    “I know what you’re thinking.”
    Andrew remembered when he’d brought Lila home
to meet his parents for the first time, for dinner on a snowy
Sunday afternoon in the middle of February. They’d been sleeping
together for a little over three months at that point, and he’d
fallen more than head over heels in love with her. He’d been
nineteen years old—going on thirty in terms of maturity, if you’d
asked him—and he’d been a college freshman longer than his sister,
Beth, had been in her grave.
    “Oh, so you’re a mind reader now?” his
mother, Katherine, had replied as they’d stood together in the
kitchen while he helped her clear the dishes from the dining room
table. His father, Eric, had retired with Lila to the living room
for coffee.
    Katherine had said this with a smile, a
gentle and playful sort, slipping stacked plates from his hands,
her own fingers wet and sudsy from the sink in which she had been
setting a roasting pan to soak. She’d fixed prime rib roast for
dinner, sparing no expense for their guest. If she hadn’t agreed
with Andrew’s choice of women or shared his enthusiasm for Lila,
then at least, she had gone along with it well.
    “You think she’s too old for me,” Andrew
said.
    “I didn’t say that.” Katherine turned and
began scraping table scraps into a square of aluminum foil. She
rinsed each dish in turn, then passed them to Andrew, who placed
them into the dishwasher.
    “You didn’t have to. I can tell by your
face.” She was deliberately avoiding his gaze and he cocked his
head to meet her eyes, ducking a bit because he was taller than she
was. “Mom, I keep telling you. That doesn’t matter to us.”
    “Okay.” Katherine nodded, paying too much
attention to the growing mound of meat scraps and half-eaten
asparagus spears.
    “She’s smart,” Andrew said. “More than that,
she’s brilliant.”
    “Okay.”
    “She’s got her Ph.D. She’s tenured. And she’s
beautiful. And funny. She makes me laugh, makes me think. She likes
to argue—politics, religion, philosophy, you