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explained. “The Joint Chiefs don’t trust drones either, and if we don’t get in there and confirm the kill, the Chinese may be able to recover the A.I. or the wreckage and reconstitute somewhere else. As you can see, this mission is as top secret and high priority as they get. If we’re successful, this war is over. ”
    “So the perimeter the other nukes created is all about giving us a head start.”
    “That’s right,” Wilson confirmed. “The Chinese still don’t know we can do suborbital insertions, so they’ll concentrate their energy on protecting the perimeter until it’s safe to enter. We’re gonna beat ‘em to the punch by jumping as soon as the fallout has reached the surface. With any luck, it’ll take the Chinese anywhere from several minutes to an hour to mount a HALO insertion.”
    “And we’ll already be finished,” Craig added. “What if the A.I. is still functional?”
    “Let’s hope not, but if it is, its defenses should be utterly destroyed. We’ll be packing more than enough explosives to finish the job.”
    “All of that sounds reasonable,” Craig replied, “but there’s one glaring omission. If the Chinese are going to be collapsing in on us, I get how we’re going to beat them to the punch on the insertion, but what about the extraction?”
    Commander Wilson turned his head quickly, appearing once again to try to read Craig’s face. “I thought maybe you’d be able to fill us in on that aspect, Doc.”
    “Me?” Craig responded, perplexed.
    Wilson’s smile returned, but this time there was something different—something behind it—an impurity. “We’re not idiots, Doc.”
    At that moment, Craig realized that things were far worse than he’d previously thought. “Are you telling me the extraction is supposed to occur after we’re dead? ”
    Wilson’s eyes narrowed. “You seriously didn’t know that already?”
    “Hey, Commander, honestly, if this is their plan, I had no previous knowledge of it. I thought I was here to provide medical support. That’s all.”
    After a moment of continuing to read Craig’s face, Wilson finally nodded, apparently satisfied that Craig wasn’t playing poker and there was no bluff to call. “Okay. Well, it doesn’t matter whether I believe you or not. The fact is, there’s an extraction plan, but it seems pretty farfetched. When we heard they were sending a MAD bot along with S.A. body bags, we put two and two together.”
    “What’s the official plan?” Craig asked.
    “The exoskeletons are our only transportation. With the respirocytes and the exoskeletons working in tandem, we’re supposed to sprint for over an hour to the top of Maluan Mountain. Stealth Blackhawks will apparently be there to meet us.”
    “Sounds like a pretty typical extraction,” Craig observed.
    “Yeah, but these helicopters are supposed to make it through what will likely be a hell-storm of Chinese air patrols in the area,” Wilson pointed out. “It won’t be impossible if their side is in enough disarray, but it seems like a long shot to me. If I were a betting man, I’d have to say it looks like we’re about to punch a one-way ticket.”
    “So,” Craig began as he lightly pivoted on the balls of his feet to keep his upright position in the microgravity, “you think the real plan is to leave us stranded on the mountain? And that, with our respirocyte supply dwindling, our only chance of survival will be to put ourselves into suspended animation?”
    “That sounds like the most likely outcome,” Wilson replied.
    Craig turned his head and regarded Robbie; the machine was floating in the microgravity, unmoving like a metal corpse, lightly brushing against the walls of the fuselage and bobbing freely throughout. “I’m not looking forward to that,” Craig stated resignedly.
    “How do those things work anyway?” Wilson asked. “The body bags, I mean.”
    “ Hydrogen sulfide, ” Craig replied. “The bags are cooled, and small