Read Sunrise: Wrath & Righteousness: Episode Ten for Free Online Page A

his head. “What time is it?” he wondered aloud as he glanced down at his watch. “Did I sleep here through the night—no, I mean, it’s not afternoon, it’s still nighttime.” He quieted himself to collect his thoughts.
    “Sir,” the four-star said again, his voice now urgent. “She got him. He’s coming out!”
    Brucius studied the general. Neither of them had shaved and their eyes were red with fatigue. “Who? Sara Brighton? She got him?”
    “Yes, sir,” the general said. “She found him this afternoon, yesterday afternoon now, I guess I should say. He’s coming with her.”
    “Are they—”
    “Yes sir. They’re already out of Raven Rock. The helicopter met them up at the pickup point a few minutes ago. They’ll be here by midmorning.”
    Brucius gawked, almost unable to accept the good news. “You’re certain?” he demanded.
    “Yes sir. I talked to Mrs. Brighton myself. Got a patch through on the HF. She sounded pretty good.”
    “And Jefferson is with her?”
    “Yes sir.” The general hesitated. “Apparently he’s not too happy, though.”
    Brucius sat up in his chair. His legs had fallen asleep and he had to move them with his hands. He stood up gingerly and smiled. “What did she do? How’d she do it? She never could have brought him out against his will. The old coot is as stubborn as a mule with broken legs.” Brucius started laughing with relief.
    The general didn’t share the humor. Laughing wasn’t his job. “Sir, all I know is that she did it. She really did it, and both of them are OK.”
    Brucius rubbed his hands across his face to wipe the sleep from his eyes. “All right,” he said. “They’ll all be here by morning. The other justices are waiting. I want them assembled by one o’clock. We’re going to lock them in a room and not let any of them out. We’re not going to interfere with their decision or deliberations in any way. We’ll provide any assistance they might ask for, give them anything they want, but we’re going to keep them locked up until it’s over. I want a decision from them. One way or another, I want to know.”
    The general took a breath. “The good news, Mr. Secretary, is that we’ve got three justices now. Either way, it’ll be at least a 2–1 decision. There’ll be no tie vote.”
    Brucius looked across the desk at him. “Yes, that’s the good news. The bad news is that we don’t know which way this thing will turn.”
    The general stood with his eyes on the wall.
    Brucius moved toward the low coffee table set between two leather couches on the other side of his desk. “I want to show you something, General Hawly.”
    The general followed him around the first couch and looked down at the table.
    The engineering charts, construction blueprints, and infrastructure layouts were piled two inches thick. Brucius tapped them eagerly.
    “What are these?” the general asked.
    “All the engineering blueprints of Raven Rock. We’ve got charts that show every access door, the ventilation systems, communications antennas, power generation stations, air purifiers, the whole bit. See, that’s the problem with a place like Raven Rock. It was always assumed that friendly forces would be above ground. But I’m not feeling friendly, General Hawly. And I’ll bet that you’re not either.”
    Maybe for the first time since he had known him, Brucius saw the general smile. “What are you planning, Mr. Secretary?”
    “Give me the right Supreme Court decision and I’m going to rock their world. We’re going to cut them off and kill them. We’re going to take their underground encampment and use it to trap them like the rats they are.”

EIGHT
Rambo 53, along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, one hundred-forty kilometers south of Kandahar, Afghanistan
     
    At 2:08 a.m. local time, the helicopter landed at a remote firebase in the extreme mountains of Afghanistan to pick up the final members of the military team. The last of the Cherokees climbed