McLeod pointed at Haldane and grunted. "Him!" He shook his head. "Called me from the airport. The man can't keep a secret." He winked playfully at Gwen. "You know he kisses and tells, too."
Gwen reddened slightly and cursed herself for reacting like a schoolgirl. She turned away from the others and limped over to the elevator.
Another security guard escorted them from the elevator into the Department of Homeland Security. Despite being a Sunday morning, Gwen was pleased to see that the department was half full. She led Haldane and McLeod down a corridor, past several empty cubicles, and into her private office. Once seated around her desk, Gwen and Noah took turns updating McLeod on the raid in Somalia and the result. With his coat on and hat in his lap, McLeod's face contorted in rapt attention as he sat and listened.
After they were finished, McLeod said, "Kabaal is dead. Good riddance to him. But what about this Sabri fellow?"
"Hopefully, he was inside the building when it collapsed," Gwen said.
"Hopefully," McLeod echoed distantly.
Haldane nodded. "They're collecting DNA from the scene, but we may never know if be was there or not."
McLeod lifted his hat and put it back on top of his tousled red hair. "Or we might know soon."
"Meaning?" Gwen demanded.
"Well, I think it's safe to assume that, technically, you haven't met the terms of the ultimatum from the Brotherhood of One Mean Bugger — or whatever the hell they call themselves," McLeod said. "And if this Sabri bastard is still alive…"
Gwen's jet lag was catching up to her. "I haven't heard of any new viral outbreaks, yet," she snapped.
"Me neither," McLeod agreed. He adjusted his hat. "But you Americans are so damn secretive, you'd probably keep denying it until you were the last two left standing on this frozen continent."
Haldane showed a tired grin, while Gwen looked as if she fought off a grimace. "What is the situation with the rest of the world?" Haldane asked.
"Surprisingly, not bad when it comes to the Gansu Flu," McLeod said. "It's quelled in the Far East. Neither London nor Vancouver has reported a new case in three days. The scattered outbreaks in Europe are contained. Even in Illinois, the news is better. I think there were only a handful of new cases yesterday."
Haldane leaned forward and rapped his knuckles on Gwen's oak desk. "Maybe, we're winning for a change," he said.
McLeod held up two sets of crossed fingers. "Providing the U.S. Army didn't drive past an 'army of martyrs' heading the other way, Haldane, you could be right."
With the same lights-flashing police escort as on their last trip, a limo picked up Haldane and Savard and rushed them over to the White House.
Two somber Secret Service men ushered them through the West Wing down to the same Situation Room where they had sat less than thirty-six hours earlier, but a much smaller group attended now. Aside from General Fischer and Andrea Home, only the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Homeland Security plus the Directors of the CIA and FBI were present.
Ted Hart frowned at Gwen as she walked into the room. "Gwen, I hear you came very close to getting yourself killed over there. That is the last time—"
Gwen raised a hand to cut him off. She brought the other to her chest. "I swear, Ted, never again."
Appearing less than satisfied, he shook his head angrily. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again when the President strode into the room.
Without acknowledging any of the others, he sat down at the head of the table. "Thank you for coming," he said, staring ahead at the far wall. "Before we begin I would like to request a moment of silence to recognize those brave young Americans who gave their lives this morning to protect the safety of all our citizens." He bowed his head and closed his eyes, but he didn't speak another word. Gwen knew that the quietly religious man was deep in prayer.
After a full minute of silence, he said, "Okay, thank you. Dr. Home will lead the discussion from here…"
"Mr. President," Gwen spoke up from halfway down the table and all heads turned to her.
"Yes, Dr. Savard?" he asked with a mildly perplexed expression.
"I promised one of their comrades that I would tell you that the U.S. Rangers who died in Somalia were great Americans. Each and every one of them."
He stared at her for several moments before his face broke into a paternal smile. "And you have my promise that I will recognize them as such. Each and every one of them."
"Thank you, Mr. President," Andrea Home began. "Most of us watched in this very room the video feed from Operation Antiseptic. Drs. Haldane and Savard were even on-site," she said, and Gwen thought she caught a fleeting disapproving glance from the NSA. "I've asked General Fischer just to give us a short debriefing on the operation."
