Page 82 of Gryphon

Max smiled at her.

“What are you going to be doing from way over there in Iceland, General? Other than bothering Miranda.”

Again the long pause.

“You could hunt down the missing ULB and torpedoes,” Holly suggested.

“The what?”

Holly could almost get to enjoy this. “Général de division aérienne Pierre Vachon of the French Republic. You need to pay more attention to the little birds twittering at you from atop the ghost gum tree. Pápa Air Base lost an unmanned helo and a pair of Mark 46s. Have Miranda explain that to you if you need help, I’m out of time.”

She hung up on the general, which was very satisfying.

Then she looked at the others. “Okay, open season on Kurbanov. Any ideas on how we find him?”

Holly really hoped that some old connection of Max’s knew something.

But she didn’t expect Elene to be the one tentatively raising her hand like she was still in kindergarten.

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“You have a very interesting team, Ms. Chase.”

“I do? Why do you say that?” She’d never have thought to use that particular word to describe them.

“How good are they?”

Meg looked at the general. Miranda wanted to pull up her doggie emotion chart. Meg had neither angry-face nor happy-face. Perhaps waiting-face? “How good are they at what?”

“At what they’re doing.” His tone of voice shifted.

Meg’s waiting-face shifted toward angry-face. She rose onto all fours. Preparing for a fight or to walk away?

Miranda answered carefully. “As I don’t know what they’re doing, I see no practical method of assessing their skills at their current tasks.”

“At stopping a war?” The general’s tone turned…fiercer?

Meg’s answering growl sounded as if it came from a much bigger dog. She liked Meg, but making that sound? It reminded her too much of the Chow Chow that had once attacked her. Miranda took a careful step back hoping that she didn’t hurt Meg’s feelings. Meg appeared to only be watching the general, so maybe it was okay.

“I don’t know. Roy has thanked them for doing precisely that a few times but I never quite understood why.”

“Roy?” the general asked in a less…fierce…tone.

“President Roy Cole.”

“Of the United States?”

“Yes, that one. Are there any other President Roy Coles? I only know of the one.”

“Me too.”

“Then why did you ask?”

She felt the general studying her.

Meg remained vigilant while he considered her question. When he didn’t answer, she walked to the end of her leash to sniff at a lamppost rising from the snow. She piddled on it.

“What is a ULB and a Mark 46?” The general asked softly.

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