Page 79 of V-Day
Nick flipped the phone over.
0 hours, -1 minutes.
Calli sucked in a breath.
The floor beneath them heaved. A low rumbling sounded, which built into a deafening roar.
Calli closed her eyes and pressed her face into Nick’s chest, shuddering.
His heart was slamming against his chest. He was shaking, too.
*
THE MISSILE ANNOUNCED ITSELF WITHa low whistle which climbed to a piercing sonic shriek. Duardo winced and turned his head to track the rocket as it streaked across the sky. It was almost too fast to track.
It was white, with an orange nose, white tail fins and wings. A blind tube of instant death.
He frowned. “That doesn’t look like a handmade bomb,” he said.
Aguado looked. He didn’t have time to respond, for the missile found its target.
Duardo saw the front of the Palace implode, collapsing in on the path of the rocket.
Then the rocket exploded and most of the Palace lifted into the air, as if it was throwing up virtual arms. It split into two equal halves. Then the shock wave hit, throwing Duardo backward. His head hit something solid and blackness dropped over him.
*
AS THE SHOCK WAVE ANDnoise reached them, Adán paused from tying up the launch to look up, just as everyone else was. Directly west, and several hundred feet higher up the mountain than their sea level altitude, was a climbing, blooming mushroom shaped cloud.
Minnie clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes glittering. Her throat worked.
Adán put his arm around her. “Don’t think about it. Not until you know for sure,” he murmured.
She nodded, which sent her tears spinning in the still throbbing air.
*
ON SIX OF THE NINEscreens in the Whitehouse Situation Room, the mushroom cloud climbed above the peaks of the Vistarian mountain range. A spontaneous applause broke out.
“That’s the end ofthatwar,” one of the generals murmured, turning back to his notepad.
Richard Collins lurched to his feet, thrusting the chair back with his thighs. It was on wheels and careened back to hit the wall behind him with a loud crash which made everyone look around from the screens.
“Those were good people we bombed,” he said, his voice hoarse. He rested his hands on the table, to stop them trembling. “I was about to resign, to redress this terrible error. This, just now, has changed my mind. I will dig to the bottom of this. I will find the son of a bitch who isreallyresponsible for this.”
He paused. Every officer at the table—and most of them were in uniform—was staring at him as if he had stood upon the table and quoted Dr. Seuss.
Collins nodded. “If it’s you I’m coming for, brace yourself.”
He stalked to the door, his hands clenched. He didn’t wait for the Marine to open the door for him. He straight-armed the thing. It flipped back to smash against the outer wall with a satisfying crash.
*
OLIVIA WATCHED THE LUGGAGE CIRCLEthe roundabout for a second time. Why was it that whenever she’d had the worst flight possible, her bag was one of the last to be put onto the carousel?
No one stood nearby, even though a lot of luggage still sat on the belt and even more spewed out from the opening in the wall.
Daniel caught her elbow. “‘livvy…” he said softly. The note in his voice made her turn, her heart jumping.
