right? Redcoats had spies all over. We hanged them then, just the same. Plenty of old ladies back east got old oak trees in their front yards, famous for being where they strung up the redcoat spies. Some of them charge you a buck and a half just to take a look at them. I know, I went there once."
"What time is lights-out here?" Reacher asked.
"Ten o'clock," Ray said. "Why?"
Reacher paused. Stared at him. Thought back over their conversation. Gazed at his lean, mobile face. Looked into his crazy eyes, burning deep under his brow.
"I got to be someplace else after lights-out," Reacher said.
Ray laughed again.
"And you think I'm going to let you?" he said.
Reacher nodded.
"If you want to live," he said.
Ray lifted the pistol off his thigh and pointed it one-handed at Reacher's head.
"I'm the one got the gun here," he said.
"You wouldn't live to pull the trigger," Reacher said.
"Trigger's right here," Ray said. "You're all the way over there."
Reacher waved him a listen-up gesture. Leaned forward and spoke quietly.
"I'm not really supposed to tell you this," he said. "But we were warned we'd meet a few guys smarter than the average, and we're authorized to explain a couple of things to them, if the operational circumstances make it advisable."
"What circumstances?" Ray asked. "What things?"
"You were right," Reacher said. "Most of the things you've said are correct. A couple of inaccuracies, but we spread a little disinformation here and there."
"What are you talking about?" Ray asked.
Reacher lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I'm World Army," he said. "Commander of the advance party. I've got five thousand UN troops in the forest. Russians, mostly, a few Chinese. We've been watching you on the satellite surveillance. Right now, we've got an X-ray camera on this hut. There's a laser beam pointed at your head. Part of the SDI technology."
"You're kidding," Ray said.
Reacher shook his head. Deadly serious.
"You were right about the microchips," he said. "Look at this."
He stood up slowly and pulled his shirt up to his chest. Turned slightly so Ray could see the huge scar on his stomach.
"Bigger than the modern ones," he said. "The latest ones go in with no mess at all. The ones we put in the babies? But these old ones work just the same. The satellites know where I am at all times, like you said. You start to pull that trigger, the laser blows your head off."
Ray's eyes were burning. He looked away from Reacher's scar and glanced nervously up at the roof.
"Suis pas americain," Reacher said. "Suis soldat français, agent du gouvernement mondial depuis plusieurs annees, parti en mission clandestine il y a deux mois. Il faut evaluer l'element de risque que votre bande represente par ici."
He spoke as fast as he could and ended up sounding exactly like an educated Parisian woman. Exactly like he recalled his dead mother sounding. Ray nodded slowly.
"You foreign?" he asked.
"French," Reacher said. "We operate international brigades. I said I'm here to check out the degree of risk you people represent to us."
"I saw you shooting," Reacher said. "I spotted it. A thousand yards."
"Guided by satellite," Reacher said. "I told you, SDI technology, through the microchip. We can all shoot two miles, perfect score every time."
"Christ," Ray said.
"I need to be out in the open at ten o'clock," Reacher said. "It's a safety procedure. You got a wife here?"
Ray nodded.
"What about kids?" Reacher asked. "Any of these kids yours?"
Ray nodded again.
"Sure," he said. "Two boys."
"If I'm not out by ten, they all die," Reacher said. "If I get taken prisoner, the whole place gets incinerated. Can't afford for my microchip to get captured. I told them you guys wouldn't understand how it works, but my chief said some of you could be smarter than I thought. Looks like my chief was right."
Ray nodded proudly and Reacher checked his watch.
"It's seven-thirty, right?" he said. "I'm going to sleep two and a half hours. The satellite will wake me at ten exactly. You wait and see."
He lay back down on the floor and curled his arm under his head. Set the alarm in his head for two minutes to ten. Said to himself: don't let it fail me tonight.
Chapter Thirty-Five
"I REFUSE TO believe it," General Garber said.
"He's involved," Webster said in reply. "That's for damn sure. We got the pictures, clear as day."
Garber shook his head.
"I was promoted lieutenant forty years ago," he said. "Now I'm a three-star general. I've commanded thousands of men. Tens of thousands. Got to