"They can walk right through the woods," he said. "Probably drive right through."
Webster nodded.
"We called the Forest guys," he said. "They're bringing us a detailed plan."
"Perfect," Johnson said. "If things turn bad, you call your team in, send them direct to Eureka, we'll all make a little noise on the southern flank, and they muscle in straight through from the east."
Webster nodded again. The contingency plan was made. Until the National Forests guy came up the short aluminum ladder into the command post. McGrath brought him inside with Milosevic and Brogan. Webster made the introductions and Johnson asked the questions. Straightaway the Forest guy started shaking his head.
"Those tracks don't exist," he said. "At least, most of them don't."
Johnson pointed to the map.
"They're right here," he said.
The Forest guy shrugged. He had a thick book of topographical plans under his arm. He opened it up to the correct page. Laid it over the map. The scale was much larger, but it was obvious the web of threads was a different shape.
"Mapmakers know there are tracks," the guy said. "So they just show them any old place."
"OK," Johnson said. "We'll use your maps."
The Forest guy shook his head.
"These are wrong, too," he said. "They might have been right at some stage, but they're wrong now. We spent years closing off most of these tracks. Had to stop the bear hunters getting in. Environmentalists made us do it. We bulldozed tons of dirt into the openings of most of the through tracks. Ripped up a lot of the others. They'll be totally overgrown by now."
"OK, so which tracks are closed?" Webster asked. He had turned the plan and was studying it.
"We don't know," the guy said. "We didn't keep very accurate records. Just sent the bulldozers out. We caught a lot of guys closing the wrong tracks, because they were nearer, or not closing them at all, because that was easier. The whole thing was a mess."
"So is there any way through?" Johnson asked.
The Forest guy shrugged.
"Maybe," he said. "Maybe not. No way of knowing, except to try it. Could take a couple of months. If you do get through, keep a record and let us know, OK?"
Johnson stared at him.
"Let me get this straight," he said. "You're the damn Forest Service, and you want us to tell you where your own tracks are?"
The guy nodded.
"That's about the size of it," he said. "Like I told you, our records are lousy. The way we figured it, who the hell would ever care?"
The General's aide walked him back to the roadblock. There was silence in the command vehicle. McGrath and Brogan and Milosevic studied the map.
"We can't get through, they can't get through," McGrath said. "We've got them bottled up. We need to start exploiting that."
"How?" Webster said.
"Control them," McGrath said. "We already control their road. We can control their power and their telephone line, too. The lines more or less follow the road. Separate spurs up out of Kalispell. We should cut the phone line so it terminates right here, in this vehicle. Then they can't communicate with anybody except us. Then we tell them we control their power. Threaten to cut it off if they don't negotiate."
"You want a negotiation?" Johnson asked.
"I want a stalling tactic," McGrath said. "Until the White House loosens up."
Webster nodded.
"OK, do it," he said. "Call the phone company and get the line run in here."
"I already did," McGrath said. "They'll do it first thing in the morning."
Webster yawned. Checked his watch. Gestured to Milosevic and Brogan.
"We should get a sleeping rota going," he said. "You two turn in first. We'll sleep two shifts, call it four hours at a time."
Milosevic and Brogan nodded. Looked happy enough about it.
"See you later," McGrath said. "Sleep tight."
They left the trailer and closed the door quietly. Johnson was still fiddling with the map. Twisting it and turning it on the table.
"Can't they do the phone thing faster?" he asked. "Like tonight?"
Webster thought about it and nodded. He knew fifty percent of any battle is keeping the command structure harmonious.
"Call them again, Mack," he said. "Tell them we need it now."
McGrath called them again. He used the phone at his elbow. Had a short conversation which ended with a chuckle.
"They're sending the emergency linemen," he said. "Should be done in a couple of hours. But we'll get an invoice for it. I told them to send it to the Hoover Building. The guy asked me where that was."