“I’m okay,” said the redhead.
“You spend every waking moment in the Cerberus armor,” said Stealth, “and you sleep in a corner under your kitchen table. I am certain these exposed conditions are causing you no small amount of stress.”
“I said I’m okay,” Danielle repeated. “Stop trying to be nice. It’s creepy.”
A lieutenant with a white armband approached, flanked by two other soldiers. “Ma’am,” he said to Stealth, “I’m going to have to ask you to please surrender your sidearms while you’re on base.”
She turned her head to him. “I will not.”
The MP’s hand settled on his own weapon, and his partners raised their rifles a few inches. Danielle saw Stealth’s pose shift. “This isn’t a request, ma’am,” said the officer. “Hand over both of your sidearms.”
“John,” called Danielle. “We’ve got a problem.”
Smith jogged back over. “What’s going on?”
“This woman refuses to surrender her weapons, sir.”
Smith looked at Stealth’s elaborate double holsters and back to the MP. “She’s a guest of the colonel, Lieutenant... Furber,” he said with a clumsy glance at the officer’s name. “I don’t think this is necessary.”
The soldier’s hand was still at his pistol.
Smith turned to Stealth. “Look, you know how the military works. This guy’s willing to let you pummel him just so he doesn’t have to break procedure and disobey an order he got six months ago. Just let it slide for now and I’m sure we’ll get it sorted out in less than an hour.”
The cloaked woman stayed focused on the MP. “I will not.”
“Can you just do it for now? I swear, Colonel Shelly will get this all resolved in no time at all.”
The blank face of her mask turned to Smith, then back to Furber.
When her hands moved, it was too fast to see. The pistols were drawn and held out to the soldier, butt first, before any of them could register it. One of the other MPs jerked his rifle up out of instinct, a few moments too late.
“Jesus,” muttered Danielle.
Furber took a slow breath and retrieved both of the weapons. “Glock 18C,” he said. “Nice. I didn’t think you could get these in America.”
“I did not,” said Stealth.
“Ammunition?”
She pulled two extended magazines from alongside each of the thigh-mounted holsters and four more stored in a pair of rigid pouches on either side of her waist. Furber looked up and down her skintight uniform. “Do you have anything else you’d like to declare before—”
“If you attempt to search my person, I will break both of your thumbs.”
Smith stepped between them. “I think we’re good, don’t you?” He gave the MP a smile. “I’m sure the colonel will agree you’ve done your duty. Thank you, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir,” said Furber. He and his squad made a quick retreat.
“So, the colonel’s running a couple minutes behind,” said Smith. “He should be here by the time we’ve got everything unloaded, and then we can see about getting you those back.” He squeezed Danielle’s shoulder and headed back over to the helicopter.
Stealth examined the triple line of chainlink fence a hundred yards away. Danielle watched the cloaked woman turn her head to follow the barricade. “Something bugging you? Besides being unarmed?”
“I am never unarmed, Danielle,” said Stealth. “You should know that. I count twenty-eight sentries along this section of the perimeter alone. There are another four in the towers and ten patrolling between the fences.”
Danielle shrugged and watched the soldiers give one of the Cerberus crates a nudge to make sure it was secure on their cart. “Not many more than we’ve got on the wall most of the time.”
The cloaked woman turned to examine the fence line to the east, almost half a mile away. “It would appear these numbers are consistent along their entire perimeter.”
“What’s your point?”
“When Zzzap did his reconnaissance, he indicated the base had limited personnel. His exact words were ‘a skeleton crew.’”
Danielle looked at the distant fence and tried not to think about all the open space. “Maybe they put everyone on just to impress us.”
“If they had the manpower to put such numbers on their perimeter, why would they choose not to do so on a regular basis?”
The redhead shrugged. “I’m sure they’ve got their reasons,” she said. “Besides, there’s only, what, thirty or forty exes out there. Hardly a threat against four dozen well-armed soldiers.”