“Did you get anything useful from his personal computer?” asked Kira eagerly. “Anything that might give us a lead to the sterilization plot?”
Griffin frowned. “No. He didn’t have any computers online during the time I was altered. I suspect he only allows an online connection to be active when he’s using it, and then physically disrupts the connection when he isn’t.”
This was a bad break, thought Desh. But all things considered, Griffin had accomplished more than Desh could ever have hoped for.
“Let’s get back to Putnam’s security,” said Desh. “Are you telling us that we can just waltz in there undetected for the next twenty-four hours?”
“Almost,” said Griffin. He worked the mouse and different views of Putnam’s property came into view, one of which showed a tiny human figure. He zoomed in closer and a man came into focus wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a cowboy hat. He was putting out hay for the horses. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, which meant the footage Griffin had tapped into was probably several months out of date.
“Security information from the monitors and alarms is fed to two men,” said Griffin as he zoomed in tight on the man’s waist, revealing an automatic weapon and walkie-talkie. “He’s one of them.”
“Interesting,” said Metzger. “This guy’s cowboyed up so most people will take him as a farmhand.”
“He doubles as a farmhand from the look of it,” commented Connelly.
“You said two men,” said Desh. “Where is the other one?”
“The security computer logs indicate that one of the men is almost always in the barn, manning the monitors.”
“Won’t the guard in the barn realize something is wrong when his colleague fails to show up on the monitors?” asked Desh.
Griffin grinned broadly. “When Kira makes you smart, she makes you prodigiously smart,” he said happily. “I took this into account. I only altered the outer cameras, focusing on the chain-link fence and the grounds beyond the outer barn. He’ll be able to see his friend, all right,” he said happily. “But not anyone sneaking up on him from the outer perimeter.”
Desh nodded approvingly. “Anything else we should know?” he asked.
Griffin considered. “I don’t think so,” he replied. “An alarm would normally go off if the house was breached in any way, but my modifications won’t allow this to happen.” He eyed Desh. “Unfortunately, I can’t program these two guys to ignore you,” he said.
Desh didn’t appear concerned about this in the least. “You’ve done great, Matt,” he said warmly. “With no alarms or video of our approach, they shouldn’t be much trouble.”
“So what’s the plan?” asked the major.
All eyes turned to Desh. Even though he was no longer in the military—and even if he was, both Connelly and Metzger would have outranked him—everyone knew this was his show.
“I don’t think confronting Putnam right now buys us much,” began Desh. “Capture, followed by torture, might be an option at some point, but I wouldn’t suggest it as a first move.” He paused. “Comments? Disagreements?”
There was silence for several long moments, but no one objected.
“When do you think capturing Putnam would be the right move?” asked Connelly.
“When we’ve tried all other avenues,” said Desh. “As a last resort. And just after he’s reset Kira’s implant.” He paused. “Putnam’s probably been conditioned to withstand truth drugs. But given twelve hours we might be able to persuade him, in ways he wouldn’t find pleasant, to stop his viral attack and give us the code to disarm the device in Kira’s head.”
“But then again, we might not,” noted Metzger.
“Right,” said Desh. “That’s why we should try other approaches first.”
“I assume we start with his house,” said Metzger.
Desh nodded. “It’d be a shame not to after super-Matt here went to all the trouble to make it easy for us. I propose we wait for Putnam to leave for work and then break in. That will probably give us a good eight hours to search his house, and for Matt to have quality time with his computer. The goals will be twofold: one, learn anything we can about Putnam’s connection to terrorists and how to stop his plan from succeeding. Two, try to find out anything we can about the device in Kira’s skull and how to disarm it.”
Desh surveyed the group, looking each member of the team firmly in the eye. Each nodded in turn.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Kira supportively.
Desh looked at his watch. He was exhausted, as they all were, but they wouldn’t have the luxury of rest for a long time yet. A stanza from a favorite Robert Frost poem drifted across his consciousness:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.