Designated Targets

They motored away from the island of light back into the dark bowl of the Valley, heading toward the glow of Sepulveda and Ventura. No blackout covered the L.A. Basin, which lay under the protection of an all-seeing Nemesis array. Traffic along Ventura was heavier, with a lot of cars from the city having hauled themselves over Cahuenga Pass and down into the Valley for a look-see. The neon signs of burger joints and all-night bars were strung along the side of the road like cheap Christmas lights. A dusty coupe sped past, full of teenagers who cheered and waved at the Humvee before powering into the night.

“Probably going to park outside a strip club for a couple of hours,” said Kolhammer. “Trying to work up the courage to talk their way in.”

“I saw my share of strippers in Paris during the Great War,” said Stephenson. “I doubt there’s much would surprise me here.”

“Yeah?” said Kolhammer, who knew he was wrong.

The strip fell behind as he pointed the car at the foothills below the Hollywood ridgeline. The edge of the Zone was up there, at the boundary with L.A. A few lonesome lights winked at them from behind trees hiding the mansions of movie stars and producers. More of his loyal subjects.

For a while he’d had to assign two lieutenants to the job of screening him from the depredations of studio executives who thought the most important thing about the Transition was the access it gave them to a vast library of their own product they hadn’t had to spend a dollar actually making. As frustrating as it was—and he’d come this close to shooting Sam Goldwyn—it had led him to make a decision that would probably alter the course of history as profoundly as the disaster at Midway had. It just wouldn’t be as obvious or spectacular.

He agreed with everything that Stephenson had said earlier. But he’d also been speaking true when he said he was no position to get into a public brawl with Hoover, or any of the forces behind him. If his arrival here was going to mean anything beyond chaos and madness, Admiral Phillip Kolhammer would have to be willing to reach out and shape events with his own hands. But he could not be seen to be doing so.

He’d given a lot of thought to the problem, and in the end he could see no way around it.

He had carefully drawn up his plans, selected the right personnel, and put them to work in the Quiet Room.

9

PT 101, CORAL SEA, SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

The tropical night was inky black, but out on deck, the wraparound goggles, which seemed to mold themselves onto the face, turned everything a bright emerald green. Everybody tried them at least once, and the worst anyone could say was that you lost a little depth perception, but it was a hell of a lot better than groping around in the dark.

“I’ll bet somebody back home is making a packet, building these things,” Chief Rollins said as they bumped over a slight swell on their way out.

“Not these, Chief,” Lohrey replied. “That’s a sixth-generation set of Oakleys you got there. The gelform seal alone is about seven decades beyond what you could manufacture here. But you’re still right. At least two British and three U.S. companies are working on prototypes of a basic NVG. Of course, the Germans will be doing the same.”

“What about the Japs, ma’am?” asked a young seaman.

“Doubt it. Not if they’re smart, anyway. German optics are much more advanced. Tokyo would be better off leaving it to them, and not duplicating the effort.”

Peering at the screen, Kennedy checked his position against Ross’s boat. They were both booming along at top speed, following directions given by Lohrey and Chief Flemming, who talked to each other as though they stood just a few feet apart, rather than riding on separate boats. The night was particularly warm, and the blast of air across the decks was refreshing after having hidden out in the stillness of the mangroves all day.

The pilothouse was lit by Lohrey’s glowing data slates, but they had covered the boat’s windows with heavy black plastic. To steer, the helmsmen on both PTs were using the feed from a couple of dinky little “battle-cams.” Lohrey and Flemming had rigged them up that afternoon, before spending a couple of hours acquainting the crewmen with the most basic functions of the equipment they’d brought on board. “Just in case we get killed,” Lohrey had said in an offhand manner that had unsettled Kennedy.