Midnight Sun (118 page)

“
This
feels
like
a
movie,
”
Hilde
said.
“
Like
it
isn
’
t
real.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Mike
replied
.
“
I
pray
it
isn
’
t
real.
That
we
’
re
overreacting
and
w
e’ll
all
be
laughing
about
it
in
a
couple
of
hours.
”

“
Do
you
think
Kharzai
really
turned?
”

“
I
wish
I
knew.
”

Tonia
saw
them
from
the
raised
platform
,
where
she
was
watching
a
group
of
technicians
lay
ing
cables
for
the
microphones
and
speaker
system.
She
left the work and
crossed
toward
them
quickly,
an
uncharacteristically
serious
expression
on
her
face,
her
lips
pursed
and
her
eyes
hard
with
what
was
either
determination
or
anger.

“
Hey,
”
she
said.
“
Have
you
seen
Tony?
”

“
No,
”
Hilde
answered
.

“
He
’
s
supposed
to
liaise
with
me
during
the
speech
so
we
can
make
sure
our
agencies
talk
to
each
other.
”

As
she
spoke
,
Tomer
’
s
huge
frame
lumbered
around
the
stage
and
moved
toward
them.
Tonia
’
s
expression
instantly
brightened
until
she
noticed
Hilde
restraining
a
smile.
She
cleared
her
throat
and
forced
her
face
back
to
a
stern
expression.
Her
eyes
still
sparkled
as
he
approached.

“
Sorry,
got
hung
up
with
some
last
-
minute
orders
from
the
SAC.
We
just
got
a
set
of
frequency
jammers
to
block
cell
phones
and
the
majority
of
frequencies
used
in
most
types
of
detonators.
We
tried
them
out
and
discovered
a
bit
too
late
that
they
also
block
the
same
frequency
as
a
lot
of
the
radio
equipment.
”

“
What?
”
Hilde
said
.
“
Didn
’
t
anyone
think
to
check
that
ahead
of
time?
”

“
Apparently
not,
”
Tomer
said.
“
Any
agency radios less
than fifty
feet
from
the
stage
will be fine, but anything outside of that is likely
to be jammed
.
We can’t jam right around the stage because we need to guarantee the security detail radios work, but
our
guys
put
together
the
stage
and
everything
,
and
we
’
ve
been
manning
it
from
the
beginning
so I can’t imagine a bomb up there
.
”

“
Man
,
oh
man,
”
Mike
said.
“
So you’re telling us that we won’t be able to talk during this whole?
”

“
Outside
that
fifty
-
foot
zone
,
even
the
Secret
Service
headsets
only
work
about
half
the
time.
Same
with
our
FBI
radios
—best
we
can
do.
Local
police
are
out
of
luck.
”

“
Can't
we
just
not
run
the
jammer?
”
Hilde
asked
with
a
tone
of
exasperated
sarcasm.

“
Nope,
”
Tomer
said.
“
President's
security
chief
insists
we
use
it.
Said
that
since
the
Secret
Service
can
mostly
hear
each
other
,
they
can
just
speak
slower
and
it
should
be
al
l
right.
”