Radclyffe - Honor Guards

0900 10Sep2001

Report; Strike Team One pilots have departed for Portland, Maine- Remaining members of Teams One and Two have secured accommodations at Boston area hotels.

1230 10 September 2001

"There's something particularly sinful about leaving the office in the middle of the day," Renee Savard remarked as she leaned back into Stark's arms. They sat on the grass a top a knoll that overlooked the Pond in Central Park. Although the walking path was only fifteen yards behind them, they were secluded from casual view by the trees and shrubs that bordered one of the most idyllic spots in the park.

"Oh, I don't know." Stark clasped her arms loosely around Renee's waist, settled her chest against Renee's back, and nuzzled her lips behind her lover's ear. "Everybody's entitled to a lunch hour, even important FBI agents."

"Yes," Renee laughed and tilted her head back, turning her face to kiss Stark's neck, "but I don't think they're supposed to sneak off to meet their lovers in Central Park."

"Well, we could've gone with my idea."

"Oh, sure," Renee scoffed. "I'd really be able to go back to the office and bore through a hundred field reports about potential subversive activity after having a nooner with you."

"Do you think it will be any easier going back to work thinking about it?" Stark nibbled on Renee's earlobe. "But not having done anything?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to tease me." Renee snugged her hips a little tighter into the space between Stark's legs and wrapped her arm around the outside of Stark's thigh. She smoothed her palm up and down the undersurface of her lover's leg.

"Oh, right," Stark said, her voice husky. "And you're not teasing?"

"Nope. I'm just appreciating you."

"Could you appreciate me a little further north?"

"Not unless you want to risk getting arrested."

Stark sighed. "Actually, I'd almost take the chance. You make me feel so good, I can barely think of anything else."

Head cushioned on Stark's shoulder, Renee regarded her tenderly. "Do you know that I spend 90 percent of my waking hours thinking about making love with you?"

"I still can't believe you...want me."

"Oh, sweetie," Renee breathed, "I am certifiably crazy over you."

"I keep expecting to wake up and find out this was all some fabulous dream." Stark kissed the corner of Renee's mouth and held her more tightly. "I didn't have any idea how good it could be."

"Neither did I." I'd even stopped dreaming.

"You know," Stark said softly, rocking Renee gently in her embrace, "tomorrow will be three weeks since you came to stay with me."

"It seems so much longer sometimes, as if I'd always been there with you." Renee's tone was quiet, uncharacteristically subdued. Contemplatively, she ran her fingertips up and down the trouser seam on the inside of Stark's leg. "But you're right. Tomorrow our trial living-together period will be over."

"Uh-huh." Cautiously, Stark asked, "So, where do we go from here?"

"I guess we need to talk about that."

"I have the split shift tonight—I won't be home until late."

"Mmm, and we'll both have to be up and out again early in the morning." Renee kissed Stark's neck. "I think we should go out to dinner tomorrow night, some place secluded and romantic."

"That sounds kind of positive." Stark's heart was suddenly racing. Say you'll stay. "Are you going to give me a hint?"

"Oh, I don't think so." Renee curved her arm back and spread her fingers into Stark's hair, drawing her head down. Against Stark's mouth, she whispered, "Just remember how good it is when I make you wait."

Closing her eyes, Stark groaned softly just before Renee's kiss claimed her.

2330 l0Sep0l

The phone rang in a back room in a dingy apartment in Chelsea.

"Yeah," the Patriot leader rasped.

"Our target has returned to the nest. We have a green light."

"How many opposition forces can we anticipate?" The heavyset man gave a thumbs-up sign to his three comrades, who sat around a low table cleaning their rifles and readying for the morning assault.

"The routine briefing will be over by 0830, and only the day team will be on-site. Three, maybe four people in the command center, and one in the lobby." In a flat, emotionless tone, the Secret Service agent went on, "I'll handle things upstairs while you eliminate the person on the door and secure the exits."

"What about Roberts?"

"I'll make certain she doesn't get in the way."

"Tomorrow is the dawn of a new era in this country," the large man in the khaki fatigues said fervently. "And may God bless us all."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

0430 11Sep0l

Patriot encampment, Tennessee

G eneral Matheson, in a crisp, starched khaki uniform with his rank insignia gleaming on his collar, sat down behind his desk and with a steady hand opened a predetermined satellite channel to monitor the real-time events that were about to reshape history and define his destiny. He pictured a heavily bearded man in coarse, dirty robes, crouched in the caves of his mountain stronghold half a world away, doing the same. They were not compatriots, merely temporary allies forged by necessity, and though their motivations differed, their goal was the same—to demonstrate to the world the weakness and decay at the heart of the greatest superpower history had ever known.

Whatever success their parallel battle plans achieved, life as they knew it was about to change forever.

0500 11 September 2001

Cam awakened without the benefit of the alarm, slipped quickly from bed, and pulled a T-shirt and gym shorts from her bureau. She dressed quickly and walked to the window that faced Gramercy Park. Across the square, above the trees, she could see the windows of Blair's loft. They were dark now, but the lights had still been burning at 2:00 a.m. when she'd finally gone to bed. She imagined that Blair had been painting, or perhaps reading, and when she herself had been unable to fall asleep, she'd briefly contemplated calling her. She had resisted the impulse, however, because sometimes hearing Blair's voice and knowing that she was so close was harder to bear than the simple pain of missing her.

With a sigh, Cam pushed the nonproductive thoughts away and buckled on a small pack containing her beeper, cell phone weapon, and credentials.

After the briefing, I'll surprise Blair and take her out to breakfast. For once, her schedule is clear.

As she started her run, Cam thought fleetingly of how pleasant it would be to have a few unhurried hours with her lover.

0545 11Sep0l

Report: Confirmed - Team One pilots have passed through security check in Portland, Maine. Departure as scheduled for Logan Airport, Boston.

0550 11 September 2001

With her arm around Renee's waist and her breasts against Renee's back, Stark nuzzled her face in the sweet, warm skin of Renee's neck. "What kind of disciplinary action do you think we'd get if we skipped work today?"

Lazily, Renee turned onto her back and threaded both arms around Stark's neck, guiding her lover down on top of her. Lids heavy with the remnants of sleep and the first stirrings of desire, she murmured, "Do you have something besides duty in mind?"

"Oh, yeah," Stark said with a grin, settling her hips between Renee's thighs. "First I thought I'd start with this." She dipped her head and nipped the tip of Renee's chin, then licked the spot as Renee arched beneath her with a gasp of surprised pleasure. "And then," she ran her tongue slowly over Renee's lower lip, "I thou—"

"Sweetie," Renee interrupted, her voice pitched low and husky, "I have to leave in thirty-five minutes."