"Ulysses," Armont's voice was coming over the radio, mixed with static. "Do you copy?"
At least they're okay, Vance thought. "Transmission is lousy, Sirene. What happened?"
"We had to take a swim. About twenty klicks too soon."
"Which means we definitely scratch the original ETA, right? Does the twenty-four still look firm?"
"Assuming we don't get any more surprises. This one is turning into a bitch."
"Don't they all?" Vance said.
"Everybody is in good shape. So nothing else has changed."
Vance looked around the mountain and wished he could believe that. The whole thing could have been over in another three or four hours. Now the terrorists had time to arm the vehicles and maybe even get one up. Life was about to get a lot more complicated.
He finally spoke into the mike. "Let's keep in radio contact. The deployment here keeps changing. Who knows what it'll be like by then."
"We roger that." Armont spoke quickly to somebody else, then came back. "There should be plenty of time to chat."
"For you, maybe, but I'm not so sure how much spare time there's going to be on this end. I'll try to hold everything down till 0200 tomorrow, but it's going to be tough. If you can't raise me, then just proceed as planned. I'll be expendable."
“That's a touching sentiment, Ulysses, but you know that's not the way we work. Our people always come first."
"Keep thinking that way. It's an inspiring concept."
"Okay, we'll review procedures and wait to hear from you. That's all for now."
"Roger. Have fun." He sighed.