Free Agent Hill: Powerless by James Hunt Page B

documents. Our field agents are out there, waiting for some type of word from us, and if Demps figures out where any of them are, the—”
    “Bryce,” Sarah said, grabbing his hand, “we’ll get everyone back online.” He nodded, and Sarah picked up the barf bag and set it in his lap. “Just in case.”
    Mack walked over with the commander, and Sarah and Bryce rose to their feet.
    “Sarah, Bryce, this is Commander Fryson,” Mack said. “He and I went to basic together.”
    “A long time ago,” Fryson said, shaking both Sarah’s and Bryce’s hands. “Glad to have you on board.”
    “We appreciate the ride,” Bryce said.
    “So, Commander, I bet you have some very interesting stories about Mack from his wild younger days. You know, back when he had hair and he wasn’t so angry, and he probably got busted for some type of ridiculous prank.”
    Fryson laughed. “I probably have one or two stories along those lines.”
    “This is going to be a long flight,” Mack said.

Chapter 7
    The tires of the massive four-wheel-drive vehicle crushed the freshly layered snow underneath, leaving a wake of tracks through the surrounding forest. The camouflaged army Humvee was a loaner from Commander Fryson once they had landed in Anchorage. The flight over had been an interesting one, with Sarah and Bryce learning more about Mack as a younger man, but what was even more interesting was the number of soldiers that had landed with them.
    The only resource the Alaskan wilderness provided at the moment was the oil pipeline, but there wasn’t any way they’d be able to station soldiers along the entire thing. They were here on different orders, ones the commander refused to tell her.
    “How far back did you put this thing?” Bryce asked.
    “Pretty far,” Mack answered, their heads bobbing back and forth on their necks from the rough Alaskan terrain. “I wanted to make sure it didn’t run the risk of someone finding it by accident. No one goes in these parts, not even hunters.”
    “Well, you did a hell of a job, boss,” Sarah said.
    “There,” Mack said, pointing into the distance, and Sarah could see the faint outline of a geometrical square stuck in the middle of the forest’s unrestricted shapes.
    They pulled up and stepped out into the cold, the water vapors from their breath forming small, misty clouds. All three of them were bundled up in winter gear. Sarah checked the temperature gauge on the dashboard before shutting the door. “Well, it’s a crisp one degree outside. But the good news is it only feels like ten degrees.”
    “I can’t feel my face,” Bryce said.
    “Grab the gear out of the back, and keep your eyes peeled,” Mack said. “God knows we haven’t been on our A game lately.”
    Sarah helped Bryce lug the computers through the knee-deep snow. Luckily, her boots had built-in heaters, which cut through the snow drifts like a hot knife through butter. They had to dig out the front door in order to get inside, and an equally cold burst of air greeted their entrance.
    “I wouldn’t suppose you had whoever built this install some heaters in it, would you?” Sarah asked, setting the cases of equipment down and helping Bryce with his.
    “Once we get the servers up and running, this place will warm up real quick,” Bryce answered then turned to Mack. “How are we powering this thing?”
    “You remember that solar cell project we had a hand in researching a while back that was a massive failure?” Mack asked.
    “Yeah,” Bryce answered.
    “It wasn’t a failure.” A small lever sat on the side wall, and when Mack flipped it up, the servers booted up, and a few overhanging lights turned on. “This facility is completely off grid and one hundred percent solar powered.”
    “Going green,” Sarah said. “Very liberal of you, sir. I’m impressed.”
    “We worked on that project for almost eighteen months!” Bryce said, rushing over to the servers and examining their start-up sequences. He