Shock of War Read Online Free

over.
    Buck up. Don’t go to pieces on me now.
    â€œWhat’s this about?” Zeus asked calmly.
    The officer ignored him, examining the documents. Though the room was small, it had a pair of air-conditioning vents, and it actually seemed cool.
    The man said something in Chinese. The two men near the door, barely a foot away from Zeus, stiffened.
    â€œGo with them,” the officer said to him.
    â€œWhat is this about?” asked Zeus, a little harsher.
    â€œGo.”
    â€œOur passports.”
    â€œGo.”
    The officer stared so hard Zeus thought he was going to go cross-eyed. The passports remained in his hand.
    What would he do if Zeus grabbed them from his hand?
    Fight.
    Zeus could bowl him over with a swipe of his hand, a hard shot to his throat. Then push against the other two goons behind him, grab one of their guns. But that left the other two men for Christian.
    The major had surprised him over the past few days, but he was worn down now, tired by everything they’d done.
    And what would they do next? Even if they had their weapons?
    One of the men opened the door and stepped back into the hallway. Zeus followed warily, trying to decide what to do next.
    â€œWhat the hell are they up to?” asked Christian, walking alongside of him. “Are they arresting us? Or what?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œMaybe they’re going to take us out and shoot us.”
    Maybe, thought Zeus.
    The man leading them walked toward the main part of the terminal. He took long strides. Zeus quickened his own pace, closing the distance. He glanced over his shoulder; Christian lagged nearly five yards behind, with the other guard a short distance behind him.
    This seemed too casual for an arrest. But maybe that was the idea: keep things calm so there was less chance of trouble.
    Zeus closed the distance between him and the Chinese soldier. He reached his hand up, plotting what he would do—grab the man’s shoulder, pull him around, hit him with his other fist. But before he was quite close enough, the soldier turned slightly and pushed against a glass door that led to a set of steel stairs outside the building.
    Zeus followed. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the harsh light; when they did, he saw an armored personnel carrier sitting about ten yards away. Light spilled from the interior. A half-dozen soldiers sat inside, assault guns between splayed legs, cigarette smoke wafting across the warm night air. There were more soldiers, and more vehicles, a short distance away.
    â€œWe are truly fucked,” said Christian, coming down the steps.
    The man behind them said something in Chinese; probably Hurry up. Their guide was approaching a large two-and-a-half-ton truck beyond the APC.
    Zeus rubbed his face. He’d missed his chance inside. With all these guards around, what the hell was he going to do?
    And where the hell was Solt?

6
    UN building, New York City
    Mara Duncan stared at Josh MacArthur on the video, watching as he answered the questions from the correspondents a few rooms away. There was no sound; the video was streaming from a security unit, wired to cover the conference room in case of emergencies. But the lack of sound was perfect: it made it easier for Mara to watch him for some answer to the riddle of why she had fallen for the guy.
    Because she was definitely attracted to him. Which didn’t make a lot of sense.
    Mara swiveled in the chair. The small office was one of several backups scattered throughout the complex. Her UN security escort had ducked out to get them some lunch.
    Josh was intellectual, a scientist. She was not. Not that she was dumb, by any means. Going by her grades in college, certainly, she was anything but a dope. But she preferred outdoor things like hiking and waterskiing and even parachute jumping to reading. And when she did read, it was more along the lines of a mystery or something, not a scientific treatise.
    What she