Desert Dark Read Online Free Page B

complete basic strength training five days a week. There are
no
casual Fridays.”
    â€œDean Wolfe, Director Vincent is on line one.” Ms. McGill’s voice sounded over the telephone’s intercom.
    â€œExcuse me.”
    Nadia stood. “Should I wait outside?”
    â€œNo, no. Sit.” He picked up the phone. “This is Thadius Wolfe. No, sir, not at the moment. Yes, we shipped everything to her parents. As a matter of fact,” he glanced at Nadia, “she’s here with me now. Yes sir. I’ll speak to you then.” He hung up. “Where were we?”
    â€œNo casual Fridays.”
    â€œRight. Laundry is delivered weekly to your room. Do you have any questions?”
    She almost asked about room service, but he hadn’t seemed to enjoy her first joke. She shook her head.
    â€œYou’ve been assigned to a standard team: four juniors, a senior advisor. Your success at Desert Mountain is largely determined by your ability to function as a group. I cannot overstate the importance of team unity. You eat together, you work together, you train together. Do you understand?”
    Nadia smiled. “Not a problem. I love working with others,” she lied.
    â€œMs. McGill will introduce you to your roommate, Libby Bishop.”
    â€œSounds great.”
    Dean Wolfe presented Nadia with her class schedule. “We have one more item of business, then you’re free to go.”
    â€œOkay.” She glanced at the paper.
Psychology, Political Science, Diplomacy . . . Arabic? Seriously?
    â€œIt’s time to meet the psychiatrist.”

7
JACK FELKIN
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
    Jack Felkin sat on the second-story patio outside the Navajo Building and looked across campus. The misters attached to the overhead beams did little to cool the air. He wiped the sweat from his neck and glanced at his roommate’s notebook.
    That figures
. Noah was drawing a caricature of the kid at the next table. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” Jack asked.
    Noah grinned. “What’s better than this?”
    â€œIt’s a real comfort knowing guys like you will be in charge of our Nation’s security.”
    â€œYou know what your problem is? You take yourself too seriously.”
    â€œGreat. And now you sound like my mother.” She claimed he buried himself in his studies to avoid real life. Sure, he’d always been a committed student, perhaps to a fault. But there were so many books to read, languages he should learn.
    â€œDon’t worry about me,” Noah assured Jack. “I’ll get my work done. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you, is Libby seeing anyone?”
    Jack shook his head. He and Noah were seniors, and both had been chosen as team leaders. He didn’t understand Noah’s willingness to waste study time in pointless pursuits: sketching, speculating about girls. More annoying than his slacker attitude was the fact that Noah’s inattention to academics didn’t seem toaffect his GPA. He and Jack were still neck and neck. “Stay away from her. I don’t want you poisoning the well.”
    â€œDon’t be like that.”
    â€œI’m not kidding,” Jack said.
    â€œI think we’d be really good together.”
    Jack did his best to block out Noah’s voice. Something had happened Friday afternoon, right on the heels of Drew’s death, and it had nagged at him all weekend.
    â€œThe poor girl just lost her roommate,” Noah said.
    Jack and a group of classmates had been leaving Improvised Munitions. In the hallway around the corner, two of his professors had stood talking. He’d caught bits of the conversation: something about a double agent on campus. They obviously hadn’t known the students were there.
    â€œI should console her,” Noah continued.
    â€œSeriously,” Jack said. “Don’t mess with my team.”
What if it’s true?
The idea of