Chapter 90: Chapter Thirty-six

He forgot about his discomfort when O'Neil met him in his tent.

"We may have found them, sir," she said without preamble. "There is a region north of us between two fair sized lakes within possible travel distance. The choppers saw some heat signatures and what might be trails."

"Are they sure the heat signatures are people and not moose or something?" The Colonel stripped off his outer layers and laid them to the side for his aide to clean and put away. He decided to switch to his customary dress blues for the strategy meeting he was going to call immediately.

"The sensors are calibrated to human temperature," she said. "Oh for goodness sake, let me take care of that. You won't be able to concentrate in the meeting. He felt her cool hands down the front of his base layer. She gripped him hard.

"We don't have time for this," he said.