The Omega Missile

Epilogue

Thorpe was lying in bed, his feet swathed in bandages, his leg in a cast. Chief Warrant Officer Maysun was next to the bed in his wheelchair, his own broken leg extended straight forward.

"Unbelievable," Maysun was saying. "They must have been packing a lot of JP-4 in that C-130. The largest piece the Coast Guard has picked up from the ocean floor so far was only about five feet long." Maysun shook his head. "All that money, too. Just gone. Poof. They've found some bills but most of it must have been shredded by the bomb."

"McKenzie could have cut the pod loose and saved himself," Thorpe said. "He was too greedy."

Maysun changed the subject. "Hey, you think we'll get Purple Hearts? I mean, we were—" He paused as Major Parker walked in, wearing her blue uniform.

Maysun turned for the door. "I think it’s time for—" He scratched his head. "Well, something."

Thorpe held up a hand. "Hey, Maysun. I am sorry about Kelly."

Maysun's playful look disappeared. "Yeah. I talked to General Lowcraft. He says no matter what, she gets the Purple Heart. Guess they'll pin it on her casket."

"She saved our lives, and by doing that she saved a lot of lives," Thorpe said.

"Yeah, I know that. Too bad she never got to know it. Later." He rolled out the door, nodding at Parker as he went.

Parker walked to the edge of the bed and looked down at Thorpe. He raised his arm and she took his hand and shook it.

"You look better."

"I feel better," Thorpe said.

"How long did it take for them to dig you out?" Thorpe asked.

"A day and a half," Parker said. "I'd have been here sooner but they kept me in Washington, testifying."

Thorpe nodded. "The shit's hit the fan."

"That's understating it." She sat down on a hard, wooden chair. "Kilten was right. If it hadn't been for McKenzie, maybe he could have made his point without anyone getting hurt. At the very least Kilten nailed Hill and his aide. They're going to jail for a very long time."

"I don't suppose anyone will ever know all that Kilten had planned now that he's dead," Thorpe said.

Parker nodded her head in agreement.

"What happened wasn't all bad," Thorpe said.

"No, it wasn't. It's changed a lot of things for me. The point is, from the way people are talking in Washington, it sounds like we're going to put the people back into the system. Thinking people. Feeling people. People who will be willing to take apart what Kilten spent decades putting together."

"People like you?" Thorpe asked.

"Like I am now," Parker corrected. "I'm staying. I can do more good from the inside."

But Thorpe was looking past her at the woman in the wheelchair and the child standing in his doorway.

"Dad!"

"Hey, Tommy!"

The young boy ran over and jumped up on the other side of the bed. Thorpe looked from the boy to the woman. "Hey, Lisa."

Major Parker looked from Thorpe to his wife and back. "I think you can do good somewhere else."

Thorpe nodded, his arm around Tommy and his focus still on his wife. "I think so, too."