The Sphinx

CHAPTER 19

As the clock ticked through nine hours, the blue line representing the talon intersected with Stratzyda’s red line on the master board at the front of the Cube. Major Quinn and Kincaid watched from the rear of the room, hoping that each would continue on its same trajectory.

“How long?” Quinn asked Kincaid.

“We’ll know in about a minute,” the JPL man answered.

There was silence in the room as every eye watched the screen that relayed data from Space Command buried deep under Cheyenne Mountain on the other side of the Rocky Mountains from Area 51.

The screen blacked out for a quarter of a second as a new update was posted. Both lines moved a fraction of an inch adjacent to each other to the east. The dotted line indicating Stratzyda’s normal orbit disappeared.

“Ah, hell,” Kincaid muttered.