Games of State

CHAPTER SIXTY

When data began coming into Eddie Medina's computer from Matt Stoll in France, the young man took off his coat, sat back down, and told his evening replacement, Assistant Deputy Operations Support Officer Randall Battle, to notify General Rodgers.

Battle did, just as Stoll's:-) signature faded. It was replaced by a screen which announced a big file called L'Operation Ecouter.

Rodgers had Battle send the material to his own computer. Then he too watched the feed with Darrell McCaskey and Martha Mackall.

First up was a note from Stoll.

Eddie: I don't want to eat up too much line-time with notes.

Bulldozer cracked the Demain files. Primaries were erased but backups weren't. I'm going to download everything from this file.

Following the note were photographs of people who served as models for characters in the game. After these came test segments showing white men chasing black men and women. White men raping a black woman. A black man being torn apart by dogs. Then there was a note from Stoll.

Real games being hatched from a nest somewhere else. Point of origin well hidden.

There were different angles of black men and women hanging from trees. A bonus round in which a kid raced against a clock while he used black boys on swings for target practice. Martha was stone-faced. McCaskey's lips were rolled tight, his eyes narrow.

Ed— I must've set off an alarm of some kind. People running all around. Our French escort Colonel Ballon has got his hand full of gun.

I'm supposed to get down— bye.

The images continued to come in for a few moments longer but Rodgers wasn't watching them. He had switched to an alternate computer line, and within seconds had been patched through to the cockpit of the V-22 Osprey.