"Twelve minutes, Colonel," someone behind Wade said.
He wiped his dry lips as he flicked his eyes in the direction of the Major in charge of the control panel. The Major gave him a tight smile. Wade nodded. Major Gormely was a good man ... they were all good men. Wade felt proud to be part of the team.
He took in the radar man checking the never-ending sweep of the beam. Frank Piluis, a tall, lanky man of twenty-three. He was checking the screen, adjusting, as if his own life depended on its operation instead of a man he hardly knew.
Wade checked his own screen again.
The Starfrost was so silent ... so latent ... so important. Wade found Tomer creeping into his thoughts again. He shut the thought out quickly. Wade was a military man. He had orders to forget Tomer. He gave orders. He also had to take them.
Wade became mindful of someone standing behind him. He turned. The man was tall, wearing the cloak of authority in the very way he smiled. Distinguished looking streaks of gray ran over his once brown hair. Tiny wrinkles at the eyes told that he was a man with a sense of humor even though pressed with responsibility.
"A penny for your thoughts, Wade." The Secretary of Defense said as Boeman got up. Wade wondered if the man had been in the control room all the time. He hadn't seen him.
"They aren't worth it, Harry," he answered, offering his hand.
"As bad as that," the Secretary laughed. "Here we are on the edge of a History making moment and you're wasting your time with worthless thoughts."
Worthless thoughts. Wade wondered if they were, really.