"It is, is it? I understand you've got still another casualty. What's happened to your defensive capabilities?"
"That was an accident, sir. The jeep—"
"We'll review that matter at a later date. What I'm calling about is more important right now. The code men have made some headway on that box of yours. It's putting out a sort of transmission."
"What kind, sir?"
"Half the message—it's only twenty seconds long, repeated—is in English. It's a fragment of a recording from a daytime radio program; one of the network men here identified it. The rest is gibberish. They're still working over it."
"What—"
"Bryant tells me he thinks there may be some sort of correspondence between the two parts of the message. I wouldn't know, myself. In my opinion, it's a threat of some sort."
"I agree, General. An ultimatum."
"Right. Keep your men back at a safe distance from now on. I want no more casualties."