Coppersmith dropped his hand from Landsiedel's shoulder and sat on the edge of the desk. He opened his hands in a gesture of helplessness and finality.
Landsiedel stood up. "Yes, sir," he said.
It was then that they both noticed Captain Lomax. Completely silent, she was weeping. They could see the tears roll down her cheeks and see the effort she was making to regularize her breathing. She broke away from them and ran out of the room.
V. OUTFITTERS TO CATASTROPHE
Captain Lomax was waiting for Dugan when he emerged from General Coppersmith's inner office late the next morning. She had been watching the telltale light in her lamp base, hoping that the general would cut her in, but she had received no signal.
Ignoring the chance that Coppersmith might follow Dugan through the door, she seized Dugan's arm and said:
"Has he given you orders?"
Dugan nodded calmly. "You're an inquisitive person. Yes, he gave me orders."
Sarah cried out, "He told you to succeed or not to come back! He told you to die!"
"Sh-h-h," said Dugan, "that's just his way of talking. I'm no worse off than I was yesterday, or will be tomorrow. Anyhow, my orders are classified. We can't talk about them privately." He grinned at her expression. "You're not being official, are you, Captain?"