Chapter 400

Inside the hotel room, “Any luck with the signal yet?” A tall man paced back and forth, holding up a makeshift antenna dish that looked like a pot lid. He’d been doing this nonstop all night. “Not yet. Stop moving. The signal’s super weak. Stay close to the window. Don’t move, seriously.” Alan Parker kept tapping away at his foldable mini laptop, muttering as he worked. Before they crossed the border, they had ditched their cell phones. After arriving in Yland, any local phones they used would be vulnerable to spying. So when it came time to reach out to command back home, they only dared use a military-issue encrypted comms device—but actually getting a signal out with it was a nightmare. “Come on, man. The wedding’s in just a few days. If we don’t connect today, there’s no way we’ll have time to set up the ambush. Forget rescuing her if this keeps up. The captain's waiting on us.” “You think yelling’s gonna help? Want to give it a shot yourself?” Alan looked seriously burned out. The