"Dan Brown - Digital Fortress (v2.0)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Dan)

"Susan." He sighed. "I really can't go into it now, they've got a car waiting. I'll call you
from the plane and explain everything."
"Plane?" she repeated. "What's going on? Why would the university...?"
"It's not the university. I'll phone and explain later. I've really got to go; they're calling for
me. I'll be in touch. I promise."
"David!" she cried. "What's--"
But it was too late. David had hung up.
Susan Fletcher lay awake for hours waiting for him to call back. The phone never rang.
* * *
Later that afternoon Susan sat dejected in the tub. She submerged herself in the soapy
water and tried to forget Stone Manor and the Smoky Mountains. Where could he be? she
wondered. Why hasn't he called?
Gradually the water around her went from hot to lukewarm and finally to cold. She was
about to get out when her cordless phone buzzed to life. Susan bolted upright, sloshing
water on the floor as she grappled for the receiver she'd left on the sink.
"David?"
"It's Strathmore," the voice replied.
Susan slumped. "Oh." She was unable to hide her disappointment. "Good afternoon,
Commander."
"Hoping for a younger man?" The voice chuckled.
"No, sir," Susan said, embarrassed. "It's not how it--"
"Sure it is." He laughed. "David Becker's a good man. Don't ever lose him."
"Thank you, sir."
The commander's voice turned suddenly stern. "Susan, I'm calling because I need you in
here. Pronto."
She tried to focus. "It's Saturday, sir. We don't usually--"
"I know," he said calmly. "It's an emergency."
Susan sat up. Emergency? She had never heard the word cross Commander Strathmore's
lips. An emergency? In Crypto? She couldn't imagine. "Y-yes, sir." She paused. "I'll be
there as soon as I can."
"Make it sooner." Strathmore hung up.
* * *
Susan Fletcher stood wrapped in a towel and dripped on the neatly folded clothes she'd
set out the night before--hiking shorts, a sweater for the cool mountain evenings, and the
new lingerie she'd bought for the nights. Depressed, she went to her closet for a clean
blouse and skirt. An emergency? In Crypto?
As she went downstairs, Susan wondered how the day could get much worse.
She was about to find out.

CHAPTER 2

Thirty thousand feet above a dead-calm ocean, David Becker stared miserably from the
Learjet 60's small, oval window. He'd been told the phone on board was out of order, and
he'd never had a chance to call Susan.
"What am I doing here?" he grumbled to himself. But the answer was simple--there were
men to whom you just didn't say no.
"Mr. Becker," the loudspeaker crackled. "We'll be arriving in half an hour."
Becker nodded gloomily to the invisible voice. Wonderful. He pulled the shade and tried
to sleep. But he could only think of her.