The countdown
was just beyond two hours five minutes. The jeep stopped at the edge of
a crowd around three more trucks, and Doctor Eugenio Galvez, the
director of the Institute, left the crowd and approached at an awkward
half-run as they got down.
"Is everything checked, gentlemen?" he wanted to know.
"It was this afternoon at 1730," Pitov told him. "And nobody's been
burning my telephone to report anything different. Are the balloons and
the drone planes ready?"
"The Air Force just finished checking; they're ready. Captain Urquiola
flew one of the planes over the course and made a guidance-tape; that's
been duplicated and all the planes are equipped with copies."
"How's the wind?" Richardson asked.
"Still steady. We won't have any trouble about fallout or with the
balloons."
"Then we'd better go back to the bunker and make sure everybody there is
on the job."
The loudspeaker was counting down to Two Hours One Minute.
"Could you spare a few minutes to talk to the press?" Eugenio Galvez
asked. "And perhaps say a few words for telecast? This last is most
important; we can't explain too many times the purpose of this
experiment.
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