No bullet. He came near her, and stopped when she said, "This is as close as you should come, or they'll worry and shoot you."
"You control those soldiers?" asked Suriyawong.
"Don't you know me yet?" she said. "I'm Virlomi. I was ahead of you in Battle School."
He knew the name. He would never have recognized her face. "You left before I got there."
"Not many girls in Battle School. I thought the legend would live on."
"I heard of you."
"I'm a legend here, too. My people aren't firing because they think I know what I'm doing out here. And I thought you recognized me, because your soldiers on both sides of this ravine have refrained from shooting any of the Indian soldiers, even though I know they've spotted them."
"Maybe Bean recognized you," said Sirayawong. "In fact, I've heard your name more recently. You're the one who wrote back to him, aren't you? You were in Hyderabad."
"I know where Petra is."
"Unless they've moved her."
"Do you have any better sources? I tried to think of any way I could to get a message to Bean without getting caught. Finally I realized there was no computer solution. I had to bring the message in my head."
"So come with us."
"Not that simple," she said. "If they think I'm a captive, you'll never get out of here. Handheld g-to-a."
"Ouch," said Suriyawong. "Ambush. They knew we were coming?"
"No," said Virlomi. "They knew I was here. I didn't say anything, but they all knew that the Woman-in-hiding was at this bridge, so they figured that the gods were protecting this place."
"And the gods needed g-to-a missiles?"
"No, I'm the one they're protecting. The gods have the bridge, the men have me. So here's the deal. You pull your explosives off the bridge. Abort the mission. They see that I have the power to make the enemy go away without harming anything. And then they watch me call one of your departing choppers down to me, and I get on of my own free will. That's the only way you're getting out of here. Not r
eally anything I designed, but I don't see any other way out."
"I always hate aborting missions," said Suriyawong. But before she could argue, he laughed and said, "No, don't worry, it's fine. It's a good plan. If Bean were down here on this bridge, he'd agree in a heartbeat."
Suriyawong walked back to his men. "No, it's not a god or a holy woman. She's Virlomi, a Battle School grad, and she has intelligence that's more valuable than this bridge. We're aborting the mission."
The soldier took this in, and Suriyawong could see him trying to factor the magical element in with the orders.
"Soldier," said Suriyawong, "I have not been bewitched. This woman knows the groundplan of the Indian Army high command base in Hyderabad."
"Why would an Indian give that to us?" the soldier asked.
"Because the bunduck who's running the Indian side of the war has a prisoner there who's vital to the war."
Now it was making sense to the soldier. The magic element receded. He pulled his satrad off his belt and punched in the abort code. All the other satrads immediately vibrated in the preset pattern.
At once the explosives teams began dismantling. If they were to evacuate without dismantling, a second code, for urgency, would be sent. Suriyawong did not want any part of their materiel to fall into Indian hands. And he thought a more leisurely pace might be better.
"Soldier, I need to seem to be hypnotized by this woman," he said. "I am not hypnotized, but I'm faking it so the Indian soldiers all around us will think she's controlling me. Got that?"
"Yes sir."
"So while I walk back toward her, you call Bean and tell him that I need all the choppers but mine to evacuate, so the Indians can see they're gone. Then say 'Petra.' Got that? Tell him nothing else, no matter what he asks. We may be monitored, if not here, then in Hyderabad." Or Beijing, but he didn't want to complicate things by saying that.
"Yes sir."