"—and that," Rocket finished for Sweet Pea, "is what we're up against."
The older sister listened in silence. Like the others, she now wore her mission clothes and all her weapons.
"Rocket," she said. "I leave you alone for five minutes, and look what happens—"
"Hey! Good to see you too!" Rocket could not help but giggle; in fact almost every minute since their reunion she had giggled and laughed and hugged her sister, and Sweet Pea did the same, but this time snatching off Rocket's cap and giving her a Dutch rub.
The girls stood in the vast cargo space of a Hughes Hercules Transport (better known as the Spruce Goose), but modified, its six jet engines blasting it to nearly Mach One, the whole plane vibrating until one had to wonder if it would all shake apart. On its nose was painted a girl crouching low, brandishing a sword with one hand and firing a pistol with the other, and the name BABYDOLL II. Amber stood with the other girls, the plane flying on auto-pilot.
The General joined them, combination cap tucked under his arm.
"Ladies," he said. He had to raise his voice a little to be heard above the engines. "Here's the plan for today's little romp. The Ruler is, at this moment, carrying his thirteen new purchases home in his own flagship."
"A ship?" Rocket. "Can't we just sink it?"
"Hold your horses, Rocket. It's a bit more complicated than that. if you got a look at that vessel, you'd see what I mean. The good news is that it at least doesn't have the capability to fire ICBM's—the Ruler has to bring them home and offload them. That's when they'll be out in the open and exposed.
"What you're going to do is sneak up onto a bluff that overlooks the naval base, and take up positions there. When the ship arrives and begins the offload—that's estimated to be fifty minutes from now—you'll intervene, eliminate all security personnel standing in your way, and destroy the cargo before it's ready to launch."
Amber spoke up. "How will we get out of there when we're done?"
The General smiled; doubtless he'd anticipated this question. "There's room on this bucket for anything, Amber. Including your favorite toy."
"Yes!"
Amber was so excited, she crunched her lollipop.