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The under-secretary of the Science and Technology Directorate within Homeland Security was Wallace Bryant, a man who had worked his way up into the position from being a field agent and someone who was widely regarded as a fair, no-nonsense manager. Randall Lenz had always enjoyed a good working relationship with Bryant, mostly because his superior knew enough to stay out of the way and allow Lenz to do what was required for maximum results. At the same time, Bryant had always appeared to respect Lenz’s zeal for the work and the professionalism he demanded of all his subordinates.
At that exact moment, however, Bryant was staring at Lenz with roughly the same mixture of astonishment and derision he might have directed at someone who’d just announced that they’d seen a flying saucer ho
