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JULIA AWOKE WITH A START to the sound of buzzsaws. She had a moment of disorientation until she remembered she had laid down on a couch in one of the embassy’s offices on the perimeter of the main open office space. Her watch showed 12:32 am. She shed the haze of sleep as she sat up but the strange buzzsaw noises continued; something was happening.
She had closed the door and mini-blinds in the office, and she cautiously raised one of the slats to peer into the main office area. Julia was surprised to see people moving frantically about the room and watched as one of them fed a sheaf of papers into a shredder. s**t, it’s happening.
Julia jumped as her pocket vibrated, and she pulled out the sat phone.
“Hello,” Julia answered, already sure of who it was.
“Julia, it’s Paul. You have
