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Judah as he is.
 Why would I do you a favor?
Fortunato spread his hands and shook his head.  I rest my case, he said.
 Nicolae, er, the poten His Excellency has more patience than I. You would not
be my pilot.
 That's correct, Supreme Commander. I will, however, be piloting this week
when you pick up the rest of the Global Community boys.
 I assume you're referring to the other world leaders.
 And Peter Mathews.
 Pontifex Maximus, yes. But he's not actually GC.
 He has a lot of power, Rayford said.  Yes, but more popular than diplomatic.
He has no political authority.  Whatever you say.
Buck walked Mrs. Cavenaugh back to her bunk, but before helping her settle, he
approached the woman in charge of that area.  Does she have to be between
these wackos?
 You can put her in any open cot, the woman said.  Just make sure her name
sticker goes with her.
Buck guided Mrs. Cavenaugh to a cot near other people her age. On his way out
he approached the supervisor again.  What is anyone doing about missing
persons?
 Ask Ernie, she said, pointing to a small, middle-aged man plotting something
on a map on the wall.  He's with GC, and he's in charge of the transfer of
patients between shelters.
Ernie proved formal and distracted.  Missing persons? he repeated, not
looking at
Buck but still working on his map.  First off, most of them are going to wind
up dead. There are so many, we don't know where to start.
Buck pulled a photo of Chloe from his wallet.  Start here, he said.
He finally had Ernie's attention. He studied the picture, turning it toward
the battery-
powered lights.  Wow, he said.  Your daughter?
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 She's twenty-two. To be her dad I'd have to be at least forty.  So?
 I'm thirty-two, he said, astounded at his vanity at a time like this.  This
is my wife, and I was told she escaped from our house before the quake leveled
it.
 Show me, Ernie said, turning toward his map. Buck pointed to Loretta's
block.
 Hmm. Not good. This was a worldwide quake, but GC has pinpointed several
epicenters. That part of Mt. Prospect was close to the epicenter for northern
Illinois.  So it's worse here?
 It's not much better anywhere else, but this is pretty much the worst of it
in this
state. Ernie pointed to a mile stretch from behind Loretta's block in direct
line with where they were.  Major devastation. She would not have been able to
get through there.  Where might she have gone?
 Can't help you there. Tell you what I can do, though. I can blow her picture
up and fax it to the other shelters. That's about it.  I'd be grateful.
Ernie did the clerical work himself. Buck was impressed at how sharp the
enlarged copy was.  We only got this machine working about an hour ago, Ernie
said.
 Obviously, it's cellular. You hear about the potentate's communications
company?
 No, Buck said, sighing.  But it wouldn't surprise me to know he's cornered
the market.
 That's fair, Ernie said.  It's called Cellular-Solar, and the whole world
will be linked again before you know it. GC headquarters calls it Cell-Sol for
short.
Ernie wrote on the enlargement,  Missing Person: Chloe Irene Steele Williams.
Age
22. 5' 7", 125. Blonde hair. Green eyes. No distinguishing marks or
characteristics.
He added his name and phone number.
 Tell me where I can reach you, Mr. Williams. You know not to get your hopes
up.
 Too late, Ernie, Buck said, jotting his number. He thanked him again and
turned to leave, then returned.  You say they call the potentate's
communications network
Cell-Sol?
 Yeah. Short for 
 Cellular-Solar, yeah. Buck left, shaking his head.
As he climbed into the Range Rover, he felt helpless. But he couldn't shake
the feeling that Chloe was out there somewhere. He decided to drive back to
Loretta's another way. No sense being out without looking for her. Always.
It was late, and Rayford was tired. Carpathia's office door was shut, but
light streamed beneath the door. He assumed Mac was still there. Curious as he
was, Rayford wasn't confident Mac would honestly debrief him. For all he knew,
Mac was spilling his guts about everything Rayford had said that day.
His top priority before sleep was to try to get through to Buck. At the
communications command post he was told he had to have permission from a
superior to use a secure outside line. Rayford was surprised.  Look up my
level of clearance, he said.
 Sorry, sir. Those are my orders.
 How long will you be here? Rayford asked.
 Another twenty minutes, sir.
Rayford was tempted to interrupt Carpathia's meeting with Mac. He knew Nicolae
would give him permission to use the phone, and by barging in, he would show
he
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