Six cameras arranged throughout the large shop area were motion-sensitive, capturing the new arrival in every detail, from the line of sweat that coursed down the man's temple to the expensive sunglasses he held in his right hand, the nice sport jacket and light blue shirt he wore. The observer turned to a computer screen and cross-matched the image of the stranger with one that had been programmed earlier. A red chicken-wire laser charted the man's body, cutting his head and body into reference points for the computer to match. At the same time another invisible laser read the small glass area that blended nicely with the antique thumb-depression plate on the door handle he had used to enter the shop. On another high-definition computer screen a large, detailed print appeared; this one read the minute swirls and valleys of his thumbprint. A print, perfect in every detail, flashed onto the screen, then the computer broke the print down to eighteen different points; lines indicating matches went from the computer-stored print to the one just taken from the door handle. Only seven points of match were used to convict people in a court of law, but this print matchup called for a minimum of ten. A name appeared in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, followed seconds later by an image of the man himself. In this picture he wore a green beret and sat unsmiling for the camera. The scroll beneath the picture read, Major Jack Samuel Collins, United States Army Special Operations. Last duty station Kuwait City, 5th Special Forces Group, TDA this date to Department 5656. The man behind the door snickered to himself as he read the screen. Temporary duty assignment my ass, the old man thought, not if the senator and Doc Compton have anything to say about it.

Collins looked around again and tapped one of the glass-topped counters twice with the ring that was embossed with the United States Military Academy logo. "Who's minding the store?"