THE WELCOME CENTER

Fort Tortuga

6 hr 36 min to Birth

The pilot opened the door of the aircraft. Flannigan and Sam disembarked by a little stairway into a bright, sunny, hot mid-afternoon in the Pacific south of the Equator.

They met Raymond Carvell, a Flytech employee and facilities manager on the island. He received them warily. Flannigan and Carvell exchanged quiet words and came to a quick understanding about what was going on.

Sam returned and announced, "Okay, everybody out."

They piled out of the aircraft and piled into Raymond's white van.

"Fort Tortuga has a welcoming facility," Flannigan said. "It's like a small hotel. We are going there first. Everyone not on this project team is strictly required to remain in the welcoming facility at all times. That means you, Preeti. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Preeti said.

"Sam and Willard will remain at the facility with you." Looking at these two, she said, "You won't be part of the greeting party. I'll brief you upon our arrival."

They headed a short distance to the Welcome Center and pulled up on a circular driveway.

As they walked in, Gene looked at the building, which resembled a hotel. The front doors appeared to open to a lobby. There were two floors of rooms. The only unusual thing was that the balconies off the rooms were enclosed. Gene would also notice that the pool was indoors -- unusual for an island near the equator.

In the lobby, Raymond processed their paperwork. Flannigan studied Willard. He exuded a certain contempt for what was going on around him. There it is again, she thought. He doesn't come off as a special ops guy.

Gene sidled up to her. "Raymond's going to brief us now?" he asked quietly. She nodded. "I'm concerned about the potential for groupthink," he noted. "We might want to leave one or two people out of the briefing to keep a fresh perspective."

As a psychologist, Flannigan was receptive to this suggestion. She had been planning on taking everyone into the briefing except for Sam, whom she would leave to babysit Preeti, who was certainly no part of this operation. "Who should sit out?" she asked.

"Willard would be a logical choice," Gene offered with a shrug.

Indeed, she thought. Willard did not need a brief. He probably wouldn't pay attention anyway. Moreover, he was really here for backup support, and wouldn't be part of the greeting party to visit Nemo. If they needed his help later, then the plan had gone very wrong -- and in that case, a fresh perspective would come in handy.

They were all checked in.

"We need to get down to business," Flannigan said. "We have a briefing in five minutes -- including Gene, Simon, Kenny, Raymond, Sam and myself. Preeti and Willard will remain in the visitor area."