The ops room is in the basement of the Cutters’ biggest safe house—the one on South 164th Street, right under the final approach for the transPacific suborbitals. It’s a dark and stuffy place with no ventilation to clear away the smoke from Springblossom’s super king-size Menthol Ultra-Js—which she chain-smokes to "feel the spirits." Yeah, right. The way I feel just from breathing her side-stream smoke, it’s a wonder anybody can make a sensible decision down here.