Frowning, Frost removed her radio unit and consulted the dimly illuminated LCD display, showing the unit’s various decryption and frequency settings. To her dismay, she found that it had switched channels without her knowledge. That explained why they weren’t answering her hails – she had been transmitting on the wrong frequency. Perhaps it had happened while she’d been fighting her way through the woodland, or perhaps her leap into that ticket booth to escape detection had damaged the unit internally.
Cursing her foolishness for not checking it earlier, she hurriedly reset the encryption settings back to the proper channel. ‘Do you copy now, Alpha?’
‘Loud and clear,’ Drake replied. ‘Now if you don’t mind, we’ve got a mission to complete. Get your arse up to the roof.’
Whatever relief she’d felt at being reconnected with the team was ebbing now. Drake was instantly back to being an asshole.
‘Roger. Enroute.’
Chapter 9
All three team members were waiting for her when she emerged from the stairwell, breathless after her rapid ascent. The school’s flat roof was cluttered with rusted air vents, pipes and other machinery that she didn’t recognise. She was greeted by flakes of dry, ash-like snow that were beginning to fall.
‘Nice of you to join us, Frosty,’ Keegan remarked, glancing up from the sniping position he’d set up over by the low parapet encircling the roof. ‘You bring coffee and donuts?’
‘Bite me,’ Frost snapped back. ‘And thanks for leaving me twisting in the wind back there.’
Their actions went against all protocols for operating in hostile territory. You never left an operative alone to fend for themselves. Shepherd team members were supposed to support each other, watch each other’s backs and be ready to provide covering fire in the event of an ambush.
‘Our position was exposed, we couldn’t risk being spotted,’ Drake said, stepping in to quell the potential argument. ‘If you can’t make it a few hundred yards by yourself, you’re in the wrong job.’
Frost clenched her jaw but said nothing to this. Fortunately Mason spoke up, sparing her further censure.
‘Hate to interrupt this lovefest, but we’ve got bigger things to worry about. Take a look,’ he said, holding out a pair of binoculars and pointing off toward the south-east, where the glow of electric lights was plainly visible.
Taking them, Frost turned the lenses toward the source of this illumination. Through the swirling snowflakes she could plainly make out the cylindrical tower of a massive cooling chimney rising bright and stark against the blackness of the night sky.
Below it stood the hulking reinforced steel and concrete shell that she recognised easily enough from the briefing documents she’d studied on the way here. Even if she hadn’t been specifically briefed on it, Frost had seen enough news footage of the structure to know exactly what she was looking at.
Within that hastily assembled steel and concrete sarcophagus about a mile distant lay the remains of the Chernobyl Number four reactor core. Still lethally radioactive two decades after the meltdown that had laid waste to its surroundings, it had lain virtually untouched since that day.
The remaining three reactor units had also been decommissioned in the decades since the disaster, and while a skeleton staff remained at the now inactive plant, mostly for security and radiation monitoring, the entire facility had effectively been shut down.
‘Enough to give you the willies, ain’t it?’ Keegan remarked with a wry grin. ‘Can’t say I’d want to work there.’
‘They say there’s still hundreds of tonnes of nuclear fuel left in the reactor core,’ Mason said. ‘Nobody can get inside to remove it for at least another century. And that concrete shell they built around it? It’s falling apart. It was supposed to be temporary while they came up with something better, then the Soviet Union collapsed and the money ran out.’
The sniper shook his head. ‘Wouldn’t want to be here if it ever came down.’
‘Wouldn’t want to be anywhere,’ Mason corrected him. ‘If the shield ever collapsed, it would spread radiation all across Europe. The fallout would make the first disaster look like a firecracker by comparison.’
A silence descended on the group as they stared at the distant power plant through the swirling snow, wondering what future horrors it might still unleash on the world.
‘That’s someone else’s problem,’ Drake said, breaking the silence. ‘Right now, we’re here for Kourisov. Frost, can you see the factory?’
According to her map of the area, the Jupiter factory complex should be roughly due south of their position. Visibility was far from optimal, but nonetheless she was able to pick out the big warehouse buildings in between the empty apartment blocks, perhaps a quarter of a mile away. From what she understood, the Soviets had been strong believers in building one big manufacturing facility for whatever product or resource they needed, and the Jupiter plant was a prime example of this design philosophy.
‘Got it,’ she confirmed. ‘Looks quiet.’
‘They always do,’ Drake remarked. ‘Keegan, any activity nearby?’
The sniper didn’t take his eye away from the rifle scope when he replied. ‘Nothing yet. That vehicle patrol headed off toward the north before I lost sight of them, but I’ll bet you a six pack they’re on a circular patrol route.’
‘How long ’til they get back here?’ Mason asked.
‘Thirty, maybe forty minutes, tops.’
‘Then we need to not be here when they do. There should be a high rise just north of the plant,’ Drake continued.
Sure enough, Frost could see the tower block that had previously only been visible on satellite imagery during their briefing at Langley.
‘Copy that.’
‘That’ll be our rally point. Keegan, you’ll set up on the roof. Frost, you’re on comms.’ Drake paused to consult his watch. ‘We’ve got two hours and forty minutes to find Flashback and get back to the rendezvous point, otherwise we’re walking home. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.’
Chapter 10
‘Get ready,’ Keira whispered, leaning in close to the electrical panel she’d uncovered, exposing the complex web of multi-coloured wiring inside.
Stevie, her face covered with a hooded mask just like Keira, nodded, bracing herself against the door.
‘Now,’ Keira said, touching two exposed wires together. There was a crackle and a spark as the current arced between them, followed by an electronic buzz from the door.
Just as this happened, Stevie pushed it inward, allowing access to the building.
‘Holy shit! I can’t believe that worked!’ she cried, flushed with elation.
‘Hurry!’ Keira implored her. ‘It won’t last long.’
The next several minutes passed in a blur of excitement and adrenaline as the two girls tore through the store, grabbing items from the shelves and frantically shoving them into the backpacks they both carried. They had talked in advance about the things they needed, had promised they would be smart about what they took, but it all went out the window during those frantic few minutes. They grabbed what they wanted from a world that had given them nothing, and it felt good.
An hour later they were back in the abandoned storeroom that had begun to feel almost like home; Keira enjoying the novelty of brushing her teeth with actual toothpaste again, and Stevie sipping from a bottle of whisky pilfered from the convenience store.
It was hard to believe they’d been together for nearly two months now. Keira had indeed left after that first night, had spent the next couple alone again, but in the end hunger and loneliness had won out, and she’d returned to Stevie. The girl would never admit to it, but Keira could tell she’d been happy at the reunion.
And so they’d survived together, falling into a kind of routine that could almost be called comfortable: hiding out, finding places they could break into, watching out for each other. Just the two of them against the world. In some kind of screwed-up way, Stevie was starting to feel lik
e the big sister Keira had never had.
‘Where’d you learn that stuff?’ Stevie asked.
‘What stuff?’
‘All that electronic shit, bypassing wires and stuff. I mean, I can pick locks with the best of them, but you were full Mission: Impossible tonight. Who taught you?’
Spitting out the toothpaste, Keira thought about her question. ‘My dad. My real dad, I mean. He knew all about that stuff – computers, electronics, alarms, you name it.’
Stevie was watching her closely now. ‘So he was cool?’
Keira shrugged. ‘Nah, he was an asshole in the end. Ran out on us. But when it came to that stuff, I don’t know… he was different. He enjoyed it, enjoyed teaching me. I think that was the only time things ever felt right between us.’
‘Lucky you,’ Stevie snorted, taking a gulp from the whisky bottle and shuddering as it went down. ‘Least you had an old man to feel pissed at.’
‘What about you?’ Keira asked. In all the time they’d spent together, her companion had revealed almost nothing about herself. ‘How’d you end up here?’
The girl’s expression changed, taking on an unsettling, haunted kind of look.
‘Nah,’ she said at last, shaking her head before looking up at Keira again. ‘Do me a favour. Don’t ask me about that shit again, ever. Okay?’
Keira had come to realise there were some walls her companion was never going to take down. Whatever personal trauma had turned her to a life on the streets, it would have to remain in her past.
‘Okay.’
* * *
Quickly descending the stairwell and retracing their steps through the abandoned school, the group picked their way through the ruined buildings that lay between them and their rally point, moving fast but quietly through the shadows and keeping about ten metres between them.
To Frost’s surprise, Drake actually allowed her to operate semi-independently during this time rather than scrutinising her every move, though she couldn’t say for sure whether this was down to greater trust in her, or if he was simply growing preoccupied as they prepared to deploy.
The tower block before them was, like so many others in that city, a great column of crumbling stonework and darkened windows thrusting skyward. Creeping into the central stairwell, they ascended to the first floor, where Keegan, scouting ahead, had already selected an abandoned apartment for them to operate from.
As had become familiar since their arrival here, the smell of damp and mould was heavy in the air, though the grimy windows that looked out onto the street below were mostly still intact. Disconcertingly, much of the old furniture was still in place, moth-eaten clothes lay scattered on the bedroom floor, and the kitchen sink even contained discoloured dishes and rusting cutlery. Nobody was brave enough to open the refrigerator unit in the corner however; Frost could only imagine what food that had been decomposing for 20 years might smell like.
‘I’m going topside for a proper look around,’ Keegan announced.
Drake nodded. ‘Nice one, mate. Let us know when you have eyes-on the factory.’
‘Copy that.’ Keegan paused to give Frost a wink of encouragement. ‘Hang in there, Frost. We’re almost done.’
The young woman said nothing as she worked quickly to unpack her comms gear, though she did nod briefly. Satisfied with this meagre gesture of acknowledgement, the wily old sniper hoisted his weapon and slipped out of the apartment without making a sound.
They couldn’t risk using electronic gear in the living room lest the glow of the screens gave away their position, which forced Frost to establish her base of operations in the dingy, windowless kitchen further back. Hurriedly setting her laptop down on the counter, she unfolded a portable high-frequency transceiver and connected it up, while Drake and Mason donned a pair of infrared goggles with built-in remote cameras. As long as the signal strength was decent, she would effectively be able to see what they saw.
As the laptop booted up, Frost closed her eyes and clenched her hands, flexing and tensing the fingers several times to get the blood circulating again. Cold weather and lack of movement had left her digits numb and stiff; two qualities that would not aid her work tonight. She was also acutely aware that she was trembling slightly from more than just the low temperature.
This was it. Their difficult and fraught journey here had all been leading up to this. Whatever happened in the next 20 minutes would determine the success or failure of their mission, and perhaps even their own survival.
Never had she felt the weight of responsibility more keenly.
‘You okay?’ Mason asked, noticing her discomfort.
Frost darted him a defiant look. ‘Freezing my ass off, that’s all. Got a problem with that?’
He smirked. ‘I could make a joke about the irony of your name right now.’
‘But you won’t, right? Because that would be a dick move.’
‘Keep your mind on the job, Frost,’ Drake said, fixing his goggles in place and powering them up. ‘You getting this?’
‘Give it a few seconds to sync up,’ she said, working to establish a connection between the devices. Two new windows opened up on her screen, showing her the ghostly green images from Drake and Mason’s infrared cameras. She even saw herself hunched over the laptop, her face etched with concentration. ‘Looks good. I’m reading you five-by-five.’
Drake nodded, then keyed his transmitter. ‘Charlie, you got eyes-on?’
‘Roger that, Alpha,’ came Keegan’s reply. ‘I’m watching the place on thermal right now – no sign of any activity.’
‘All right, call out if you see anything.’ Raising his MP5 submachine gun, Drake pulled back the bolt enough to check there was a round chambered, and that the mag was firmly locked in place. Mason did likewise.
Armed as they were with automatic weapons, stun and fragmentation grenades, the two-man assault team could command a fair amount of firepower. But they were still only two men, and once they were inside, they were beyond Keegan’s protective field of fire. Only Frost could aid and guide them after that.
‘Same goes for you, Frost. You see anything we need to know about, you call it out. Otherwise sit tight and be ready to move fast if the shit hits the fan. Understand?’
‘Got it.’
‘Good.’ Drake glanced at his fellow assault operative. ‘Ready?’
Having made his own weapon ready, Mason gave a curt nod. ‘Let’s do this.’
Wasting no more time, the two men slipped out of the room, leaving Frost alone with the green glow of the laptop screen.
Chapter 11
Time seemed to slow to a crawl after the rest of the team’s departure. The cold and darkness pressed in, Frost’s breath misting in the chill air, but she paid it no heed as she leaned in close to the laptop screen, eagerly watching the shaky camera footage playing out on the twin windows.
Drake and Mason had spread out so as to approach the factory complex from different directions. They were close enough that they could lay down covering fire for one another in the event of a contact, but far enough apart that anyone trying to shoot at them would be forced to target them independently.
Both men moved in alternating bursts as they flitted between cover: one would hold his position and protect his comrade as the other advanced. They exchanged only brief, single-word commands and acknowledgements. Clearly they had operated together for some time now, each knowing the other’s moves so well that communication was a mere formality.
They were getting close now, she could see, as they darted across the wide open road that ran parallel with the north side of the factory perimeter. Snow, rendered ghostly green by their infrared cameras, billowed across the screen, yet still she was able to make out the cavernous warehouse buildings and administrative blocks directly ahead.
The complex was encircled by a high chain-link fence topped with razor wire. Old and neglected it might have been, but it had definitely been built to last, and still represented a formidable barrier. Per
haps even enough to deter the looters who had ransacked the surrounding area over the years.
Angling toward each other by unspoken consent, the two men rendezvoused at the base of this fence, where a shallow weed-choked drainage ditch ran alongside the road. Drake knelt down and provided cover, his weapon sweeping the area, while Mason fished a set of wire cutters from his webbing and attacked the fence.
The man was big and muscular, with hands to match, and made easy work of the metal links that had been slowly weakened by time and weather. In less than 20 seconds, he had cut out a section of fence in the shape of an inverted T, and crawled through while Drake continued to cover him. This done, they swapped roles; Drake slithering through, his grunts and heavy breathing audible through the camera’s limited audio pickup.
‘Clear,’ Mason whispered.
‘I’ve got a visual on you guys,’ Keegan’s voice came over the radio. ‘No movement in your sector.’
‘Copy that,’ Drake replied, his voice hushed. He turned left, pointing toward the largest of the three huge warehouse complexes that represented the core of the plant. ‘That’s where they intercepted the call from. If Flashback’s still alive, he’ll be in there.’
‘Let’s find him and get the fuck out of here,’ Mason said.
Never had Frost felt more inclined to agree.
‘All right. I’m on point,’ Drake spoke again. ‘Cover me.’
The screen momentarily blurred with jolting movement as he scurried forward, heading for the hulking factory building straight ahead. He covered about 30 yards before coming to a stop beside the hollow shell of an old fuel container, beckoning Mason on.
Drake’s image had stabilised, while Mason’s was a blur of movement, so Frost concentrated on that. Even with the camera enhancing the light level, it was hard to make out much. The sliver of moon had long since been obscured by heavy cloud cover, and the gusts of snow only added to the poor visibility.
But as Drake’s camera slowly panned from left to right with the silenced barrel of the MP5 visible in one corner, Frost stiffened as she spotted something onscreen.
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