Foxtrot landed about thirty yards away to the north. His chute fluttered down on top of him and Bravo watched him punch his way out from beneath the canopy of lightweight fabric.
Bravo spoke to him through his earpiece mike.
Within two minute all ten were on the ground and accounted for. Echo had landed amid the scrub and sand of the desert floor, the only one of the ten to make it to the drop zone. The remaining nine began picking their way slowly toward him.
CHAPTER 76
“What’s wrong?” Lindsay asked.
“We have company,” Simeon said.
Lindsay stepped into the light. She hooked her hand under his arm and turned to him. “Who?”
Simeon shook his head. “We don’t know. They dropped from an airplane. Just now.”
“They?”
Simeon walked quickly as he talked over his shoulder. “Raj says he counted ten.”
“Where is Archer? Does he know about them?”
“He’s still out there somewhere. We haven’t reached him yet.”
“So what do we do?”
“You need to wake the children. I’m going to show you where to hide.”
* * *
Archer glanced at the sky and for the first time saw nothing floating down. He felt a twist in his gut. They were on the ground. The clock was ticking.
He tried to entertain the possibility that maybe it wasn’t what it looked like. Maybe Kline had sent help. But that wasn’t possible. Nobody had known where they were going. No way to find them. Except for Soji. Soji and the little device he’d planted beneath the Hummer. That had to be the explanation. No other way anyone could locate the underground lair in the middle of the desert. Soji had turned out to be a major pain in the ass.
The mountains loomed in the distance. The Polaris wouldn’t go any faster. There was no way to close the distance any sooner. All he could do was hold his breath and try to keep it on the road.
But he didn’t.
He glanced back up at the skyline. He kept his eyes off the dirt track for half a second too long and didn’t see the bend in the road. His mind was on the jagged outline of the mountains silhouetted against the horizon. The Polaris failed to make the curve and it launched out of the rut. It left the ground for a short moment and it tipped forward in the air. The front end hit hard. Archer didn’t have a chance.
He was thrown free by the impact and slung hard across the scrub and brush and rocky terrain. He landed on his back twenty feet away. He blinked up at the stars above, then he got to his feet and inspected the Polaris. It had come to rest upside-down. The handlebars were bent and the machine wouldn’t start.
Archer didn’t waste time lamenting. He set off on foot.
* * *
Raj heard Archer’s voice crackle over his walkie-talkie.
Raj keyed the transmitter button. “Archer, where are you?”
Archer was out of breath. “Had a little accident. I’m on foot.”
“Good God, man! We are under siege!”
“Yeah, I saw them in the air. I’m moving as fast as I can.”
“How far out are you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll be there when I get there. Are Lindsay and the kids inside?”
“Affirmative. Simeon is dealing with them.”
“Good. Just keep me updated.”
“They’ll be closing in shortly. I’ve got one of them in my scope right now.”
“Friend or foe?”
“I don’t think he’s bringing gifts.”
“Does he look like he knows what he’s doing?”
“Affirmative,” Raj said.
“Don’t hesitate to drop him.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
* * *
Archer followed the tire tracks imprinted on the baked earth by the Hummer. The folds of the deepening mountain ridges held long, dense shadows. The light from the moon was mostly obstructed. He crossed the hump between the tire ruts and lengthened his stride.
He stopped to catch his breath again. Chest heaving. His body was covered in sweat and dust. He glanced ahead at the stretch of path that curled down and around the ridge and hoped he was nearing the third gate.
He was still breathing hard when he heard the first gunshot roll through the mountains.
CHAPTER 77
Raj missed. He had taken the shot too early.
The man on foot down on the desert floor paused. He glanced up in the direction he believed the bullet must have traveled from, then he ran to find cover.
Raj kept his eye to the scope. He tracked his target with the reticle and jerked the trigger. The second shot was wild and careless. The rifle bucked against his shoulder. The field of view through the scope blurred as he moved it to his left to try to maintain a visual on his target. The two missed shots were dangerous because they alerted the enemy.
Raj was not pleased with himself.
* * *
Echo dropped to the ground and pressed himself low behind some brush. He flattened himself to the sand. The bullet had missed by six or seven feet. The thundering pop of the report reached him a few seconds later. The second shot he heard but had no idea how close it might have been.
Echo alerted his team over his mike. He stated his position and offered his best guess on where the shots had come from.
CHAPTER 78
They had divided into five teams of two.
Bravo/Foxtrot
Alpha/India
November/Sierra
Kilo/Oscar
Echo/Tango
Echo had been teamed with Tango. But the resulting jump had separated them. Echo was pushed by the crosswinds into the open expanse of the desert floor, while Tango drifted too far south, landing on the steep pitch of a limestone slope. Tango found himself tangled in his chute and had rolled several dozen feet down the slope before finally managing to stop. The result was an injury to his knee. He was bleeding. He radioed Echo to give his position and state his condition. He was still mobile, he said. The injury would simply slow him down.
The four remaining teams had continued the migration through the folds in the mountain toward the original drop zone. They heard the two gunshots and then listened to Echo’s report.
Alpha reached the crown of a ridge and glassed the middle distance. He was interested to know what the opposing numbers were. But it didn’t matter if there were two or twenty. Mr. Jupiter’s orders were to kill them all.
CHAPTER 79
Simeon was lugging a rucksack by its strap. The flap was buckled and its main compartment was bulging.
“What’s in there?” Lindsay asked.
He ignored the question and gestured for Lindsay and both kids to follow.
Wyatt was stunned to see him leading them down the flight of metal stairs to the room on the lower level of the bunker. The eerie orange light was still pulsing. They held to the handrail as they quickly descended the steps.
Simeon seemed to struggle slightly with the weight of the rucksack as they reached the landing at the bottom of the steps. The source of the pulsing orange light was an orange bulb housed in a cage of wire mesh mounted to the wall to one side of the door. A few feet below the bulb was a flat metal button the size of an ashtray. The button was mounted to the wall just shy of eye-level. The word DOOR was scribed into it in block text, the text filled in with bright red paint.
The room was about the size of an average two-car garage with a few wooden crates with military-surplus markings stenciled on the lids and sides stacked against the wall. There were no chairs. No furniture at all. Cold, bare concrete walls. Electrical conduit was strung from floor to ceiling, bolted to the walls with steel brackets. The orange pulse reflected off the dull concrete surfaces.
Simeon crossed the room and dumped the rucksack against a wall in one corner.
“What is this place?” Lindsay asked.
“Your home for at least the rest of the night,” he answered. “Maybe longer. Depends on how things
go out there.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Simeon, please.”
He turned to her. “Archer brought you here to keep you alive, so that’s what I’m doing.”
She raised her hands in a diplomatic gesture. “Right, okay. I understand that. I do. Thank you. But what are we doing down here?”
“This is what a person in your social circles might call a panic room,” he said. He gestured at the metal button sticking out from the wall. “Punch that button and you are sealed off from the rest of the universe. Nothing’s coming through that door. The rest of the bunker was designed to withstand a nuclear blast. Well, this room is even safer. It has it’s own independent air and power supplies. That button drops a door that’s eighteen inches thick. Nothing can get you.”
“You’re sealing us in here?” Lindsay said.
“No way,” Wyatt protested.
“I’m claustrophobic,” Ramey added, shaking her head at the notion.
Simeon sighed. “No, of course not. The button controls the door, and you control the button. Punch it once, it seals you in. Punch it a second time and the door retracts and you are free to go.”
Wyatt stood in the open doorway, staring up at the visible bottom edge of the slab of steel that formed the door. He gawked at it with his mouth open.
“This is totally insane,” Ramey snapped. “I swear I’m gonna throw up!”
“Ramey, that’s enough,” Lindsay scolded. She drew Simeon’s attention to the rucksack he had trundled down the stairs. “What’s in that?” she asked.
“A few supplies. Water, food, a radio, and this...” He folded back the canvas flap and reached inside. He withdrew a handgun, a big Kimber .45 ACP, and held it out to her. “Just in case,” he said.
She closed her eyes for a beat, then glared intensely at him.
“Leave it in the bag,” she said,
“It’s loaded. Keep it close. Might come in handy. And keep the radio turned on, especially until you shut this door.”
Then he moved to leave.
“Where are you going?” Lindsay asked.
“To find out what we’re up against,” he said.
CHAPTER 80
Archer reached the third gate. He glanced through the metal slats. The desert terrain was dark and still. He hadn’t heard anymore gunfire since Raj’s two preemptive pops. Archer jacked an earpiece into his hand-held radio so that the radio squawk wouldn’t go blaring out into the night for the world to hear. He plugged the other end into his ear and keyed the radio.
“Raj?” he said, holding it at his chin.
“Go ahead,” Raj answered.
“What’s it look like?”
“Lost sight of him for the moment.”
“What about the others?”
“Negative. Lost them in the mountains.”
“I’m at the gate. Heading your way.”
“Roger. I’m north of the tunnel, picking my way down the eastern face of the bluff.”
“Watch your step, my brother.”
“Ditto.”
Archer scaled the gate, one leg over and then the other. He touched down silently on the other side and adjusted the rifle sling on his shoulder. He pulled the Beretta from his waistband and moved quickly beside the fence line. He followed the contours of the landscape, dodged around scrub brush, and racked the slide on the Beretta.
He used a mental image of the diagram of the bunker to help navigate in the dark. He pictured in his head the most likely general location of the paratrooper Raj had taken a shot at. Most likely north of the tunnel that led into the mountains. Somewhere out there, closing in. Archer needed to get there and deal with him. Take them out one at a time.
Archer picked up his pace. Heard Raj say into his ear, “OK, there he is.”
* * *
Raj gently raised the rifle. Licked his lip and pressed his eye to the scope. He saw the dark silhouette in the green field of view. He guided the reticle and brushed his index finger gently against the trigger.
Then he saw a flash of light. It came from the distant silhouette in the crosshairs of the scope. Looked like…a muzzle flash. And a fraction of a second later the bullet whistled past his ear. Raj jerked away from his gun and rolled onto his back. He stared wild-eyed at the star-filled sky.
* * *
Echo kept his eye to the scope of his assault rifle and watched for movement. He couldn’t tell if the target was down or if he’d missed. He watched for a long moment, then lowered the scope. He had noticed subtle movement on the mountainside and decided to take a look. He had seen him setting up a shot and decided to give him a little surprise. Now he used the opportunity to gain some ground. He tucked the gun against his body and charged ahead several hundred feet.
* * *
“What’s the story?” Archer said.
Raj took a deep breath. “Just about took my head off. Must have spotted me.”
“Keep your head down.”
“Good advice. They teach you that at the Quantico?”
“No,” Archer answered. “I learned the hard way and have the scars to prove it.”
“Thanks, professor. Now hurry the hell up.”
* * *
Archer was thinking about numbers. Pondering odds. He rolled the ten against three ratio through his head and didn’t like the sound of it. They couldn’t win a numbers game. They would have to fight smart.
He reached the metal panel doors that led into the tunnel but couldn’t force them open by hand. He squatted in the sand, peered out across the open terrain. The mountains rose dramatically out of the desert floor. He watched for a glimpse of Raj but could see no detail at all amid the dark outline of the ridges.
The one stroke of luck they’d had so far was that the jumpers had drifted too far west and were carried into the mountains. Archer decided the best chance he had for protecting Lindsay and the kids would be to deflect the enemy from reaching the open desert floor. Keep them in the hills. Separate them. Deal with them one on one. He needed to keep them in the hills and reduce their numbers as quickly and efficiently as possible.
* * *
Clouds began to move in. Lightening branched out across the sky and the wind picked up. Thunder boomed with swift repetition and shook the landscape. The first few drops of rain soaked into the dust, and as the drops grew fatter and more frequent, the dust and sand slowly turned to mud.
CHAPTER 81
Archer felt a drop of rain land on the back of his neck. He turned his head toward the sky. A second touched high on his cheekbone. He brushed it away with the cool steel of the Beretta. Thunder rolled off the mountains like cannon fire and swept down through the desert floor. An electrical storm was brewing high overhead.
Archer turned his face up and opened his mouth. Fat drops pooled on his tongue. His throat ached from the dust. Then he wiped his face with his forearm and began moving again. He loved fighting in the rain.
There were several entrances to the underground bunker, but Archer wasn’t interesting in getting in. He was more concerned at the moment with keeping the enemy out. He traced a line in his memory. The tunnel to the north was only about half the length of the tunnel that led into the mountains. He expected to find the northern tunnel capped with an iron grate similar to the other. But he didn’t make it that far.
Archer looked down between his feet and saw tracks running in the opposite direction. Boot prints. Infantry-style boots with deep tread pressed into the mud. Archer squatted and traced his hand along the inside rim of one of the prints. He pivoted, dropping a knee to the ground. Rain dribbled on his shoulders.
He gazed ahead. The tracks continued on into the darkness. Long strides. Four-foot gaps between prints. Tracks stamped into the mud by some seriously long legs. Evidence of a big man.
Archer frowned as he whisked rainwater from his eyes.
The boot prints were being slowly filled by the storm. The path of the tracks
angled in from the northeast. Archer rose, straddling the size twelve impressions. He held the Beretta in a two-handed grip and eased forward like a hunter, as if he were stalking an animal, only this animal could shoot back.
CHAPTER 82
Echo lifted the night-vision goggles and settled them up on his brow. He stared at the GPS unit in his hand. Then he squinted against the rain and peered through the gloom, studying the landscape through the darkness. He glanced back at the computer readout on the GPS display.
Echo shook his head. It didn’t make sense. The coordinates were correct but there was nothing there. Mr. Jupiter had given them the coordinates for the precise location of Lindsay Hammond, but there was nothing to be seen but sand and rocks and brush for miles in any direction. No buildings. No structures of any kind. Nothing.
Echo spoke into his radio mike.
“Echo to team lead,” he said in his husky baritone.
“Go ahead, Echo,” Alpha replied.
“Something’s wrong. There’s nothing here.”
“Have you verified your coordinates?”
“Affirmative. My coordinates are dead on. I’m telling you, she is supposed to be right where I’m standing. But there’s nothing here. Nowhere for her to hide.”
“The weather is probably interfering with the GPS satellite.”
“What if they’ve moved her into the mountains? Somebody up there was shooting at me.”
“That’s possible. Or they might be underground. You’re possibly standing right on top of them.”
“Agreed,” answered Bravo, creeping unseen along the opposite ridge. “Look for an entrance of some kind. An exposed door or air vent.”
72 Hours (A Thriller) Page 15