Eternal Night

by Richard Turner

  Mitchell felt someone pat him on the shoulder. He looked back and saw Jackson pointing at a sign.

  “The restaurant’s open for another half hour. Let’s round up the gang and grab a bite before turning in,” suggested Jackson.

  “Sure, why not? You never know when we’ll get to eat again.”

  40

  Site Bravo

  Grace sat on her cot, staring at the sealed door keeping her a prisoner. She’d tried everything she knew to escape, but all of her attempts had ended in failure. For the first time in her life, Grace had to admit she was trapped. She went to pick up an apple from her supper tray, when she heard voices on the other side of the door. She leaped to her feet and edged to the bulkhead, ready to strike whoever stepped through the door.

  A man’s voice came over a speaker. “Ms. Maxwell, step away from the door and take a seat, or I will be forced to flood your compartment.”

  Grace gritted her teeth. She should have expected a hidden camera. Grace moved back to her cot and resumed sitting.

  The door popped open. A guard pointed his machine pistol at her, while Sandesh stepped inside the makeshift jail.

  “Wait outside,” said Sandesh to the guard.

  “Sir?”

  “I’ll be okay. Please give us some privacy.”

  The guard hesitantly stepped back out of the room, and took up post in the hallway.

  “I hope they’re treating you well,” said Sandesh to Grace.

  “The food’s not as good as it usually is at this hotel, but I can’t complain,” she replied.

  Sandesh sat on a metal chair and said, “I’ve been informed that everything is proceeding as planned, and that we’ll be leaving for Site Alpha sometime later tomorrow.”

  “And what about me? Am I coming with you, or will I be drowned like a rat?”

  “I have no wish to harm you, or anyone else, but you played at being more than a friend to me, and I have to admit that for the first time in years I was genuinely hurt by the deceit.”

  “I’m sorry, Varun, but there was no other way to get close to you. I had a job to do.”

  “So, I mean nothing at all to you?”

  Grace heard the sorrow in his voice. “Varun, if things had been different, I’m sure we could have been good friends, but that’s all. I won’t lie to you. I’ve only given my heart to one man, and that was years ago. When he died, the pain nearly killed me. Since then, I’ve vowed never to fall in love again.”

  Sandesh tried to smile. “I thank you for your honesty.”

  Grace stood and gently placed a hand on Sandesh’s shoulder. “Varun, please stop what you’re planning to do. I’m begging you. You may believe you are doing the right thing, but deep down in my gut, I know this is not going to end well for anyone.”

  Sandesh patted Grace’s hand. “I can’t. An end to war and suffering is only days away. This is my destiny, and I intend to fulfill it.”

  Grace took a deep breath. She had never outed a client before, but she was running out of time and options. “Varun, would you like to know who hired me to investigate you and your company?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  “It was your younger brother, Aneesh. He contacted me several months ago, concerned that something suspicious was going on.”

  Sandesh rushed to his feet. “You’re lying!”

  “I wish I were. Last year, Aneesh, as your family’s chief financial officer, conducted a forensic audit of your family’s holdings, and found several files buried deep in a computer account that were sealed to him. He soon learned that these files were all related to you and your company. He grew concerned, and hired a couple of men to quietly investigate what was going on. Both men disappeared under mysterious circumstances. That’s when he turned to me.”

  “Why didn’t he just ask me what was going on?”

  “He wasn’t sure he’d get an honest answer out of you. Your brother feels that Dimov has far too much influence on you and your decisions. Even you would have to admit that Aneesh is correct about Dimov.”

  Sandesh dropped down onto his chair. He shoulders slumped as his head fell forward. “All I’ve ever wanted was world peace.”

  “You’re not a bad person for wanting to put an end to suffering, but not like this. Someone, someday, will find a way to commit genocide using your weapons. Do you want that on your conscience?”

  “But our safeguards will prevent that from happening.”

  Grace dropped to one knee and took Sandesh’s hands in hers. “Varun, what are your safeguards?”

  “They’re a secret, and I’d like it to remain that way,” said Dimov, standing in the doorway, a pistol in his hand.

  Grace released Sandesh’s hands and stood. “I should have known you’d eventually show up.”

  “I’m just doing my job. Now place your hands in your pockets and then sit back down on your bed,” ordered Dimov.

  Grace did as she was told.

  “Mister Sandesh, please step out of the room so we can lock it up,” said Dimov.

  With his head hung low, Sandesh silently walked out into the corridor.

  A thought struck Grace. She glared up at Dimov. “Who do you work for?”

  Dimov took a step back. “Mister Sandesh, naturally.”

  “You’re lying. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve been manipulating Sandesh for years.”

  “I’d keep such thoughts to yourself, if I were you. The only thing keeping you alive is Mister Sandesh’s misplaced feelings for you.”

  “Lucky me.”

  “Not really. I intend to use you as the first test subject of Achlys once we reach Site Alpha. I hope you like bleeding out of your eyes before you die.”

  Grace had heard enough. With a flick of her right leg, she hurled the metal chair next to her cot at Dimov. Like a trap being sprung, Grace leaped off her bed and charged at Dimov. Her head smashed into this stomach, bending him over and knocking the wind out of him. She yanked her hands from her pockets and struggled to grab Dimov’s pistol, when a sharp pain in her neck, followed immediately by a crippling blast of electricity, put an end to her escape attempt. Grace’s knees buckled. She dropped to the cold, metal floor and twitched in agony until the guard released the trigger on his Taser.

  “Bitch,” muttered Dimov, staggering out of the room. He looked at the guard and nodded his thanks.

  “Are you okay, sir?” asked the guard.

  “I’ll be okay. Make sure her breakfast is drugged. I want her fast asleep and tied in chains when we leave tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir,” said the guard, slamming the jail cell’s door shut.

  Dimov walked to the nearest elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. His stomach felt as if it were on fire. He vowed in his mind to make Grace suffer before she died. What surprised Dimov was the fact that tomorrow was their last day there, and yet no one had asked him how they were going to fit three dozen people, plus all of the weaponized Achlys, into a submarine built to hold twelve passengers.

  41

  Kazakhstan

  “I feel like I just got to bed,” complained Jackson, as he tossed his bag in the back of Yuri’s van. “Is it a long drive to the airport?”

  “Thirty minutes, maybe,” replied Yuri.

  “Plenty of time for a nap,” said Jackson climbing into the vehicle.

  “Does he always complain this much?” asked Dawn.

  “I think he’s toned it down a bit for this assignment,” replied Mitchell. “If he didn’t bitch, I wouldn’t know he was happy.”

  “All aboard,” said Yuri, slamming the side door closed. “Next stop is the airport. Please have your luggage tags and boarding passes available for inspection.”

  Yuri pulled into a poorly-lit hangar at the far end of the municipal airport. The lights of his van lit up an all-gray, Russian Kamov Ka-62 helicopter. Unlike its military counterpart, this chopper had been built with extra room in the passenger compartment.

  “Everyone out,” said
Mitchell, yanking open his door. “Yuri, can you supervise the stowing of the extra gear, while Nate and I go over our plan?”

  “Not a problem,” replied the Russian.

  “Did you get your hands on any liquid armor?”

  Yuri nodded and got to work.

  Mitchell dug out a map Yuri had given him the night before, and laid it out on a table. He pointed at the map. “The island is six kilometers in length, and four at its widest. Like Yuri said, the base is clustered at the north end. I doubt we’ll have more than a couple of hours on the island before our presence is detected, so we’re going to have to work fast.”

  “Teams of two, with Gordon in a position of observation from the top of one of the abandoned buildings,” suggested Jackson.

  “My thoughts, precisely. Since I know how you feel about Dawn, you can take Sam with you.”

  “I take it we’re still in the dark as to what precisely we’re looking for?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. But any sign of recent construction inside a supposedly abandoned base may be enough to get the politicians off their butts and do something about it.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Jackson brought his fingers up to his lips and let out a loud whistle. “Bring it in, folks. It’s mission-brief time.”

  Mitchell laid out the map so everyone could see. “The clock’s already ticking against us, so I’m going to make this short. Yuri will fly us over to Spiridov Island right after this briefing. The flight shouldn’t take us more than twenty minutes. Once he drops us off, he’s going to fly to a quiet spot along the coast and await our signal for extraction. Gordon, once we land, I want you to take a position of observation overlooking the LZ and the approaches to the abandoned city. You’ll be our cover and our eyes.”

  “Got it,” said Cardinal.

  Mitchell continued. “The remainder will break down into two teams of two. Dawn and I are one team, while Nate and Sam are the other. There are about two dozen buildings on the island. We’ll focus our attention on a small group of offices to the east of the LZ. What we’re looking for is evidence that could tie Sandesh’s corporation to whatever has been happening on this island since it was shut down by the Soviets. I can’t believe Grace would have traded a priceless sword for information that wasn’t damning. Be careful, and above all, watch your partner’s back. I don’t expect any contact out there, but if it does happen, the normal ROEs apply.”

  “Which are?” asked Dawn.

  “You have the right to defend yourself. You also have the right to defend your fellow teammates’ lives. If we run into any Russian or Kazak security people, we will not engage them. I’d rather face trespassing than manslaughter charges in this part of the world. Got it?”

  Dawn nodded.

  “Okay, people, grab your gear and check it out,” said Jackson. “We’ll do a quick comms check before boarding the chopper.”

  “I’ll begin my pre-flight checks,” said Yuri. “We should be airborne in fifteen minutes.”

  “Thanks,” said Mitchell. The familiar mix of fear, anticipation, and adrenaline surged through his body. He’d vowed years ago that the day he never felt fear was the day he knew he’d hang it all up. Overconfidence was something to be avoided in their line of work.

  Mitchell glanced at his watch. They were less than two minutes from landing. For some, it couldn’t come a second too soon. To avoid detection, Yuri had flown the whole way barely two meters above the waves. With a powerful wind coming from the west, several tall waves had hit the undercarriage of the chopper, buffeting it up and down in the air.

  “There it is,” said Yuri, pointing out into the distance.

  Mitchell brought up his binoculars. The darkened silhouette of several tall buildings stood out on the gray horizon. He keyed his mic. “Okay, the island is just up ahead. Remember the plan, and as long as everything goes smoothly, we’ll meet back at the LZ two hours after landing.”

  “What if things don’t go as planned?” asked Jackson.

  “Then we’ll make it up on the run.”

  Yuri decreased their helicopter’s airspeed and brought the chopper over a marsh before aiming for his LZ. He brought the helicopter to a stop and touched its wheels down on the ground. In the blink of an eye, Mitchell’s people jumped to the ground and took up positions covering the helicopter. Yuri waved at Mitchell, applied power to the engine, and spun around in the air. Within seconds he was gone, heading for cover.

  No one said a word. Cardinal broke off from the rest of the group and sprinted toward a four-story building. He rushed inside and kept going until he reached the roof. Cardinal unslung his Dragunov sniper rifle, crouched down, and made his way to the edge of the roof. There, he brought up his scope to his eye and looked around. The darkened village was as quiet as a cemetery. “Clear,” reported Cardinal quietly into his mic.

  “Clear,” repeated Mitchell. He looked over at Jackson and waved at his friend.

  Jackson waved back. With Sam right behind him, they dashed to the nearest building and vanished from sight.

  Mitchell looked over his shoulder at Dawn. “Ready?”

  “Damn right, I am,” she replied.

  With his thumb, Mitchell switched his AK’s selector from safe to semi-auto. He jumped to his feet and sprinted to a group of single-story offices, laid out in a U-shape. Shards of glass from the shattered windows crunched underfoot. The door hung from its frame. Mitchell stopped at the entrance and peered inside. The darkened hallway looked deserted. Dawn brought up her weapon to her shoulder and slid past Mitchell, before dropping to one knee against the side of a wall. He waited a second and then joined her.

  Both switched on the lights attached to their AKs’ forestocks and lit up the corridor. Grass grew from cracks in the floor, while moss covered some of the walls.

  Mitchell stood. “Let’s go.”

  They moved down the corridor, checking each room. The first building turned out to be a bust, so they jogged over to the second and carried on.

  Unseen at their feet, a laser warning system detected their movement and reported it to the operations center hidden beneath them.

  42

  A deafening alarm sounded throughout the complex.

  “What the hell?” muttered Dimov, rolling out of bed. He switched on the light beside his bed and stood, checking his watch. His alarm wasn’t due to go off for another ten minutes.

  “What’s going on?” asked Nova Dinu, jamming a pillow over her ears to drown out the noise.

  “I’m not sure,” replied Dimov, picking up the phone. The duty operator answered. “Report!” Dimov barked.

  “Sir, we’ve got movement in the old bioweapons labs,” said the operator.

  “Are you sure it’s not another damned fox, poking its nose around looking for food?”

  “No, sir. I have them on camera.”

  Dimov squeezed the phone tight. “Who do you have on camera?”

  “A man and a woman. No, wait a second, sir, another alarm has gone off. We now have four intruders topside.”

  “Are they armed?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “First off, turn off that bloody alarm, and then have the security detail meet me outside of your office. Once you’ve done that, call Mister Sandesh and let him know that we’re leaving, and he’s to meet me at the sub.”

  “Where are we going?” asked a still-groggy Nova.

  “Get dressed and I’ll send for you,” replied Dimov, zipping up a set of dark-blue coveralls.

  “Krasimir, are we in danger?”

  “No, my dear. In fact, the opposite is true. Don’t worry, I’ll soon have this little fracas dealt with, and we can be on our way.” He leaned over and delicately kissed her on the lips, before picking up his pistol and slipping it into the holster on his belt.

  “Will my father be coming with us?”

  Dimov smiled. “Of course he will. I still need his help to bring about world peace.” He patted Nova on the behind and exited the room. She’d
proven to be a pleasant distraction, but with limited space in the sub, it would be her father, not her, who was going to leave shortly.

  A guard with short hair and a black beard ran toward Dimov. “Sir, we’ve identified the two men as the Americans who disappeared in Indonesia.”

  Dimov’s blood boiled. How many times would he have to try and kill these two Boy Scouts before he succeeded? “I want you to personally make sure that Max Dinu and Mister Sandesh are escorted to the submarine.”

  “The traitor?”

  Dimov paused for a second to weigh the pros and cons of keeping Grace alive. He knew Sandesh’s feelings for her could be exploited when the time was right. “She was supposed to be sedated this morning, but we don’t have time for that now. Get your hands on a tear gas grenade and toss it into her cell. When she’s incapacitated, rush in, grab her and drag her on board the sub. Make sure she’s securely bound to one of the chairs.”

  “Right, sir.” The guard waved one of his comrades to his side, and sprinted for the elevator.

  Dimov took the stairs two at a time until he came to the first floor and the operations center. “Where are they now?”

  “Sir, one pair is checking out the old bioweapons offices,” reported the operator. “The other is in one of the old warehouses, right above us.”

  “Activate the perimeter defenses.”

  The duty operator pulled his computer keyboard close and typed in a series of commands. On the room’s television monitors, several machine guns popped up out of abandoned boxes and empty fuel drums all around the installation.

  “Let’s see them get through that,” said Dimov. He looked at the guard. “No matter what happens, I want you to remain at your post, and do not let those people get off the island alive.”

  The operator nodded and turned his full attention to the screens.

  Dimov walked out and went to his private office. He pulled open a desk drawer, grabbed a gold-plated key, and pushed a picture on the wall aside. Behind the photo was a keypad. Dimov entered the key into a slot and typed in his code. A red light appeared on the keypad. Dimov took in a deep breath through his nostrils, and turned the key all the way over to the right. The light turned from red to green. A silent countdown had begun. The base had twenty minutes until a series of thermite charges went off and plunged the entire base into a flaming inferno. Dimov stepped back. It was done.