“This whole place is rigged to explode,” explained Nova. “We have less than a minute to escape the blast radius, or we’re all going to be incinerated.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“I said I’ll explain later. Just run like your life depends on it when these doors open.”
Mitchell keyed his mic. “Gordon, wherever you are, get the hell out of there, and make a run for the marsh on the other side of the LZ.”
“Are you sure?” asked Cardinal.
“Yes! Get going!”
The doors parted. Nova yelled, “Move!”
As fast as they could, the battered survivors ran out of the warehouse, struggling to put as much distance as they could between the base and themselves.
Cardinal took the stairs three at a time as he rushed to the bottom floor. He ripped off everything he didn’t need that might slow him down. By the time he broke out into the open, even his rifle was gone. A rumbling like thunder raced across the island. Cardinal felt the ground ripple under his feet. The building he had been on top of buckled and collapsed to the ground. A cloud of dust and debris swept toward Cardinal. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his comrades hobbling away from the doomed base.
A loud crash tore through the air as another four-story building collapsed in on itself. In the depths of the facility, the first of the thermite charges went off, tearing massive chunks of rock from the roof of the submarine pen. One by one, the floors of the base exploded, and by the time it reached the top floor, the complex was a smoldering and melting wreck. The ground gave way as what was left of the installation slipped down into the watery abyss.
“God on Earth,” said Mitchell, as a dark cloud of fire and smoke shot skyward. The heat from the blast felt as though they were standing next to a furnace. He kept going until his legs could go no farther. He stopped and gently laid Dawn on the ground. Nova collapsed with Jackson right next to Dawn.
A darkened shape, barely recognizable as a man, staggered out of the dust cloud, coughing and wheezing. Mitchell grabbed the man by the hand and led him toward the rest of the banged-up group. He grabbed a water bottle and poured it over Gordon’s eyes and the rest of his face, washing off some of the muck.
“Sam, where’s Sam?” asked Cardinal, looking around.
Mitchell held Cardinal’s arm tight in his hand. “Sam’s not with us.”
Cardinal fought to break free of his teammate’s grasp. “No! Where is she?”
Mitchell calmed his voice, and looked into his friend’s eyes. “Sam’s all right. They took her with them.”
“What do you mean, they took her?”
“Gordon, she was taken prisoner. I’m sorry, there was nothing we could do to stop them.”
Dawn sat up. “He’s telling you the truth. There were just too many of them.”
“But you’re sure she’s alive?” asked Cardinal.
“They wouldn’t have taken her, otherwise,” replied Mitchell, letting go of his comrade’s arm.
Cardinal wiped dirt from his face. “Someone’s going to pay for this.”
“I hear you.”
A familiar voice echoed in Mitchell’s earpiece. “Ryan, where are you?”
“We’re next to the marsh.”
“Da, I see you,” said Yuri. “I’m coming in to land.”
“Hurry, we’ve got some pretty beaten-up folks down here.”
“Ryan, this didn’t really go as planned,” said Jackson through gritted teeth.
Mitchell’s heart soared at hearing his friend’s voice. “No, it didn’t. Are you okay?”
Jackson shook head. “Thankfully, my liquid body armor took most of the impact. I’m winded, though, and will have one hell of a bruise to explain when I get back home.”
Yuri brought the chopper in to land right next to Mitchell’s people.
Mitchell carefully helped Dawn to her feet and settled her in the back of the chopper, along with the rest of his battered comrades and Nova Dinu. He took his seat in the co-pilot’s position, and slipped a headset on. “We’re good to go.”
Yuri gave him a thumbs-up, revved the engine, and then spun his chopper around in the air. He applied more power to the motor and flew away from the island as fast as his helicopter could fly.
“How did you know to come back?” asked Mitchell.
“I heard the chatter on the radio, and knew you’d want me sooner rather than later,” replied Yuri.
Mitchell glanced at the blood stains on his clothes. He felt tired and drained. “Thanks. You probably saved us all from a few years in jail.”
“Ryan, do you remember when I told you to bring your bags?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because my contact called me and told me the Kazak authorities are on to us. We’re going to have to go to ground for a few days.”
“Yuri, I don’t think we have a few days. What can you do for us?”
“It’ll cost us a ton of money, but I think I can get us somewhere safe.”
“Do it and bill whatever it takes to Grace’s account. This is her mission, and she can bloody well pay for it.”
46
Polaris Headquarters
O’Reilly saw the light on his secure phone go on, and scooped up the handset. “Yes.”
“General, it’s Ryan.” Mitchell sounded exhausted.
“Thank God you’re all right. Where are you?”
“We’re in the bottom of a freighter making our way to Turkmenistan. One of Yuri’s contacts smuggles stuff from time to time across the Caspian Sea, and today, we’re it.”
“How is everyone doing?” O’Reilly had read the duty report taken from open-source news and intercepts of Russian police radio conversations, and feared the worst.
“Sir, to be blunt, the mission was an utter disaster. Sam’s been taken hostage. If Nate and Dawn hadn’t been wearing body armor, they’d both be dead now. As it is, they’re moving gingerly, with massive bruises.”
O’Reilly closed his eyes. “What happened?”
Mitchell paused to collect his thoughts. “A lot of things went wrong, but the biggest failure was a lack of intelligence. We’ve been making this up as we go, and that has to stop. Sir, is the tracking device in Sam’s boot still operational?”
“No. We lost contact with her on the island.”
“It must have broken when she fell down the air shaft. Luckily, we managed to rescue Nova Dinu, and she’s proven to be a goldmine of information.”
“At last, some good news.”
“Sir, Nova’s father, Max, was kidnapped on Krasimir Dimov’s orders to help Sandesh’s scientists make a breakthrough in gene-editing. According to Nova, Sandesh wants to bring about world peace by holding the entire world to ransom.”
“How can he do that?”
“It’s something called Achlys. Essentially, it’s a bioweapon which would target specific ethnicities or genotypes. Nova said that Achlys can be adapted to kill a certain group of people outright or be altered to kill their children. She believes that given time, it could be modified to do whatever its makers want it to do.”
A chill ran down O’Reilly’s spine. “This is a nightmare. Why did Max Dinu agree to build such an abomination?”
“At first, Max refused to cooperate with Dimov, so he had Nova kidnapped as well, and threatened to have her shot in front of him if he didn’t do as he was told. Max feared for his daughter’s life and buckled under. You can’t really blame him.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Sir, Nova feels like she let her father down. At first, she told her father to resist them, but after learning that the weapon could end suffering around the globe, she became convinced it was the right thing to do, and encouraged her father to complete his work. It was only after Dimov tried to kill her that she saw she was nothing but a pawn in a larger game.”
“I take it Grace is still with them?”
“We believe so. Nova made another error she deeply regrets, and tur
ned her over to Dimov as a spy.”
“Nova sounds like she will have a lot to answer for when this is over.”
“Sir, it’s not that simple. Dimov played her. If she’s got anything to answer for, that’s between her and her family. I’m not judging her.”
O’Reilly heard the firmness in Mitchell’s tone. “Got it. Dimov’s a master manipulator. Too bad he doesn’t use his talents to help people, rather than threaten mankind.”
“General, Gordon is climbing the walls down here. If we don’t find where they’re holding Sam, and soon, I’m afraid he’s going to lose it.”
“Let him know we all want her back safe and sound. Does Nova have any idea where they may have gone?”
“Only some place called Site Alpha. Spiridov Island was Bravo, and I’m assuming the facility in South Sudan was Charlie. Whoever is behind this has been developing and refining their bioweapon for decades. I’m willing to bet that Sandesh with his money and resources is a latecomer to this plot.”
“I agree with you. I’ll get Jen and Fahimah searching the database to see if there has been any mention of a Site Alpha.”
“Sir, I doubt that will get us anywhere. I suggest that you call Sandesh’s family direct, and let them know that we believe Varun Sandesh is an idealist who has fallen under the control of Dimov, and we need their help trying to identify Site Alpha, before something catastrophic happens.”
“What if they don’t believe me, and ask for proof that Varun has secretly built a bioweapon?”
“Aside from Nova’s testimony, I have nothing I can give you, General. You’re just going to have to convince them to help you.”
“And if they offer to help?”
“Sir, ask them to identify any new construction that has occurred in the past four to five years. It doesn’t have to be a completely new structure, just one that has had extensive work done to it.”
“Why four to five years?”
“Because that’s when Dimov came on the scene, and filled Sandesh’s mind about how to achieve world peace.”
O’Reilly nodded. “That makes sense.”
“I doubt he’d go back, but could you have the ladies try and find Sandesh’s yacht?”
“Will do. Is there anything else you need to be done from this end?”
“Not that I can think of. We’ll be docking in a few hours from now. I’d sure like some good news to pass on to everyone once we arrive in Turkmenistan.”
“No promises, Ryan, but we’re going to do our best.”
“Thanks, General. I look forward to hearing from you.” The line went silent.
O’Reilly hung up the handset and rushed over to Donaldson’s office. The door was wide open. “Mike, have Jen and Fahimah meet us in the briefing room right away.”
Donaldson stopped typing on his laptop and looked up. “Ryan’s team?”
“Yes.”
“How are they?”
“Banged up, but still in the fight. They need our help, and by God, we’re going to give it to them.”
47
Site Alpha
The pain in Grace’s head had begun to recede. The last memory she had before waking up in this new room was the sound of a grenade bouncing across the metal floor, and then nothing. She sat up and looked around. A fluorescent light flickered on and off over the steel sink. A strong smell of sulphur fumes bothered her nostrils. A moan from the bed on the other side of the room reminded her that there was another person locked up with her. Grace stood and walked over to the bed where Sam lay, tied to the four posts. She thrashed around in her heavily sedated sleep, calling out for Cardinal.
The door to the room opened. An armed guard stepped inside and motioned with his machine pistol for Grace to move back to her own bed.
She glared at the man and took a seat on her metal-framed bed.
Sandesh walked in, holding a tray of food.
“So, this is what they have you doing now,” said Grace sarcastically.
Sandesh left the tray on a table and dismissed the guard. The man moved back but stood by the door, blocking anyone from getting out.
“How’s your head feeling?” asked Sandesh, pulling out a chair to sit on.
“Not too bad,” Grace replied. “Besides, why the hell do you care?”
“Because, believe it or not, I care about you. You have every good reason to hate me, but I wish you didn’t.”
Grace leaned forward. “Varun, wake up and take a look around you. This isn’t about you and me, this is about the survival of the human race. I’m begging you to stop what you’re doing.”
“I wish I could, but I fear that I’m just as much a hostage as you are.”
Grace saw the sad look of defeat in Sandesh’s eyes. She lowered her voice. “What’s happened?”
“Dimov is running the show now. He hasn’t said it to my face, but I know I’m only here in case this all goes badly—then they’ll have someone to blame.”
“Who are they?”
Sandesh shrugged. “I don’t know. All I do know is the men at this site don’t work for me. Most look like thugs from some Asian drug lord’s army.”
“Varun, listen to me. You have to get word to the outside world and let them know where you are, and what’s going on.”
“And then what? What about my plans to bring about world peace?”
Grace shook her head. “Varun, you said it yourself; Dimov has taken over. Ask yourself one question: are his motives as altruistic as yours? If not, then he has to be stopped.”
Sandesh let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, you win. I’ll do as you say.”
“Trust me, Varun, you’re doing the right thing.”
“How is the other woman doing?”
“She’ll be fine in the long run. When Dimov sprayed Nova’s room, he hit her in the shoulder. Her body armor took the force of the impact, but by the looks of things, she very nearly dislocated her shoulder. Her name is Samantha Chen. I’ve worked with her before. Your men pumped her full of sedatives a couple of hours ago, to keep her from trying to escape.”
“Is she dangerous?”
“Right now, only to me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Varun, your brother hired me to look into your activities, and I hired Sam and her colleagues, without their knowledge, as backup. She’s furious that I set up her and her boyfriend to retrieve a priceless relic that almost got them killed. Before your men drugged her, she threatened to punch my lights out for what happened, and I believe her.”
“Mitchell and Jackson are part of this team?”
“Precisely. There’s a couple more who make up the rest of the team, and if Dimov has any smarts, he’d be worried about them, not me. Once they find out where Sam is, they’re going to come through here like demons from the pits of hell. They won’t stop until she’s free and Dimov is dead.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
Grace looked Sandesh square in the eyes. “Am I?”
“No, I guess not. I guess I should be on my way. Please eat. You’ll need the nutrients in the fruit to keep your strength up.” Sandesh stood. “I’ll come by check on you tomorrow.”
Grace got off her cot. Barely above a whisper, she asked, “How long do we have?”
He smiled at her and then mouthed three days. Sandesh turned and walked back out of the cell. The guard slammed the heavy, metal door closed and locked it.
Grace looked down at the heap of food on the tray. She suspected there was a camera watching her, so she leaned over the tray, making it hard for anyone to see what she was doing, and moved some kiwis aside. Her heart leaped when a key appeared. Grace picked up a kiwi along with the key and took a seat on her bed. As she took a bite of her fruit, Grace let the key slide down inside her coveralls.
Varun, you lovestruck puppy, you’re good for something after all, thought Grace, enjoying the taste of her kiwi. Perhaps things aren’t as bleak as they appear.
48
The phone had jus
t begun to ring when Dimov darted over, grabbed it off his table, and answered the call. “Yes.”
“Mister Dimov, what is your status?” asked the metallic-sounding voice.
“Sir, we have arrived at Site Alpha, and have commenced mass-producing Achlys.”
“When will you be ready to distribute the weapon?”
“Three days from now. I’d hoped it would be earlier, but one of the vats sprung a leak and had to be replaced.”
“Twenty-four hours will not affect our operation.”
The words were a welcome relief. After all of the trouble he’d had in Singapore and on Spiridov Island, he’d expected to be relieved of his duties, permanently. “I have the plant fully locked down. The scientists are working night and day to ensure we meet our goals.”
“What of the people who tried to stop you?”
“They must have been consumed by the thermite explosion. No one could have survived that inferno.”
“Dimov, one thing I have learned over the years is to never underestimate your opponents. It’s a dangerous and foolhardy thing to do.”
“Yes, sir. All I was merely trying to say was that the blast should have taken care of them.”
“My people tell me you have one of them with you.”
Dimov’s gut clenched tight. How did his superior know that? Was there an informer among his men? “That is correct. She’s an Asian woman with a nasty temper.”
“Have your men take a picture of her and have it sent to me. I want to know exactly who we are dealing with.”
“Yes, sir, it will be done right away.”
“Dimov, in spite of all the unexpected obstacles thrown in your way, you have done remarkably well. I will personally visit you the day Achlys is ready to be distributed to the world.”
Dimov stood. “It will be an honor to have you here, sir.”
“Stay sharp and alert. You may think it’s over, but it’s time like this when our enemies will become desperate to stop us, and I don’t want that to happen. Do you?”
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