“Yes. Once we’re inside, we need to be very careful not to release any of the bio-agent. If any of us is exposed to it for even a second, we’re dead and we might as well let the MOP do its job.”
“I’m so glad you’re here to give us good news, Captain Locke,” Turner said flatly.
“Believe me, Captain, I want to get out of this mission in one piece. Speaking of that, how do we signal when we’re successful?”
“When I’m satisfied that the bio-agent and the facility are secure, I’ll give the okay to radio the all-clear signal, which is “The well is dry.” The B-52 that is on station will be told to return to base.”
“I’ll be glad when I hear that phrase,” Grant said.
“One more thing, Captain Turner,” Locke said. “There will be unarmed civilians inside as well as one friendly, a woman named Dilara Kenner. Make sure we only fire at the bad guys.”
“My orders are to shoot anyone who poses a threat. If they aren’t armed, they’re not a threat.”
“That’s all I ask.”
“All right, people!” Turner shouted, trying to pump up his troops. “Check your gear and lock and load! We need to move!”
“And let’s synchronize our watches,” Locke said. “Because my father is nothing if not punctual. If we radio even one second after 2100 hours, we’ve got about 30 more seconds on this earth. Then there won’t be enough left of any of us to fill a shot glass.”
FORTY-SIX
It seemed a little silly to be riding to an attack in a yellow school bus, but Locke and Grant were the only ones who looked amused. The rest of the team looked uncomfortable and embarrassed crammed into the vehicle’s tiny seats. With no military bases on the island, the bus with the letters
While they drove into the fading light of sunset, Locke rechecked his bag of tricks that he had outfitted from the Fort Lewis armory. He was armed with the Glock on his hip and the H&K MP-5 submachine gun that was preferred by special forces. Some of the soldiers were equipped with longer, more powerful M-4 assault rifles, and Grant had one laying against his arm as he dozed.
It took twenty minutes on winding roads to get from the landing zone on the east side of the island to the point where they crossed the remaining terrain on foot. The Hydronast compound was surrounded by ten-foot-high razor-wire fencing, but it was unlikely to be electrified. Too many potential lawsuits that would bring unwanted attention to the site.
They did, however, suspect sensors hidden in the ground and trees for motion detection. Although the island was crawling with wildlife, animals that were large enough to trip the sensors, like deer, wouldn’t be able to jump over the fence. Locke agreed with Turner’s assessment that once they crossed the fence, they would be detected if they didn’t disable the sensors somehow.
All the trees 50 feet on either side of the fence had been chopped down so that using the branches to drop over it would be impossible. The only way through would be to cut the fence.
The team, which was now spread out in the trees 100 yards from the fence were signaled to halt by Turner, and everyone dropped to the ground. Locke laid down next to him. The soil was soaked by rain that had pounded Puget Sound since he and Dilara left four days ago, letting up just in time for this operation. He and Turner both pulled out binoculars. They saw no guards patrolling the fence line, which confirmed the suspicion about motion sensors. Anyone patrolling would continuously set them off, rendering them useless.
The guards must be patrolling the central compound, ready to rush to any sensor that detected movement.
“What do you think?” Locke asked.
“We’ll have to cut through the fence.”
“Then what? It’s about 500 yards to the central compound from the fence. Lots of opportunities to set off the sensors if we miss one.”
“We’ll have to risk it. My men are trained to spot and disable them.”
“Then we just barge in the front door of the hangar building, guns blazing?”
“You got any other options?” Turner said.
Locke thought about it, but he didn’t have any. “Maybe we’ll see something with the UAV.” It would be another ten minutes before the full dark would allow them to use the UAV without it being seen.
Grant, who was using Locke’s binoculars, nudged him and handed them back.
“Take a look at the fence. Two o’clock, at the base of post.”
Locke focused on the spot with the binoculars. It took him a second, and then he saw what Grant was talking about.
“Crap.”
“What is it?” Turner asked.
“The fence is wired.”
“But with high voltage…”
“Not high voltage. Just a sensor wire.” One of the wires had become exposed, just slightly, but enough for Grant’s eagle eyes to see. “If we cut the fence, they’ll know immediately.”
“Can we bypass it?”
“Maybe, but it would be tricky,” Locke said. “These guys are good.”
“So the concrete doors would close instantly as soon as the fence was breached?”
“Unlikely. They’d want confirmation of an intrusion before they did something that drastic. But as soon as they saw the hole in the fence, or us crawling through it, they’d sound the alarm. Then we’re toast.”
“Maybe we should try a full assault through the front gate,” Turner said. “Catch them by surprise.”
“Same problem. When they suspect their guards are taken out, the alarm goes off and they shut themselves in.”
“You’re not being very helpful, Locke.”
Locke knew he sounded pessimistic, but when you eliminated all of the obvious choices, less obvious choices suddenly made themselves known.
He concentrated on the fence again. He had laid the binoculars down while he was talking to Turner, and the lens was covered in water from the high grass. He paused to wipe it off, then stopped. He dug his gloved finger into the soil, which was soaking wet. His finger plunged through up to his top knuckle as easily as if he’d pushed it into pudding.
Locke looked up at the tree next to him, a giant evergreen over 150 feet tall.
“Captain Turner,” Locke said, a big smile spreading across his face, “I’m about to be helpful. I believe I have a way to get us through.”
Sebastian Garrett checked his laptop to make sure the inventory for Oasis was up to date and then radioed Cutter. The device on the Genesis Dawn should be in full operation by now. He’d wanted an immediate lockdown, but not everyone had completed the move from the main house into the bunker. Once the bunker was sealed, it would open up only once more: the next morning when the three prion-emitting devices were ready and their bearers were sent off to LAX, Kennedy Airport, and Heathrow in London. When they were gone, Oasis would be closed off from the rest of the world for three months, the time he expected it would take the Arkon-C to run its course worldwide. The men delivering the devices would have to be sacrificed, but they didn’t know that. They were told that they would be let back in, but Garrett couldn’t take the chance that they would be infected.
“How are we coming?” Garrett asked Cutter.
“Another twenty minutes, sir.”
“What? Why is it taking so long?”
“We’ve still got equipment to move down that is crucial to our operations.”
Oasis was equipped with positive-pressure airlocks and hazmat suits for external forays in emergencies, but Garrett didn’t want to use them if he didn’t have to. The bunker was powered by two generators, and an enormous
