area of dense foliage like that was asking for trouble. Most, if not all, would get hung up in the trees. Those who didn’t break bones or get killed in the fall would be easy targets for anybody on the ground with a rifle.
“Sarah!”
When she looked up, Adin was at the top of the ladder looking down from the flight deck. He waved them up and motioned for her to tie off the dog.
Sarah looped Bugsy’s leash through the cargo net on the side of the plane and tied it. She settled him down into a prone position on deck and petted him, then followed Herman up the ladder.
Once they were inside the flight compartment, Adin pointed out through the small windshield in front of the pilot. Off in the distance were two looming white dishes, one of them large enough that it looked like a giant parasol someone had dropped in the jungle.
Adin looked at her. “That has to be it.” He glanced at Herman.
“When Paul said antennas, I was thinking more along the lines of a series of towers,” said Herman.
“No.” Adin shook his head. “You see the smaller dish?”
Sarah and Herman squinted out toward the windshield and then nodded.
“That’s a radio telescope,” said Adin. “It’s not real big. Not as large as the ones in Puerto Rico, but it’s enough to see out into space.”
Herman gave him a puzzled look. “What’s that got to do with it?”
“It’s what we’re looking for,” said Adin.
“What do you mean?”
“Trust me, that’s it,” said Adin. “Look off to the left.” He took Herman by the arm and pointed. “You see that clearing next to the buildings?”
Herman squinted and then nodded.
“Pilot says it looks like a landing strip. Can’t tell if it’s paved from this distance, but it should be enough for us; that is, if it’s long enough.”
“You’re not gonna try and land there, are you?” said Herman.
Adin nodded. “It’s our best bet. If we get on the ground fast and off-load, they’ll never know what hit them.” He took a couple of steps forward and tapped the pilot on the shoulder.
“If that’s the place, you’re out of your mind,” said Herman.
Immediately the plane’s wing dipped. The C-130 made a deep banking turn, dropped altitude, and veered off to the left.
Sarah lost her footing. Adin grabbed her and held on until the plane leveled off. It circled away from the two massive dishes in the jungle and took a heading south toward Coba.
“Get your guys ready!” The pilot yelled over his shoulder to Teo Ben Rabin, who was seated behind him. “We’re only going to get one shot at this. I’ll approach low in over the trees,” said the pilot. “They gotta be ready to move the second we hit that runway.”
“Got it,” said Uncle Ben. “Excuse me.” He pushed past Sarah and Adin and headed for the cargo bay.
“I want the two of you to get down behind that first cargo container in the center aisle. When we land, I want as much metal between you and whatever is around those buildings as possible. That’ll be the safest place for now,” said Adin. “If we start to take fire and they hit the fuel tank, get out of the plane fast. Don’t go out the ramp,” said Adin. “You’ll never make it. Use one of the forward cargo doors and keep the plane between you and any incoming rounds, understood?”
Sarah nodded. “Where are you going to be?”
“On the Jeep,” said Adin. “I’ll be OK. Worry about yourself,” he told her. “It was stupid of me to allow you to come.”
“Worry about that later,” she said.
“You watch her,” he told Herman.
“I can take care of myself,” said Sarah.
“Why don’t you land somewhere else and try and buy some time?” said Herman. “Now that you know where it is, what’s the rush?”
“I’m afraid we don’t have any time,” said Adin. “It may be now or never. You understand what I said about getting off the plane?”
“Got it,” said Herman.
“You’re in charge of her and the dog. I want them alive when it’s over.” He looked at Sarah. “Take care of yourself. Stay down low.” She was trying to put on a brave face, but she was scared. He could tell by the look on her face.
What Herman didn’t tell Adin was that he had climbed up into the container where Ben Rabin’s men had first hidden. While Uncle Ben’s men were busy looking out the ramp at the back of the plane, Herman jobbed two nine- millimeter Berettas and four clips of ammunition from a duffel bag stashed inside the container. He would have preferred to take one of their nifty Tavor rifles, but he figured it might be missed.
To Herman’s thinking, if he and Sarah could stay alive long enough, there would be plenty of opportunity to pick up loose weapons off the ground from some of the S-13 men who didn’t make it. Herman didn’t think much of their plan to land on the field. To him it was suicide.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
In his heightened state of fright, Leffort wasn’t sure what he was hearing at first. With the iron asteroid out of control and the monitors in the room all dark, his mind was seized with thoughts of escape. The noise went on for several seconds before it even registered in his brain.
When it did, it hit him like a shot of adrenaline. The sound was muted by the solid steel door of the control room and the heavy insulation in the walls and ceiling around him. But there was no mistaking what it was. An alarm pierced the silence in the hallway outside, the buzzing Klaxon on the wall.
Leffort was sure he had triggered it. Either the result of the unbalanced telemetry data being fed into the computers or the fact that he had powered down the large monitors on the wall-something had set it off.
There was nowhere to go. Leffort was trapped in the room with two armed guards outside the door. Someone pounded on the other side. Finally despondent, he picked up his card key and unlocked it from the inside. When he heard the electronic bolts snap open, he waited for several seconds. Leffort expected the guards to storm in and take him, but they didn’t. He opened the door a crack and looked out.
The corridor was a sea of pandemonium. The Klaxon horn on the wall blaring in his ears was deafening. Guards were running in every direction. Two of the scientists Leffort had thrown out of the room were standing there gesturing frantically as they spoke.
Leffort stepped out and closed the door behind him. “What is it?”
One of them who spoke English looked at him wide-eyed. “Radar warns of a large unidentified aircraft.”
“What?”
People racing by were bumping into the two men. One of them, the one he was talking to, tried to edge toward the closed control room door. “I must get inside to take some readings.”
“Where was the plane? How far out?” Leffort changed the subject.
“Very close,” said the man. “One of the guards outside saw it. Only a quick glimpse but he said it looked like a military plane.”
“The Mexican government?” said Leffort.
“We don’t know. They have ordered all technical staff to the underground bunker.” The alarm was the signal to battle stations. “The rest have already gone. I was waiting for you to open the door.” He reached for it.
“Never mind!” Leffort blocked him with his body. “I’ll grab the printouts, lock up, and meet you at the bunker.”
The man smiled. “Good. Thank you. You are a prince.” He was still genuflecting toward Leffort as the two of them disappeared into the sea of human chaos flowing down the hallway.
Leffort stepped back into the room, closed the door, and tried to collect his thoughts. The printer was off. He had never turned it on. For a man who was an agnostic, Leffort was beginning to believe. If there was a God, surely
