As the V-22s lifted off to return to the
'Lieutenant McIntire, this is Major Gary Easterbrook; he's in command of the marine element.'
Sarah saluted the major as he examined her work, then he returned her salute as he looked into the wide opening that led away into darkness.
'Any idea how far it goes?' the major asked.
'Well, according to the plate map, about two hundred miles,' Sarah said, looking at Collins.
Carl looked at his watch and grimaced. 'That's going to be cutting it close, Jack. We have only five and half hours until daybreak.'
'Morning Thunder begins at exactly 0630 and we don't even know if this place leads anywhere any more important than a Starbucks,' Jason Ryan said, adjusting his pack over his black Nomex BDU.
'We won't find out until we get our asses in the snake hole,' Jack answered. 'Major, your men will follow my team and we'll follow the captain here and his SEALs. They'll be traveling far faster in their jeeps than us in the two-ton trucks. Captain Everett and his team will be in advance and clear any obstacles they may come across. I need a clear roadway, Captain.'
'Got it. We'll clear what we can and try not to cave the entire thing in on top of us,' Carl answered as he raised his hand and signaled his team of forty SEALs and four specialists to come over.
'I can't help but think this is a wild goose chase, Colonel Collins. I mean, why not concentrate our efforts with the rest of the assault on Crete? We may end up missing the whole thing going through this way.'
Jack looked at the young major and then removed his Mylar helmet. 'Listen, our forces are getting ready to get their asses kicked all over the known world, and this operation could be the one wild card that the Coalition does not think we have. According to some very smart people, if they start the Wave again, it may not stop at just their target--it could continue until it starts the whole tectonic-plate system moving. So unless you want Gary, Indiana, to wind up where the Arctic is now, we'd best get through, no matter what lays in wait.'
He turned to Carl and stuck out his hand. 'Good luck, swabby.'
Carl took the hand and then smiled. 'This is probably no worse than some of the bars I'm known to frequent, Jack.' He smiled at Sarah and then at Ryan. 'Now don't you guys stop off at Denny's or anything, we may need you before too long.'
They watched as Carl led his team over to the five jeeps.
The four officers saluted Collins and started for their vehicles as the first of the SEALs entered the darkened passageway to the oldest city in the planet's history. Whistles sounded in the dying wind as the main assault element climbed aboard their transports.
Like thousands of years before, western man was once again attacking the civilization of Atlantis. Sarah McIntire looked one last time at Jack and then prayed for a different outcome this time around.
15
After a personal phone call from the president of the United States and an hour and a half of arguing, the Italian government finally granted permission for the most important aspect of Operation Morning Thunder to over- fly Italian airspace. The president dropped certain names of people connected with the Juliai Coalition who happened to be members of the Italian parliament--names supplied by Martha and Carmichael. Fearing a repeat of what had happened in Germany and Japan, Italy became very cooperative.
The ten aircraft in question, hidden secretly at Aviano for a full day after having been flown in during the hours of total darkness, ten F-22A Raptors, America's fifth-generation fighters of the newly activated 525th Fighter Squadron, would play a pivotal role in the opening minutes of the attack. Meanwhile, the big surprise would come from the American air base at Diego Garcia, where two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers would be the first of America's warplanes to lift off.
As the fighters were made ready in Italy, the pair of B-2s were already rolling down the darkened runway at Diego Garcia.
Marine Corps General Pete Hamilton was on the flag bridge when the captain of the
'We just received word that the first element of Morning Thunder cleared the runway at 0345 hours,' the captain said.
General Hamilton sipped his coffee and looked out at the calm Mediterranean. He did not respond at first, only nodded. He knew that if their ploy didn't work, the landing force would not only have to deal with a stiff land defense, they would have to dodge an attack from the air.
'Thank you, Captain.' He placed his coffee on the arm of the large chair. 'Signal
'Aye, sir. Should we also signal Backdoor that Morning Thunder is off the ground?'
'If Colonel Collins started out on time and they're where they should be, he and my marines won't be able to receive you.' He looked at the captain and shook his head. 'Backdoor is on its own. No message.'
The captain saw that the general was off in his own world, worrying over the time-worn problems of how to kill your fellow man without losing too many of your own, or of your enemy. The captain knew that very few men in the violent history of the world had ever found out how to do that.
The third piece of the surprise was the
As he brought the
'XO, open doors on vertical tubes one through twelve and spool up the birds.'
The second element of Operation Backdoor was cooling its heels. For the past thirty minutes they had been at a standstill, since Everett had called Jack and told him that they had a major blockage of the passage and would have to blow an ancient magma flow from the tiled roadway.
While they waited, Sarah took pictures of the tunnel and its ornate wonders that depicted Atlantis in mosaic relief throughout the gateway. There were scenes of teachers instructing the young. Some depicted great battles fought with barbaric people; most brutal of all were the scenes showing the barbarity toward the lesser people of the world.
'Looks like these people were a little harsh on their neighbors,' Mendenhall said as he saw the mosaic of slaves as they went about harsh work in the fields and buildings of Atlantis.
'It was a different world for those people. To be as advanced as they were, they had to have existed for at least ten or fifteen thousand years. As for their obvious brutality ...' Sarah remembered that Mendenhall always looked at such things this from a base point of view. Either you were good or you were bad. There was never, ever anything in between.
'What do you suppose those are?' Collins asked, coming up from behind.
Sarah saw where he was pointing. She walked over to Collins, bent down, and placed her hand over one of
