“I can’t believe it. I really can’t believe it.” He thrust his hands forward toward Marcus and grasped the Marine’s in his own, shaking it vigorously. “You are alive! Oh, God, this is going to make some people very happy. Very happy indeed!”
Once in the office, they settled down and the ambassador filled him in on what had happened since his disappearance.
He told Marcus that after the team did not radio for the helicopter extraction unit, another team was sent in to find out what had happened. They came upon the dead at the orphanage and recovered most of the bodies, which had been stripped of all useable clothing and equipment. Three men were found to be “non-recoverable”, meaning their bodies had either been so damaged by the explosions as to be unidentifiable, or there was little trace of their remains. Marcus was one of these, as was Barclay, who had been next to him during the attack and probably took a direct hit from the RPG. Marcus had been pronounced missing and assumed dead, and his family had already been informed. They would certainly be happy to discover that he had actually survived.
After a delicious meal, Marcus was given a room at the finest hotel available in Conakry. Once settled in, Marcus called his friend Linus and told him as much as he could, asking him to pass on to his parents the news that he was alive. Linus had started to say something back, but the connection, which had been very crackly from the start, abruptly went out and he was unable to reconnect the call. He then found a piece of paper and a pen and wrote two letters. The first was to his mother, the second to Lonnie.
Lonnie,
These past two months have been the hardest of my life, but I want you to know that it was the dream of seeing you again that sustained me through it all. I witnessed the most evil that men can do displayed like a parade before my eyes, but I put a stop to it. The desire to see you again, with honor, has been the sole motivating factor that led me to do what I did to not only survive, but to save the lives of those in my care.
If it were not for the vision of your beauty constantly floating before my mind, I would have had no reason to continue on in the adventure that I have endured.
I love you madly, and with extreme eagerness await the day we are together again.
Your Marine,
Your Love,
Marcus
Chapter 40
George Parks Highway
Sunshine, Alaska
20 December
03:35 Hours
Wyatt, Johnson, Wasner, and two of his SEALs landed in the state’s Blackhawk helicopter at the remote trooper post in the small town of Sunshine. The town was a fairly young settlement of about two hundred people scattered through the forest high in the mountains on the south side of the Alaska Range. In the clear, cold, starlit night, the shadowy outline of the mountains stood out against the inky darkness of the sky. High above the other peaks, like an emperor gazing upon his subjects, stood the massive mountain locally known as Denali. The literal translation of the Athabaskan name is ‘Great One’. Most Americans know it as Mount McKinley. The second tallest peak in the world, it juts skyward nearly five miles above sea level.
Wyatt borrowed a vehicle from the trooper post, a full size F250. Nestled in the eight-foot-long bed and facing toward the rear was a long track snowmobile. Both the truck and the snowmobile were painted bright white, with the blue trooper stripe and gold shield logo emblazoned on the door of the F250 and on the cowling of the snowmobile. Wyatt drove the truck. Marcus was up front in the passenger seat and the others sat in the spacious backseat with their weapons between their knees. Wyatt drove to a checkpoint at the junction of the Parks Highway and a small, unnamed road near Byers Lake.
The smaller road snaked its way east out of their view through the backcountry forty miles. At its end, the road terminates into the Denali Highway, which connects the Parks and Richardson Highways in the summer months. During the winter, deep snow renders the road impassible to all but snowmobiles and dog mushers.
As Wyatt pulled up to the intersection, one of the two troopers manning the barricade stretched across the Parks Highway stepped out of his vehicle and into the frigidly cold arctic air to greet them. He pulled his hood up over his head and arched his shoulders against the biting chill as he approached the truck. The temperature was nearly fifty below, and seemed to be dropping. The other trooper stayed in his warm cruiser, from which he could comfortably watch for southbound vehicles.
Wasner sent his two SEALs out to set up sniper positions to cover the road ahead. Marcus started to climb out from the passenger-side door after them.
“Marcus,” Lonnie said as he opened his door. “Can we talk for a minute?” She had no expression on her face, but Marcus got the message.
He turned to the others and said, “I’ll be right out, you guys. Get set up and we can run shifts so no one gets too cold.” He closed the door and turned toward her.
As soon as everyone else was out of earshot, she spoke. “I know this is an awkward time, but I have to get this off my chest right now. I just want to let you know how sorry I am for the way things ended up between us.”
Marcus stared
