“Characterize it however you wish, but the reality you’re dealing with is that one of the cities on President Karelin’s list of places he’d like to obliterate in the United States is going to have a missile aimed at it. And one of the Russian cities you wrote down will also have a missile pointed at it. But there’s just one problem. The Castle-74 can only protect one country. And that’s going to be the highest bidder. Let’s start the bidding at five hundred billion. Seems reasonable, yes?”
“I’m not buying this,” Young said. “You wouldn’t dare attempt something like that.”
“Believe what you may, but understand that this is very serious,” Sinclair said. “And if you aren’t interested in playing along, you’re going to have a mess to clean up when you return to Washington, at least what’s left of it.”
“While we might be enemies ideologically, neither I nor President Karelin would be interested in this twisted game of yours,” Young said.
“Are you sure about that?” Sinclair asked.
Karelin stroked his chin as his gaze bounced between Sinclair and Young. “Five hundred billion.”
“Excellent,” Sinclair said. “Still uninterested, President Young?”
Young clenched his jaw and glared at Karelin. “Six hundred billion.”
A faint smile spread across Sinclair’s lips. “Do I hear seven hundred billion?”
CHAPTER 25
HAWK RELOADED AND RETURNED fire on the guards outside. But almost as soon as the gunfight started, it abruptly halted. A man rushed onto the scene and scolded the men for firing so close to the computer.
“Come on, Alex,” Hawk said. “We need to take cover on the other side of this machine.”
He helped her to her feet and covered her as they eased around the mainframe.
“Mia,” Hawk said into his coms, “how’s it looking?”
“I’ve almost breached the firewall,” Mia said.
“Make it quick. We’re about to have company, and I don’t know what that’s going to mean for your access.”
“Is the transmitter visible?” she asked.
“It’s on the keyboard tray.”
“Hide it now,” Mia said.
Hawk didn’t hesitate, darting over to the terminal and tucking the wireless transmitter out of sight.
“Done,” he announced as he slid next to Alex.
“Great,” Mia said, her keyboard clicking in the background. “And I’m in.”
Alex pumped her left fist before she stopped and winced in pain.
“Just take it easy,” Hawk said.
“I’m trying,” she said.
“Look, we’re going to get out of this.”
She leaned her head against the wall and looked upward. “How can you be so sure? We’re kind of hemmed in at the moment, and there’s nobody else on this godforsaken island who can help us.”
“We’ll figure out a way. You’ve got to trust me on this one, but please be careful with that arm of yours.”
Alex examined the weapon in her right hand. “At least I can still shoot.”
He dug another gun out of his rucksack and gave it to her. “You’ve got eight shots on that one in case you run out. Choose your targets wisely.”
“I always do,” she said with a wry grin. “You know how much I hate wasting bullets.”
“At least you still have your sense of humor.”
Mia interrupted the moment, squawking on the coms. “I’m in. I’m in.”
“Do you have control yet?” Alex asked.
“Working on it,” Mia said. “Give me another minute or two.”
The door was positioned on the far side of the room around several rows of servers. Hawk crept around the side to see if there was any activity taking place outside. Using a bank of computers for cover, he could see the entrance. And while he couldn’t make out what the men were saying, he could hear them speaking in hushed tones.
Hawk grabbed the walkie-talkie he’d lifted off the guard at the gate and turned up the volume to listen in on their conversation.
“We’re down here with the mainframe,” one of the men said. “We’ve got at least two hostiles pinned down. I think one of them is injured.”
“How many men are with you?”
“Four.”
“Sit tight, and I’ll send some more. Don’t take any action until you have reinforcements. The intruder is well-trained and should be considered extremely dangerous.”
“Copy that,” the man responded.
Hawk rushed back over to Alex. “We’re about to be heavily outnumbered.”
“What’s that mean?” she asked.
“I think it means we’re done here.”
Alex clenched her jaw and shook her head subtly. “They’re gonna kill us, aren’t they?”
Hawk nodded. “Probably. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to just lie down and take it.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“It’s an idea at this point, but it’s about the only one I can think of.”
“Will it work?”
He shrugged. “It all depends.”
“On what?”
“Lady Luck.”
“Well, let’s just do what we can until Mia makes a connection with the rockets,” she said.
Mia let out a yelp that pierced Hawk’s ear.
“Please don’t yell like that again,” he said.
“I’m in the program controlling the missiles,” Mia said. “I’m going to lock in a course for them to land harmlessly in the water.”
“Good work, Mia,” Alex said. “I knew bringing you along was the best thing we could’ve done.”
“How are things looking for you two?” Mia asked.
“Not so good. Just remember what I told you about hiding and the flare gun in case we don’t come back,” Hawk said.
“Wait. What? You might not make it out of there?”
“Just focus, Mia,” Alex said. “Don’t worry about all that. We’ll figure out something. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Alex cocked her head to one side and glared at Hawk as she muted her microphone. “Couldn’t you have just lied there? She’s not trained like us. If she isn’t fully concentrating, we could be in big trouble.”
“She needed to know the truth for her own sake,” Hawk said. “Her survival might depend on it.”
“You should’ve at least waited.”
“We may not have an opportunity to say anything once those guards storm through the door. Better to give her a fighting chance than leave her in the dark.”
Hawk and Alex sat in silence for a minute, waiting for movement from either the guards outside or a report from Mia as to which course of action to take next.
“You
