but she picked up inflections that suggested he'd been educated in the States. 'I'm Croix. You've brought us something interesting. The information on the hit is confirmed?'
'It's solid,' said Powell, looking around. 'Where's the rest of your people?'
'Standing right in front of you,' said the Frenchman. Before Powell could argue he went on. 'We have our own operations in progress. And this is extremely short notice.'
'You understand how important this is?' A nerve jumped in Powell's jaw. 'The reason we're moving so fast on this is precisely because we have an unparalleled opportunity here. A chance to get the drop on the Tyrants!'
'Uaccord' said Croix, stepping closer to Saxon, 'but we don't have the manpower or the money that you do, my friend. We have to pick our fights.'
'You're members of L'Ombre,' said Saxon. 'I read the file on you guys when I was at Belltower.'
The name rang a bell with Anna; L'Ombre was on Interpol's watch list as a known militant activist group in mainland Europe, linked to a number of incidents with an antiglobalization agenda. But given what she knew now of a clear connection between them and the New Sons of
Freedom, she wondered how accurate that intelligence really was.
Croix allowed a smile. 'Do we get good press?'
'Not really,' he admitted. 'They wrote you off as day-players.'
The other man's smile vanished. 'Their mistake. We're in this fight for the duration, believe me.' He looked Saxon up and down. 'So you're the turncoat, then? Lebedev told me you'd be joining us. Should I trust you?' His hand slipped to the revolver holstered at his belt.
'Your call, mate,' Saxon offered. 'But I don't think Lebedev would have shipped me halfway around the world just for you to kill me.'
'True,' said Croix.
'He helped us get the data on the Taggart hit,' said Anna, uncertain why she felt compelled to defend the man.
Croix glanced at her. 'And you. You're the fugitive. Interesting choice of recruits, Powell.'
'That's one way of putting it,' said the other man. 'So, can we cut to the chase here? What do you have for us?'
Croix snapped his fingers and one of his men produced a laptop. D-Bar immediately crowded in, studying the device. 'As I said, we lack manpower but we make up for it in other areas. L'Ombre has access to certain sources of electronic intelligence.'
'What do you mean?'
D-Bar sniggered. 'According to this, the Swiss sat-comm network has more holes than… well, you know, the cheese.'
'We exploit them,' said Croix. 'As such, we've been able to track two distinct encrypted communications nodes that have appeared in the
Geneva area.'
'They match what we have on record,' said the hacker. 'It's the Tyrants. They're here, all right.'
Anna felt her pulse quicken, and she stepped closer to look at the laptop. 'You're telling me you can read their communications?'
'Of course they can't,' D-Bar snapped irritably. 'Quantum coding crypto? Don't be stupid!'
'But we can recognize their presence. It's a fingerprint,' said Powell.
Croix's smile returned. 'Oh, we've done better. We have locations.'
'How'd you manage that?' Saxon raised an eyebrow. 'Namir's team don't make mistakes.'
'People get lucky sometimes, Saxon,' D-Bar broke in.
Croix nodded to the man with the laptop, who brought up a series of digital maps. 'One of the communication nodes remains static at the airport.'
'Must be the jet,' said Saxon. 'Namir uses it as a command post.'
'The second,' Croix went on, 'is mobile.' He said something in French and the other man used the computer to show grainy footage from what appeared to be a traffic camera. 'A delivery vehicle. It's been making a circuit of the city.'
'Cleaning the route,' said Anna. 'Making sure he's not being tailed, before…'
'Before what?' asked Saxon.
Powell folded his arms. 'That's what we need to find out.' He was silent for a second. 'All right. We need to do this right now. Take the vehicle and the jet at the same time. We don't know what we're dealing with, and we can't afford to wait and watch.'
Anna saw something on the video footage that sparked a cold tremor of recognition within her. She moved closer, peering at the images.
'Taggart does not speak until midday,' Croix was saying. 'They won't move against him until then.'
'Are you sure? Do you want to take that risk?' Powell insisted.
'The plane will be the harder target, though, right?' said D-Bar. 'And if Saxon is right, if that's the control…' He swallowed. 'Look, with this setup I can monitor the van from here-'
'No,' said Powell. 'It has to be a simultaneous takedown.'
'The kid's right, though,' offered Saxon. 'That aircraft will be heavily defended. You try to storm it with anything less than a full team and the
Tyrants will cut you to ribbons.'
'Croix.' Powell turned to the Frenchman, considering the other man's words. 'Get us an entry into the airport. Then set up a vehicle so we can at least tail the mobile. I'll lead the team against the jet. Saxon will come with us.'
Anna heard him talking but she registered what he was saying only peripherally. 'I'll take the van,' she said. 'Get me close and I'll take him.'
Saxon's brow furrowed as he heard the raw fury bubbling up inside her words. 'Kelso, what is it?'
She pointed at the screen. 'You know him?' On the monitor, the blurry image of a man's face had been captured by one of the traffic cameras.
He wore a bandage over one eye and a cap.
Saxon gave a wary nod. 'He's German, former GSG-9. Gunther Hermann.'
The name echoed in her mind. Hate, cold and hard like black diamond, grew solid in Anna's chest. It was the same man from that horrific day in
Georgetown. The killer who had left her for dead, who shot Byrne and Dansky… and Matt Ryan.
Geneva International Airport-Grand-Saconnex-Switzerland
'There,' said Saxon, pointing into the gloom. 'Hangar four.'
Beside him, Powell squinted down the eyepiece of a monocular. 'That's a Belltower aircraft.'
'It's them' Saxon insisted, studying the shape of the parked jet. 'I'm not seeing any movement, though. They have to be inside.'
Powell spoke over the general comm channel. 'All right, listen up. Two entrances, one gangway at the forward hatch, another drop-ramp at the aft. You know the drill. Move in, neutralize any threats. Fast and efficient.' He glanced at Saxon. 'Stay where I can see you. Croix may want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but he's not me.'
Saxon shrugged. 'Whatever you say.'
'All units,' Powell said to the air, 'take the plane. Go, go!'
They covered the distance to the far hangar in a few seconds, veering from shadow to shadow, avoiding the footprints of security cameras.
Saxon had to admit, for a group of irregulars, the New Sons had the makings of a good spec ops team; but he wasn't convinced they'd be enough to deal with the Tyrants.
Not that survivability was foremost in his mind at this very second. All he cared about was finding Jaron Namir, and ending his life.
There were active boxguard robots scanning from the corners of the hangar interior, and Powell's men went after them with Pulsar grenades, shutting them down with flashes of electromagnetic discharge. Saxon hesitated at the foot of the gangway, glancing back down the line of the plane to where the cargo bay doors were wide
