“We're going to get it back,' Nash said flatly.
'But how?' Troy Copeland said.
'We have to go after them now,” Van Lewen said. 'They're at their most vulnerable right now. They came here to grab the idol and then, presumably, take it back to wherever it is they're keeping their Supernova. But on a snatch-and-grab mission like the one they just pulled, you're at your most vulnerable when you're in transit from the target objective.'
'So where is their home base?'
'It has to be close,' Race said firmly surprising everyone with his conviction, including himself. 'Judging by the way they got here.'
'And how exactly did they get here, Professor?'
Copeland said disbelievingly.
'I don't know for sure,' Race said, 'but I think I can make a pretty good guess. One, they got here using a method of transport that avoided detection by your fancy SAT-SN network, so they didn't fly. Two, aside from flying and travelling on foot, what's the quickest and easiest way to get a force of about thirty men through the rainforest?“
'Oh, damn, why didn't I think of that…' Lauren said.
'What?' Copeland said irritably.
'The rivers,' she said.
'Exactly,' Race said. 'They came here by boat. Which means their base of operations can't be too far aw—' He cut himself off.
'So where is it?' Nash said. 'Where is their base of operations?'
But Race wasn't listening. Something had just clicked in the back of his mind.
Base of operations…
Where had he heard those words before?
'Professor Race?' Nash said.
No, wait. He hadn't heard them at all.
He had seen them.
And then suddenly it hit him.
'Lauren, do we still have that telephone transcript here?
The one with the Nazis' ransom demand on it. The telephone conversation that the BKA intercepted between a cellular phone somewhere in Peru and Colonia Alemania.”
Lauren spun and immediately began rummaging through the equipment in the darkened citadel.
'Got it.' She handed a sheet of paper to him.
Race looked at the transcript that he'd seen earlier.
VOICE 1: —base of operations has been established—-rest
of the—-will be—-mine—-
VOICE 2: —-about the device?—-ready?
VOICE 1: —-have adopted hourglass formation based on the American model—-two thermonuclear detonators mounted above and below a titanium-alloy inner chamber. Field tests indicate that—-device—- operational.
All we need now—-the thyrium. VOICE 2: —-don't worry, Anistaze's taking care of that—- VOICE 1: What about the message?
VOICE 2: —-will go out as soon as we get the idol—-to every Prime Minister and President in the EU—-plus the President of the United States via internal emergency hotline- ransom will be one hundred billion dollars U.S.—- or else we detonate the device…
Race's eyes zeroed in on the first two lines of the transcript.
VOICE 1: —base of operations has been established—-rest of the—-will be—-mine—-
'Will be mine…' Race said aloud. 'Mine… the mine.'
He turned to Lauren. 'What was the name of that abandoned goldmine we saw from the Huey on our way here?
The one that was all lit up? The one that didn't look all that abandoned anymore.'
'The Madre de Dios goldmine,' Lauren said.
'Is it situated on a river?'
'Yes, on the Alto Purus. Nearly all the open-cut mines in the Amazon are situated on rivers, because seaplanes and boats are the only way to get the gold out of here.'
'How far away is it from here?'
'I don't know. Sixty, seventy miles.'
Race turned to Nash. 'That's where they're going, Colonel. The Madre de Dios goldmine. By boat.'
