From his bed, the DOP picked up the paper detailing the conversation between the Australian transport company owner and the Project member who had been his contact. “This phone number-anything on that?”
“It’s a dummy. It reroutes half a dozen times then splits in several directions. Basically untraceable.”
The DOP snagged his pants off the hanger. “It’s them. I know it is,” he said, sure the people who had been a thorn in the Project’s side had just taken things to an unacceptable level.
“I agree.”
“Major Ross, since everything is in place now, surely we can spare some manpower to deal with them.”
Ross nodded. “Actually, sir, I’ve already pulled together an assault team, and they’re en route to the Montana location right now.”
The DOP strung his tie around his collar, tied the knot, and pulled on his jacket. He looked over his shoulder at Ross, locking eyes with his aide. “I want them dead. All of them. And not by the virus.”
“Yes, sir. I understand. I’ll make sure that happens.”
“You had better. Is there anything else?”
Ross seemed to hesitate, but then shook his head. “No, sir. That’s it.”
37
I.D. MINUS 2 HOURS 21 MINUTES
BLUEBIRD TIME 8:39 AM
Twice they had to lie low to avoid patrols, so it took over an hour and a half to reach the camp Olivia and her people had set up three-quarters of a mile to the southeast of Bluebird. Ash could feel every passing second, and knew they needed to keep moving, but Olivia had been in no hurry to start out again. If he had known how to get into the building himself, he and Chloe would have been long gone.
Finally, Olivia deemed it was time. The hike took them to the coast, then along the hilly edge. She still didn’t seem to be in any hurry. He tried to get her to pick up the pace, but she only said, “Don’t worry. We’ll be there right on time.”
Finally, Olivia stopped them and sent two of her men ahead.
“Usually they don’t guard the entrance we’re going to use. It’s almost impossible to get into, but I guess that’s to be expected today.”
“What do you mean today?”
She looked at him, amusement in her eyes. “Why do you think?”
“This is it?” he asked. “Implementation Day?”
“Oh, very good.”
“How much time do we have?”
An exaggerated look of pain clouded her eyes. “Don’t you trust me? I told you, we’ll be there on time.”
Chloe leaned toward Ash and whispered just loudly enough for him to hear, “I
“Can you at least tell us what the plan is?” he asked.
Before he knew if she would answer or not, her men returned. She conferred with them for several seconds, nodded, and said to the rest, “Looks like we’re all set. This way.”
The new path led along the face of a cliff, sloping downward until it dead-ended at a pile of snow-covered rocks that went all the way to the ice of the ocean.
When Olivia started climbing down, Ash called out, “How are we supposed to get to the outpost from there?”
“I guess you’ll have to see, won’t you?” she yelled back.
She continued down, her people following without question.
“I don’t like this,” Chloe said.
Ash shook his head. “Neither do I. But what choice do we have?”
They caught up to Olivia on a narrow strip of land that ran above the beach about twenty feet. The path wasn’t a natural occurrence, but had been carved out of the cliff face. The darkness made it difficult to see ahead, but it appeared that the trail simply ended after fifty feet.
“We should probably hurry,” Olivia called out as she neared the end of the path. “Less than twenty-five minutes left.”
“Are you joking?” Ash asked.
“Why would I joke?”
With a step to her left, she disappeared.
The path, it turned out, led to the opening of a cave in the cliff that had been almost invisible in the darkness. As Ash and Chloe stepped inside, several of the others turned on flashlights, giving them a better look at their surroundings. Not a cave, Ash realized, but a manmade tunnel. And on the ground just inside were two bodies. The guards, Ash guessed.
Olivia took the lead again, and didn’t stop until they reached a secure-looking metal door mounted in the tunnel wall. The door had no handle, and whatever hinges it swung on were either recessed in the metal frame or were on the inside. For all intents, it was impassible.
Olivia stepped over to the wall several feet from the door. Putting her hands on part of the rocky surface, she began moving them counterclockwise. To Ash’s surprise, the rock underneath turned with her, then hinged open. In the space where it had been was a twelve-inch-square monitor with a single button at the bottom.
“The box,” Olivia said.
One of her men came forward, carrying a long case almost the size of a box for roses.
“Warm it up,” she told him.
He undid the clasps and opened it. Whatever Ash thought would be inside, a severed forearm with a hand still attached wasn’t it.
“What the hell is that for?” Chloe said.
Without answering, the man removed a device from the bag he’d been carrying on his back and flipped a switch on the side. It started to hum, faintly at first, but grew louder as the seconds passed. Once one of the ends started glowing red, he hit another button, doubling the strength of the noise, and aimed the glowing end at the hand.
He let this go on for half a minute, then touched the palm with a small plastic strip. Seemingly unsatisfied, he aimed the device at the hand again for another thirty seconds. This time, after he put the strip against it, he said, “Ready.”
Olivia turned back to the screen, but instead of pressing the button at the bottom, she tapped the monitor in the upper right corner twice, and once in the middle. As soon as she lifted her finger the last time, the screen came to life.
She tapped twice more, and each time the screen changed as soon as she was done. She then motioned for the man holding the arm to join her. She moved the fingers of the detached hand just enough so that there was separation between each, and pressed the palm and fingers against the screen.
Nothing happened for a moment, then there was a loud
Olivia smiled at Ash. “After you.”
38
I.D. MINUS 13 MINUTES
LOCAL TIME 9:47 AM
