Part 26 (1/2)
”Duh.”
”You're not watching this on TV. You saw the people she killed.”
”Yes, I did.”
”Then you should should find this horrifying.” find this horrifying.”
”I know.” He thought a moment. ”So you're right. We have to give her what she wants.”
Chopra widened his eyes. ”And then what? What reason would she have to keep us alive?”
”I don't know.”
”Listen to me again. I'm telling her if she kills you, the vault will explode. And you'll go along with that.”
”I don't think she wants me to die.”
”Don't believe anything she says.”
”If you lie, I'll tell her,” said Hussein.
”Why have you taken her side?”
”Because ... I don't know. I think maybe she can help me.”
”And I can't?”
”As a prisoner like me? No.”
Chopra hardened his tone. ”She's come to rob our country.”
Hussein shook his head. ”My country.” country.”
”And you'll let her get away with that?”
”I don't know.”
”Once we get her inside, she'll keep us alive until she moves out all the gold and you give her the locations of the oil reserves. After we get out of the building, she'll kill us. So during her operation is when we must make our move. I know the vault very well. And the tunnels.”
”If you run, I'm not sure I'll go with you,” said Hussein.
”Then you'll die. And your father's dream will die with you.”
For a moment, Chopra had thought he'd seen tears begin to form in the boy's eyes ...
Now Chopra sat in the hotel, staring at the sleeping boy and listening to the Snow Maiden speak softly into her cell phone. He looked to the window, thought of throwing himself through the gla.s.s and plunging to the street below. It was a reckless thought brought on by self-pity. He closed his eyes, and there, in the darkness, he saw the first of the three angels with long metal wings and fire running beneath their skins.
”She is afraid. And you need to exploit that,” said one of the men, his voice echoing.
”How?”
”You know how.”
”No, I don't! Tell me!”
”She's only a little girl.” The angel smiled and vanished, and Chopra opened his eyes to find the boy staring at him.
”You were talking,” he said. ”You woke me up.”
Brent and his people reached the Gold Tower parking garage entrance exactly twenty-one seconds before the trucks arrived. He, Lakota, and Schleck remained at the entrance to observe while the others fell back to defensive positions deeper within the facility. The vehicles weren't military at all but a pair of Mercedes SUVs, and out hopped a pair of men from each. They wore conventional MOPP 4 gear that made them resemble old-school combatants. MOPP stood for Mission Oriented Protective Posture and Brent couldn't remember what the h.e.l.l the four stood for, but had read about how confining, restrictive, and nearly impossible it was to operate with all that junk hanging from your face and limbs.
He used the helmet's camera to zoom in as the men pointed up at the damaged cameras mounted to the buildings. They glanced around, as though suddenly suspicious, then fell back to their vehicles.
”We need to make contact with these guys,” he told Lakota.
”Take us to your leader,” she responded in a mock alien voice.
”Exactly.”
”I'll work with Voeckler.”
”All right.” Brent made a circle motion with his finger, brought up his roster, and tapped on the avatars of Schleck and Riggs. ”Hey, guys. You're cleared to head up top. Riggs, you stay here, and Schleck, you head next door. Let me know if you have any problems getting up there.”
”If the backup generators are down, it'll be a long walk up to the roof,” said the sniper.
”Just keep me posted.”
Brent s.h.i.+fted to Thomas's avatar and tapped on it. ”Mr. Voeckler, you'll be accompanied by Copeland and Daugherty. Get your sticky cams in place, then hand over command to Schoolie.”
”I'm on it,” said the Splinter Cell.
”And then, while you're working on communications, I've got another job for you. You'll recon that entire vault. Alone. You're a spy. Do what spies do. Why? Because I don't trust blueprints. I trust you.”
Thomas's tone grew more enthusiastic. ”Nice. I won't let you down.”
”No, you won't. All right, Bravo and Delta teams, down to level four. On your HUDs. You'll set up the tents. Couple million tons of concrete and gla.s.s should help us from glowing green.”
”Ghost Lead, this is Riggs. Backup generators are down over here. Going to be a long morning, and this ain't no stairway to heaven, over.”
Brent patched into her camera and saw the endless flight of stairs hanging overhead, the ceiling lost in the distant shadows. ”You're a true warrior.”
”I know that.” She groaned. ”Could be worse. I could be wearing heels.”