Eternity Base (40 page)

"Roger. Out." The acknowledgment from the pilot of the lead Tomcat was heard in the operator's left ear. In his right ear was the tactical center of the Kitty Hawk demanding information.

"Eye One, this is Big Boot. Do you have an ID on the submarine yet? Over."

"Negative. Over."

"Eye One, what is Eagle's ETA? Over."

"ETA five minutes. Over."

*****

Pulling at the front end of the rope, Pak felt the ice crackle beneath him. He halted and looked down in surprise. In his haste he'd run onto a thinner portion. There was no way it would support the weight of the bomb, twenty feet behind him.

"To the left," he ordered Kim, Sun, and Ho.

As they turned, the thin ice exploded upward, and Pak caught a glimpse of a massive black and white snout rising into the air. The snout split in two, revealing rows of glistening white teeth. The forward half of the creature slammed down onto the ice, half out of the water, and the teeth closed on Kim.

The XO's scream was cut short as the killer whale slid back with its meal into the hole it had just made in the ice. Pak pulled out his knife and desperately slashed at the rope around his waist as he was dragged toward the hole. He succeeded just inches short of the freezing water. Ho and Sun were not so fortunate. Scrabbling at the ice as they moved inexorably toward the hole, the men were pulled in. Pak had a last glimpse of Ho's pleading eyes as the rope, still attached to Kim and Sun, drew him under the ice.

Pak quickly cut the rope attached to the sled and scrambled away from the thin ice.

"What happened?" screamed the political officer.

"Killer whale," the captain curtly replied, saying a mental prayer for the three men. "That's how they hunt seals." He removed his eye from the telescope and turned to look at the political officer. "Men. Seals. Not much difference is there? What do we do now?"

They both twisted their heads as two gray jets came roaring in low over the ice from the west.

*****

"Big Boot, this is Eagle One. Over."

"This is Big Boot. Over."

"Roger. We've got a visual on the sub. You've got one Russian Delta class boomer on ice. Over."

There was a pause. "Roger. Maintain station and await further instructions. Break. Viking Two, break from patrol and head for target site, maximum speed. Over."

"This is Viking Two. Roger. Out."

Aboard the E-2 the radar operator exchanged a worried look with the SIGINT operator. The Delta was the largest submarine in the world and carried twelve missile-launch systems for multiple-warhead ballistic missiles. What was it doing here?

The Viking diverted by the Kitty Hawk's tactical operations center was its primary antisubmarine defense system—a plane totally dedicated to killing submarines, carrying both torpedoes and depth charges for that purpose.

The radar operator checked his screen. He estimated another fifty minutes before the Viking arrived. He had a feeling that whatever was being played out below would be over long before the Viking arrived.

His eyebrows raised at the next message from Kitty Hawk. "Eagle One, this is Big Boot. Delta submarine is to be considered friendly. I say again. Delta submarine is to be considered friendly. Out."

*****

Riley came to a screeching halt after witnessing the whale attack. He looked down and realized he could see a dark shape through the ice. He quickly sidled left to thicker ice, figuring that if he couldn't see the whale through the ice, it couldn't see him.

He twisted his head and watched as the two planes with U.S. Navy markings flew by once more. About fucking time, he thought. Of course, they couldn't spot one man on the ice.

Riley moved forward more slowly, aware that the lone man ahead had a weapon that could kill him as easily as the whales could.

*****

Pak glanced up as American planes flew by. He looked to the whaling ship and beyond it to the submarine. He could not pull the bomb by himself. There was only one thing left to do. He reached inside his parka and took out a sheet of paper.

Pak bent over the gray carcass of the bomb. He had done this once before, so he knew the preliminary steps. He stripped off his gloves—ignoring the knife of cold that stabbed into every joint—and flipped open the latch on the control access panel.

*****

"The submarine is signaling us!" the ship's executive officer exclaimed.

The captain swung his telescope around to port. A light on the conning tower was flashing international Morse code. "Copy!" the captain ordered. Something was going up one of the tall black masts on the conning tower. The captain focused on that. Halfway up, the wind caught it. A Russian flag unfurled.

The captain pulled back from the telescope and turned to his executive officer. "What does the message say?"

The XO ran a tongue over his lips and glanced at the political officer.

"Go ahead!" the captain insisted.

"Sir, it says: L-E-A-V-E-N-O-W."

The captain ran his eyes over the familiar lines of his ship. Slowly he reached for the speaking tube. "Engine room. Port engine. One-quarter, reverse."

"What are you doing?" the political officer demanded, grabbing the captain by his coat.

"I am going home," the captain replied.

"You cannot. I forbid it!"

The captain pointed out the window to the left. "The Russians are there, and they say leave." He pointed up. "The Americans are there, and I believe they want us to leave. We have no weapons." He pointed out to the ice. "He is alone out there. We cannot help him." The ship shuddered as the engines engaged for the first time in hours and the newly formed ice cracked around the hull. "We leave."

*****

Riley picked his way through the ice, avoiding the thinner sections and at the same time making sure he was out of sight of the Korean. He wondered what the man would do now—there was no way he could pull the bomb by himself.

Riley's head snapped up as he heard the throb of engines and the crack of ice. The civilian ship was moving very slowly, turning away. He looked farther and saw the flag above the submarine. It didn't make sense, but he didn't care. It was over. He continued forward, going slower, making sure he didn't expose himself to a chance shot from the man trapped on the ice.

*****

"Big Boot, this is Eagle One. The ship is leaving. Over."

"Roger. Break. Eye One, this is Big Boot. Status of the Osprey? Over."

"Fifteen minutes out. Over."

"Roger. Break. Eagle One. Is there anything on the ice? Over."

"Wait one. Over."

*****

Pak winced as a jet screamed overhead again, barely thirty feet above the ice, but he didn't look up. His numbed fingers continued working.

*****

"Big Boot, this is Eagle One." The naval flight officer in the backseat of the Tomcat glanced down at his video display and flicked the controls. The TV automatic target identification system blanked and then showed in slow motion what the camera had picked up on the previous pass.

"Uh, this is Eagle One. We've got four figures on the ice. One with . . ." The officer peered closer. "One with our object. It is not on board the ship. I say again. It is not on board the ship. Over."

"Roger, Eagle One. Go to altitude and maintain position. Stinger will take care of this when they arrive. Over."

"Roger. Out."

*****

Riley did a quick peek over a block of ice, then stopped and took a slower look. The Korean was leaning over the bomb, a hundred yards away, and his arms were moving.

"Oh, shit!" Riley exclaimed. He stood up and began running.

Chapter Thirty-One

R
UPPERT
C
OAST,
A
NTARCTICA

With shaking fingers, Pak punched in the six-digit code, one number at a time. He cursed as his numbed fingertip slipped on the fifth digit and struck the wrong number on the numeric pad inside the access panel. The LED screen cleared, and Pak took a deep breath. Once more he began.

*****

Riley was less than fifty yards away. He threw the M16 to his shoulder and stared down the iron sights. The head of the Korean wavered in them. Riley drew in a frigid breath and held it. The sights steadied and he pulled the trigger. The comforting recoil of the weapon was erased as the round impacted with the ice that had jammed into the barrel when Sammy used it to break her fall. Riley felt the pain in his hands as the breach exploded.

Riley realized his error in a heartbeat as the Korean lifted his head at the sound of the small explosion and stared at him, their eyes locking over the bomb.

*****

Where had he come from? Pak wondered as he swung up his AK- 47, pressing the metal folding stock into his shoulder. His eye never left the other man's as he lined up the front sight post with the rear and pulled the trigger.

The rounds roared across the fifty yards, slamming into the man and throwing him onto the ice. Pak let the weapon fall back on its sling and checked the piece of paper again. What number had he been on? His fatigued mind struggled to remember.

*****

Riley's breath came in deep, painful gasps. His right side was on fire, and he could feel the blood seeping into his layers of clothing. He knew he had to move. He put every ounce of energy into his legs. Nothing. Riley tried to scream, but a moan was all he managed. He focused his mind: he had to stop the Korean, or the Russian sub would be destroyed and he would die.

*****

Pak tried to concentrate on the LED screen. Yes, he was up to the fourth number. He held his finger over the keys. He had no feeling in his hand anymore, so he guided it down by sight. When the dead finger rested on the proper number, he pushed.

The fifth now. Pak looked at the number on the code sheet. He matched it with the keyboard. His right hand would no longer hold steady. Pak took his left hand and placed it over his right forearm, steadying it. He pushed down and glanced up at the LED screen. The ENTER sign was still flashing on the top. Yes, the five were correct.

Pak checked the sixth number. He forced his finger over and down. He hesitated as he thought of his family, so far away in Korea. Pak sighed. With his finger an inch away from the keyboard, stars exploded on the right side of Pak's head. He rolled away from the bomb onto the ice and looked up, trying to see his attacker.

A figure loomed above. Pak put his arms up to block the blow that swung down on him. He felt his left forearm shatter as steel hit bone. The pain brought his foggy mind into sharp focus. Pak was desperately reaching for his AK-47 on its sling when he stared into the greenest eyes he'd ever seen. A woman!

She swung the shovel again. He rolled away from the next blow but slid much farther than he'd intended, trying too late to slow his momentum.

*****

Sammy collapsed to her knees, dropping the bloody entrenching tool as the Korean fell into the water hole. She started to stand when the man suddenly surged out of the water and grabbed her left forearm with his right hand.

The Korean pulled her down to the edge of the hole. He looked up at her, his dark eyes boring in. Sammy felt herself drawn in by them, bending over, her face lowering down to the water so close to being frozen.

The entrenching tool blurred by the side of her face and smashed into the Korean's head. His grip loosened on her arm and he slipped beneath the surface. Sammy collapsed to the ice and Conner slid down beside her, dropping the e-tool and wrapping her sister in her arms.

For a long minute, they held onto each other. Then they stood. There was no sign of the Korean. The bomb sat alone on the ice near them. Sammy and Conner carefully walked over to it. The cover on the control panel was off.

"Oh, shit," Sammy muttered. She turned away and looked back. "Dave!"

Chapter Thirty-Two

R
UPPERT
C
OAST,
A
NTARCTICA

Riley had managed to crawl almost ten feet, leaving a trail of red on the ice, before he could go no farther. A logical part of his mind recognized that he was going into shock from the combination of loss of blood and cold, but the fact didn't bother him very much. It would be only moments before the Korean finished entering the code and the bomb went off, so oblivion wasn't far off either way.