The Rift (27 page)

The
Splendor
,
racing out of the hidden cove on the north shore, didn’t run over Scout. It didn’t have to. Its bow wave knocked her off the Sea-Doo and into the river. Its dual engines were revving up to max speed as it roared toward the lead Zodiac.

Moms had a moment to see the blur of the yacht’s bow bearing down on her, and then it sliced through the Zodiac, throwing her, Ivar, and Roland into the river. They were tumbled about, nearly chewed up by the twin screws, and spit out into the churning wake.

All their gear that wasn’t tied to their bodies disappeared into the dark water, including Ivar’s detection wand.

Mac bounced a 40-mm grenade off the bow of the yacht, the steel plating used to protect it from the front anchors as they’re pulled up easily deflecting the round as the boat keeled hard toward their Zodiac. Nada twisted the throttle as he called out over the team net, “Eagle, we need firepower.”

“Inbound,” Eagle announced.

Nada managed to get enough horsepower, and the Zodiac was maneuverable enough, to escape being plowed under by the yacht.

This time.

Kirk jetted his Sea-Doo to the far shore, into water shallow enough that the yacht couldn’t get him, and grabbed the laser designator out of the bag strapped to the side of his craft. He zeroed it in as the yacht turned hard.

Out of the frying pan…

Nada was so focused on avoiding the rampaging yacht that the crane on the barge only caught his attention when the cable swung by, missing him by inches, the metal claw on the end of it taking a chunk out of the armor plating and ripping gaping holes into two compartments of the Zodiac.

“Mother-fraker!” Mac exclaimed, staring up at the barge as they raced by, the large tracked crane on board the barge rotating to follow.

“That is interesting,” Doc said. “It appears the Firefly is inhabiting both the barge and the crane. I’ve never seen that kind of continuity before.”

“Or it’s two fraking Fireflies,” Mac said. “Does it really matter?”

“Eagle?” Nada said.

“We’re coming in hot,” Eagle said. “I’ve got four in the water, three on your boat, and one on a Sea-Doo near southern shoreline. I assume all are friendlies.”

At the Tellico Dam, Burns put a stone into the gears of each of the gate mechanisms.

Mission accomplished, he began the much more difficult task of climbing his way back up the side of the dam, to get ready for the final phase of his mission.

A quarter mile away, in the midst of Loudoun Lake, the golden glow was now coalesced into what was almost a solid ball, twenty meters wide, lying just below the dark surface of the water. It was being drawn toward the intakes for the water turbines.

Neeley dove out of the door of the Learjet, got stable, and then pulled her rip cord.

After making sure she had a good canopy overhead, she scanned the terrain below. It wasn’t hard to get oriented on Loudoun Dam. The straight line cutting across the edge of the lake was easily recognizable from ten thousand feet.

Neeley had never been a fan of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. Parachuting was something she’d learned because Gant had insisted. A mission-essential skill, according to him. Considering the fact that when they first met he was on the run from the Cellar and every other government organization, Neeley had to wonder in retrospect (as she was wondering about a lot of things) how parachuting was a mission-essential skill in accomplishing that.

Adjusting her toggles, Neeley aimed for the power station.

The helicopter on the back deck of the
Splendor
lifted off and raced upriver.

With no one at the controls.

It flew directly at Eagle in the Snake and the Apaches on his flanks. Eagle had flipped down the display for the Integrated Helmet and Display Sighting System (IHADSS), and the 30-mm guns underneath each Apache were slaved to whatever he targeted.

He was targeting the yacht when a proximity alert went off. Shifting from focusing on the IHADSS to the outside world took a moment, a delay that almost cost Eagle his life as the
Splendor
’s helicopter was on a collision course.

Eagle dove and the chopper passed overhead, barely missing him.

It didn’t miss the Apache to Eagle’s left.

A fireball lit up the sky.

“One Apache down,” Eagle announced. “And another Firefly.”

Nada stood in the front of his Zodiac, two compartments losing air and the boat sluggish to the helm. The yacht was completing its turn, but he estimated he had about a minute and a half before it could bear down on his boat again. The crane on the barge was just out of range, although the tug pushing the barge was in full reverse, trying to correct that.

The Fireflies had managed to gather a lot of power, but none of it was very agile other than the helicopter, which was now in the river along with the Apache it had taken out.

It was a delaying tactic.

Nada began issuing orders:

“Kirk, put a fire mission on that yacht. Eagle, use the second Apache and take out the barge. Moms, you there?”

“Roger. We’re in the water but all right. We’ll break a chem light once our little problems are dealt with.”

“Scout?” Nada asked last, but not least importantly.

“I’m back on my Sea-Doo,” Scout reported.

“Stay out of trouble until we deal with this,” Nada ordered.

“Oh, right,” Scout said. “I’d forgotten about that part.”

“Lion Six,” Mac said. “Fire mission! Over.”

The crew for one of the M177’s replied immediately. “Roger. Over.”

“Lion Six. Fire for effect on laser. Danger close. Over.”

There was a short pause; then the officer in charge of the M777, 155-mm howitzer responded. “Shot over.”

“Shot out,” Mac said, keeping the laser steady on the yacht. It was picking up speed, twin turbines planing it out, heading directly for Nada’s Zodiac. While the rubber boat might be more agile, it wasn’t faster and with two compartments flooding, it was moving slow.

“Splash over,” Lion Six warned, indicating the Excalibur round was five seconds from impact.

“Splash out!” Kirk said over the team net.

The round tore through the deck plating and exploded inside the
Splendor
. Curiously, the armor plating layered on the boat contained the explosion to an extent.