Z (28 page)
“Load the gun!” he screamed. The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a puff of smoke from the end of the muzzle of the lead tank. A second later the round hit the guards’ Ratel, blowing the turret off and killing all inside.
In the second vehicle in the convoy, General Scott slapped General Nystroom on the back. “Your boys sure can shoot.”
“Let us hope we are not too late,” Nystroom replied, then he began issuing orders over the radio, deploying his forces.
Riley looked down from the video monitor to Pieter Van Wyks. “No, you’ve lost.” He reached down on his vest and pulled out a small device, the size of a cellular phone that was in one of the pockets. He pressed a button on the back side of it.
“Got another of those shaped charges?” Riley asked.
“Yes, sir.” The staff sergeant put down his backpack and pulled out another black conical charge.
“I’ll destroy the Anslum four!” Van Wyks screeched.
“Go ahead,” Riley said.
The Ranger put the convex side of the charge right up to the bulletproof glass opposite Van Wyks’s desk. He began reeling out the det-cord used to ignite it.
“Stop that! You can’t do that!”
“He’s doing it,” Riley said. He felt energy draining from his body, and with that loss the return of the fever and sickness. He staggered over to a chair and sat down.
“I’ll destroy the cure!” Van Wyks screamed. “We can make a deal!”
“I’ve heard that before,” Riley muttered. He held up the electronic device. “I’m jamming your destruct device,” he said in a louder voice. “You don’t think we wouldn’t be prepared for that?”
Van Wyks’s eyes got wide. He looked at the shaped charge, at Riley, at the glass door, and beyond it the level four lab. “Please!”
“Fire the charge,” Riley said quietly.
“No!” Van Wyks threw down the remote and stood. “No! You can’t! We can make a deal. I have—”
The shaped charge exploded, sending a cone of heat and force right through the glass and obliterating Van Wyks.
The concussion knocked Riley out of the chair and into unconsciousness.
Luderitz, Namibia, 17 June
“What?” Riley blinked, trying to focus. All he could see was a face—Comsky’s hairy face. “Jesus, hell of a way to wake a guy up.”
“You weren’t asleep,” Comsky said. “You passed out. Lucky to be alive, as much blood as you’ve lost and all else that’s wrong with you,” Comsky said as he slid a needle into Riley’s left arm.
“What?” Riley muttered. “What’s that?” he asked, nodding at the needle.
“Anslum four,” Comsky said, expertly sliding the needle out. “We got it. There was quite a bit in the lab. We also found the records that give the process to make it, and we’re sending it out. Back to Angola and to the States.”
“Conner?” Riley twisted his head. He was still down in the basement of the building. He could see the shattered bulletproof glass and the smear that had been Pieter Van Wyks on the far wall. The door to the bio-lab was open, and people were moving in and out.
“I’m here,” a woman’s voice to his right said. “I’ve already had my shot.” Conner reached out a hand and touched his forehead as Comsky went to work on his forearm.
“Shit, Dave, you really fucked this up,” Comsky said, peering through the blood at torn muscle.
“Great bedside manner,” Riley returned, but his heart wasn’t in it.
“Where did you get the electronic jammer from?” Conner asked. “The two Rangers who were down here told me what happened.”
Riley pointed with his good hand. “That’s it.”
Conner picked it up. “Looks like a cellular phone to me,” she said.
“I guess that’s what it is,” Riley said. “I grabbed it upstairs when Skeleton told me the destruct was a remote.”
Conner’s eyes widened. “You mean you—”
“Van Wyks wouldn’t have made a good poker player,” Riley said. “What’s going on?”
“You’d be better off asking what isn’t going on,” Conner said. “Let’s see. As Comsky told you, we have the Anslum four. Since the antidote is so perfectly tailored to the virus, it works very quickly. I’m already feeling better and you should in an hour or so.
“The South African Defense Force has sealed this entire area and disarmed the remainder of Van Wyks’s forces. Apparently General Scott of the Eighty-second linked up with the SADF commander in Namibia and got him to switch sides. If he ever was on Van Wyks’s side to start with.
“As soon as the threat from Z has passed, the Angolan operation can be completed. You’ll be glad to know your guess about Savimbi was correct. We just heard that he has been confirmed dead in a helicopter that was shot down on the first day. He must have been out checking a village infected with Z and he was shot down on the way back.”
“What’s the death count from Z so far?” Riley asked.
Conner shook her head. “We don’t know that. Based on the imagery, at least two thousand Angolans out in the countryside. For the American forces, we’ve had sixteen people die. There are a couple dozen more who are on the borderline where the Anslum four might be too late.”
“What about here?” Riley asked. “The Rangers?”
“Not so good,” Conner said. “Forty-two dead. Twenty-one wounded.”
The numbers were people to Riley. “We have to make sure this never happens again.”
Luderitz, Namibia, 17 June
Riley had no feeling in his right forearm. It was tightly wrapped in white gauze and immobilized. He knew from bitter experience that the pain would come—throbbing and aching. But for now it was all right.
Bradley fighting vehicles from the 24th Infantry were mixed in among SADF vehicles around the devastated headquarters building for the Van Wyks cartel. Helicopters shuttled in, bringing additional troops and removing the survivors of the Ranger assault.
Smoke still drifted up from crashed helicopters and the bodies were still there, covered with ponchos and guarded by grim-faced paratroopers. And there was Conner, catching all of it with her camera. Riley watched as she placed it down on top of a destroyed Ratel-90 and stepped in front of it.
“This is Conner Young, reporting to you from Luderitz, Namibia, where, early this morning, U.S. Army Rangers conducted a daring and courageous assault to secure the cure for the virus that has been ravaging Angola. A virus made by man—a man—Pieter Van Wyks.
“The why and how of the disease—which we called Z and his scientists called Anslum four—will come out over the next several days. But that’s not the story right now. The story is that a threat to all people was made here. And it was unleashed in Angola. A crime was committed against mankind and this was the response. As it must be in the future.
“Even those who do not believe in war or politics conducted by force of arms must understand and accept that the threat that became real here will continue to exist. And the only way we can keep it from becoming a reality again is to ensure that future responses will be just as swift and fierce.
“Men died here. Brave men. Many of them young and in the prime of their life. But what they died for...”
As Conner continued, a shadow came up on Riley’s side. He turned his head. Quinn had the stub of a cigar in his mouth, watching her. “Nice words,” the Canadian said. He spit out the mangled remains of the cigar. “But words don’t count for much.”
“No, they don’t,” Riley agreed. “But they’re better than staying silent.”
Quinn jabbed a thumb at the headquarters building. “Van Wyks opened Pandora’s box,” he said. “I don’t think we can put the top back on.”
“Pandora’s box,” Riley repeated, “was opened a long time ago. The first time a man picked up a stick and whacked another man over the head. We’ve lived with nukes for half a century. We always knew something like Z was possible. Some might say what happened here was inevitable.” He looked at the smoldering remains of the Black Hawk full of Rangers that had been shot down trying to make it to the roof. “But what is also inevitable, and something no one ever really talks about, is that as long as there are men like Van Wyks, who will invent and let loose something like Z, there are men and women just as determined to stop him. Whatever the cost.”
THE END
The Next book in the series is Eternity Base
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by Bob Mayer
"Heart-racing, non-stop action that is difficult to put down."-Mystery News on Bodyguard of Lies
"Thelma and Louise go clandestine."-Kirkus Reviews on Bodyguard of Lies
“ . . .delivers top-notch action and adventure, creating a full cast of lethal operatives armed with all the latest weaponry. Excellent writing and well-drawn, appealing characters help make this another taut, crackling read.” Publishers Weekly
“Fascinating, imaginative and nerve-wracking.” Kirkus Reviews
THE GREEN BERET SERIES
“Mayer had me hooked from the very first page.” Stephen Coonts
“Exciting and authentic. Don’t miss this one!” W.E.B. Griffen
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Mayer has stretched the limits of the military action novel. Synbat is also a gripping detective story and an intriguing science fiction thriller. Mayer brings an accurate and meticulous depiction of military to this book which greatly enhances its credibility.”
Assembly
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“Will leave you spellbound. Mayer’s long suit is detail, giving the reader an in-depth view of the inner workings of the Green Machine.”
Book News
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“Mayer keeps story and characters firmly under control. The venal motives of the scientists and military bureaucracy are tellingly contrasted with the idealism of the soldiers. A treat for military fiction readers.” Publishers Weekly
