Eternity Base

Chapter 32

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.

As he retreated into unconsciousness, a persistent voice calling his name intruded. With great difficulty, Riley cracked his eyes and peered up. A sharp blow across his cheek barely elicited a response from his frozen skin.

“Wake up, goddamnit!”

Riley found a scrap of energy and tried to focus. “What?” he muttered.

“The Korean was messing with the bomb. We stopped him, but I need to know if he finished arming it.” Sammy leaned close. “Are you hurt bad?”

“I’m all right,” Riley said. ‘Take me to the bomb.”

As Sammy grabbed his arms, the pain brought him fully alert. He tried to help with little pushing motions of his feet as Sammy and Conner dragged him across the ice.

“I can’t land on the ice,” the pilot said for the third time. “This aircraft needs fifty-six inches of solid ice to support it, and you can’t tell that by looking out the window.” The Osprey’s engines were in the helicopter position and they were cruising at forty knots above the ice.

Bellamy accepted the inevitable. “All right. Then give me a hover and we’ll fast-rope out.”

“OK.”

Bellamy turned to Captain Manchester and signaled. Manchester and an NCO began rigging the fast rope to bolts in the ceiling of the Osprey, while Bellamy looked out over the pilot’s shoulder. He could see both the submarine and the ship, which was slowly making its way out of the ice pack.

“Where’s the bomb?” he asked.

The pilot did a gentle bank right. ‘There,” he pointed.

The sled was a long black spot on the ice. Bellamy noted the three figures, two dragging one, less than twenty feet away. He ran back to the rear of the plane as his team lined up on the rope.

“There’re three people on the ice near the bomb. They make a move for it, take them out.”

The first man nodded and slipped the selector switch on his MP5 sub off safe. The plane came to a halt, and Manchester threw open the door.

Sammy and Conner propped up Riley so he could look at the LED screen. He scanned it for ten long seconds and then shook his head. “He entered five of the six numbers on the PAL code. You stopped him before he could enter the last one. It’s all right. We’re safe.”

They looked up as the Osprey came to a hover overhead and a thick rope uncoiled out the door. Riley watched the first man slide down with the MP5 over his shoulder, quickly followed by a line of men, slithering down to the ice less than thirty feet away.

“Get me away from the bomb,” he told the women. “NOW!”

Sammy grabbed his jacket and pulled him back, the bomb between them and the men, just as bullets cracked by overhead.

“Cease fire!” someone was yelling. “We don’t want to hit the bomb. Alpha team, fan right. Bravo, cover.”

“I think we’d better surrender,” Riley suggested. “Just keep your hands far away from your sides and start yelling in English.”

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” Sammy and Conner called out as four men rushed up, weapons at the ready.

“Freeze! You on the ground — hands away from your sides.”

“He’s wounded,” Sammy informed them.

“Step away!” One of the man carefully rolled Riley over while another kept a weapon on him. “Shit,” the man muttered as Riley’s blood-encrusted jacket came into view.

“Berkman, get over here. We’ve got some work for you.”

As the medic went to work on Riley, Major Bellamy checked the bomb. His heart gave a jump when he noted that five of the six numbers for the PAL code were entered. They’d been just in time. He didn’t understand what had happened or who these three people were, but he didn’t need to. His job was to simply secure everything. The powers-that-be would determine what to do about the prisoners.

He had one of his men do a quick bore sample to check for ice depth, and once he found a good spot, he ordered Manchester to land the Osprey. As soon as the aircraft settled down, he loaded the bomb, the prisoners, and his men on board and they lifted, heading back for the Kitty Hawk. As they took off, the Russian submarine slowly sank under the surface. There was nothing left except Riley’s blood and the rapidly retreating Korean ship.