High Alert

CHAPTER 37

The vast blackness of the Sea of Japan swept by fifty feet below, lit only by a faint glow of moonlight shining through the clouds. The surface roiled with white capped waves. Looking down, it seemed to Nick that the waves were reaching out to pull them into the darkness. Gusts of wind buffeted the chopper as they flew over the dark water.

Lamont was looking out the other side. "Really crappy out there. I'm glad we're in this nice safe helicopter and not down there in a zodiac."

The pitch of the rotors changed. The helicopter banked sharply to the right.

Nick said, "Check your gear. Make sure everything is squared away."

A few minutes later, the pitch changed again.

Valentina's voice came over the comm link.

"Eagle One, this is Bearcat One. Prepare to deploy. Over."

"Copy, Bearcat One. Out."

"Showtime," Ronnie said.

"Weapons free," Nick said. Safeties clicked off.

The helicopter hovered and dropped to the ground. Lamont slid open the cargo door. They jumped from the aircraft and fanned out, weapons ready. Ahead of them, the Russians were piling out of their chopper.

Valentina's voice crackled in their headsets.

"Eagle One, this is Bearcat One. Proceed. Over."

"Copy, Bearcat One. Out."

The snow was holding off. The moonlight was enough to make things out in the gloom, an intermittent glow that seeped through the clouds and cast faint shadows on the carpet of snow covering the ground.

They headed for the target. All their gear was secured against noise. The only sounds were their breathing and the soft crunch of snow under their boots.

They reached the perimeter fence surrounding the site, a tall chain-link with loops of razor wire set along the top. Ronnie pulled a cutter from his pack and began making a hole. The Russians had their own gear and were doing the same. Thirty seconds later, Ronnie's piece fell away. He went through, followed by Selena, Lamont and Nick.

They emerged on a low rise, giving them a vantage point looking down on the target. Nick observed the scene. The tower and launch pad were lit by powerful work lights. A diesel generator mounted on the back of a truck droned nearby. The missile that would carry the bomb into space was in place against the tower. Fuel tankers were lined up and waiting. One was already connected by a thick hose to the rocket.

Nick estimated between twenty and thirty people moving about below, most of them in uniform.

"They've started fueling," he said.

"Must've been working twenty-four seven to get that sucker up," Lamont said.

A loud, amplified voice rolled over the site with an announcement.

"What did he say?" Nick asked Selena.

"It's a countdown," she said. "He said sixty minutes to launch."

"They're trying to beat the weather before the next storm rolls in," Ronnie said.

Valentina's voice came through Nick's headset.

"Eagle One, Bearcat One. Over."

"Bearcat One, Eagle One. They just announced sixty minutes to launch. Over."

"Eagle One. Proceed to assigned targets. Over."

"Copy. Out."

The Russians had the job of neutralizing the mobile antiaircraft units scattered about the site. Nick and his team were tasked with the missile batteries. The building that controlled the surface to air missiles was four or five hundred yards away from the lights and frantic activity surrounding the tower. A single light shone over the entry door.

Nick's first priority was to clear that building. After that, they'd place charges on the bunkers and the missiles inside them.

They moved toward the control center. Nick pointed at fresh footprints in the snow, leading away from the closed door. The door opened inward. Metal shutters covered a window in the front. Nick and Selena stood on one side of the door, Ronnie and Lamont on the other. Nick held up three fingers, one at a time.

One. Two. Three.

He reached out, pulled down the handle on the door and threw it open. A wave of heat and light poured out into the night.

The room was about thirty feet square. To the left of the door was the main radar console. Racks of equipment were stacked on a bench along the wall. Two men in uniform sat at the bench, watching the green sweep of the radar array on a screen. They turned at the sudden opening of the door, surprise registering on their faces as Nick opened fire. The rounds blew them off their chairs and shattered the equipment on the bench.

Selena was next into the room. She swiveled to the right, toward a third man sitting down and eating something. He dropped it and reached for a pistol on his belt. She put a three round burst into his chest. He went over backwards, the food flying. Blood began seeping through his olive drab tunic.

No one else was in the room.

Nick spoke into his headset.

"Bearcat One, Eagle One. Missile control neutralized. Over."

"Copy."

A coal-fired stove glowed in one corner of the room. "Fire feels good," Lamont said.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The missiles were positioned in fixed, block shaped towers made of hardened concrete. The nearest battery was fifty yards away, three dark rectangular shapes. Each tower held a radar guided KN-06 missile, an evolution of the SAM design used in Vietnam. The second battery was on the far side of the launch platform.

"Lamont, you and Ronnie take the battery on the other side of the tower. We'll meet you there."

Lamont and Ronnie moved off. Nick ran with Selena to the first emplacement. It took only a few minutes to set the explosives. Nick dropped one of the remote detonators into the snow. He cursed and found it, wiped it off and placed it into the C-4.

"Done," Selena said.

They ran toward the second battery. When they reached it, Ronnie and Lamont were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?" Selena asked.

Nick switched to the team comm channel.

"Eagle Two, come in. Over."

There was no response, only static.

"Eagle Two, respond. Over."

"Maybe a comm glitch?" Selena said.

"Yeah, maybe."

He changed channels.

"Bearcat One, this is Eagle One. Come in. Over."

The radio link stayed silent.

"Shit," Nick said.