High Alert

CHAPTER 41

The snow cut visibility to a few yards. Vasiliev lagged behind the rest of the Spetsnaz unit. Valentina was with him. Nick and the others were somewhere in back of them. Vasiliev stopped as if to adjust his gear.

Valentina stopped with him.

"What is the problem, Major?"

Vasiliev pointed his rifle at her. "You are, Colonel. You and that American bitch you call a sister."

"What did you say?"

"I've seen women like you before," Vasiliev said. "You would never have your rank if it weren't for your pet general and your cozy relationship with our president."

He smiled at Valentina's look of surprise.

"Yes, I know about that. Everyone does. Did you think you could jump the promotion list so far and so fast without people wondering why? You earned your rank on your back. You know nothing, whore. You're an insult to the uniform and to real officers like me."

Valentina wondered if he was crazy enough to shoot her, if she could get to him in time.

"You are costing us time, Major. The helicopters are waiting."

"Not for you, Colonel."

The snow fell around them. Vasiliev's unit was out of sight. He swung the butt of his rifle in a quick movement and smashed it into the side of Valentina's head. She went down like a stone. Vasiliev spit on her, turned, and ran for the helicopters.

Nick, Ronnie, Lamont and Selena moved as quickly as they could, slowed by Selena's injury. The Russians were out of sight, their tracks quickly fading in the new snow.

"What do you bet Vasiliev takes off before we get there?" Ronnie said.

"He screwed up," Lamont said. "I don't think that general will be happy with him when he gets back."

"Not our problem," Nick said.

"What's that up ahead?" Selena said. "On the ground?"

"Ah, hell," Lamont said.

They reached Valentina, lying unconscious in the snow. The side of her face was bloodied. Her jaw was at an odd angle. Blood trickled from her mouth.

Selena gasped. "Valentina."

"I'll get her," Nick said. "We'll carry her back with us."

"Careful," Selena said, "I think her jaw is broken."

"Vasiliev must've done this."

"Why?"

"We'll deal with it later. Come on."

He picked up Valentina. They set off for the choppers.

Ten minutes later, they reached the extraction point. One of the big helicopters was gone. The second waited with rotors turning. One of the pilots stood by the cargo door. He said something and Selena let off a rapid stream of Russian. They handed Valentina into the cargo bay. Lamont pulled the sliding door shut. Seconds later they rose into the air.

"What did he say?" Nick asked.

"Vasiliev told him Valentina had gone back to meet us and that her orders were for the first helicopter to take off once Vasiliev and his men arrived."

"What a chicken shit bastard," Lamont said.

"Doesn't say a lot about international cooperation, does it?" Ronnie said.

Nick said, "He probably figured we wouldn't find Valentina. He gets back before us and spins a story to cover what happened to her. Maybe blames us while he's at it."

"Stupid. He'd never get away with it."

Selena was listening to the Russian pilots on her headset. She looked up, wide-eyed, as a shrill alarm sounded in the cockpit. The helicopter banked hard to the right. Ronnie grabbed at Valentina's unconscious form to keep her from sliding across the floor.

"Missile lock-on," Selena said.

The aircraft shuddered as the antimissile weapons fired. Two missiles shot by outside, jagged streaks of light. Seconds later, explosions in the night sky showed two more, knocked out by the helicopter's defenses.

Their headsets filled with excited Russian voices.

Selena held a hand over her ear piece. "The other helicopter is under attack."

They passed over the coast and banked north. The helicopter dove down until it was sYunming the whitecaps churning the surface of the Sea of Japan. The engine over their heads screamed at full throttle. Visibility was bad with the snow blowing outside, but not so bad that Nick couldn't see a sudden, bloom of light somewhere ahead of them.

For a second the headset was silent, then Nick heard cursing in Russian. He didn't need to speak the language to know what they were saying.

"The other chopper is gone," Selena said.

She looked at the motionless form of her sister lying on the floor.

"I guess Vasiliev did her a favor. She would have been on it."

"Wasn't her time," Ronnie said.

"How's your leg?" Nick asked.

"How about the rest of that morphine?" Selena said.