The Plagues of Pandora

CHAPTER THIRTY

By the time Drake and the team boarded a fast jet, Armand Argento was almost ready to offer a theory. Karin took her time ensuring the communications were sound and secure, but before the jet hit thirty thousand feet they were ready. Alicia’s crew were waiting for a “very important person” to whisk them from Paris to Greece, but wouldn’t elaborate beyond that.

Drake completed a weapons’ check with Dahl. This was the first mission he could remember where the majority of the world’s governments were behind them, supporting them, and their cooperation made a huge difference. The jet was already skimming across the airways, a priority status; Hayden kept the many interested parties apprised whilst Argento mapped out his plan.

“If we imagine this cave as a subterranean bunker, which is essentially what it is, contained, self-sufficient, then it will have no open or easily accessible doors. No windows. But it must have air vents, do you see? Exhaust vents. More — it must have power cables and even more topside connections. Otherwise the mad scientists — they would die.”

Dahl smiled and caught Drake’s eye. Kinimaka grinned at them. “This guy’s a real riot, eh?”

Drake ignored them, watching Mai. Seated beside Yorgi for the trip and behind Smyth and Lauren, the Japanese woman was barely in the game, no doubt ruminating on her situation and the welfare of Grace, whom they had left behind in London. The gulf between them had only widened since the Pythians upped the stakes, and now he could see no easy way across until Mai faced and destroyed her newly risen demons. The rest of the team was buoyant, reinvigorated by the emergence of the fresh lead, but anxious as ever that it may have come too late.

Argento went on, “So we have all these telltale indicators, yes? Through satellite navigation we can scan the detail of the area and find them. We are using the satellites as we speak. As you say, Olympus is a large area and we’re having to double up because of the surrounding sites, but we will have success. I’m sure of it.”

Dahl leaned over to Drake. “Satellites,” he said. “We have them now.”

“How far out from Greece are we?”

“From landing? Two hours. Alicia’s team should get there about the same time if their mystery guest ever turns up. Karin is trying to find a nearby landing strip.” He gestured at the blond girl working away on a laptop. “Or at least a long patch of flat ground we can land on.” The Swede chortled.

Argento came back on line. “We’re searching for suspicious shadows, mesh, imaginary borders. Camouflage netting. Pipes. Trails. Even brief heat signatures if we’re lucky, as from a man slipping out for a cigarette. They cannot escape us.”

Drake’s face turned grim. He was more than ready to bring war to the place where these bastards lived.

Alicia experienced her second utterly surreal moment in as many weeks at the sight of the famous movie star, Reece Carrera, standing at the top of the steps that led to his private plane. The man’s smile shone like a stadium floodlight and his warm, welcoming voice melted away all her concerns. This really was the best way to travel.

“Unfortunately,” Crouch commented as they mounted the steps. “We now owe Mr. Carrera, as his last favor was the only one he owed. Still, I can think of no faster or more clandestine way to travel at short notice.”

“Lucky he was in the area,” Healey said, cinching his jacket tighter.

“Yeah, he has homes in Paris, London, Vegas and LA,” Crouch said. “All the trouble hotspots. When I first learned of the targeted cities I put him on standby.”

Alicia shook her head at their boss. “Man, you’re fuckin’ awesome. I’d love to be able to put a movie star on standby.”

As they reached the top of the stairs Carrera backed away and allowed them access to the luxurious cabin. The first time she had met this man even Alicia experienced a passable sense of awe. This second time however, she was past all that.

“So Reecey, we got about two hours to Greece. What you wanna do? You ever done it with a soldier girl before?”

Carrera backed away to give her plenty of room. “Ah, I do have a girlfriend, Miss Myles. Otherwise…”

Alicia slapped him playfully on the bicep. It was like hitting a punch bag filled with lead. “Ach, naughty. I meant what we gonna cook together? You do like cooking, right? That’s pretty much all you ever talk about.”

She flounced past, heading to the onboard kitchen as if she owned the place.

Russo came next. “You’ll get used to her, Mr. Carrera. Some say she’s a bitch. Me? I’m undecided.”

Alicia heard Crouch muttering some apology, but once Caitlyn was inside and the door was shut Carrera headed straight to the kitchen.

As she’d expected.

“So, you like cooking?” Carrera grinned.

“I like lots of things, Reecey. Some involve knives, others forks and spoons. I’m a forward thinking kinda girl. Always ready for the next adventure.”

Carrera nodded as he washed his hands. Alicia couldn’t help but notice their size. The man could do great damage with those things, especially since he worked out at a gym five times a week. Strong hands, capable hands, she thought. Makes a girl feel all secure. Only one man in her life had accomplished that before, and only for a short time.

“You like linguini?” Carrera asked. “I make a spice medley all of my own. Makes it taste—” he kissed his fingers. “Fantastico!”

“Ya got corned beef hash?”

At that moment the pilot’s voice came over the intercom, asking for seats to be taken prior to take-off. Carrera’s odd look transformed immediately into another smile and he turned away. Alicia followed him, allowing her eyes to travel downward as he walked.

Russo watched her from the nearest window seat. “Having fun?”

Alicia plonked herself down beside him. “Got any ice cubes? I need to cool down.”

“You’ll have your hands full soon enough,” Russo said with a touch of irony. “Soon as we land we’re at war.”

“Have they found something?”

Russo nodded at Caitlyn. “She’s still tuned into the feed between Argento and SPEAR. All that bollocks about steam vents and electrical cables appears to have paid off. There’s a hidden underground bunker or cave just on the fringes of the national park.”

“Defended?”

“Well, not obviously but I’d say yeah. It’s close to the only main road in the region. They might also have camouflaged choppers that we can’t see and God knows what else. But we have the two best teams in the world, right?”

Alicia shrugged. “Maybe. If we swop you for that Agent Collins in LA, I’d feel better.”

“Piss off. Damn, you’re a confusing one. You run from one team to the next. Even a biker group. One boss to the next. And there’s always a… um, romantic angle. Somebody to be with. Then there’s the question of girls or boys — which is it that you like?”

“You asking for yourself or Caitlyn?” Alicia asked lightly.

“Maybe I’m asking and hoping for a serious answer.”

Alicia wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. What surprised her though was where the support came from — Russo. Big, strong, able to take the knocks. A support platform she could abuse endlessly when the time came to vent, to take back her life.

If it ever came.

“All right, Russo. You want serious? How about this… now isn’t the time. When the time is right and if you’re around I’ll tell you. I’ll use you. How’s that?”

“Good enough.”

The two sat in stony silence for a while as the jet climbed. In truth, Alicia wasn’t sure she even wanted somebody to help divert the course of her life. Maybe she would just die alone and skip all the pain of revelation. She’d made it this far.

Caitlyn turned around then. “They’ve pinpointed a location,” she said. “We’ll land in Larissa and then chopper in with the Greek Army and Special Forces. No holds barred, guys. If this is their weaponization factory it has to be wiped off the map.”

“No way of planning a stealth attack?” Healey asked.

“We have to assume they have an early warning system. Pressure plates, infra-red, whatever. We know Dudley at least is top-notch. The feeling is that the best assault is a blitz, and with the choppers they should only get five minutes warning.”

Alicia noticed as Caitlyn allowed her eyes to lock onto Healey’s for a moment, communicating a private message. The pair hadn’t yet managed that date and for that matter, Caitlyn herself still struggled to find a way through the pall cast by her recent past. Damn, our team’s even more fucked up than Drake’s.

Then she turned her attention to the job at hand, ignoring Reece Carrera’s questioning glance, and prepared her brain for hard battle.

There would be time enough later to set everyone’s problems to rights.