Endwar_ The Hunted Part 11

As he listened to Heston's prayer and leaned forward to place his head between his legs to, of course, kiss his b.u.t.t good-bye, the Sphinx turned again, as though riding on broken rails like an old mining car. The shuddering began at the back of the aircraft and worked its way forward, as though a fault line were opening in the steel deck.

The pilot shouted something, his voice now burred by frustration. Brent strained to hear him, but the intercom cut off into static as the stench of jet fuel began filtering into the cabin. Oh, that was not good.

"Masks on!" Brent shouted above the din.

They fished out the O2 masks from their packs and slid them over their faces. These were not attached to the Sphinx but self-contained and man-portable units that Brent always carried when he flew the not-so-friendly skies. The oxygen flow came immediately and cleared the stench of fuel. Brent dug his fingers into his palms and kept seeing fireb.a.l.l.s-a Corvette exploding, nuclear mushroom clouds rising, as Dennison's voice came in a whisper, masks from their packs and slid them over their faces. These were not attached to the Sphinx but self-contained and man-portable units that Brent always carried when he flew the not-so-friendly skies. The oxygen flow came immediately and cleared the stench of fuel. Brent dug his fingers into his palms and kept seeing fireb.a.l.l.s-a Corvette exploding, nuclear mushroom clouds rising, as Dennison's voice came in a whisper, "It's over. You're finished." "It's over. You're finished."

The Sphinx dropped as though hitting another air pocket, and the straps dug into Brent's shoulders. His stomach now greeted his ears. The engines shifted pitch, whining now like lawn mowers burning pure alcohol. A sudden clunk from the deck indicated that the pilot was lowering the gear, but a redundant clunking alarmed Brent. He remembered that hydraulic leak. He chanced a quick look up at the window. The port engine was on fire, trailing smoke, but the drone suggested the rotor was still functional.

It would be fitting, Brent thought, if he died in a ball of flames as Villanueva had. His death would be the other bookend. Maybe that was his fate, and he was just walking toward the open door.

Another dip that made him feel weightless, and the panic rose from his gut and burned. The Sphinx now sounded like a freight train that was derailing and plunging over a cliff.

Place your tray tables in the upright position.

And prepare for "landing."

When drunks get in car accidents many of them walk away because at the time of impact, their bodies are fully relaxed. They take the hit and conform more naturally to the trauma. Those who tense up and have white-knuckled grips at the moment of impact tend to be the worst off. Brent knew that. He'd talked to medics, seen crash victims, been told about relaxing into an impact.

So part of him said, Clear your mind and let it happen Clear your mind and let it happen , that if he could imagine himself as a rag doll he could better survive the impact. , that if he could imagine himself as a rag doll he could better survive the impact.

His more logical side argued that he was about to die and a death grip on the seat or straps was the only response. Fight or flight. You can't deny instinct, deny nature.

Brent's ex-girlfriend had been right; he should have left the Army as she'd wanted. Somer had spent three years trying to convince him, while he'd fallen deeply in love with her. She was in love with him, too, but not in love with his career. He'd kept saying, "You knew this going in. If you couldn't marry a soldier, why'd you get involved in the first place?"

"I got involved with a man who happened to be a soldier."

And she'd just cried and wondered why she had.

Their three years together-really eighteen months since he'd spent the other half deployed-had taught Brent one sad and rather trite lesson: Don't get involved. It wasn't worth it. He admired those colleagues who could maintain families despite the challenges; he just wasn't one of them because the time and distance turned him cold and he couldn't switch on his feelings just like that. And if he'd just listened to Somer, he'd be at home in California, probably working some day job that didn't thrill him, but he'd be with her; they'd have a small house or apartment, a couple of kids, and on the weekends they'd buy ice cream cones at the galleria. Was that such a terrible life ?

Now he would die like a filthy dog, probably burned alive as the jet fuel washed over him and the flames licked their way up his spine.

d.a.m.n, why was he being such a pessimist? The team needed him now, despite the fact that their lives were in the hands of the pilots, and there wasn't a d.a.m.ned thing they could do about that-except remain hopeful instead of resigning themselves to death.

He took a long breath, then shouted at the top of his lungs: "All right, everybody! We're Ghost Recon! We don't die in crashes! The runway comes to us!"

"Hoo-ah!" they cried, a bit halfheartedly.

"I can't hear you!"

This time they shouted with everything they had, and just the sheer volume of their voices made it easier to pretend they were still in control.

Sheikh Hussein Al Maktoum glared at Chopra as he tossed his long, curly hair out of his eyes. Then the boy returned the baseball cap to his head and positioned it so the brim jutted c.o.c.kily to one side.

The oversized black T-shirt that said GANG WARZ in purple text, the hoop earring in one ear, and the large gold necklaces he wore were not quite as surprising as the black tattoo of barbed wire running across the young man's forearm.

He was a Muslim. Tattoos were forbidden, or at least Chopra understood that they were. Hopefully the tattoo was not real, a decal that would wash away.

"You're not from Sandhurst," Hussein hollered, his accent distinctly British.

"Turn down the music!" cried Chopra. "I need to speak with you! You don't remember me?"

Hussein made a face, pushed open the door, and allowed Chopra to enter.

To say the boy was a pack rat wildly understated it.

Stacks of movies, books, and video games rose along nearly every wall, forming a mottled wainscot of spines and rising in testament to a young life spent consuming all that was commercial and, in Chopra's humble opinion, all that was deplorable about society.

Framed posters on the wall depicted more of the boy's thug heroes: shirtless men making obscene gestures while scantily clad women clutched their waists and knelt at their sides to pay homage. At least three flat-screen TVs hung from the upper walls, and every conceivable game console on the market sat on the floor below them: elaborate headsets encrusted with a spaghetti of wires along with high-tech gloves and a rug of some sort that was also wired to an antenna.

In the far corner of this teenager's nest stood a small refrigerator beside which was a shelf loaded with junk food: chips, crackers, cookies, and a.s.sorted candy. Those dietary choices certainly accounted for the young sheikh's puffy cheeks and the paunch he attempted to hide beneath his baggy shirt and jeans. Chopra also noted the boy's expensive sneakers made in Vietnam of some s.p.a.ce-age fluorescent material that shimmered like blue-green algae.

Now wearing a deeper frown, Hussein sauntered over to a tiny box on one shelf and suddenly lowered the music with a remote he s.n.a.t.c.hed off the top, but even as he turned back to face Chopra, he was mouthing the words of the song.

"Hussein, you don't remember me?" Chopra repeated.

"Maybe. Like maybe you worked with my father or something. What do you want, old man? Are you one of the new tutors? You don't look like an officer."

Chopra motioned to a pair of overstuffed leather recliners from where Hussein played his video games. "Please sit. We have a lot to discuss. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment."

"Frankly, I don't care. I'm hungry. And the two dolts who tutor me will be here soon. I don't have time for this. I'm hungry!"

"Hussein, listen to me. I hold the keys to helping you rebuild your country. But it's up to you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

He stood there a moment, scrutinizing Chopra. Then something occurred to him and he burst into laughter. "What the h.e.l.l? Is Southy playing a joke on me?" He moved toward the door and lifted his voice. "Southy! What the h.e.l.l is this?"

"Hussein, please sit down."

The boy's face screwed up into a knot. "Old man, I have no clue what you want, but this isn't funny anymore. Get out of my room." He c.o.c.ked a thumb toward the doorway. "And tell those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds downstairs they'd best have my breakfast ready!"

Chopra lowered his head and sighed deeply, and when he looked up, a woman stood behind the young sheikh- The same woman Chopra had seen in the Seych.e.l.les. Short, dark hair. Lean, muscular. Penetrating eyes. Jeans and tight-fitting leather jacket.

Wearing a smug expression, she held a pistol with large suppressor to the back of the boy's head.

"Hussein, don't move," gasped Chopra.

But the boy whirled to face the woman. "Who the h.e.l.l are you?" He glanced at the gun. "And what is this? How dare you wave that piece in my face? How dare you!"

Chopra nearly fainted as Hussein slapped away the woman's pistol and shouted, "Southy, what in b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l is going on here! Who are these freaks? You're going to pay for this charade! I'm telling you right now! This is the last time you play a joke on me!"

But even as he finished, the woman seized him by the neck, slammed the door behind her, and forced him into the room and toward the recliner beside Chopra.

Though her weapon sent a chill through him, Chopra rose immediately from his chair and shouted, "You will not hurt him! Do you hear me?"

"You sit down!" she screamed.

Then she jammed her pistol into Hussein's head and spoke between her teeth. "Now listen to me carefully, little boy. Your friends are all dead. And you're going to do exactly as I say, if you want to stay alive." She spoke English with a Russian accent, an accent that took Chopra's breath away. G.o.d, the Russians were already on to them.

"This isn't a joke?" Hussein asked, his voice cracking.

The woman widened her eyes. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Who are you? What do you want?" Chopra demanded.

Slowly, she removed her weapon from Hussein's head, and then she suddenly backhanded Chopra, her leather glove dragging across his cheek. His gla.s.ses flew across the room and he groaned, his own palm going reflexively for the pain.

"Quiet, old man. I do all the talking now. You want to know who I am? Well, they call me the Snow Maiden."

TEN.

Joint Strike Force V8-99 Sphinx En Route to London The Sphinx jolted forward as the pilot decreased power to both engines and Brent began a mental countdown, believing he could estimate their alt.i.tude.

Who was he fooling? He was counting just to keep his mind off their impending doom. Smoke obscured all view through the window, but it seemed they would hit the ground at any second. They weren't kidding when they said the waiting was the hardest part. Something buffeted the Sphinx, and he wondered if they'd just taken some fire or hit a downdraft.

Whether they had actually reached RAF Lakenheath remained to be seen. Any solid ground would do for now. He was rooting for the pilot the way he rooted for the Dodgers: with balled fists and pure fury, even when the team was down by ten runs and most fans had already left after the seventh inning. Brent would shove his fourth Dodger dog into his mouth, rise, and with a mouth full of mustard, relish, and hot dog, scream, "Come on, you b.u.ms, score a freaking run!"

Their forward momentum began to decrease as the bird pitched forward and descended even more. Brent thought of stealing one more glance through the window to see if the smoke had cleared, but that thought was lost on a terrific boom resounding from the c.o.c.kpit.

The racket swept over the craft.

And Brent realized they'd struck the ground and were sc.r.a.ping forward because the gear had not fully lowered and locked into place.

That boom had been the gear snapping off.

They began to fishtail like a sports car driver accelerating too hard-and Brent was too familiar with that sensation.

Thrown right, then left, he tightened his grip on the seat rails as the fuselage floor buckled beneath his boots. The cacophony of the impact was m.u.f.fled only by the sound of his panting into the oxygen mask.

At once a ma.s.sive crack opened in the deck, and a large piece of the landing gear-one of the wheel arms-burst up into the hold, severed hydraulic lines dancing like bleeding snakes as the nails-on-chalkboard sc.r.a.ping continued.

Brent glanced over at his people, expecting them to be praying some more or cursing or screaming or doing something that would indicate that they were railing against their fate-or at the very least, afraid to die. But there was none of that now. They eyed each other and nodded. They'd had good lives. Done good work. Made a difference. And screw it, if today was the day, they would take it like warriors. Just take it.

In that moment, as he seemed to hang there between worlds, between life and a sudden and horrific death, he never felt more proud of a team. He took a deep breath.

If I'm going to die, then bring it. I'm in good company.

And then, quite suddenly . . .

It was over.

The Sphinx burrowed itself into the earth and came to a sudden halt, lying there, somewhere, creaking, the engines still groaning but winding down-as opposed to Brent's heart, which jackhammered in his chest.

His ears betrayed him for a moment. The world went m.u.f.fled, almost silent.

And then it hit: the fear of fire and explosion. And the racket returned, the volume on ten. "On your feet! On your feet!" he cried. "Lakota, blow the exit door! Everybody evac right now! Right now!"

Brent unbuckled from his seat and rose, counting off his people as Lakota worked the release mechanism on the side door and the hatch yawned open.

The pilot and co-pilot hustled through the cabin and joined the group. The co-pilot was nursing her left arm but seemed otherwise okay. Everyone was on the ready line to pile out, everyone except the quiet man, Park. Brent saw him still seated in his chair and unmoving. He raced past the line as the others shifted out. He got to Park, found him unconscious, felt his neck for a carotid pulse and got one. Brent wasn't sure if the fumes had gotten to him or something else, but he unstrapped the guy and took him up in a fireman's carry. With his knees buckling, he turned for the doorway- To find a wall of flames blocking his path.

With a gasp, he realized the fire wasn't coming from inside the Sphinx.

The words slipped from his mouth. "Oh my G.o.d ..."

Their hot landing and even hotter exhaust had set fire to the brown gra.s.s field outside. It was midsummer, and parts of the U.K. had been suffering a record drought. The others had made it out seconds before the ground beneath them burst into flames.

Brent's worst nightmares regarding an explosion would not play out. He wouldn't die in a crash and fireball like Villanueva had. He'd die in a gra.s.s fire created by the ninety-three-million-dollar taxicab in which he'd been a pa.s.senger.

You call that a blaze of glory? Aw, if he died, he'd go to customer service with his receipt for a life well lived and ask G.o.d for a refund. He deserved a much more dramatic death.

Then again, he was a.s.suming he'd go upstairs instead of downstairs, where the fires of h.e.l.l would be fueled by the gas tanks of a million burning Corvettes.

He lowered Park to the deck, his gaze sweeping the compartment for a fire extinguisher.

There! On the wall ahead, near the entrance to the c.o.c.kpit. He darted for the long red cylinder and tugged it free from its rubberized holder. Smoke now billowed into the hold and burned his eyes. He pulled the extinguisher's pin as he swung around toward the flames.

The air raid sirens came as a m.u.f.fled hum from somewhere outside, beyond the boy's room, and the Snow Maiden paused a moment to p.r.i.c.k up her ears and listen.

Patti had warned her about trouble-but nothing quite as dramatic. Were the Russians making a move? She'd expected the Americans or Haussler to show up ...

"Is the city under attack?" asked Chopra.

"Those sirens go off a lot," said the boy. "Usually just a warning."

The Snow Maiden c.o.c.ked a brow. "Not this time."