to skip off the other side of the plane and bounce down onto
its destroyed left-hand wing.
Schofield and Love Machine were thrown about like rag
dolls as the cockroach bounced and jounced and thundered
forward.
Somehow, Schofield managed to hit the brakes and the
cockroach skidded and spun, before slamming to an abrupt
halt against the far wall of the shaft, right next to the
Matthew Reilly
square-shaped hole that normally housed the detachable
mini-elevator.
Schofield was already moving when the cockroach
stopped, helping Love Machine out of the driver's cabin just
as the first 7th Squadron men emerged from the twisted steel
forest around them and opened fire.
But their bullets were too slow.
Indeed, they could only watch in stunned amazement as
Schofield handed Love Machine the Football, draped the
wounded man's arms over his shoulders, and without even a
blink, jumped with Love Machine down into the hole in the
platform, disappearing into the blackness beneath it.
LIKE A PAIR OF TANDEM SKYDIVERS, SCHOFIELD AND LOVE
Machine dropped down the side of the massive elevator
shaft, dwarfed by its immense size.
As instructed, Love Machine gripped Schofield's shoulders
as hard as he could--holding on to the Football as he
did so. That didn't stop him screaming "Arrrrrgghh!!!" all
the way down.
The gray concrete wall rushed past them as they free fell down the side of the shaft.
As he dropped, Schofield looked down and saw a
square of white light stretching out from the hangar on Level
1, illuminating the tiny mini-elevator platform stopped there--two hundred feet below.
He unholstered his newly acquired Maghook, snapped
open its grappling hook.
He couldn't fire it up at the underside of the main platform.
Maghooks only had one hundred and fifty feet of rope.
It wouldn't be long enough.
No, he had to wait until they dropped about fifty feet,
and then--
As he dropped past it, Schofield lodged the Maghook's
grappling hook into a metal bracket sticking out from the
greasy concrete wall. The bracket kept a series of thick cables
running down the side of the shaft bundled together.
As the Maghook gripped the bracket, Schofield and
area 7 191
Love Machine continued to fall, the hook's rope playing out
above them, unspooling rapidly, wobbling through the air.
The mini-elevator's deck rushed up toward them at
shocking speed.
Faster, faster, faster ...
Jolt.
And they stopped, three feet above the mini-elevator's
deck, in front of the massive doorway that led into the Level
1 hangar bay.
Schofield released his grip on a black button on the
Maghook's forward grip--it was a trigger that initiated a
clamping mechanism that bit into the Maghook's unspooling
rope. He'd hit it just in time. He and Love Machine were
lowered the final three feet.
Their boots touched the ground and they turned to find
that they had company.
Standing in front of them just inside the hangar bay
doors were Book II, Juliet and the President. With them
were Mother, Brainiac and the scientist, Herbie Franklin.
"If anybody makes a joke about 'dropping in,'" Mother
said, "I will personally rip that person's throat out."
"WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING," SCHOFIELD SAID WHEN HE'D
reeled in his Maghook. The giant aircraft elevator was still
lumbering down the shaft above them—with its cargo of 7th
Squadron commandos.
Schofield's group headed for the vehicle ramp at the far
end of the enormous underground hangar bay, Book II and
Mother carrying the wounded Love Machine between them.
Juliet Janson came alongside Schofield. "So, now what?"
"We've got the President," he said. "And we've got the
Football. Since the Football was the only thing keeping the
President here, I say we ditch this party. That means finding
a networked terminal. We use the computer to open up an
exit during the next hourly window period and then we get
out of Dodge.
"Dr. Franklin," he turned as they all started down the
circular vehicle access ramp. "Where's the nearest security
computer? Something that will open up an exit during the
next window period."
Herbie said, "There are two on this level—one in the
hangar's office, the other in the junction box."
"Not here," Schofield said. "The bad guys'll be here any
minute."
"Then the nearest one is on 4, in the decompression area
down there."
"Then that's where we're going."
A woman's voice came through Schofield's earpiece as
he moved: "Scarecrow, this is Fox. We are at the bottom of
the ventilation shaft. What do you want us to do?"
area 7 193
shaft?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Meet us in the Level 4 lab," Schofield said into his
wrist mike.
"Got it. Oh, and Scarecrow, we--uh--picked up a couple
of new passengers."
"Wonderful," Schofield said. "See you soon."
They raced down the vehicle ramp to Level 2, where
they came to an opening in the floor that accessed the emergency
stairwell. The eight of them hurried down the stairs
until they arrived at the heavy firedoor that led to the decompression area on Level 4.
Brainiac tested the door.
It opened easily.
Schofield was immediately worried. This was one of the
doors they had locked and then disabled earlier. Now it was
unlocked. He made a hand signal: "Proceed with caution."
Brainiac nodded.
He quickly and silently swung the door open as Book II
and Mother slipped inside, an M-16 and a P-90 pressed
against their respective shoulders.
No fire was necessary.
Aside from the bodies on the floor--from their previous
encounter with the 7th Squadron here--the decompression
area was empty.
Juliet and the President went in next, stepping over the
bodies. Schofield followed, with Love Machine draped over
his shoulder.
A couple of computer terminals sat sunk into the wall
on their right, partially hidden behind the telephone-booth-sized test chambers.
"Dr. Franklin, pick a terminal," Schofield said.
"Brainiac, go with him. Find out what we have to do to get
out of this rat maze. Book, take Love Machine. Mother,
check the lab next door for a first-aid kit."
Mother headed for the doorway leading to the other side
of the floor.
194
Matthew Reilly
Book II lowered the grimacing Love Machine to the
ground, then made to shut the door behind them.
"What the hell ... ?" he said as he looked at the door.
Schofield came over. "What is it?"
"Look at the lock."
Schofield did so, and his eyes narrowed.
The door's bolt mechanism--the thick rectangular part
of the lock that extended out from the door and secured itself
inside a matching slot in the doorframe--had been
sheared off.
Cleanly.
Perfectly.
Indeed, the cut was so clean that it could only have been
done by some sort of laser ...
Schofield frowned.
Somebody had been through here since the battle.
"Scarecrow," someone said.
It was Mother.
She was standing in the doorway leading to the western
side of Level 4. Standing with her was Libby Gant, who had
appeared from the other side of the floor.
"Scarecrow. You better see this," Mother said.
schofield went over to the doorway set into the white
wall that divided Level 4.
He checked the lock on the door as he met Gant and
Mother. Its bolt had also been sheared off with a laser cutting
device.
"What is it?" he said.
He looked up and was surprised to see, standing with
Gant, Colonel Hot Rod Hagerty and Nicholas Tate III, the
President's slick Domestic Policy Adviser. Gant's new passengers.
Gant jerked her thumb at the area behind her--the high
ceilinged hall-like space that housed the great glass cube.
Schofield looked into it ...
... and immediately felt his blood run cold.
The cube looked like a bomb had hit it.
area 7 195
Its clear walls lay at all angles, shattered and broken.
Entire sections of glass had fallen in on the bedroom inside
it, exposing the room to the outside air. Toys lay on their
sides. The colorful furniture had been overturned, hurled
roughly aside.
There was no sign of the boy, Kevin.
"Looks like they took a whole bunch of stuff from up in
the lab, too," Gant said. "The entire area has been ransacked."
Schofield bit his lip in thought as he looked at the scene
before him.
He didn't want to say it. Didn't even want to think it.
But there was no denying it now.
"There's someone else in here," he said.
THE LANGUAGE WAS AFRIKAANS.
The official language of the white regime that had ruled
South Africa up until 1994, but which now, for obvious reasons,
was no longer the country's official language.
After consulting with the DIA's two African language
specialists, Dave Fairfax now had all of his recorded conversations
translated and ready for presentation to the Director.
He looked at the transcript again and smiled. It read:
COMM-SAT SECURE WIRE TRACE E/13A-2
DIA-SPACE DIV-PENT-DC
OPERATOR: T16-009
SOURCE: USAF-SA(R)07
29-MAY 22:10-56 AFRIKAANS-- ENGLISH
VOICE 1: Kan bevestig dat in-enting plaasvind. Can confirm that vaccine is operational.
13-JUN 18:01:38
AFRIKAANS--ENGLISH
Test on latest strain expected
on the third. What about
the extraction unit?
VOICE 1: Toetse op
laaste poging
word op die vierentwientigste verwag. Wat van
die onttrekkings
eenheild?
VOICE 2: Reccondo span is Reccondo team has already alreeds weggestuur. been dispatched.
15-JHN
area 7 197
14:45:46
AFRIKAANS--ENGLISH
VOICE 1:
16-JUN
Voorbereidings
onderweg.
Vroeg oggend.
Beste tyd vir
onttrekking.
19:56:09
Preparations under way.
Early morning. Optimal time for
extraction.
ENGLISH--ENGLISH
VOICE 3:
21-JUN
07:22:13
VOICE 2:
Everything is in
place. Confirm that
it's the third.
Everything is in place.
Confirm that it's the third.
AFRIKAANS--ENGLISH
VOICE 1: Ontrekking kan 'n Extraction is the biggest
probleem wees.
Gestei ons gebruik
die Hoeb land hier
naby. Verstaan hy is
'n lid van Die
Organisasie.
Sal die instruksies
oordra.
problem. Plan is to use the
Hoeb land nearby. Member
of Die Organisasie.
Will pass on those instructions.
22-JUN 20-51-59 ENGLISH -- ENGLISH
VOICE 3: 23-JUN Mission is a go. 01:18:22 Mission is a go. AFRIKAANS -- ENGLISH
VOICE 1: Die Reccondos is Reccondos are in place.
gereed. Verwagte
aankoms by
beplande
bestemming binne
nege dae.
Estimate arrival at target
destination in nine days.
"That is some seriously weird shit, my friend," one
of the African language experts said as he was putting on
his jacket to leave. He was a short, pleasant fellow named
198
Matthew Reilly
Lew Alvy. "I mean, Reccondo Units. Die Organisasie.
Jesus."
"What do you mean?" Fairfax asked. "What are they?"
Alvy took a quick look around himself.
"The Reccondos," he said, "are the baddest of the bad
when it comes to elite units. They're the South African Reconnaissance Commandos. Before Mandela, they were the crack assassination squad of the white regime. Specialists in
cross-border raids, covert hits--usually on black resistance
leaders--trained to be ghosts. They would never leave a
trace of their presence, but you'd know they'd been there because
of all the cut throats.
"Tough bastards, too. I heard once, in Zimbabwe, a
squad of Reccondos lay in ambush for nineteen days, not
moving, hiding in the veldt under heat-deflecting dirt covers,
until their target arrived. The target came by, thinking the
area was secure, and--boom--they nailed him. Some say
that in the eighties they bolstered their numbers by enlisting
Angolan mercenaries, but the argument became academic in
1994 when Mandela took power and the unit was disbanded
in light of its previous missions. Suddenly they all became
mercenaries, a crack hit squad for hire."
"Shit," Fairfax breathed. "And Die Organisasie? What's
that?"
Alvy said, "Part myth, part reality. No one's really sure.
But MI6 has a file, so does the CIA. It's an underground organization
of exiled white South Africans who actively plot
the demise of the ANC government in the hope of returning
South Africa to the bad old days. Rich bastards--rich, racist
bastards. Also known as the 'Third Force,' or the 'Spider
Network.' Hell, it was listed last year on Interpol as an active
terrorist organization."
Fairfax frowned as Alvy departed.
What could an ultra-rich right-wing South African organization
and an elite light commando unit possibly want
with a remote U.S. Air Force base?
typically, hot rod hagerty and nicholas tate went
straight over to the President. Elvis, on the other hand,
rushed over to check on his wounded buddy, Love Machine.
Schofield stood in the center of the decompression area
on Level 4, with Gant at his side.
Gant nodded at Hagerty and Tate. "We found them inside
Marine One, holed up inside the Presidential escape
pod. Hiding."
"He'll take command," Schofield said.
"He is the ranking officer," Gant said.
"He's never been under fire."
"Shit."
A few yards to their left, over by the test chambers,
Brainiac and Herbie Franklin sat before a computer terminal.
Schofield stepped up behind them. "So, what's the
story?"
"This is very odd," Herbie said. "Here, look," he
pointed at the screen. It read:
S.A.(R) 07A
SECURITY ACCESS LOG
7-3-010229027
SYSTEM TIME KEY ACTION OPERATOR RESPONSE
06:30:00 System status 070-67 All systems
check operational
200
Matthew Reilly
TIME KEY ACTION OPERATOR ammction
response
terminal 1-Ai
RESPONSE
06:58:34 Lockdown 105-02 Lockdown
command enacted
07:00:00 System status 070-67 All systems
check operational
(lockdown
mode)
07:30:00 System status 070-67 All systems
check operational
(lockdown
H _ _ _ _ _ __ _ mode)
U/:J/:% WARNING: System Malfunction
Auxiliary located at
08:00:15
WARNING:
Auxiliary
power
System
capacity: ->u /n
Main power
shutdown
command
(terminal
3-A1)
SYSTEM 008-72
systems:
TRACS;
AUX SYS-1
RADCCM
SPHERE;
MBN; EXT
FAN
Terminal
1-A2 not
responding
Main power
disabled
area 7
201
TIME
KEY ACTION
OPERATOR
SYSTEM RESPONSE
08:00:18
08:00:19
08:01:02
08:04:34
08:04:55
Auxiliary
power
enabled
WARNING: