Now he didn’t even think about going back to get it.
Chapter 15
Harding ducked into the personnel carrier. He instantly popped back up with two rifles. He tossed one of them to Vikki. “Get the hell out of here. Cover the APC.” He yelled down inside the personnel carrier: “Punch out the back. We’ve got visitors.”
He pushed Vikki off the vehicle. She tumbled against the side and managed to land on her feet. She started to curse him, but realized that if they were fired upon, the APC would draw bullets like a magnet.
Keeping low to the ground, Vikki sprinted to a small depression. Crouching, she brought her rifle up and swiveled toward the approaching headlights.
In the dark the APC appeared as just another murky object. The headlights scared her. Maybe it’s just a random check, she thought. If it were a full-scale attempt to stop us, all hell should have broken loose.
Unless Britnell hadn’t told her everything.
She grew suddenly chilled at the thought. What if Britnell hadn’t played straight with her — what if he’d been leading her on, gathering snips of information, and dealing with the brass on Wendover? What if they knew about all the information she had gotten from Britnell — the map?
She dismissed the thought. Britnell had been too open, too vulnerable with her. She knew. Besides, he couldn’t have discovered their plans.
Vikki grasped her weapon tightly and followed the headlights through the gun sight.
A minute passed … as the lights grew closer, she heard music blaring from the vehicle. The car weaved down the road, screeching to a halt fifty feet from the APC. Laughter, clinking bottles, and smells of pot and liquor drifted from the car.
Vikki brought the rifle down. Kids!
Saturday night was international date night, and Wendover AFB was not excluded, especially from military brats. Vikki relaxed. If those damn kids would only get the hell out of here…
The laughter grew louder as car doors opened. “… I got to take a whiz. I’ll be right back.” A figure staggered to the hangar. Vikki peered through the darkness. She made out the features of two girls and a boy in the car. Two couples. It could have been her, twenty years ago, on a double date back in Colorado…
A teenager’s voice called from the hangar. “Hey, look at this!” The laughter in the car abated.
“Hurry up. We don’t have all night.”
“A moving van. Holy cow, it’s an abandoned party wagon!”
The hilarity inside the car increased. The occupants spilled out and picked themselves up. Weaving to the van, they met their compatriot. They wandered around the van, inspecting the cab and giggling in low whispers.
“Oh, wow. I don’t believe it—”
“Do.” Colonel Renault and ten of his men materialized in front of the kids, weapons leveled.
“Oh, shit.” One of the teenagers wavered.
“Not another word from any of you.” Renault waved his rifle at the two couples. “Climb inside the back of the truck. Move it.”
The men opened ranks and formed a conduit to the moving van. They roughly pushed the kids up inside. One of the girls started sobbing.
“Shut up,” snarled Renault.
The teenager who first climbed out of the car picked himself up and nursed an injured elbow. “Hey, what the hell do you sky cops think you’re doing? Roughing us up — who do you think you are?”
Renault floored the youngster with his rifle butt. He glared at the rest of them and jumped from the van. Crying came from inside.
Vikki ran up just as Harding arrived. She brushed back her hair, then looped it back into a knot so it wouldn’t get in the way. “Tie them up and get the hell out of here. We’re running late.”
Renault remained silent. He looked at Harding.
Harding narrowed his eyes. “Well?”
“Your call, Dr. Harding. Ms. Osborrn is right. We’re starting to cut it close. We can’t afford to wait around here any longer.”
Harding wet his lips. Even in the dark Vikki could tell that his face was flushed. “Let’s get going. We’ve come too far to back down.”
Vikki turned to one of Renault’s men. “Tie up the kids and get back to the APC.”
The man didn’t budge. “Colonel?”
Renault raised his brows at Harding. “Well?”
Harding nodded, seemingly oblivious to Vikki’s presence. He whispered, “Get rid of them.”
Vikki put an edge to her voice. She addressed Renault’s men again. “You heard him, tie them up—”
“I said, get rid of them.”
“What!” Vikki looked incredulous.
Harding stared down Vikki. “We can’t let a bunch of damn kids ruin this.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Anthony? You’ve got four kids in that van, crapping in their pants, scared out of their wits we’re going to kill them. If we tie them up, there’s no way they’re going to get loose in less than an hour. By then we’ll be smack in the middle of Alpha Base—”
Harding cut her off with a wave. “And what happens if in two minutes after we leave they’re found by a security police patrol? We can’t afford to screw up.”
“But these are just kids …”
“What’s more important, dammit? This operation or a couple of kids’ lives?” Harding whirled and pointed at Renault. “Get rid of them.” He stomped off toward the APC.
Vikki stood in a daze. She couldn’t believe her ears. It was one thing for her to kill Britnell — the poor slob didn’t deserve to live, the way he’d used her, leeched off her, but killing four kids?
Twenty years ago it could have been her.
The girls must have been shot first, because it was a male scream that pierced the dark.
She walked numbly to the personnel carrier. Men rushed past her, climbing back into the APC through the back access.
Renault passed her, then slowed, allowing her to catch up. He pulled on a short cigarette. “Welcome to the club, Ms. Osborrn.” She didn’t answer. Renault continued, “Dr. Harding’s decision to kill those kids was just as hard as yours to kill that airman earlier tonight. Don’t damn him because of it.”
“But that security police fascist deserved to die—”
“Nobody deserves to die, Ms. Osborrn. So don’t go playing God. That airman wasn’t some roach you step on, grinding out of existence without a thought. People kill for different reasons — because the victim ‘deserves to die’ isn’t one of them. On my team, my men kill because I tell them.”
“What about you, Colonel? Why do you kill?” Vikki asked coolly.
Renault threw his cigarette down and ground it out with a heel. “I kill for money, so I guess that makes me a capitalist. What’s your excuse?”
He unshouldered his rifle and walked faster, leaving her behind him.
Vikki drew in several breaths. Reaching the APC, she swung up, adrenaline pumping her full of newfound energy. She tossed her rifle to the men inside. “Let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve got a crater full of nukes waiting.”
Sealing the hatch above her, she wiggled to a free spot. Renault squeezed in the driver’s compartment. She ignored him.
Renault flipped up the television screen. The ground around them glowed an eerie hue, shown as black-on-white contrast from infrared sensors mounted outside the APC. Piped in through optic fibers, the IR imaging highlighted everything around the APC for hundreds of yards.
Vikki watched the IR screen as Renault started off across the desert. He kept away from the access road and other hot spots showing up on the screen. Harding tapped her on the shoulder.