“Always prepared, just like the Boy Scouts,” Carpenter said as she pulled a blasting cap out of the lining of her carry-on bag.
“Why were you sent to spy on us?” Ariana asked.
“Because of this area,” Carpenter said. “The CIA has been paying close attention to it for a long time.”
“Why?”
“Because-” Carpenter paused and pointed up. “Why do you think? There’s some weird ass stuff happening here and it’s been happening for a long time and we’re trying to figure it out.”
“Why didn’t you warn me then?”
Carpenter paused in her work and looked up at the other woman. “Your father was given enough information to know this was a strange and dangerous place. He was told about the other planes that went down and the people lost. I guess he just figured it was worth it to send the survey.” Carpenter picked up the blasting cap. “Hold this.”
Ariana took the cap. She knew what Carpenter said was true. Her dad had known and he’d sent them anyway. The payoff. Always the payoff.
Carpenter crimped the metal casing on the end of the blasting cap, attaching it to the detonating cord. Ariana watched the woman’s fingers moving deftly and knew they had done the same thing many times before.
“What is this place we’re in?” Ariana asked.
“Got me,” Carpenter sat back and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “I got tagged for this just before this mission. From my briefing, nobody knows. That’s why we’re here. Guinea pigs let loose in the maze. Everyone’s waiting to see what happens to us. I’d say it’s more than just us, though. Your father had to have launched a rescue mission and since they haven’t been knocking on the door yet, I’d say that big snake got them or something else. Same with the Hie-Tech chopper. Same with whatever rescue mission my Agency launches, if they launch one at all. I didn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling from the guy who briefed me that he really gave a rat’s ass about me. He wanted to know what was in here, Angkor Gate he called it. I don’t think he was too concerned about whatever price had to be paid to get that information.”
“Geez,” Ariana muttered.
“Yeah, baby, we’ve both been screwed,” Carpenter said. She held the det cord and cap in her hands. “We’re ready to blast.”
Ariana turned toward the front of the plane. “Let’s see if we have any news on how we’re supposed to get out of here.”
When she entered the commo section, Ingram held out a sheet of paper. “We just got this in.”
Ariana read it.
G-O-T-O-G-R-I-D-7-8-2-9-4-3 G-O-T-O-G-R-I-D7-8-2-9-4-3
Ariana pulled a map off the counter and slapped it onto the table. “All right, this is what we’ve got.” She stared at the area that the grid designated, then looked up at Ingram, Hudson and Carpenter. “It’s about five klicks north of here.”
“I can’t make it,” Hudson said immediately.
Ariana shrugged. “Fine. We’ll leave you.”
“You can’t-” Hudson began, but stopped at the glare she gave him.
“We’ll help you get there, but don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do you son-of-a-bitch.”
“But how do we know there’s something there to get to?” Ingram asked.
“As this point I don’t think we have much choice,” Ariana said. “Let’s get ready.”
“Ariana!” Carpenter’s voice echoed from the back of the plane. “You’ve got to see this.”
Ariana ran to the center console section, avoiding the gold line that had killed Daley. Carpenter was looking into the mainframe of Argus.
“What’s going on?”
“Look,” Carpenter said. “Something’s happening.”
Ariana stared as a piece of Argus’s hardware disappeared inside the golden glow surrounding it.
“What is going on?” Ariana asked.
“Twelve hours,” Carpenter said. “I think we might be too late.”
“Let’s get moving!”
“It was using the MILSTARS satellites,” Jimmy confirmed, studying the latest imagery, “but the points of convergence are not based on that.”
“But the power was being carried via MILSTARS,” Conners argued. They were in her office now, the walls covered with imagery, reams of computer printouts covering every available surface and the floor. “What’s carrying it now?”
Jimmy threw down a computer printout and slumped down into a chair, ignoring the paper underneath him. “I think it outgrew the need to use MILSTARS. Many of these lines run across European and Russian satellites. This thing, whatever it is, is using anything up there it can get a hold of. I think it’s on the verge of not needing the satellites any more. Of being able to sustain itself.”
“Damn,” Conners muttered. “I guess we’d better update Foreman.”
The chopper flared to a hover above the blasted clearing. The two men in black hooked thick ropes into the roof of the helicopter bay, then threw the free ends into the downblast. Bags slung over their shoulders, they stepped out into the air and rappelled to the ground.
Sin Fen watched, her mind on other matters. The chopper moved away slightly and she could look down and see the men pull chain saws out of the duffel bags and begin clearing away branches and other debris that would interfere with their landing.
Sin Fen felt Chelsea stir next to her, but she kept her hands tight on the dog’s collar. She closed her eyes and reached outward. Dane was close to the Angkor Gate. Very close. And soon he would be in.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
After getting off the satellite phone with Conners, Foreman stared at the electronic map at the front of the operations center and watched the various moving symbols that represented the military forces being marshaled by the Pentagon. The Wyoming was closing on the Bermuda Triangle Gate and other aircraft and ships were vectoring on the vortices where activity was strongest. Part of the Seventh Fleet was circling around the southern tip of Vietnam to go on-station in the Gulf of Thailand.
But there was no plan yet. Everyone was still reeling from the failure of Thunder Dart’s mission to stop the propagation. They’d thrown the most technologically advanced equipment the country owned against this threat and been beaten. The pilot of the Thunder Dart had been recovered but the 2.2 billion dollar aircraft had been swatted like a fly.
But it wasn’t just the United States. Foreman had been in contact with both his Russian and Japanese counterparts. The Russians had used a hunter-killer satellite to take out one of their own communications satellites that had been taken over by the propagation. The result had been one hunter-killer satellite blown apart by the golden glow. The Japanese Navy had sent their most modern destroyer into their closest Gate, into the heart of the Devil’s Sea, and it had not been heard from again.
Foreman looked at his commo board. The light indicating a link to Sin Fen was dark. She’d relayed to him Beasley’s interpretation of the carvings in the watchtower that she had sensed from Dane’s mind.
As he watched, another light flickered on and a tone sounded. Foreman leaned forward and threw a switch.
“Foreman here.”
The President wasted no time on greetings. “What next, Mister Foreman? So far we’ve lost Bright Star, Thunder Dart, and one of our MILSTARS satellites.”
Foreman didn’t say anything.
“My scientific people confirm the radiation and electromagnetic spread,” the President continued. “I’ve been in contact with the Russian President and he confirms some of what you told me. They are investigating both at Chernobyl and Lake Baikal but they don’t know much more. I’ve also gotten reports from the NSA that the Russians lost one of their satellites trying to deal with this. I need some more options.”