A harness hung at the end of a stout cable and he strapped himself in before pressing the button on the wall. Ten seconds later, a mechanical hum filled the shaft and he began to rise.
Two thousand feet deep, the Robin Hole was a ventilation shaft originally drilled by miners to ventilate lower chambers. When they broke through into this remote section, they widened the hole just enough to lower, or lift, a man through the hole.
The ascent seemed to go on forever as he scraped and banged against the stone walls. Sweat dripped from every pore of his body, and his breath came in gasps. It shouldn’t be taking this long, should it?
Finally, he felt cool air on his face and he rose from the shaft to see Rivera’s smiling face.
“You did as instructed?” Robinson asked as he removed the harness.
“I called the number you gave me and said what you told me to say. I also set off the charges I placed on the turbines.” Rivera frowned. “What about the rest of your men?”
“They won’t be joining us. Now, where’s the way out?”
“That tunnel over there.” Rivera pointed off to his left. “May I ask when I can expect the rest of my money?”
“Your money.” Robinson smacked himself in the side of the head. “I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me.” He reached into his bag and took out his 9 millimeter.
The expression on Rivera’s face turned from pleased to confused to panicked in the instant it took Robinson to pull the trigger.
“Pleasure doing business with you. Sorry to run, but I have a ride to catch.”
“What is it?” Dane’s eyes went to the bank of monitors on the wall and his throat clenched.
Water was pouring into the caves.
“The pumps are no longer working. The caverns will be flooded in no time.” Greg kept his voice calm, but strain was evident in his eyes as he pounded the keyboard.
“Can you turn them back on?” Kasey asked.
“I thought I might be able to, but check this out.” He pointed to a screen showing what looked like a cavern filled with scrap metal.
“What is that?” Dane asked.
“Those are the turbines. Somebody didn’t just shut them down; they blew them up.”
“Joel and Matt?” Kasey’s voice trembled.
Greg turned away from her, his posture rigid. He gazed at the bank of monitors for a second before finally giving his head a single shake.
“There’s no hope.”
The jagged outcropping sliced into Matt’s hand as he hauled his weight ever upward. He didn’t know if this crevasse would lead him out of the cavern, but it was his last hope. When Robinson blew the crystal bridge, damaging Matt’s cooling suit in the process, the way back had been eliminated as a possibility. The gap was too wide and the sides too sheer to climb. Any thoughts of playing Superman were dashed with a single glance down at Logan’s remains, now shredded by the grenade blast, still impaled on the crystal spike.
For a moment, he’d considered giving up, but then he thought about the man who’d found this cavern. Somehow, he’d made it to this cavern and out again. It was possible he could have made it to the cavern before his cooling suit gave out entirely, but there was no way he could have survived the return trip.
Unless he’d found another way out.
Matt had searched the cavern and found this narrow crevasse which, promisingly, climbed upward at a steep angle. His damaged suit would hinder his progress, so he’d removed it, chipped away a few remnants of what he now thought of as Atlantean crystal, and pocketed it, before beginning the climb.
Twenty minutes later, his strength flagging, he found himself flat on his stomach, feet pressed against the sides of the shaft, inching his way upward. His body, slick with sweat and blood, burned with the effort, and the heat, though intense, had abated somewhat. He felt like he was back in the midst of a firefight in some unknown patch of jungle, which was an improvement over crawling through the Fifth Circle of Hell.
He pressed his fingers into a crack in the rock and tried to pull himself up, but the stone crumbled in his grasp and he slid back. He tried again, and again his handhold crumbled. He lay there, gasping for breath, feeling the last of his strength melt away. He couldn’t go on any more. He’d just lie here and gaze at the stars.
The stars! Up ahead, in the midst of unrelenting darkness, Orion’s belt shone in a sliver of gray light. The way out!
Calling upon reserves he hadn’t realized he possessed, he resumed climbing. Inch by painful inch, he moved toward the twinkling lights. They seemed to inch ever closer until he thought he could almost reach out and take hold of him. As if in a dream, he extended his hand.
A cool breeze raised goose bumps on his exposed flesh. He dragged himself out into the night air and rolled over on his back, relishing the shivers that racked his body. He was free.
He lay there, eyes closed, listening to the wind… and the roar of an approaching engine. He opened his eyes and spotted the approaching craft: a Russian Kamov Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter. He staggered to his feet and watched as the chopper landed atop a nearby hill. A man carrying a backpack came running out of the darkness. Robinson!
Matt’s hand went to his hip, reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. Cursing in impotent rage, he started running toward the chopper. There was nothing he could do, but he couldn’t bear just standing there and watching the murderous Dominion operative escape.
It seemed someone else had the same idea. As the Ka-52 rose into the air, gunfire erupted from the direction of the mine. Who could be firing on the chopper? He strained his eyes, but could not make out the figures, only the muzzle flashes, always in different places, as the shooters remained on the move.
Undeterred, the chopper rose into the air, fired off a single burst in the direction of the shooters, turned, and zoomed off into the night.
Matt’s knees went weak and he crumpled to the ground. Joel was dead, Robinson escaped, and the Dominion now possessed the crystals it needed to unleash their weapon.
Over the sound of his own ragged breathing, he heard shouts and the cries of someone in pain. At least one of the attackers was down. He could just make out some of the words.
“Hang on, Kasey! Help’s on the way.”
He knew that voice.
It was Maddock. And that meant they were another man down. Forcing himself to move, he headed toward his friends. How, he wondered, had this mission gone so wrong?
Chapter 36
“Kasey’s out of commission for the foreseeable future.” Tam looked around the table at her “Myrmidons,” as they had taken to calling themselves. Everyone appeared shell-shocked. With Joel dead, and Kasey seriously injured, spirits were low. It was up to her to keep them going.
“I won’t pretend to know exactly what each of you is feeling, but I can tell you I’m hurting. I knew Joel longer and better than most of you, and I’ve known Kasey almost as long. I also feel bad about Krueger. Just remember this. We are the last line of defense against the Dominion. Hell, we’re the only line of defense.”
“I take it our tip about an attack on Savannah wasn’t taken very seriously.” Greg sat rigid as a statue. He was taking the failure harder than anyone.
Tam laughed. The only response she’d gotten was, “We’ll give it due consideration and take all precautions we deem necessary.” Translation, “We’ll put it in the file with all the other crackpot tips.” She’d also shared the information with a few trusted contacts, but none of them had the power or the inclination to do anything about it.