He stayed upright for a few more agonising seconds, then his eyes glazed and he slumped forward on to the rubble.
Dima, Uzi in hand, wheeled round to face Blackburn. He had seen that look before: Gregorin describing the elimination of his bullying comrade — a certain serenity that follows particularly sweet revenge. He shook his head as if he still didn’t quite believe it. But there was no question, the young American looked as though a great weight had just been lifted from him.
Dima stepped forward and grasped his saviour by the shoulder.
‘Thank you, comrade. I think we’re quits.’
53
Dima had no idea how they were going to get out of the bunker. In the two hours he had been in there, he had faced Yang, then Kaffarov, followed by Blackburn and Cole. And he had heard about Solomon. Survival was what concentrated his mind now. Escape — he didn’t want to tempt providence by even considering it. But with the US Marines outside wondering about the fate of first Blackburn and now Cole, it was only a matter of time before another of them tried to make an entrance. That or another beam smashing down and crushing them to death.
Blackburn was ahead of him.
‘I’ve seen plans to this place. There was some kind of shaft running out through the rear of the bunker. It exits the other side of the mountain. If we can find the entrance.’
Together they made their way over the rubble and broken beams. Through a small antechamber they found a metal door similar to the one concealed behind the panelling in the chalet. Although it wasn’t locked, it looked as though it hadn’t been used in a long time. Blackburn pointed his torch into the darkness.
‘Guess this is it.’
Dima half expected Blackburn to bid him farewell and return to his comrades. But Blackburn hadn’t worked out a plan either. He took off his helmet and wiped his forehead. He was drenched in sweat, which was now forming up into drops on his chin and the end of his nose. His mind was spinning.
‘What just happened. . I don’t know. .’
The energy seemed to be running out of him as fast as the sweat. Dima felt for him. He could go back the way he came in, put a good story together, maybe chuck a grenade into the bunker as he left: he had a good chance of picking up right where he was. Cole would be MIA. But they both knew that the Marine Corps would do its damnedest to find their Lieutenant’s body and extract it — and then they would find the M4 bullet in him. .
Dima put a hand on his shoulder. ‘This much I can say about Solomon. You put what I’ve told you with what you know and take that back to your superiors. They’re not going to want to hear it at first. Even if one of them makes an inquiry about him to Langley, they’re quite likely to tell him to fuck off. Solomon is an untouchable as far as they’re concerned. They’re not going to pull him in and wreck years of what they consider to be high value infiltration just on the say-so of a Marine with a hunch. You are going to have to work hard to convince them. Solomon finds his way to America with one of those bombs, he’s going to need someone on his case. You’ve seen the maps, you’ve seen first-hand how he operates and you’ve seen the device. And you have what I’ve told you.’
There was another massive blast and the bunker collapsed completely, sending a huge choking cloud of dust and smoke rolling towards them. They retreated into the tunnel to get away from it — and kept going. Neither of them said anything as they travelled what must have been half a mile underground.
The tunnel was fairly smooth underfoot, but snaked left and right. The ceiling was low and they had to stoop. The air was stale and damp, but cooler. Blackburn’s helmet torch showed them the way. They stumbled along in complete silence.
Like the one at the entrance to the tunnel, the door at the end was wide open — but the rusty scar across the floor and the blast marks around the old-fashioned locking mechanism suggested that it had been recently prised open, and whoever had come through hadn’t bothered to shut it.
They took their time to let their eyes adjust to the blinding daylight. The exit, half-shrouded in shrubbery, was into a small valley of cypresses. A few metres below the mouth of the tunnel was a track with a fork. To the right it led southeast, up towards a cleft in the mountains, to the left it dropped into a valley and curved north.
Dima studied the ground: fresh tyre tracks. Someone had been here recently and made a turn right by the entrance.
54
It was just before three, the hottest part of the day. The air gushing into the tunnel felt as if it was coming from an open oven. Dima went first, motioning to Blackburn to stay back until he signalled him. He surveyed the area around the mouth of the tunneclass="underline" a few cypress trees, a track that ran from the southeast going north. Apart from a half-ruined stone shed about two hundred metres away, there were no signs of habitation. He examined the ground.
‘What are you looking for?’
‘Tracks. And they’re recent. Look.’
Blackburn crouched down with him.
‘See the way those blades of grass are broken but still green. And here.’ He circled an area in the dust. ‘Tyre track, wide tread: pickup or SUV.’
Dima’s phone was still on him. He felt it buzz in his pocket. Kroll.
‘Welcome back from the underground. Who’s your new sidekick?’
‘Where are you?’ Dima asked in English.
‘See the shed?’
‘Are we clear to move?’
‘Uncle Sam’s still on the other side of the hill, but no one else.’
Dima and Blackburn made their way over to the remains of the shed. Some camo netting had been spread between the walls for cover. Inside was a beaten-up Toyota Land Cruiser. Kroll and Vladimir appeared from behind a wall. Vladimir had a makeshift bandage on his head, and Kroll a strip of shirt tied round his arm. For Dima, the relief of seeing them was overshadowed by what he knew was coming next.
Vladimir spoke first.
‘Zirak and Gregorin didn’t make it. Nor Kristen.’
‘Amara?’
He nodded at the rear seat of the Land Cruiser.
‘She’s a bit banged up, nothing broken. The Americans dug her out, then when the rest of the chalet collapsed they forgot about her. We’d legged it when they turned their fire on the AAs, but we maintained surveillance until we spotted her, then we lifted the truck.’
Kroll beckoned Dima over to the SUV. He looked at the bundle curled up on the rear seat: dusty, dishevelled and in shock, but alive.
Kroll spoke first. ‘Kristen had shown her the escape route on her first visit. So once we’d found it we decided to hang out in case you showed up. We didn’t know if you would, obviously.’
Vladimir was glaring at Blackburn. Dima gestured at his new comrade.
‘Among other things, he saved my life. Give him some water.’
Kroll passed them a bottle of water each.
‘We’re fresh out of sparkling.’
As they drank it down he shook a cigarette out of a pack.
Dima gave them the essentials of what had happened. Out of deference to Blackburn he skipped the business with Cole.