“Roger. Head to the first switch-out point.”
Sasha lowered the night vision goggles strapped to his head and drove for several seconds before making a sharp left turn onto an unmarked jeep trail fifty meters along the access road. The trail’s entrance had been marked earlier that evening with two infrared glow sticks visible only to night vision. They would travel along the dirt path for two kilometers, emptying onto an improvised road south of Vektor, where they would find their first cache of vehicles and equipment. The detour took them away from Koltsovo in an unexpected direction that would hopefully provide enough of a head start to arrive at their second cache undetected.
There were no high fives or “hooyahs” in the black SUV, just the sound of weapons magazines being changed and the quiet resignation that the hardest part of the mission still lay ahead of them.
PART FOUR
BLACK AND BLUE
Chapter 51
Thomas Manning held his breath, waiting for visual confirmation that the bioweapons laboratory had been destroyed. The National Reconnaissance Office had positioned two satellites in geostationary orbit over the area to provide detailed pictures of Vektor. They stared at two muted gray images of the facility on the bank of massive flat-screen monitors. One remained motionless, providing an overview of the Vektor campus, centered on the Virology compound. The second view shifted and magnified at the request of the CIA operations center. Right now, it remained focused on Blackjack’s vehicle in the parking lot. The massacred security team nearby was plainly visible to everyone.
“What are they waiting for?” Jacob Remy asked.
The first screen flashed to white momentarily before the infrared image settled back to what they had been watching seconds ago. The new image showed eight white-hot plumes surrounding the Virology compound.
“That,” Manning said and turned in his chair to face everyone. “Mr. President, Russia’s bioweapons program is officially offline.”
“Fantastic work, everyone,” the president said. “I hope this closes the book on a nasty chapter in modern human history. Biological weapons have no place in the world, and neither do the people who work to create them.”
“This should close that book for a long time, Mr. President,” the CIA director said. “With Vektor gone, the Iranians will experience a significant setback in their plans to enhance Iran’s biological weapons capability. This was the right call given the attack we suffered last month.”
“What are we looking at in terms of a local or regional response?” Remy asked.
Manning pressed a button on the touchscreen computer monitor imbedded in the table, opening the communication channel with CIA operations. He placed his headset on and adjusted the microphone.
“Karl, great work. That comes right from the top. Pass that along to the team when you get a chance. Has NSA picked up any unusual chatter yet?”
“Nothing yet, but I’m worried about one of the reports passed by the team a few minutes ago. One of our operatives intercepted a call meant for the security guards at Building Six, alerting them to a possible terrorist threat. That’s why we had a flurry of security activity during their last few minutes at Vektor. The head of security, Alexei Ivkin, apparently received an unconfirmed intelligence report regarding the threat. This can’t be a coincidence. Someone figured out what we’re doing,” Berg said.
“But they were too late.”
“Too late to save Vektor, but this doesn’t bode well for Blackjack. Whoever called this in isn’t connected to the Russian Federal Security Service. Trust me on that. I’m guessing high-level SVR. If they know, you can rest guaranteed that Putin knows. This could get ugly. We need to get Black Magic to the holding area.”
“I’ll let General Gordon know,” Manning said and removed the headphones.
“Is everything all right, Thomas?” the president asked.
“Everything is fine, Mr. President. NSA has not picked up any unusual communications chatter, but it’s early. The team is en route to their first checkpoint, where they’ll hide the SUV used at Vektor and switch to two cars for the next leg of their journey. It looks like they’ve made a clean break from the facility,” he said, pointing up at the screen.
Both images had zoomed out far enough to encompass the entire Vektor campus and the immediate area surrounding it. Blackjack had just veered off the main road leading to Koltsovo, heading south through the trees, which partially hid the vehicle from the satellite’s cameras. In front of the Virology compound, two vehicles pulled up next to the dead security guards and their abandoned jeep. The road leading to the main gate remained empty.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll make a clean break from Russia,” the president said.
“It’s always possible that they could make it to the border undetected,” Manning replied, “but I’m not counting on it. General Gordon, we need to move Black Magic to Holding Area Alpha. If they continue to move undetected, they could be at the border sooner than we expected.”
He watched General Gordon’s reaction closely. Earlier this morning, Jacob Remy had pulled Gordon out of the Situation Room for a private conversation with the president. Manning knew this because he had excused himself to use the restroom and watched the combatant commander of U.S. Special Operations Command disappear into the president’s private office on the other side of the watch floor. This meant one thing to Manning. The president and his chief of staff wanted to privately clarify the rules of engagement for Gordon’s helicopters…or modify them.
“I’ll notify SOCOM immediately,” the general said.
He sensed a slight hesitation in Gordon’s response, which might have gone unnoticed under different circumstances. Manning’s request flowed through an additional filter in Gordon’s mind, which had caused a nearly imperceptible delay. He anticipated a problem if the Russians mobilized significant assets to locate Farrington’s team.
Chapter 52
Richard Farrington scanned the road ahead for any signs of trouble. They would travel along this two-lane road through the Sovetskiy City District, at the far southern edge of Novosibirsk. The road connected with Highway M52, which was the most logical escape route out of Novosibirsk, leading south and feeding into several roads that pointed toward the nearby border with Kazakhstan. It would also be the first road that the Russians would scour to find them. Instead, they would cross the highway and continue west a few kilometers to the edge of the Novosibirsk Reservoir, where they would turn north and cross the Ob River at the dam responsible for the reservoir. Their second checkpoint lay several kilometers from the dam, along the northern shores of the reservoir. If they managed to cross the river undetected, they stood a solid chance of surviving the night.
The six operatives had separated into two nondescript, high-performance sedans at the first checkpoint. They traded their limited-range submachine guns for an assortment of compact, modern assault rifles equipped with the latest optics. Rucksacks filled with essential gear, along with weapons and ammunition, had been staged in each car. Each member of the team fulfilled a specific role and their gear had been distributed accordingly.
Farrington’s AK-107U was jammed against the door, resting under his right arm, where he could put it into action quickly if necessary. At this point, they were mainly concerned with a local police response, which he hoped they had successfully evaded by heading away from Koltsovo. Crossing the Sovetskiy City District would pose a risk, but most of the district consisted of businesses and housing complexes that supported the two universities situated within a few kilometers of each other. He didn’t expect any trouble they couldn’t handle.