“Then how do we get in?” Sam asked.
“We dig.” Demyan carried out a large steel pole with a sharp point on the end. “We used to do this for hours when we were ice fishing as kids.”
“That’s great,” Sam said. “We might not have hours. How deep do you think this ice is?”
Anotoly and Demyan studied the ice, with the experience of a lifetime living with constant ice.
Demyan spoke first, “Maybe five feet.”
“Probably closer to ten,” Anotoly replied.
“How long will it take you to chisel your way through it?” Sam asked.
Demyan replied without hesitation. “Under twenty-four hours if we work constantly.”
Sam didn’t even acknowledge the statement. Instead he walked back to the helicopter, removed a heavy backpack and returned to the ice.
He laid out several rows of dynamite. “New plan. We’re going to blow it up.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
The dynamite was imbedded into the ice before being lit. Sam watched as the explosion sent a pile of snow and ice fifty feet into the air. The surrounding ground shook violently.
“What do you think?” he asked Anotoly.
The old man shrugged. “They might have heard that.”
“All right let’s go then.”
Harnessed to a safety line attached to the helicopter, Sam approached the new opening. The ice, including the steel grid that protected the shaft had all disappeared.
Anatoly and Demyan checked the strength of the surrounding ice and agreed it would still support the helicopter.
Demyan made a signal to the pilot and he went through the process of warming up the rotor blades and moving the hundred or so feet to land directly opposite the opening to the ventilation shaft.
Sam looked inside again. “How deep did you say this thing goes?”
“A little over fifteen hundred feet. Deep enough that it passes the main volcanic chamber where the colony exists, and enters the ancient catacombs a farther hundred and fifty feet below.”
Sam looked at the rescue winch built into the side of the helicopter. “You’re sure that thing will take it?”
“Certain,” Anotoly said without hesitation.
“What are you basing that on?” Sam asked.
“Just a hunch.”
Demyan stepped in. “It’s all right. The helicopters have these winches fitted specifically for mine rescues in the deep diamond mines near Yakutsk. I had it checked out. The winch and cable will take two of us at a time.”
Sam didn’t trust it for a minute, but that didn’t matter. The fact was, it was their last chance at survival, so they needed to take it. “All right.”
Chapter Sixty-Five
Sam and Tom were the first to make the descent.
Harnessed to the same line, the winch began to unwind. The machine was operated on board the helicopter, but the end of the cable had a camera attached, so the operator could see where they were and how close they were to the ground.
It became dark quickly and Sam switched on his flashlight. Above them, the last of the ambient light from the opening had finally disappeared.
Tom said, “You feel like this belongs on the set of Silence of the Lambs?”
Sam grinned. “Yeah, but I’m pretty certain the FBI Agent… what was her name again?”
“I can’t remember. I just know she was played by Jodie Foster.”
“All right. Either way, I don’t recall Jodie Foster getting to carry submachine guns and a backpack full of C-4 explosives.”
Tom cradled his Heckler and Koch MP5. “Right you are.”
It took nearly ten minutes to reach the bottom, where it placed them inside a large tunnel made of granite. Without their flashlights the tunnel was pitch dark. They switched their lights back and searched the area within the immediate vicinity of the winch cable. Billie and Genevieve were the next two to come down, followed by Anotoly and Demyan. All in total, it took close an hour to shift the six of them and Sam hoped to hell they didn’t need to get out in a hurry.
Sam opened the digital version of the blueprints based on the charts Demyan had given him. It depicted the lowest level, where the ancient catacombs ran like a labyrinth, constantly turning inward until it reached a large room in the middle. It was in that room, Demyan told him, that he had once seen an Egyptian sarcophagus. He said he would never forget it because it seemed so strange given their location in Siberia.
It took another hour of winding through the granite maze to reach the center. The bright lights swept from the room into the dark tunnels. Sam quickly switched off his own flashlight and the rest of the team followed suit. The echo of broken voices leaked from inside the room.
Sam, Tom and Genevieve approached, while Billie, Demyan and Anotoly guarded the exits. Sam entered the room first. There were three men working on breaking the code to the metallic vacuum casing that housed the fourth sacred stone. Two had laptop computers open and appeared to be running a program to crack it, while the third one paced back and forth.
Sam raked the entire room with his eyes. Confident there were no other occupants and with the knowledge that the only entrance was being guarded by the rest of the group, Sam aimed his Heckler and Koch at the only one who was standing.
He switched the lever to fully automatic and yelled, “Hands in the air!”
The two computer guys turned to face him and swore. The one who was standing turned and said, “What the fuck?”
Sam met the man’s eye. They were the same bluish-gray as the man who’d tried to kill him inside the Great Blue Grotto. “It’s you!”
“Sam Reilly?” the man studied him, his mind struggling to make sense of what just happened.
Sam nodded. “Yes, and who might you be?”
The stranger shook his head. “My name’s not important. Don’t you get it? Nothing’s important now. The darkness has taken its grip over the planet. We’re already entering a new ice age.”
Sam shrugged. “Suit yourself. Billie, come grab our suitcase, please.”
Sam, Tom and Genevieve moved closer to their hostages, so they could be sure of the shot if they had to take one.
Billie moved quickly and retrieved the metallic case. Toward the side of the room, Billie typed in the encrypted code and pressed enter. The case flipped open.
“The sacred stone’s here,” she said to Sam.
“Great. Make sure you seal it up again before the damned rock starts to take on mass and we lose our ability to move it.”
Demyan and Anotoly entered the room.
“Did you find what you needed?” Demyan asked.
“We got it,” Sam replied. “We’re good to go.”
“What about them?” Anotoly asked. “You can’t leave them here. They’ll alert the rest of the colonists.”
He had a good point, but Sam wasn’t about to go killing three people in cold blood, either. “Maybe we could guard them until the last pair are ready to make their ascent? Once on the winch, you said yourself, no one from the colony could reach us before we’re back on board the helicopter and heading for home.”
Anotoly swore and his eyes went wild. “Are you crazy?”
Before Sam could calm him, Anotoly grabbed Billie’s gun. She tried to stop it, but he overpowered her. Before anyone could stop him, Anotoly fired a burst toward the three prisoners. The nine-millimeter rounds ripped through their bodies with ease.
Only the man Sam had recognized managed to get a shot off. The bullet missed Anotoly, but struck Demyan in his chest.
Sam, Tom and Genevieve moved quickly to secure the three prisoners. Two were dead, and the one who’d shot Demyan had multiple wounds to his chest that would prove fatal.
Genevieve aimed her submachine gun toward the only surviving prisoner.