“I think he’s planning on assassinating him,” she said. “Using the egg somehow to fulfill Rasputin’s destiny.”
“Give him a gift with the means of his death inside it? Do you think that something that was made a century ago could still work?”
“Maybe,” said Professor.
“Maybe he intends to put something else inside it? Ricin maybe? Sarin?” Leopov said. “We have intelligence that suggests biological weapons are being tested in secret here on this island.”
“Now you tell us,” said Bones.
“I know I can’t be the only one thinking it, so I’ll say it: what’s it got to do with us?” asked Willis. “We’re talking about Russians killing Russians. I ain’t gonna cry over it, put it that way. Let them kill each other if that’s what they want. Better that than kill the rest of the world.”
“Think about it. They blame the West, and what happens?” Professor said. “This won’t just get rid of a leadership they are unhappy with, it’ll set peace back decades and unite Russia behind whoever promises revenge on America.”
“Meaning whoever promises to push that big red button,” said Bones.
“Meaning we have got to stop them,” Maddock reasoned. “Because no one else knows there’s even a threat.”
“Exactly,” Professor agreed. “At worst, we stop a few more people getting killed. At best we stop another World War.”
“And at the very least it will make sure that Lewis and Shaw didn’t die for nothing,” Bones finished.
Willis couldn’t argue with that. He nodded.
“We’ll never catch up with them,” Leopov pointed out. “They’re long gone.”
“So we work out where they’ll be heading and go there. Best guess?”
“There’s the old Gulag. That’s where they seem to have been conducting experiments.”
“I’ve seen it on the map,” said Professor. “There’s no way we can get there before them. They’re on Skidoos, we’re on foot.”
“There’s nothing to say that we have to get there before them,” said Maddock. “After all, we have one advantage over them.”
“And what’s that?” asked Bones.
“They think we’re dead.”
TWENTY FOUR
Maddock was impressed by the way that Leopov managed to keep up with them this time. She pushed herself hard, determined not to be the one who let the team down. She’d made her own way across the mountains despite the risk the sabertooths presented. He liked to think he was a decent judge of people and he suspected something more than anger over being left behind was driving her on. He didn’t know what, but now more than ever he was absolutely sure it was about more than following orders. Maybe she’d been promised something if this all worked out the way top brass wanted? Stranger things had happened.
“You do realize that just because we’re dead doesn’t mean that we’ll be able to take out a group of Spetsnaz without dying all over again.” Willis was trying to keep things light, but wasn’t helping.
“How far?” Maddock asked, ignoring the comment.
“A couple of klicks,” Professor said. “We should be able to see it when we get over the next ridge. I’ll go on ahead and take a look.” The skidoo tracks turned off to the right to avoid the difficulty of the incline, but going as the crow flies had to save some time. Maddock trusted the other man to get them where they needed to be.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Maddock said.
The top of the ridge gave them a clear view of the Gulag. That meant that anyone in the watchtowers had a clear view of them cresting the rise, too. It was a grim place. A concrete block prison behind high wire fence. There were few windows, and those he saw were so small they could barely let any light through. He signaled to the others to drop, presenting as small a target as possible. The white of their Arctic coats would act as camouflage, but not if they were standing upright on top of the ridge like sitting ducks. Beyond the wire fence, a helicopter waited. That explained how they were planning on getting out of there.
Maddock took a moment to look through the binoculars. Even in the dull light visibility was good. “No one’s moving around.”
“Are you sure? I thought I saw a reflection from up in the watchtower.” Bones raised a hand to point toward a dark shape up there. Maddock trained the glasses on it. He saw the figure, leaning against the rail, unmoving.
“Something’s not right,” he said, tracking across the open area behind the barbed wire fence. In the shadows, close to the nearest building there were other shapes. Shapes that, when he focused on them, looked a lot like bodies lying on the ground.
“We need to get closer,” said Bones.
“Not all of us. I don’t want us taking more chances than we absolutely have to.”
“We’re all in this together, Maddock.”
“I know we are, but the more of us that go down there, the more likely that we’ll get spotted.” The skidoos were just coming around the ridge, traveling in single file toward the main building. They stopped some distance from it and dismounted. Maddock didn’t dare move, even the slightest sound or flicker of movement could betray them. They waited until the last of the Russians had headed inside before they made their move. “Check out the skidoos,” Maddock said. “See if there’s anything we can use. We’re not going to have long before they move out. We need to make sure the chopper’s out of commission, that should buy us a bit longer.”
He was the first to his feet. Leopov was a heartbeat behind him. It was hard for him to tell her to stay with one of the others, she’d earned the right to stand beside him when she’d saved their lives. That, and if past experience was anything to go on, she’d happily ignore anything he said. She was determined to stick to him like a second shadow so he might as well just accept it.
He didn’t look back, just made his way down the ridge to the fence.
The figure in the watchtower didn’t move, even though he must have been able to see them as they moved closer. Maddock was pretty sure that the man was not sleeping. Why was there a dead man in the watchtower?
The shadows lengthened as the sun sank quickly below the horizon.
The area close to the building was almost black, so thick was the shadow already.
As he reached the fence Maddock saw at least another half a dozen bodies lying on the ground between the watchtower and the helicopter.
He signaled the others forward, knowing he could be leading his team into a death trap.
TWENTY FIVE
Breaking through the fence was easy enough; Bones carried a pair of cutters in his bag that were strong enough to slice through the heavy gauge wire. Within a couple of minutes he’d cut a line up through the chain links wide enough for them to crawl through.
Maddock led the way with Bones and Leopov close behind, Willis and Professor brought up the rear.
He stayed close to the fence, conscious of a need for an exfiltration route should things go haywire before they were even halfway across the yard. He kept the corpses between him and the open ground. There was nothing to show how the men had died, or any clue as to how long ago it had happened. There was no stench of decay in the sub-zero temperature.
“What do you think killed them?” Maddock whispered, thinking aloud.
He didn’t expect an answer, but Leopov gave him one he really hadn’t considered. It sent a shiver bone deep.
“Honestly? I think the prisoners held here were used as guinea pigs for the weapons they were testing.”
It made sense. Someone had decided his team didn’t need to know what they were walking into. He’d make that hurt them in the long run. He signaled for her to follow, then took off running, covering the killing ground between where they were and the first of the buildings fast.