He motioned Pierson over. “Check it out.”
With a nod, the man sneaked between the trees and up to the opening. He shone a light inside and moved it back and forth several times before saying, “Clear.”
Vintner and the rest of his men moved over to the tunnel.
“What’s the layout?” he asked Barton.
She described how the tunnel went in about a hundred and fifty feet before doubling back and sloping downward to Dream Sky. “It’s pretty steep. There’s a tram for moving things up and down.”
“Security cameras?” he asked.
She thought for a moment. “Two, I think. One just inside on the left and another down by the bend.”
Vintner signaled Grady over and explained to his best marksman what he wanted.
Grady stretched out in front of the cap, resting the barrel of his rifle on the ripped edge. With an eye to his night vision scope, he spent a moment controlling his breathing and then pulled the trigger. The sound thundered down the tunnel then echoed back out the opening.
“One down,” Grady said.
He repositioned so he could aim his rifle at a more acute angle, and then fired again.
“We’re clear,” he said.
Vintner pointed at two of his other men. “Recon.”
The duo stepped through the opening and moved down the tunnel. They approached the bend with caution before disappearing around it for several seconds. When they returned, they jogged back to the opening.
“All clear, sir,” the first one said.
“The other side?” Vintner asked.
“A train, just like she described.”
Vintner cocked his head. “It’s sitting at the top?”
“Yes, sir.”
Vintner turned to the woman and asked, “The others didn’t take it down?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I thought they did but maybe they climbed.”
“Is that even possible?” he asked the scouts.
“It’s a pretty sharp incline,” the second one said. “Maybe, but it wouldn’t be easy. If someone fell, he could take everyone else with him. A hell of a lot safer to take the train.”
Vintner clenched his jaw. He would have been much happier if they’d had to call the car up from the bottom where it should have been. They would have to proceed with extreme caution.
“Slate, Lamb, Flores, and Wynn, stay here and watch our backs. The rest of you inside.”
He entered the tunnel.
Ash moved over to where Blake was crouched and nodded at the four Project Eden men who had been left outside the tunnel. “We take them out, nice and quiet. You, me, and two of your best. No gunshots. No shouts.”
“Ramirez and Newcomb can do it,” Blake said.
“Grab them and meet me upslope from the tunnel. I’ll be there in a minute.”
As Blake moved off, Ash looked around in search of someone who could provide them with a little distraction.
The train consisted of two platforms, built so each remained level as the train descended.
“How does it work?” Vintner asked Barton.
“I have no idea,” she said. “I’ve never operated it, just ridden on it.”
Useless, he thought.
He caught Pierson’s eye. “Find the power and figure out how to make this thing go. The rest of you, get on.”
“I’m not comfortable with this,” Robert said. “I should do it.”
Estella smiled nervously. “It makes more sense if it’s me. We both know that.”
It didn’t matter if he knew it or not. He would much prefer for her to be his backup than the other way around. Or better yet, for Ash to have picked someone else entirely to do this.
“Is it time?” she asked.
Robert looked at his watch. The ninety-second mark had just passed. Reluctantly, he nodded.
She gave him a kiss and said, “Easy. Just like with the lookout. You’ll see.”
I don’t remember that being easy, he thought, but kept it to himself.
From the cover of the trees, he watched as she approached the small clearing in front of the tunnel. Right before reaching it, she let out a panicked “Help!” and ran out of the woods.
Estella’s heart was already racing before she emerged from the pines, but it kicked into overdrive when the four men’s rifles turned quickly in her direction.
She stumbled to a stop, hands in the air. “Don’t shoot!”
“Stay where you are,” one of the men barked.
She acted like she was taking a good look at them for the first time. “Are you…are you with the Project?”
“Quiet!”
“You are, aren’t you? Please tell me you are. I think they might be following me!”
The one who’d been talking looked past her into the woods. “Who?”
“I don’t know. The bastards killing people in the base.”
Confusion in the man’s eyes. “You work at Dream Sky?”
With a sudden whirl, the train’s engine came to life. It took Pierson a few more moments to find the button on the top platform that got the thing moving, but once he pressed it, the train began inching downhill, the whine of the motor increasing under the strain.
“Is this as fast as it goes?” Vintner asked him.
“There’s only an on and off button. No speed adjustment.”
The snail’s pace was maddening.
“Everyone keep your eyes on the area below,” Vintner said loudly enough to be heard above the motor. “If they know we’re coming, they’ll be waiting for us at the bottom. If anything moves, shoot it.”
Ash watched as Estella drew the full attention of the Project Eden soldiers.
“Now,” he whispered.
He, Blake, Ramirez, and Newcomb sneaked out from the trees and headed for their specific targets.
Estella was doing a great job of engaging the soldiers in a frantic conversation that masked the approach of Ash and the others. What she couldn’t mask, though, was the sound of Newcomb slipping on the snow and thudding against the slope.
Their presence revealed, Ash raced at his man and hit him in a flying tackle, knocking him off his feet. They landed on the snow and rolled across the ground, each trying to get a better grip on the other.
Somewhere behind them, a weapon fired, but Ash was too busy to worry about it. As he moved back on top, he jammed a foot into the snow to stop the roll and then whacked his elbow into the man’s ear. Stunned, the guy’s grip eased enough for Ash to pull free and ram his knee into the underside of the man’s chin. The man blacked out.
Jumping to his feet, Ash yanked out his pistol. He looked around to see who needed help but Blake and Ramirez were already done and had repositioned to the tunnel. Newcomb’s man was also down, but his target was the only one with a bullet hole in his head.
“You shot him?” Ash asked.
Newcomb shook his head. “Robert. He did it before I could even get here.”
Ash stepped over to where Robert and Estella were huddled together. “What happened?”
“He was going to shoot Estella,” Robert said.
“Either of you hurt?”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” Estella said.
“Other than that?”
They both shook their heads.
“You did good, really good,” Ash said and hurried to the tunnel.
“I’m going in,” he told Blake. “Get the others over here, then join me.”
He ducked through the opening.
Chloe was hunched in a wall recess thirty feet below the train when she heard the men climb onto the car. The rest of her team were hiding much farther down, having used a rope secured to a cross tie and strung along the edge of the tracks where it was hard to see.