Kim thought about it. "Do you believe the United States would accede to such blackmail?"
Min shrugged. "The United States stood still when a handful of their citizens were taken hostage. The threat of tens of thousands of their people killed in a nuclear explosion might make them change their mind and question the worth of their allegiance to the South. Even if it doesn't, destroying their facilities at Pearl Harbor, now that Subic Bay is closed, will greatly reduce their ability to project forces into the Pacific."
"But how are we supposed to smuggle this bomb into Hawaii? How are we supposed to hide? Especially once the threat is made?"
Min shrugged. "According to the operations plan, that is up to our initiative. If we can get close enough to the Hawaiian Islands, we can make it.
"We do have the advantage that the Americans do not know we have the bomb. They will think the explosion was an accident. They will not be looking for us until we are already in position. That is to our advantage."
"How will they believe we have the one bomb, then?"
"Once we are in position, our government will give them the PAL code that arms the bomb, along with its serial number. They will believe that."
Kim leaned back on the rocking bench they were seated on and regarded his commander. "They are going to invade the South?"
Min nodded. "I would assume they are already mobilizing to do so."
"Do they really think we can succeed?"
"We have so far," Min answered evenly.
Kim shook his head. "But it is a long way from here to Hawaii. And then-"
"I know," Min said, cutting his XO off. "I know all that. But it is too late to question anything. We must do as ordered."
Vicinity of the Citadel, Antarctica
"What about radiation?" Tai asked. The crater that had been the Citadel lay two hundred feet away. The edges of the crater were jagged, and Vaughn had no desire to get any closer. Not only was the Citadel gone, but also all the bodies and evidence of the base. Along with the portion of the Golden Lily that had been secreted there. And the nerve agent and other weapons of mass destruction.
Vaughn was tightening down the straps on his rucksack. "We escaped the initial radiation because of the shielding of the reactor room. Residual is already up in the atmosphere and will follow the winds. We're all right."
Finished with his pack, Vaughn checked the others, making sure they were ready to go. Go where? was the key question, Vaughn realized. He'd been so happy to make it out of that dark hole that he'd thought of little else. Now, with the wind lashing his face and the cold latching onto his bones, he tried to figure out a course of action. "Let's see if the plane might have escaped the blast." He pointed at the white fog on the other side of the crater. "We'll walk around."
"But none of us can fly," Logan protested.
"I'm not thinking of flying," Vaughn replied. "I want to see if the radio is still intact. It's most likely the EMP has destroyed its circuits, but it's worth taking a look." He looked at the three of them. "Are you ready?"
They set out. It took fifteen minutes to circumnavigate the crater with a good two hundred meters of safety margin. Vaughn was surprised at how easy it was to walk on the ice. A thin layer of blown snow covered the ice cap, and he felt like he was just sliding along, the brittle snow barely covering the toes of his boots. The problem was the wind and the snow that blew with it. He had to keep his head bowed and the hood of the parka pulled in close. He was walking like that when he spotted where the plane had been parked.
"Shit," he muttered. "Sons of bitches. They blew the goddamn plane. Either that or the bomb blast did this. Either way it doesn't matter."
He lifted the edge of the plane's hood. There was little to indicate that a plane had even been here. Scattered pieces of metal littered the ice.
"Where now?" Tai asked.
Vaughn didn't say a word, and it was Logan who answered. "The nearest base is Russkaya, about seventy miles to the northeast."
"Let's get going then," Tai said.
"No." It was all coming together for Vaughn now. "No. We go after them."
"After who?" Logan asked, but Tai already knew the answer.
"The Koreans."
"But how?" Tai asked. "We don't know which way they've gone."
Vaughn considered that for a few seconds. His advice that they stay in the reactor room had both saved them and almost doomed them. "They're heading for the coast," he finally answered.
"How do you know that?" Logan wanted to know.
"Because that's where I would go. It's their only option. They didn't land a plane in that storm even if they did jump in." He pointed at the ground. "And that's the direction their tracks go in."
Tai turned and saw the tread marks leading off to the north.
"But they're probably very far ahead of us." Logan protested. "And they've got a vehicle."
Vaughn agreed. "They must have taken one or two of the over-snow vehicles from the storage shed. They're certainly not pulling that bomb with manpower. They had a big head start and are moving much faster than we can on foot. Nevertheless we have to go after them. If they're heading for the coast, that's the direction we need to go."
"What do you mean 'need'?" Logan asked.
"They've already shown they are willing to use the bomb," Vaughn pointed out. "That changes things. We have to assume they have the other and plan to use it. It's up to us to stop them."
Logan turned away from the two of them. Vaughn looked at Tai. "How do you feel? The three of you could stay here. The weather seems a little better. I'm sure they'll be flying someone out here in the next twenty-four hours."
"I'm with you," Tai quietly said as she stepped out to Vaughn's side.
"I am too," Burke said, moving beside her.
Logan waved his arms, gesturing toward the terrain around. "It's crazy. We could pass a quarter mile away from them and miss them. And what will we do if we do find them?"
"We stop them," Vaughn answered, slinging the rifle over his shoulder.
Logan looked into Vaughn's eyes. "I say we stay here. We go wandering out there on the ice cap, we might never make it alive, regardless of whether we run into the Koreans or not."
"What happened to the guy who wanted to attack them in the base?" Vaughn asked.
"That was before they fired off a nuke," Logan argued. "These guys are crazy."
Vaughn put his pack on. "You make your decision now."
"Tai, Burke, please stay here." Logan pleaded.
Tai picked up her pack. "We need to try, Logan."
Logan reluctantly shouldered his pack.
Vaughn's voice was flat. "All right. We go after them. But you three have to listen to me and do what I say without asking questions. This is my area of expertise."
They all nodded.
Vaughn pointed. "This way." With long strides he was off into the blowing snow, Tai at his side, Burke and Logan falling in behind.
CHAPTER 14
Pentagon
General Morris rubbed his forehead as Hodges came into the situation room. His conversation with the President had not gone well. The Secretary of Defense was on his way back from the West Coast to take over the operation here, but in the meantime the monkey was on Morris's back.
"We have the signature of the blast, sir. Fits the profile for a nuclear weapon."
"So how the hell did they end up at this place?" Morris demanded. "Who put them there?"
"I assume the same person who built the base, sir," Hodges replied.
"Anything from your guest?"
"Not yet, sir, but we'll get something. We're close. From what we've received so far, I would say that it appears the Citadel was a privately funded enterprise using government support."
Morris closed his eyes. He didn't doubt that for a moment. Billions of dollars a year were spent by the government on various secret projects. Who was to say that some influential civilian couldn't do the same thing, especially if that civilian had the proper connections in the military industrial complex? "I want a name."