She began working her way to the right, the rifle cradled under her chest. The hard metal pressed against her breasts. The ground scraped her elbows. She reached a point where she could look over the edge. Nick was behind her to the left and beyond him, Lamont. She risked a glance toward the tunnel.
The staging area was fifty or sixty yards away from where they lay. She saw a dark shape move under the trees, a man walking down the slope toward the valley floor. She ducked back and looked at Nick, pointed toward the base, held up one finger and pointed toward the stream below. One hostile, moving down.
He nodded, held up two fingers, pointed.
Two more, she thought.
She got ready to fire. There was little cover. If they were seen, they'd try to get off the first shots. Those were the ones that counted.
Better if they weren't seen. Selena wished she was wearing clothes that blended in with the landscape. Not blue running shoes and a pale blouse. She tried to scrunch down behind a dead limb lying on the ground. It wouldn't stop a bullet but at least it gave her some psychological comfort.
Nick signaled. Back to the ravine. He looked at her, touched his lips. Quiet. Then he smiled.
Smartass, she thought. He's like a big kid sometimes. Playing war. Except the bullets are real.
They crawled backwards down to the ravine. She had a dry, metallic taste in her mouth, the taste of fear. Off to her right she heard someone step on a dry branch and curse.
They waited. The air was still and hot. The only sound was the whine of insects and her heart pounding in her ears.
Noise shattered the silence. Diesel engines starting up, big ones. There was only one possible explanation for that. Cobra was moving the missiles out of the tunnel.
CHAPTER 64
The first of the transporters emerged from the tunnel entrance. The truck was painted in camouflage tan and brown, as if the natural colors somehow made the white body of the missile invisible. It was a big vehicle, low to the ground. The Agni III missile lay waiting and silent, clamped to the ramp that would raise it skyward for launch.
A box-like station behind the cab housed a control board and the electronics to initiate the firing sequence. The Agni III had an inertial guidance system augmented by GPS, a recent upgrade that improved accuracy. Targeting was controlled on site. The target data and launch codes were entered by the operator on a computer keyboard or by way of a pre-programmed card. It only took one man to initiate a launch if everything else was ready, unlike the two man systems common in the older ICBM silos.
Rao watched the first transporter move into place. A second crawled from the cavern into the sunlight. Ijay came over.
"It will take us another fifteen minutes to bring out the others," he said.
"We don't need them," Rao said. "These will be enough. Get them ready for launch."
"We only have one man familiar with these," Ijay said. "He has to tell the others what to do. It will slow things down some."
"Just get them ready," Rao said. "There are satellites up there. We don't have a lot of time."
Ijay's headset crackled. It was the sergeant he'd sent down the hill.
"Yes."
"We're down to the valley floor. No sign of anyone."
"Good. Come back up. Stay alert." He turned toward Rao. "No sign of intruders."
"Very good," Rao said. "I need to make a call."
He walked to the edge of the area and called Krivi.
"My friend," Krivi said. He was speaking English. "How are you?"
"Your pills are wonderful, Krivi," Rao said. "I feel good. I wanted to let you know that we're about to proceed as planned."
"Excellent," Krivi said, "excellent. India will always be grateful, Ashok. You will be remembered for generations. What you do today is only the beginning. Others will follow you."
In Virginia, Elizabeth had just finished arguing with the Pentagon about re-tasking a satellite to give them visual coverage of the missile site in Kashmir, with no success. Stephanie's program picked up Rao's call and put it on the office speakers.
Elizabeth said, "Who's Krivi?"
"I don't know," Stephanie said, "but at least Cobra is speaking English for a change."
"We're almost ready to launch," Rao said. "Perhaps fifteen minutes. Islamabad will cease to exist."
Krivi was still talking but Elizabeth wasn't listening.
"Shit," Elizabeth said. "What are the GPS coordinates for that base?"
Stephanie wrote them down.
"I'm calling the White House."
Elizabeth got up and went to her office and called Rice on his private number. The president picked up after two rings.
"Director."
"Sir, we have an emergency situation in India."
"Go on."
"There is about to be an unauthorized nuclear missile launch from Kashmir, aimed at Pakistan. My team is on site but may not be able to stop it in time. I am requesting a strike. We have a window of less than fifteen minutes, no more."
"You're certain."
"Yes, sir, absolutely."
"Director, if you're wrong, we'll be in a shitload of trouble."
"Sir, I'm not wrong. I'm certain."
"Very well." There was a pause while Rice thought it through. Elizabeth realized she was holding her breath.
"I'm connecting us to the Pentagon," Rice said. "Tell them where to go. I'll authorize the mission."
Thank God for a president who's not afraid to make tough decisions, she thought.
A new voice came on line.
"Special Operations Command, General Atkins speaking."
"General, this is the President."
"Yes, sir, I recognize your identity."
"There is going to be a missile launch in India. I am authorizing an immediate strike. Take it out, now. I have Director Harker on the line. She'll give you the target data."
"Yes, sir."
"Go ahead, Director," Rice said.
"General Atkins, this is Director Harker. Here are the GPS coordinates for the missile. It's nuclear."
She read them off.
Atkins said, "Mister President, please hold."
"Who's behind it?" Rice said.
"The same man who set up the attack in Manila," Elizabeth said. "He wants a war."
Atkins came back on line.
"We have a Reaper Q9 running hot out of Bagram over Pakistan," Atkins said. "I'm diverting it to the target."
"Very good, General. Keep me informed."
"Yes, sir, will do."
"Well, Director," Rice said. "We're committed. Better tell your people to keep their heads down."
CHAPTER 65
Nick, Selena and Lamont had worked their way to within twenty yards of the staging area. They watched the second transporter line up behind the first. A man dressed in a black uniform climbed onto the first unit and sat down at the operating console. He set a series of switches on a panel in front of him and then began entering commands on a keyboard.
"What do you want to do?" Lamont said.
"I make it five men, plus Cobra," Nick said. "We take them out, starting with the guy on the truck."
The ramp began to rise on the transporter. In seconds, the missile was aimed at the sky.
"Don't forget the three who went past us," Lamont said.
Nick's ear began itching. Harker's voice sounded in Nick's headset.
"Nick, there's a Reaper on the way. Don't get hurt."
"How soon?"