Drake caught his balance, used to the constant jarring and forward momentum. He jumped down to the ground, aware that the comms had suddenly fired back into life and now keeping a very close eye on their pilots.
No sound came from the comms. DC, for once, was silent.
The team gathered after destroying their earpieces. They sat on a grassy knoll overlooking the three missile carriers, wondering what the world and its more malevolent characters might throw at them next.
Drake eyed a pilot. “Could you fly us to Romania?”
The man’s eyes never flickered. “Sure,” he said. “Can’t see why not. The nukes are headed there anyway, to be stored inside a base. We’ll get a head start.”
Together, they departed another battlefield.
Together, they remained strong.
Hours later, the team vacated a Romanian safe house and took a bus to Transylvania, alighting near Bran Castle, the supposed site of the home of Count Dracula. Here, among high trees and tall mountains, they found a dark, quiet guesthouse and settled in. The lights were low. The team now wore civilian clothes, taken from the safe house, and possessed only what weapons and ammo they’d been able to carry, as well as a good stash of money from the safe that Yorgi had picked. They had no passport, no papers, no identities.
They congregated in one room. Ten people, no comms. Ten people on the run from the American government with no idea whom they might trust. No clear place to turn to. No more SPEAR and no secret base. No Pentagon office or DC home. What families they had were out of bounds. What contacts they might use could be compromised.
The whole world had changed on some unknown, obscure executive order.
“What next?” Smyth broached the issue first, his voice pitched low in the poorly lit room.
“First, we finish the mission,” Hayden said. “The Order of the Last Judgment sought to take the world down by secreting four terrible weapons. War, through Hannibal, which was the great gun. Conquest, through Genghis Kahn which was the linchpin code we destroyed. Famine, through Geronimo which was the bio-weapon. And finally Death, through Attila, which were six nuclear weapons. Together, these weapons would have reduced our society as we know it to rubble and chaos. I think we can safely say we neutralized the threat.”
“With the only loose end being the Sword of Mars,” Lauren said. “Now in the hands of either the Chinese or the British.”
“I do hope it’s us,” Drake said. “The SAS saved us back there and lost some good men. I hope Cambridge doesn’t get a reprimand.”
“Moving forward…” Dahl said. “Even we can’t do this alone. First, what the hell are we going to do now? And second, who can we trust to help us do it?”
“Well, first we find out what made the Americans turn on us,” Hayden said. “My guess is the Peru operation, and… other stuff… that happened. Is it just a few powerful men against us? A splinter group influencing others? I can’t believe for one second that Coburn would sanction this.”
“You’re saying we should sneak in for a chat with the President?” Drake asked.
Hayden shrugged. “Why not?”
“And if it is a splinter group,” Dahl said. “We take them down.”
“Alive,” Mai said. “The only way we survive all this is to catch our enemies alive.”
The team sat around the large room in various poses, the curtains drawn tight against an impenetrable night. Deep in Romania, they talked. Planned. It soon became clear that they did have resources, but those resources were sparse. Drake could count them on the fingers of one hand.
“Where next?” Kenzie asked, still hanging onto her katana, letting the blade bask in the dim light.
“Forward,” Drake said. “We always go forward.”
“If we ever stop,” Dahl said. “We die.”
Alicia held on to Drake’s arm. “And I thought my days of running away were over.”
“This is different,” he said, then sighed. “Of course, you know that. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Dumb, but pretty. Finally, I realized — that’s my type.”
“Does this mean we’re on the run?” Kenzie asked. “Because I really wanted to get away from all that.”
“We will get this sorted.” Dahl leaned closer to her. “I promise you. I have my children too, don’t forget. I will overcome anything and everything for them.”
“You didn’t mention your wife.”
Dahl stared and then sat back, thinking. Drake saw Kenzie shift a little closer to the big Swede. He shed it from his thoughts and studied the room.
“Tomorrow is another day,” he said. “Where do you want to go first?”
For more information on the future of the Matt Drake world and other David Leadbeater novels please read on:
Matt Drake will return around the middle of 2017. I’m looking forward to see where we can take the team from here, and how they will cope with the new situation. For now though, we’ll leave them in peace.
Next up will be the start of a brand new archaeological action/adventure series — same style as the Drake books, same genre, plenty of camaraderie, action and some great archaeological quests, but with brand new characters. Look out for the first release in May.
If you have enjoyed this or any other of my books, please leave a review. Even a short line or two helps to ensure future releases.
Other Books by David Leadbeater:
The Bones of Odin (Matt Drake #1)
The Blood King Conspiracy (Matt Drake #2)
The Gates of Hell (Matt Drake 3)
The Tomb of the Gods (Matt Drake #4)
Brothers in Arms (Matt Drake #5)
The Swords of Babylon (Matt Drake #6)
Blood Vengeance (Matt Drake #7)
Last Man Standing (Matt Drake #8)
The Plagues of Pandora (Matt Drake #9)
The Lost Kingdom (Matt Drake #10)
The Ghost Ships of Arizona (Matt Drake #11)
The Last Bazaar (Matt Drake #12)
The Edge of Armageddon (Matt Drake #13)
The Treasures of Saint Germain (Matt Drake #14)
Inca Kings (Matt Drake #15)
Aztec Gold (Alicia Myles #1)
Crusader’s Gold (Alicia Myles #2)
Caribbean Gold (Alicia Myles #3)
Stand Your Ground (Dahl Thriller #1)
The Razor’s Edge (Disavowed #1)
In Harm’s Way (Disavowed #2)
Threat Leveclass="underline" Red (Disavowed #3)
Chosen (The Chosen Trilogy #1)
Guardians (The Chosen Tribology #2)
Walking with Ghosts (A short story)
A Whispering of Ghosts (A short story)
Connect with the author on Twitter: @dleadbeater2011
Visit the author’s website: www.davidleadbeater.com