"We have no idea what the status of the crew is," Major Ferrel said. He handed her a piece of paper with a red top secret cover on it. "This is the override door code to get into the LCC."
"No idea about the threat, sir?" Cruz asked.
"We're getting some information forwarded from the Pentagon. We'll radio it to you, but right now you need to get moving."
"Yes, sir."
Cruz and the twelve men and women of her platoon ran out of the hangar. They broke into three groups of four and got into three lightly armored Humvees with M-60s mounted on top.
Cruz stood in the top hatch of the lead vehicle and waved her arm. The convoy rolled toward the airfield gates.
Inside the Security Police headquarters, a distraught Lisa Thorpe had to be sedated after her second attempt at tearing off the straps binding her down so she could go look for her missing son. An alert was put out to all personnel to look for Tommy Thorpe.
Chapter Fifteen
"Company," Thorpe announced as three heavily armed men walked to the gate of the LCC surface compound and piled into a Humvee. "McKenzie swallowed our bait. Let's move," he said to Parker. They headed deeper into the woods at a trot.
The phone in Thorpe's vest buzzed. "He wants to track us by the cellular phone."
Parker shook her head. "Does he think we're so stupid that we'll answer?"
Thorpe took the phone out. "No, he knows we're that desperate. Let's bring the fly to the trap. Take your place," he ordered Parker.
They were next to a dirt road, about a quarter mile from the LCC. Trees hugged both sides of the road and the branches interlocked overhead, making the road a dark, green tunnel with limited visibility. Thorpe and Parker had already talked out what they were going to do. She moved down the road to her position while Thorpe settled into his.
"I knew you'd call back," Thorpe said upon opening the phone.
"How are you and the lady major getting along?"
McKenzie asked. "Parker is her name isn't it? How does she feel about being paired up with a has-been?"
"You're really pathetic, McKenzie. Good thing you have Kilten with you or you couldn't figure out how to take a leak. I know for sure that he's the brains behind this operation." Thorpe knew McKenzie wanted him to stay on the line while his men in the Humvee closed in on his transmission.
"You really don't understand, do you?" McKenzie said. "I'm doing a good thing."
"A good thing?"
"In three hours, the threat of annihilation by an accidental — or deliberate — launch of nuclear weapons will be gone. In fact, if things go the way I plan, the people of the world will demand that nuclear weapons be done away with altogether."
"Is that Kilten's plan?" Thorpe asked.
"We have the same general objectives."
"Uh-huh," Thorpe commented. "So you're single-handedly going to disarm the world? Listen, McKenzie, my wife and kid live on Barksdale."
"No one was hurt there," McKenzie said. "The good professor made sure of that. We sent a warning and they should have gotten everyone under cover. If they didn't, well, that's not my fault. What's a little personal sacrifice in the face of the greater good?"
"Not your fault?" Thorpe repeated. "You started this whole thing! You're responsible."
"No, I didn't start this," McKenzie said, "but I am going to finish it."
Thorpe pulled the phone away from his ear. He could hear the sound of a vehicle engine getting closer. "Sorry McKenzie, gotta go. Call you back in a bit."
He could hear McKenzie's voice even as he hung up. "I don't think so."
Thorpe was hidden behind a log angled off the side of the road. He settled the stock of the MP-5 into his shoulder. The engine was much closer now. The front end of the Humvee appeared around a bend in the road fifty meters away. Thorpe could see two men inside and a third standing in the turret, manning the M-60 machine gun.
Thorpe waited until it was within twenty meters then fired, stitching a pattern of hits into the windshield, shattering it. The M-60 gunner returned fire and Thorpe ducked as chunks of wood went flying from the log. He peered around the edge of the log. The Humvee had halted and the two men had gotten out, leaving the one in the turret to cover them.
In the branches above the Humvee, Parker used an underhand toss to throw a grenade right into the hatch past the gunner. She immediately pulled the pin on a second one and threw it behind the two men on the ground.
The M-60 gunner saw the first grenade tumble right in front of him. He immediately vacated the turret, throwing himself over the rim onto the ground.
The second grenade exploded, knocking the two gunmen to the ground. They were trying to get back up as Thorpe rose over the log and fired two quick bursts, killing both.
The machine gunner stayed prone and reached for his holster. His body was pounded into the ground by bullets from directly above as Parker fired her pistol six times.
Thorpe slowly walked forward as Parker climbed down. She stared at the bodies. "I've never killed anyone before," she said.
"You mentioned it." Thorpe looked tired and worn. "It gets easier, believe me."
She looked up from the bodies. "How can you say that? Look at you, you're an emotional wreck. Whatever's going on inside of you is going to win if you don't start feeling something."
"I feel it," Thorpe said.
"You don't act like it."
"Now's not the time," Thorpe said.
"If it isn't now, when is better?"
"How come the grenade in the Humvee didn't blow?" Thorpe asked, changing the subject.
"I didn't pull the pin," Parker said.
Thorpe stared at her. "You what?"
"I thought we might need the ride."
"And if the M-60 gunner hadn't jumped out?" Thorpe asked. "I was the one he was aiming at."
"But he did." Parker looked at him. "Now we're even. And admit it — I had a better idea."
Thorpe ignored her and pulled the phone out of his vest and punched in memory one. "Told you I'd be back," he said as the other end was answered. "Scratch three of your bad boys," he said, then he flipped the phone shut.
"Are you trying to piss him off?" Parker asked.
"Most definitely," Thorpe said. "Anger is a great equalizer. Besides, he could have killed my wife or Tommy at Barksdale."
"Your family lives at Barksdale?" Parker was surprised. "I—"
"We're separated," Thorpe explained.
"Your son is very sweet," Parker said.
"He's a good kid. He's having a hard time dealing with the separation. He just wants to go home. That's how come he stowed away on the chopper."
"I think he stowed away on the chopper to be with his dad," Parker said.
Thorpe didn't say anything.
"Which came first?" Parker asked. "The separation or the drinking?"
"Let's cut the personal stuff, OK?" Thorpe looked around. "We need to get into that place. We've got to stop this before it gets out of control."
"This nickel-and-dime stuff isn't getting us any closer to REACT," Parker pointed out.
Thorpe slammed a fresh magazine into the weapon. "But it's putting fewer obstacles in our way if you ever figure out a way to get in there. I'm doing my part, you do yours. Get us in there!" He pointed at her vest. "While you're figuring that out, let me borrow your radio."
Parker took her survival radio out of the vest. It was identical to the one Thorpe had left with Maysun at the chopper. He turned the frequency knob, then pressed send. "Maysun, you hear me?"