Of course Shakir and Osiris are a danger, they said, but what do you expect us to do?
“We need to get into the plant,” Edo said. “If we can prove what they’ve been doing, the people will rally behind us and the military will save this country again.”
Stony silence followed, but, eventually, the men began to see it his way. “We must move now,” Edo insisted. “Before the sun rises. Morning will be too late.” One by one, they agreed.
A colonel in charge of a special commando group pledged his assistance. Several of the politicians insisted they would back the decision. A friend who still worked for internal security agreed to dispatch a group of agents to go with the commando team.
Edo was charged-up by the support. If this worked, if he could rally the troops to this movement, he would be a hero of the new Egypt. If it also stopped the bloodshed in Libya, his name would be famous across North Africa as well. He would be a legend. He might even be the next leader of the country.
“Contact me when your men are in position,” Edo said. “I’ll lead them in myself.”
Deep inside the underground nest of tunnels, five miles from the hydroelectric plant, Tariq Shakir could barely control his outrage. He was furious over the failure he’d just witnessed, embarrassed in front of his own men and ready to take it out on someone. Hassan was the easiest target.
Shakir had half a mind to shoot him dead on the spot, but he needed Hassan to coordinate the search.
“Find them.”
Hassan sprang into action, organizing a search and calling for reinforcements. The ATVs at the scene zoomed off down the tunnel. When more men arrived, Hassan dispatched them as well.
A few minutes later, the driver of one of the ATVs came back and spoke to Hassan, before speeding away again.
“Well?” Shakir demanded. “What’s the report?”
“No sign of the intruders, but two of our ATVs were found wrecked. There was no indication of how the crashes occurred. When two from the advance team went closer to investigate, they collapsed.”
“The Black Mist. They have the Black Mist,” Shakir said. “Where did this happen?”
“Three miles from here, in tunnel nineteen.”
Shakir looked at his map. “Nineteen is a dead end.”
Hassan nodded, he knew that from the driver’s report. “Our ATVs appear to have been headed this way when they wrecked. A short way from there, the tunnel splits. Since the intruders didn’t come back through here, they must have gone up into the main hall.”
“The main hall,” Shakir pointed out, “is like the trunk of a giant oak. At least fifty tunnels branch off from it. And dozens more from each of its branches.”
Hassan nodded again. “They could be anywhere now.”
Shakir stood and rushed toward Hassan, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the cave wall. “Three times you’ve had the chance to kill them. Three times you’ve failed.”
“Shakir,” Hassan pleaded. “Listen to me.”
“Send your men after them. Put everyone you have on it.”
“We’ll never find them,” Hassan shouted.
“You must!”
“It’s a waste of manpower,” Hassan blurted out. “You know as well as I do how extensive the tunnels are. As you told Piola, there are literally thousands of tunnels and rooms, hundreds of miles of passageways, many of which aren’t even on our maps yet.”
“We have two hundred men to send looking,” Shakir said.
“And each group will be alone,” Hassan pointed out. “Radios don’t work down here. They’ll have no way to communicate with each other or with us. We’ll have no way to coordinate or to measure the progress.”
“Are you suggesting we just let the intruders go?” Shakir bellowed.
“Yes,” Hassan said.
Even through his blinding rage, Shakir sensed Hassan was getting at something. “Explain yourself!”
“There are only five exits to the mine,” Hassan said. “Two of which are hidden under pumping stations manned by our people. The other three can be watched easily. Rather than chase them through the maze, we should station well-armed groups at each opening and wait for the intruders to appear at one of them. Put one of our missile-armed helicopters into the air. Put two or three up, if you wish.”
Hearing what sounded like a sensible plan, Shakir released his lieutenant. “And if there prove to be more exits? Portals we haven’t found yet?”
Hassan shook his head. “We’ve been mapping this place for the past year. The chances of them finding some way of escape that we haven’t discovered are small. More likely, they’ll wander and get lost, dying long before they find any way out at all. Should they happen to find a shaft that leads to the surface which we haven’t discovered, they’ll end up in the White Desert, where they’ll be easy targets for our recon units. And if they come to one of the known exits, our men will be waiting to gun them down.”
“No,” Shakir corrected. “I want them obliterated. And when it’s done, I want to see their bullet-riddled bodies in person.”
“I’ll give the order,” Hassan insisted, straightening his jacket.
“All right,” Shakir said. “But I warn you, Hassan, do not fail me again. You won’t enjoy the consequences.”
53
Renata continued to drive like she was on the track at Sebring until the tunnel began to narrow and debris filled the road. She slowed and tried to crawl over it, but the gap between the ceiling and rubble on the floor became too tight and the ATV couldn’t pass through.
She looked back and flipped the gearshift into reverse.
“Easy,” Kurt said, seeing that she was about to stomp on the gas again. “I think we’ve lost them.”
A quick look back proved that to be true. No lights were coming up behind them. Renata shut off the engine and the darkness and silence melded into one.
“They’re not the only ones who’re lost,” she said dejectedly. “We’re never going to find a way out of here. I don’t even know where we are in relation to where we started.”
“We’re not lost,” he said in a cheery tone. “We’re just locationally deficient and directionally challenged at the moment.”
Renata stared at him for a second and then burst out laughing.
“Locationally?” Joe said.
“Good word,” Kurt replied. “Look it up.”
Renata released the brake and allowed the ATV to roll back down the slope to the flatter ground of the tunnel floor.
Joe hopped out. “I’ll see what’s beyond the rock pile.”
With the ATV parked and pointed back down the hall, Kurt climbed down and walked around to the front. “You did a fantastic job. Where’d you learn to drive like that?”
“My father taught me,” she said. “You should have seen some of the mountain roads I took before I even had a permit.”
He smiled. “Maybe you can show me once we get done with all of this.”
By now, Joe had reached the top of the rock pile. He was lying flat on his stomach, shining his flashlight into the chamber beyond. “Well, this is interesting,” he said.
“Have we found the way out or not?” Kurt asked.
“I think we’ve found the motor pool,” Joe replied.
Kurt’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Come look,” he said. “You’re going to want to see this for yourself.”
Kurt and Renata made their way up onto the pile and crouched down beside Joe. Adding their lights to his, they saw a large open room filled with odd-looking automobiles. The machines had long, low hoods, no roofs, and they sat on huge wheels and tires that were almost as high as the hoods and trunks. Jerry cans and tools were strapped to the sides and heavy machine guns were mounted between the front and back seats.