"We're going through."
Tomkins shook his head. "I wasn't told anything, sir. Do you have authorization from Mr. Lamb?"
Hawkins smoothly pulled his 9mm pistol out and pointed it at Tomkins. "This is my authorization. I'd hate to shoot you, Captain, but I think you know I will if you get in my way."
Tomkins swallowed, looked briefly at his M16 leaning against the rock wall, then moved out of the way in the opposite direction.
"Go," Hawkins ordered. Pencak stepped into the portal without a backward glance. Levy immediately followed. Fran grabbed Batson by the arm and smiled at him. "Off to see the wizard!" They stepped off together and the Wall flashed white and they were gone.
Hawkins threw a salute at Tomkins and walked into the portal.
The strange mixture of cold and muggy air wrapped itself around the members of the team as they stared about the dark cavern. Hawkins pointed to the light in the far distance. "That's the way we head."
"Is that where you were briefed?" Batson asked.
"I have no idea," Hawkins said. "But it's the only recognizable point in the place, and that's where Tuskin and I agreed to link up."
"What about the Russians' portal?" Batson asked. "Do you know where that is?"
Hawkins pointed. "Somewhere on the far wall, over there."
Batson held up his wristwatch. "I've got a small compass on the band. According to it that Wall is north of here. Of course," he added, "magnetic north here might not be aligned on the poles like it is on Earth-wherever here is. Plus all this machinery could be throwing the reading off. I could be picking up a strong electromagnetic field."
"This air is so strange!" Fran marveled. "And I've never seen any enclosed space so large-you can't even see the end," she added, pointing in the direction opposite to the light, where the open space disappeared into distant darkness.
"But the air is breathable to humans," Batson noted. "I don't know much about it, but that strikes me as something that would be extremely rare on another planet. Unless, of course, this is an artificial environment. That would help explain a lot."
Fran wrinkled her nose. "It may be breathable, but it certainly doesn't smell good."
Hawkins unfastened the end of the duffel bag and was pulling items out. He slid on a black combat vest decorated with a knife, ammunition pouches, and various other accoutrements of war. He took a pistol out of the bag and handed it to Batson.
"What's this for?"
Hawkins proceeded to hand one to each member of the party, including Pencak, who took hers with a look of amusement. Fran repeated Batson's question. "Why are you giving us these?"
"Because it's better to have them and not need them than to not have them and need them."
"Where'd you get them?" Batson asked, turning the pistol over in his hands.
"The marines weren't guarding their gear very well." Hawkins held his own pistol out in front of him. "Here's the safety. Forward is on. Back is off. Keep it on unless you need to shoot. You also have a safety built into the handle. If you aren't gripping the handle, the gun won't go off, even if the lever safety isn't on. There are fourteen rounds in the magazine."
Pencak held her pistol out. "Thank you, young man, but I won't be needing this. I hardly expect myself to be much of a help in a gun battle."
Hawkins took the gun back and put it in the bag.
"Me too," Levy said, holding hers out. Fran did the same. Don awkwardly put his in the waistband of his trousers.
"Let's go." Hawkins ordered.
"Do you think the craft will meet us like last time?" Debra asked as they moved out.
Hawkins shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. We don't have the time to wait for them." He paused and cocked his head as sharp cracks reverberated through the air and echoed. "Did you hear that?"
Batson pointed. "Sounded like some shots among the machinery near the far wall."
"I heard them too," Debra confirmed.
Hawkins drew his pistol and cocked it. "You all stay here. I'll be back in a minute." Without waiting for a reply, he set off in a sprint in the direction of the brief burst of gunfire.
It was hard for him to tell how close he was, because after the first few shots there was no further noise. When he turned a corner, he was surprised to see three figures in an open space near the far wall. One was kneeling, holding the other in his arms. The third was a bloody heap in the dust.
As Hawkins ran over, he recognized the first figure as Tuskin. The person he was holding was a young man and Hawkins could clearly see the large splotch of red on his shirt.
"What happened?"
Tuskin wasn't surprised to see Hawkins. "I had the other three members of the team assemble near the portal. That fool General Kolstavek had them there all along, but he would never send them through!" He gestured down at the man in his arms. "This is Potekin. He's the most brilliant physicist in my country. They would never have sent him through."
"Where are the other two?" Hawkins asked as he checked Potekin's wounds. Potekin was dying. He had two sucking chest wounds and another round had torn through his neck, nicking the artery there, the bright red blood pulsing out of a wound that only a surgeon in a hospital could close. His eyes were wide in shock and he didn't even move as Hawkins injected him with a morphine syringe from his vest.
"Dead," Tuskin answered. "They wouldn't move fast enough. They didn't think the guards would shoot."
"Who's that?" Hawkins pointed at the body.
"A guard. He followed me through."
Hawkins looked around. "Where's your portal?"
Potekin's breathing grew shallower. A small shower of red froth poured out of his lips and with a last rattle of breath he died. "You wasted your needle," Tuskin said, sliding the body off his knees and standing. He pointed at a particularly large piece of machinery that towered eighty feet above their heads, its dark surface humming. Several pipes extended from the machine at various heights, disappearing into the rock wall. "That's where it was. Just on the other side. The portal closed after the one guard came through." He gestured with his hands. "It dwindled to a little ball and then-poof-it was gone! The other two members of my team didn't even make it through. They were killed before we got to the portal." Tuskin pulled the magazine out of his rifle and replaced it with a fresh one.
Hawkins walked over and picked up the guard's rifle. "They didn't believe you?"
Tuskin snorted. "'An American plot,' they insisted. And your government?"
"They were confused and moving slowly." Hawkins looked at the Russian. "Did a squad of marines come through at Tunguska?"
Tuskin stared at him. "You sent marines through?"
"I didn't-the government did to see if I was crazy, lying, or both. We didn't hear back from them, so we don't know where they went."
Tuskin shook his head. "There was no activity at the Tunguska portal until I tried bringing my team through." He looked up as the rest of Hawkins's party appeared. "You seem to have had better luck with your people."
Hawkins waved the team over. "What happened?" Fran asked, her eyes taking in the two bodies.
As Hawkins started to give a quick synopsis of Tuskin's story, Levy gave a gasp as she got close to the two dead men. "That's Pyotr Potekin!"
"You knew him?" Hawkins asked.
"I never met him but I read his work and saw his picture in the journals. He is-was brilliant!"
Off to the side, as Hawkins was talking to the rest of the team, Batson was staring at the wall closely. He walked over to it, running his hands along the gouged surface. Pencak joined him, leaning on her cane.
"What is it?" Pencak asked.
Batson pointed. "Do you see it?"
"What?"
"Look at the rock," Batson insisted.
Pencak looked, then returned her gaze to Batson. "What am I supposed to see?"