Matt stepped aside and pushed little Maki between his and Jenny’s legs. The boy kept tight to Matt’s thighs. “Here’s the proof I was sent up with.”
Craig frowned and bent down to stare closer at the boy. “I don’t understand.”
Matt shouldn’t have been surprised. Craig had been trained to be single-minded, to tunnel-vision toward the goal and ignore all the rest. Especially the bodies left by the wayside.
“It’s the boy from the tank,” he explained. “The ice tank that Dr. Ogden activated.”
Craig’s gaze flicked up to him. “My God, that’s the boy? He resuscitated? It actually works?”
Matt kept himself composed. He couldn’t let the man know that he understood the deadly intent of the Delta Force team. “It worked, but the only surviving samples of the elixir are secured in a hidden vault down below. I’ve seen the place myself. But Admiral Petkov has wired the base to explode. He’ll destroy it all.”
Craig’s gaze darkened. “What does he want?”
“A truce. A parley between the two of you. On Level One. He’ll pull his men down below. You can come in with five of your men, armed as you like. But if any harm comes to the admiral, his men have orders to shoot the prisoners and explode the vault. I don’t see that you have much choice. It’s either lose everything or make a pact with this devil.”
Matt waited, unsure if he had overplayed his hand.
Craig snorted and turned away. He raised the collar of his jacket and spoke into it, then pulled his hood’s drawstring and held it to his ear. A hidden radio, Matt realized.
Jenny sidled closer to him. “He’s consulting with the Delta Force commander. The stolen journals are in the helicopter with the man. But what about this parley? Is there anyone we can trust?”
“The only person I trust is standing next to me.”
She squeezed his hand. “If we get out of this—”
“When,” he corrected her. “When we get out of this.”
“Matt…”
He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. It wasn’t so much a kiss as a promise of more to come. A promise he intended to keep. He tasted the salt of her tears on her mouth. They would survive this.
Craig turned to him as more men gathered around him. They readied weapons. “You’re right. It looks like we have no choice but to meet with the bastard.”
Matt counted Craig’s team. Five. “You have one too many,” he said, nodding to the soldiers.
Craig crinkled his brow. “What do you mean? You said five.”
Matt gestured toward Jenny. “She’s coming in with us. You’ll need to get her a sidearm.”
“But—”
“Either she comes or I don’t go back. And if I don’t return as ordered, Petkov will blow the vault.”
Shaking his head, Craig waved off one of the men. “Fine, but she’s safer out here.”
Matt didn’t respond. For better or worse, they were sticking together. Jenny gave his hand a final squeeze and held out an open palm for a pistol.
One of the soldiers passed her his sidearm. Matt had to guide Jenny’s hand to her holster. As angry as she was, she might just shoot Craig where he stood.
Once ready, they set off toward the station. Matt pulled the boy up in his arms. Maki stared over at Jenny, his small eyes haunted. They trudged through the blasted opening and down the tunnel again. The warmth of the station breathed out at them.
Matt wondered if Petkov was prepared. The Russian admiral had been vague about his plans. Get Craig inside was his mission objective. Petkov would do the rest. But what could the admiral hope to do? The Russian contingent was outnumbered and outgunned.
Matt led the way onto Level One. The lights were back on. Someone must have found spare fuses and powered up the level. The place was too bright. The blood on the floor stood out garishly. Bodies lined one wall. The tables had been pushed away.
In the center of the room, Petkov stood by the spiral stair. The elevator had been raised from below. The Russian admiral stood with one foot on the elevated platform.
“Welcome,” he said coldly.
Petkov stepped onto the platform. He shared the space with a strange device. It was a titanium globe on a tripod. A small series of blue lights raced across the sphere’s equator. Though it was unmarked, it had bomb written all over it.
Matt had a sudden sinking feeling that his newfound ally in this war between superpowers had not been as forthcoming as he would have wished. What game was being played now?
Behind Matt, footsteps suddenly pounded. He swung around. Another five Delta Force soldiers raced into the room, fanning out. It seemed neither side was going to honor the truce.
Matt shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was.
Petkov remained stoic, unreadable. He continued to stand on the elevator stand. “You risk your mission,” he finally said. “On my word or death, the samples will be destroyed.”
Craig strode up beside Matt. He picked Maki out of his arms, earning a startled yelp from the boy. “This is all I need,” he said, holding the boy aloft. “An issledovatelskiy subyekt. A research subject. Jenny here was kind enough to read more of your father’s journal while en route here. It seems the hormone remains active in a revived specimen for a full week. Between his notes and the boy, we will distill the hormone on our own. What you hold is worthless. But I’ll still make an offer. Your life in exchange for the samples you hold. The offer will last for exactly one minute.”
“Thank you for your gracious offer,” Petkov said, “but I won’t need the minute.”
The explosion rocked the level, bucking the floor and tossing them all skyward. Smoke rolled out from behind them. Matt landed in a pile beside Jenny. He twisted around.
The exit to the surface was gone. A tumble of broken ice blocked the way, caved in, spilling out onto this level. He rolled to his feet, ears ringing. Craig and what was left of the Delta Force team picked themselves off the floor. Two men were dead, crushed by falling ice near the shaft.
Lights flickered. Smoke set everyone to coughing.
Matt searched the central staircase. Petkov was gone, having fled down the staircase. Matt glanced between Craig and the vanished Russian. He was trapped between two madmen, buried with them.
He stared across to the titanium sphere resting on the elevator platform. The blue flashing lights raced around and around the device.
This was not going to end well.
8:15 P.M.