Ice Hunt

She sobbed in his ear. “Back at the base…Papa…”

Matt stiffened. John wasn’t with her, or on the helicopter. Her father had been left back at Omega. From Je

“Je

She shook in his grip. Words reached up to him, whispered, meant for his ears only. “It was Craig. Don’t trust him.”

Matt’s fingers clutched her parka. He stared past Je

It was all true. Everything.

He slowly peeled himself from Je

Craig stepped forward. “Matt, it’s good to see you alive. But what’s going on? What are you doing out here?”

Matt fought back the urge to punch the man square in the face. But such an action would only get him killed. To survive from here on out, it would take an artful game of half-truths and lies.

So first, a lie. “God, it’s good to see you all here.”

Craig’s tentative grin firmed up.

“The Russian admiral remains in control down there, but he sent me up here. He figures if you all were going to shoot blindly and ask questions later, then it might as well be one of us Americans that gets killed.”

“Why did he send anyone?”

“To parley a truce. To quote the admiral, both sides have half the key to the miracle here. You have the technical notes. He controls the samples. Either is useless without the other.”

Craig stepped closer. “Is he telling the truth?”

Matt stepped aside and pushed little Maki between his and Je

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 tu

“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.

Je

“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 Je

“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. Je

One of the soldiers passed her his sidearm. Matt had to guide Je

Once ready, they set off toward the station. Matt pulled the boy up in his arms. Maki stared over at Je

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 outgu

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, fa

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. Je

“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 Je

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.