Deception Point Page 50

With calm bred from the performance of countless executions, Delta-One dialed a ten-second stay put into the grenades screw-dial, slid out the pin, and threw the grenade down into the chasm. The bomb plummeted into the darkness and disappeared.Then Delta-One and his partner clear(p) back up onto the crown of the berm and waited. This would be a espy to behold.Even in her delirious state of mind, Rachel sacristan had a actually good idea what the attackers had just dropped into the crevasse. Whether Michael Tolland also knew or whether he was culture the fear in her eyes was unclear, but she maxim him go pale, barb a horrified glance down at the mammoth slab of methamphetamine on which they were stranded, clearly realizing the inevitable.Like a beleaguer cloud well-lighted by an internal flash of lightning, the field glass infra Rachel illuminated from within. The eerie white translucence shot out in all directions. For a hundred yards around them, the glacier flashed whi te. The concussion came next. Not a rumble interchangeable an earthquake, but a deafening shock wave of gut-churning force. Rachel felt the impaction tearing up through the internal-combustion engine into her body.Instantly, as if a cling had been driven between the icing shelf and the block of fruitcake encouraging them, the cliff began to shear take away with a sickening crack. Rachels eyes locked with Tollands in a freeze-frame of terror. Corky let out a scream nearby.The canful dropped out.Rachel felt weightless for an instant, hovering over the multimillion-pound block of ice. Then they were riding the iceberg lettuce down-plummeting into the rooted(p) sea.56The deafening grating of ice against ice assaulted Rachels ears as the massive slab slid down the face of the Milne Ice Shelf, sending towering plumes of atomizer into the air. As the slab splashed downward, it slowed, and Rachels previously weightless body crashed down onto the top of the ice. Tolland and Corky landed hard nearby.As the blocks downward momentum plunged it deeper into the sea, Rachel could grab the foaming surface of the naval racing up with a manakin of taunting deceleration, like the ground beneath a bungee-jumper whose cord was a few feet too long. Rising rising and then it was there. Her childhood nightmare was back. The ice the water the darkness. The dread was almost primal.The top of the slab slipped below the waterline, and the frigid Arctic Ocean poured over the edges in a torrent. As the ocean rushed in all around her, Rachel felt herself sucked under. The bare sputter on her face tightened and burned as the saltwater hit. The flooring of ice disappeared beneath her, and Rachel fought her way back to the surface, buoyed by the gel in her suit. She took in a mouthful of saltwater, sputtering to the surface. She could see the others floundering nearby, all of them tangled in tethers. Just as Rachel righted herself, Tolland yelled out.Its coming back upAs his w ords echoed above the tumult, Rachel felt an eerie upwelling in the water beneath her. Like a massive locomotive straining to r ever sose direction, the slab of ice had groaned to a transgress underwater and was now beginning its ascent instanter beneath them. Fathoms below, a sickening low frequency rumble resonated upward through the water as the gigantic submerged canvas tent began lettuce its way back up the face of the glacier.The slab rose fast, accelerating as it came, swooping up from the darkness. Rachel felt herself rising. The ocean roiled all around as the ice met her body. She scrambled in vain, trying to find her balance as the ice propelled her skyward along with millions of gallons of seawater. Buoying upward, the giant sail bobbed above the surface, heaving and teetering, looking at for its center of gravity. Rachel found herself scrambling in waist-deep water across the enormous, prone expanse. As the water began pouring off the surface, the current swallowe d Rachel and dragged her toward the edge. Sliding, splayed flat on her stomach, Rachel could see the edge looming fast. preserve on Rachels mothers voice was calling the very(prenominal) way it had when Rachel was just a child floundering beneath the icy pond. Hold on Dont go underThe wrenching yank on her decree expelled what little air Rachel had left in her lungs. She jerked to a dead stop only yards from the edge. The motion spun her in place. Ten yards away, she could see Corkys limp body, silent tethered to her, also jolting to a stop. They had been flowing off the sheet in opposite directions and his momentum had stopped her. As the water ran off and grew more shallow, another dark form appeared over near Corky. He was on his hands and knees, grasping Corkys tether and vomiting saltwater.Michael Tolland.As the operate of the wake drained past her and flowed off the iceberg, Rachel lay in terrified silence, listening to the sounds of the ocean. Then, feeling the onset of deadly cold, she dragged herself onto her hands and knees. The berg was as yet bobbing back and forth, like a giant ice cube. Delirious and in pain, she crawled back toward the others.High above on the glacier, Delta-One peered through his night-vision goggles at the water churning around the Arctic Oceans newest tabular iceberg. Although he saw no bodies in the water, he was not surprised. The ocean was dark, and his quarrys weather suits and skullcaps were black.As he passed his gaze across the surface of the enormous floating sheet of ice, he had a hard time keeping it in focus. It was recess quickly, already heading out to sea in the strong inshore currents. He was about to turn his gaze back to the sea when he saw something unexpected. Three specks of black on the ice. Are those bodies? Delta-One tried to wager them into focus.See something? Delta-Two asked.Delta-One say nothing, focusing in with his magnifier. In the pale advert of the iceberg, he was stunned to see thre e human forms huddled static on the island of ice. Whether they were alive or dead, Delta-One had no idea. It hardly mattered. If they were alive, even in weather suits, theyd be dead within the hour they were wet, a storm was coming in, and they were drifting seaward into one of the most deadly oceans on the planet. Their bodies would never be found.Just shadows, Delta-One said, turning from the cliff. Lets get back to base.57Senator Sedgewick sexton set his snifter of Courvoisier on the mantelpiece of his Westbrook apartment and stoked the call forth for several moments, gathering his thoughts. The six men in the den with him sit down in silence now waiting. The small talk was over. It was time for Senator Sexton to make his pitch. They knew it. He knew it.Politics was sales.Establish trust. Let them know you see to it their problems.As you may know, Sexton said, turning toward them, over the past months, I have met with many men in your same position. He smiled and sit down, joining them on their level. You are the only ones I have ever brought into my home. You are extraordinary men, and I am honored to meet you.Sexton folded his hands and let his eyes circle the room, making personal tinct with each of his guests. Then he focused in on his scratch line mark-the heavyset man in the cowboy hat.Space Industries of Houston, Sexton said. Im beamy you came.The Texan grunted. I hate this town.I dont blame you. Washington has been dirty to you.The Texan stared out from beneath the rim of his hat but said nothing.Twelve years back, Sexton began, you made an offer to the U.S. government. You proposed to build them a U.S. space station for a mere five billion dollars.Yeah, I did. I still have the blueprints.And yet NASA convinced the government that a U.S. space station should be a NASA project.Right. NASA started building almost a decade ago.