Indestructible: V Plague Book 7 (17 page)

“Who is she?”  Petty Officer Simmons asked her Lieutenant as
she tweaked the photo.

The image was of Rachel, taken from a security camera at
Tinker and wasn’t the best quality.  Captain Blanchard had been talking with
Lieutenant Hunt and had gotten excited when he’d learned the NSA satellite had
a facial recognition feature.  He had quickly pulled images of Major Chase and
Rachel from the security archives and sent them to Pearl Harbor.

“She’s a civilian that was with the Army Major when their
aircraft went down.”  Hunt answered, pointing at another monitor that displayed
a slightly better photo of John.  “The Army’s trying to find them before they
bug out for the Bahamas.”

“Leave it to the Army to pick a tropical paradise,” Jessica
said as she worked on the pics.

“That from a woman stationed in Hawaii,” Hunt said with a
grin as he watched her work.

Jessica snorted, but kept her attention on the monitors. 
Soon she had the two photos cleaned up and cropped.  A few more clicks and she
had them uploading to the satellite.  While the files were transmitting, she
configured the software to limit its search area by using her mouse to draw a
box that encompassed the eastern half of Oklahoma, then pinpointed the Osprey
crash sight as the beginning scan location.

“Any idea how long this will take?”  Hunt asked, watching
over her shoulder.

“None,” she answered.  “I’ve dug into the system and
normally it would process all the faces the satellite can see through servers
at Fort Meade, but since there is no Fort Meade any more, all of the processing
will have to take place on board the satellite.”

“That’s going to take forever,” Hunt said.

“Maybe.  Maybe not.  We’re focused in on a small geographical
area, and there’s not that many people left.  Plus, I’m excluding everyone that
is within the perimeter of Tinker.  Figure if these two are on the base and the
Army doesn’t know about it, well…  Sometimes the grunts aren’t too bright.”

The computer beeped as she finished speaking, indicating the
two files had successfully uploaded to the satellite.  A moment later the
system notified her that the facial recognition process was running, searching
for two targets.  The process would continue to run until either locating both faces,
or until Jessica told it to stop.

“Yep, it’s not going to be fast.”  Jessica said, watching
another monitor.  “The bird’s CPU just shot up to eighty percent utilization. 
That’s facial recog causing that.  Now we wait.”

“What’s the status of the surveillance of the Russians?” 
Hunt asked.

“We’re filling up our hard drives with data, and there’s a
team from Naval Intelligence going through it.  I have no idea beyond that. 
Don’t speak or read Russian.”

Hunt nodded and watched the monitors for a few moments
before heading back to his station to call his counterpart in Intelligence.  He
had to brief Admiral Packard in a couple of hours and wanted to find out if
there was anything noteworthy that had been gleaned from all the conversations
and data transmissions the satellites were vacuuming out of the air.

“This is just some amazing shit,” Lieutenant Richardson, duty
officer at the Navy’s Intelligence unit said on the phone when Hunt connected
with him.  “Why the hell the NSA wasn’t sharing is frankly pissing me off.  I’m
sitting here right now reading a transcript of all of their C2 traffic for the
past twenty-four hours.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  One of my
analysts found out what happened to the Alaska.  One of their Akulas, the
Magadan, sank it.”

“How the hell did they pull that off?”  Hunt asked.  “Those
Akulas are almost thirty years old.  The sonar suite on the Alaska should have
heard it long before it got close enough to fire a torpedo.”

“That’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question, isn’t it?” 
Richardson said.  “As fascinating as this is, I don’t imagine you called to
just shoot the shit.”

“No.  I was going to ask if you had anything for me to
include in my briefing for Admiral Packard, but now I think it would be better
if you came with me.”  Hunt said.

“Thanks, but no thanks.  Last thing I want to do is stand up
in front of the old man.  I’ve heard the stories about him taking people’s
heads off for not having all the answers, and we haven’t even scratched the
surface of all the data that’s flowing in.  I’ll have my Senior Chief write
something up for you and send it over.  How soon do you need it?” 

“Briefing is in two hours, and trust me, you’ll want to be
there.  As soon as I start trying to tell him what you’re doing the first thing
he’s going to ask is where you are.  Do you want me to tell him you were too
busy?”  Hunt said.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?  Anyone ever told you
that?”  Richardson said sourly.

“Hey, it’s us assholes that take care of everyone else.  So,
I’ll see you at the Admiral’s office in two hours?”

“Fuck you, Hunt.  I’ll be there, but if he climbs up my ass
you’re going to owe me big time!”

“Sir, we’ve got a hit!”  Jessica interrupted Hunt before he
could respond.

“Gotta run, Tom.  See you in two.”  He said and slammed the
phone down.

“Already?”  He asked, standing and moving quickly to
Jessica’s station.  “Which one?”

“The woman,” she said, pointing at a monitor.

The screen was displaying two images arranged side by side. 
The left one was the original photo of Rachel that had been uploaded to the
satellite.  The one on the right was an incredibly crisp, high definition color
shot taken from the satellite less than three minutes ago. 

Rachel was sitting on the ground in the middle of what
looked like a prairie.  A dog and a man with black hair in a ponytail sat with
her, three horses a few yards away.  To their east the terrain became hilly
before transitioning into a large series of canyons.  Even though the photo was
taken at night, her features were clearly visible, leaving no doubt the
software had correctly identified her.

“Is the man our other target?”  Hunt asked, realizing he
wasn’t before Jessica could answer.

“Wow, that thing takes some amazing shots,” he said.  “OK,
get her coordinates to that Army Captain and keep looking for the Major.”

After half an hour the dust had settled enough for me to
enter the tunnel.  Ten feet in, at the first bend, the passage was completely
blocked by tons of rock and dirt that had fallen from the ceiling.  Maybe a
team of professional miners with the right equipment could have dug their way
out, but I didn’t see any way we would be going down that tunnel again.

Katie had followed me in, walking gingerly.  She was
barefoot and was OK moving around on the soft sand, but the floor was now
littered with small, sharp rocks.  Going back into the larger cavern I stood
looking around.  The walls and ceiling were solid, the only other opening the
large crack from which water poured into the pool.  At least we wouldn’t die of
dehydration.

“Did you bring anyone with you?  Anyone looking for us?” 
Katie asked.

“Rachel and an Indian I met are up top, but even if they
could fight their way past the females, I don’t see how they could help us.”  I
said after a moment.

“You found Rachel?”  Katie sounded surprised.

“Just in time,” I answered.  “She was in bad shape from the
heat.”

“I was afraid she wouldn’t make it.”  Katie said as I walked
over to the edge of the pool.  She walked up next to me and stood staring at
the water.  “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that’s a whole hell of a lot of water pouring
out of that crack every minute, but this pool is staying at the same level. 
That means there’s an opening somewhere under the surface where it’s draining.” 
I said.

“That’s crazy,” Katie said a moment later when she realized
what I was talking about.  “We have no way of knowing how long it stays below
ground or where it goes.”

“You have a better idea?”  I asked.  “I’ve always said I
want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I’d like more time than we have
if we just sit here and do nothing.”

Katie opened her mouth to argue, but couldn’t come up with
anything.  After a long moment she finally nodded.

“I should be the one to go,” she finally said.  “I’m the
better swimmer and I know I can hold my breath longer than you can.”

“We both go,” I said quietly.  “There won’t be any coming
back.  Not against the current.  One of us going alone won’t do any good.  The
other will just be left standing here with no way of knowing if the other made
it.”

I turned and looked at her.  I really didn’t want to go in
the water, into an underground river that led to God knows where.  Being rushed
along in the current we could be slammed into rocks and killed, or trapped in a
narrow opening and drown.  The river could run for miles before it surfaced
again.  The odds weren’t good, but they were better than staying where we were. 
Sitting on our asses until the chamber became our tomb.  Not how I wanted to go
out.  At least the water gave us a chance, regardless of how slim.

“Let’s at least take another look around before we decide.” 
Katie said, heading for the side wall.  I watched her walk away, appreciating
the view of her in the thong. 

“Quit watching my ass and try to find a way out,” she
shouted over her shoulder.

“Really?  How the hell did you know?”  I asked, shaking my
head and turning to the other wall.

“I know you better than you know yourself,” she said. 
“Besides, you’ve been checking out my ass since the first time we met in that
damn jungle.”

I grinned, knowing she was right.  Reaching the wall to the
left of the waterfall, I slowly made my way along the base, looking carefully
at every inch of the surface.  Rough rock covered with phosphorescent lichen
was all I found.  Reaching the tunnel entrance I decided it wouldn’t hurt to
take another look.

The rock fall still blocked it and in frustration I raised
my head and blew out a big breath, puffing my cheeks until I must have looked
like a chubby baby.  When I raised my eyes I saw a darker patch on the ceiling
that I’d failed to notice before.  Raising the rifle I peered through the night
vision scope.  My heart started beating faster when I saw that it was actually
an opening in the ceiling, not just darker rock.

From where I stood it sure looked like there was some sort
of tunnel that had either been created or revealed by the collapse.  I moved
around trying to see farther in, but couldn’t get a better angle.  The opening
was at least ten feet off the floor, going straight up for a foot before
turning towards the waterfall.  But I couldn’t tell if it was just a big chunk
of rock missing or the start of an actual tunnel.

“Katie!”  I called, nearly jumping out of my skin when she
answered from right next to me.

“What did you find?”  She asked, giggling at me.

“Take a look.”  I handed her the rifle and she looked
through the scope.

“Give me a boost,” she said after a few seconds, handing the
rifle back to me.

I got the sling over my head, bent at the waist and formed a
stirrup with my hands by lacing my fingers together.  Katie put her foot in my
hands and stepped up, balancing herself with a hand on top of my head.

“When we get out of here you need to shave this,” she said,
rubbing the stubble on my head.

“Been a little busy, and I'm not the only one that needs a
razor,” I said, after grabbing her legs to steady her as she stepped onto my
shoulders.

“Since when did a little hair on my legs slow you down?” she
teased, reaching into the opening and feeling around.

“I think it’s a passage.  Let’s see how far it goes.”  Katie
lifted her right foot and put it on my head, gaining another foot of elevation,
then her weight was gone as she worked her way into the ceiling.  The pressure
made the gash on my head feel like it was being torn open, but I bit my lip and
stood steady.

It didn’t take long for her to lower herself back onto my
shoulders.  She squatted and I grabbed her waist, lifting her off of me and
gently setting her on the ground.  I was surprised when my fingertips almost
touched each other when I held her around the middle.

“You’ve lost some weight,” I said when her feet were back on
the sand.

“Nice of you to notice,” she said, stepping away from me and
looking at the ceiling.  “I’m pretty sure it’s a tunnel.  There was some
airflow coming at me.  Not a lot, but it was definitely there.  Only one
problem.”

“What’s that?”  I asked.

“The opening is tight for me.  No way will your over
developed shoulders make it through.  You’d get stuck like a cork in a bottle
before you made it more than two feet.”  She said.  I stood there looking up at
the ceiling.

“I guess we try the water,” Katie said, pulling my attention
back down.

“No.  You try the tunnel.  It’s better odds than the
water.”  I shook my head for emphasis.

“And just why do you think that?”  She asked, hands on her
hips.  Uh oh.  I know that body language.  “You’re always more worried about me
than yourself.  We go together, or we don’t go.  That tunnel could narrow down
before it goes ten feet.  Any number of things could be wrong with it.  So,
knock your shit off.  We go together and that’s that.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Katie was having none of
it.  Before I could speak a word she stepped forward and wrapped her arms
around me.  She squeezed, hard, and after a moment I heard a quiet snuffle.

“I was sure you were either dead, or at best alive but lost
to me forever.  Now that I’ve got you there’s not a chance I’m going off and
leaving you.  You’re stuck with me, buster.  So let’s work on getting out of
here together, or go sit down and wait to die.  As long as we’re together, I
don’t much care at this point.”

What the hell do you say to that?