Line of Control (41 page)

    "It's the people who pull the strings you should doubt, not a guy who's been at ground zero from the start."

    Friday was losing it. Rodgers did not want to waste the energy to try to stop him. He also wanted to see where the rant would lead. Angry men often said too much.

    Friday fired up his torch again. Rodgers squinted in the light. He slowed as Friday got in front of them and faced them.

    "So that's it, then?" Friday said.

    "Get out of the way," Rodgers ordered.

    "Bob Herbert barks, Mike Rodgers obeys, and Op-Center takes over the mission," Friday said.

    "Is that what this is about?" Rodgers asked.

    "Your resume?"

    "I'm not talking about credit," Friday said.

    "I'm talking about what we do for a living. We collect and use information."

    "You do," Rodgers said.

    "Fine, yes. I do," Friday agreed.

    "I put myself in places where I can learn things, where I can meet people. But we, our nation, need allies in Pakistan, in the Muslim world. If we stay on this glacier we are still behind Indian lines.

    That buys us nothing."

    "You don't know that," Rodgers said.

    "Correct," Friday said.

    "But I do know that if we go to Islamabad, as Americans who saved Pakistan from nuclear annihilation, we create new avenues of intelligence and cooperation in that world."

    "Mr. Friday, that's a political issue, not a tactical military concern,"

    Rodgers said.

    "If we're successful then Washington can make some of those inroads you mention."

    With Apu still clinging to him, Rodgers started moving around Friday.

    The NSA operative put out a hand and stopped him.

    "Washington is helpless," Friday said.

    "Politicians live on the surface. They are actors. They engage in public squabbles and posturing where the populace can watch and boo or cheer.

    We are the people who matter. We burrow inside. We make the tunnels. We control the conduits."

    "Mr. Friday, move," Rodgers said.

    This was about personal power. Rodgers had no time for that.

    "I will move," Friday said.

    "With Nanda, to the line of control. Two people can make it across."

    Rodgers was about to push past him when he felt something.

    A faint, rapid vibration in the bottoms of his feet. A moment later it grew more pronounced. He felt it crawl up his ankles.

    "Give me the torch!" he said suddenly.

    "What?" Friday said.

    Rodgers leaned around Friday.

    "Samouel-don't turn on the light!" "I won't," he said.

    "I feel it!"

    "Feel what?" Nanda said.

    "Shit," Friday said suddenly. He obviously felt it too and knew what it meant.

    "Shit."

    Rodgers pulled the torch from Friday. The NSA agent was surprised and did not struggle to keep it. Rodgers held the torch above his head and cast the light around him. There was a mountain of ice to the right, about four hundred yards away. It stretched for miles in both directions. The top of the formation was lost in the darkness.

    Rodgers handed the torch to Nanda.

    "Go to that peak," he said.

    "Samouel! Follow Nanda!"

    Samouel was already running toward them.

    "I will!" he shouted.

    "My grandfather-!" Nanda said.

    "I'll take him," Rodgers assured her. He looked at Friday.

    "You wanted power? You've got it. Protect her, you son of a bitch."

    Friday turned and half-ran, half-skated across the ice after Nanda.

    Rodgers leaned close to Apu's ear.

    "We're going to have to move as fast as possible," he said.

    "Hold tight."

    "I will," Apu replied.

    The men began shuffling as quickly as possible toward the peak. The vibrations were now strong enough to shake Rodgers's entire body. A moment later, the beat of the rotors was audible as the Indian helicopter rolled in low over the horizon.

    

    The Siachin Glacier Friday, 12:53 a. m.

    The powerful Russian-made Mikoyan Mi-35 helicopter soared swift and low over the glacier. Its two-airman crew kept a careful watch on the ice one hundred and fifty feet beneath them. They were flying at low light so the chopper could not be easily seen and targeted from the ground.

    Radar would keep them from plowing into the towers of ice. Helmets with night-vision goggles as well as the low altitude would allow them to search for their quarry.

    The Mi-35 is the leading attack helicopter of the Indian air force.

    Equipped with under-nose, four-barrel large-caliber machine guns and six antitank missiles, it is tasked with stopping all surface force operations, from full-scale attacks to infiltration.

    The aircrew was pushing the chopper to move as quickly as possible. The men did not want to stay out any longer than necessary. Even at this relatively low level the cold on the glacier was severe. Strong, sudden winds whipping from the mountains could hasten the freezing of hoses and equipment.

    Ground forces were able to stop and thaw clogged lines or icy gears.

    Helicopter pilots did not have that luxury.

    They tended to find out about a problem when it was too late, when either the main or the tail rotor suddenly stopped turning.

    Fortunately, the crew was able to spot "the likely target" just seventy minutes after taking off. The copilot reported the find to Major Puri.

    "There are five persons running across the ice," the airman said.

    "Running?" Major Puri said.

    "Yes," reported the airman.

    "They do not appear to be locals. One of them is wearing a high-altitude jump outfit." "White?" Puri asked.

    "Yes."

    "That's one of the American paratroopers," Puri said.

    "Can you tell who is with him?"

    "He is helping someone across the ice." the airman said.

    "That person is wearing a parka. There are three people ahead. One is in a parka, two are wearing mountaineering gear. I can't tell the color because of the night-vision lenses.

    But it appears dark."

    "The terrorist who was killed in the mountain cave was wearing a dark blue outfit," Puri said.

    "I have to know the color."

    "Hold on," the airman replied.

    The crew member reached for the exterior light controls on the panel between the seats. He told the pilot to shut down his night-vision glasses for a moment. Otherwise the light would blind him. The pilot and copilot disengaged their goggles and raised them. The copilot turned the light on. The windshield was filled with a blinding white glow reflected from the ice. The airman retrieved his binoculars from a storage compartment in the door. His eyes shrunk to slits as he picked out one of the figures and looked at his clothing.

    It was dark blue. The airman reported the information to Major Puri.

    "That's one of the terrorists," the major said.

    "Neutralize them all and report back."

    "Repeat, sir?" the airman said.

    "You have found the terrorist cell," Major Puri said.

    "You are ordered to use lethal force to neutralize them-"

    "Major," the pilot interrupted.

    "Will there be a confirming order from base headquarters?"

    "I am transmitting an emergency command Gamma-Zero Red-Eight," Puri said.

    "That is your authorization."

    The pilot glanced at his heads-up display while the copilot input the code on a keyboard located on the control panel.

    The onboard computer took a moment to process the data.

    Gamma-Zero-Red-Eight was the authorization code of Defense Minister John Kabir.

    "Acknowledge Gamma-Zero-Red-Eight authorization," the pilot replied.

    "We are proceeding with the mission."

    A moment later the pilot slid his goggles back into place.

    The copilot switched the exterior lights off and replaced his own night-vision optics. Then he descended through one hundred feet to an altitude of fifty feet. He flipped the helmet-attached gun sights over his night-vision glasses, slipped his left hand onto the joystick that controlled the machine gun, and bore down on the fleeing figures.

    

    The Siachin Glacier Friday, 12:55 a. m.

    Mike Rodgers's arm was hooked tightly around Apu's back as he looked out on terrain that was lit by the glow of the helicopter's light. The American watched helplessly as Nanda fell, slid, and then struggled to get up.

    "Keep moving!" Rodgers yelled.

    "Even if you have to crawl, just get closer to the peaks!"

    That was probably the last thing Rodgers would get to say to Nanda. The rotor of the approaching chopper was getting louder every instant. The heavy drone drummed from behind and also bounced back at them from the deeply curved slope of ice ahead.

    Ron Friday was several paces ahead of Nanda and Samouel was in front of him. Before the lights from the helicopter were turned off, Rodgers saw both men look back then turn and help the young woman. Friday was probably helping her to further his own cause of intelligence control or whatever he had been raving about. Right now, however, Mike Rodgers did not care what Ron Friday's reasons were. At least the man was helping her.

    Friday was wearing treaded boots that gave him somewhat better footing than Nanda. As the lights went out, Friday scooped the woman up, tugged her to her feet, and pulled her toward the peak.

    Though the ice was dark again Rodgers knew they were not invisible. The aircrew was certainly equipped with infrared equipment. That meant the nose gun would be coming to life very soon. Rodgers had one hope to keep them alive.

    The plan required them to keep going.

    An instant later the nose gun began to hammer. The air seemed to become a solid mass as the sound closed in on all sides. Rodgers felt the first bullets strike the ice behind him.

    He pulled Apu down and they began to roll and slide down the incline, parallel to the icy wall.

    Hard chips of ice were dislodged by bullets hitting the ice.

    Rodgers heard the "chick" of the strikes then felt hot pain as the small, sharp shards stung his face and neck. Time slowed as it always did in combat. Rodgers was aware of everything. The cold air in his nose and on the nape of his neck. The warm perspiration along the back of his thermal T-shirt. The smell and texture of Apu's wool parka as Rodgers gripped him tightly, pulling him along. The fine mist of surface ice kicked up as he and Apu rolled over it. That was to be the means of their salvation. Perhaps it would still help Nanda and Ron Friday.

    Rodgers stepped out of himself to savor all the sensations of his eyes, his ears, his flesh. For in these drawn-out moments the general had a sense that they would be his last.

    The two men hit a flat section of ice and stopped skidding.

    The fusillade stopped.

    "On your knees!" Rodgers shouted.

    The men were going to have to crawl in another direction.

    It would take the gunner an instant to re sight the weapon.

    Rodgers pulled Apu onto his knees. The two men had to be somewhere else when fire resumed.

    The men were crouching and facing one another in the dark. Apu was kneeling and half-leaning against Rodgers's chest. Suddenly, the farmer clutched the general's shoulders.

    He pushed forward. With nothing behind him, Rodgers fell back with Apu on top of him.

    "Save Nanda," Apu implored.

    The gunning restarted. It chewed up the ice and then drilled into the back of the farmer. Apu hugged Rodgers as the bullets dug into the older man's flesh. The wounds sent damp splashes onto Rodgers's face.

    He could feel the thud of each bullet right through the man's body.

    Rodgers reflexively tucked his chin into his chest, bringing his head under Apu's face. He could hear the man grunt as the bullets struck.

    They were not cries of pain but the forced exhalation of air as his lungs were punctured from behind. Apu was already beyond pain.

    Rodgers brought in his knees slightly and kept himself buried beneath Apu's body. He was thinking now and not simply reacting. And Rodgers realized that this was what Apu had wanted. The farmer had sacrificed himself so Rodgers could stay alive and protect Nanda. The devotion and trust inherent in that gesture made them as pure as anything Rodgers had ever experienced.

    Rodgers heard several bullets whistle by his head. He felt a burning in his right shoulder. One of the shots must have grazed him. His arm and back warmed as blood covered his cold flesh.

    Rodgers lay. still. Their flight and Apu's sacrifice had kept the helicopter occupied for a short time. Hopefully, it had been long enough for Nanda, Friday, and Samouel to reach the peak.

    The gunfire stopped. After a few moments the sound of the helicopter moved over Rodgers's head. The chopper was heading toward the icy slopes. It was time for Rodgers to move.

    Apu was still holding him. Rodgers grasped the elbows of the man's parka and gently pulled them away. Then he slid to the right, out from under the dead man. Blood from Apu's neck trickled onto Rodgers's left cheek.

    It left a streak, like warpaint. The elderly man had not given his life in vain.