“Do you have a manual?” I asked Hunter.
Marcus set his pack down and stomped through the front entrance. “The maintenance room should be over here.”
“I’ll see if I can help.” Veronica dropped her bag and followed Marcus. She used to be a mechanic, and I suspected that would help today.
The office was clean, with three long desks lining the far wall. Five swivel chairs sat empty, two of them facing the exit. A series of screens had been left behind, and a couple of keyboards lingered on the desks. Behind them were bookshelves, full of hardcover textbooks and research material.
The windows were tall, showcasing a beautiful bay a short distance from the facility. Before I’d had a chance to investigate any other rooms, the lights flickered on, then off, and stayed on a moment later.
Marcus let out a cheer from somewhere, and I heard Veronica laughing. Radiators clinked near me, and I smiled as heat emitted from the pipes. It was probably a good thing the research team had recently departed the facility.
Various Christmas decorations were up, with a miniature tree decorated near the living room. It was plugged in, and the moment the power was on, it started blinking white lights. They hadn’t planned on leaving for home until Hunter had pulled some strings.
Marcus and Veronica entered, my sidekick looking far too pleased with himself. “Told you I could do stuff.”
“I never doubted you. Not for a second.”
We explored the base, finding two rooms with bunks: four beds in one, two in the other. Hunter and Tripp claimed the smaller, and Marcus called dibs on the top bunk over mine. Veronica smiled as she removed her oversized winter gear. I wore jeans with long underwear beneath, and a thick sweatshirt, while Marcus rifled through his bag to grab a hoodie. We were all going to be wearing multiple layers to stay as warm as we could.
“Still cold in here, no matter how high you crank it,” he said, donning the warm fleece layer.
“Rex, can I speak to you for a moment?” Veronica asked, and Marcus slinked from the room, asking where the food was.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I…” She sat on the bottom bunk, stretching her legs as she regarded me with bright blue eyes.
“Go on. You have something to say.”
“I haven’t told you everything.” Her hair was in a top bun, and pieces of it stuck out the sides, a wayward strand falling over her forehead.
“That’s not surprising. I haven’t told you everything either,” I said, trying to make this easier on her. She was struggling to reveal a secret to me. “Wait. You’re not going to tell me you’re the Sovereign, are you?” I laughed, but Veronica didn’t smile. This was serious.
“Nothing like that. Honestly, I’ve heard of the Believers, but they always seemed like phantoms. Not real.”
“Then what?”
She swallowed, and I sat beside her, taking her hand. It was cold, but she didn’t try to pull away. “I didn’t know when to say it, because Hunter would have…”
“Come out here!” Tripp’s voice carried from the living room, but I stayed put.
“What are you trying to tell me?” I asked.
Veronica looked at the exit. “It’s not like I wanted…”
“Now!” Tripp’s voice was louder.
“We’ll talk later, okay?” Veronica stood, dashing out of the bunk room.
I followed, finding Tripp holding a satellite phone. “They’re here.”
“Who is?” I asked.
Hunter’s eyes were wide. “They’ve found us. Despite our precautions, they followed us!”
“Wait, what are you saying?” I ran to the windows, searching for signs of someone in the blustery cold outside.
“Not yet, but my contact at the airport says the plane departed five minutes ago. The Believers are coming for us. They must know we’re about to get the fifth Token, and they’re making their move. This confirms my suspicion that they have the sixth already. I predicted they’d come for the Tokens when we returned to the US mainland, but they’re losing patience,” Hunter exclaimed.
Tripp’s pack rested on the couch, and he unzipped it, pulling the M4A1 from inside. “We need to go now,” he said.
“Where?” Marcus asked.
“To the Token. There’s a chance we can recover it and leave before they land,” Tripp said.
“No way. We’ve barely slept, Veronica has been awake for two days, and we haven’t even checked to see if the vehicle is fueled up,” I reminded everyone.
Veronica nodded once. “I can do it. You take the transport, grab the Token, and I’ll bring the plane.”
“Where are you going to land it? We haven’t planned for the terrain,” I said.
“I’ll find a spot close enough to you. Don’t worry about that. Hunter, you can stay with me,” she told him.
Her expression from the bedroom had etched into my mind, and I feared betrayal from her. We’d spent a lot of time together over the last ten days or so, but she remained a stranger. She’d admitted to tracking Madison to Sydney, and God knew what she was trying to tell me just now. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Too bad, Walker. It’s the only one that has us leaving alive and with the Token. Hunter, you good with helping Veronica?” Tripp asked our benefactor.
“I suppose I’ll have to be. I won’t be much use to you out there.” He gawked at the exit, and I sighed.
Marcus ran for the bunk rooms, complaining about not eating as he gathered our things. When he returned, Marcus gave Hunter the destination on a tablet, and the old man clutched it like a lifeline. We dressed as quickly as we could, adding layers for the cold, and less than an hour after arriving at the research facility, we were leaving.
Once everyone was bundled up, we departed, Hunter moving for the plane. Veronica stopped and grabbed my arm while Marcus and Tripp ran for the garage.
“I’m sorry, Rex. I really am. If we make it through, I promise to tell you everything.”
The air bit my nose, and I scrunched up my face while returning the scarf over it. “How can I trust you’re on our side?”
“Have faith.” She shifted closer and touched her forehead to mine, passing me a handheld radio before running for the airplane.
I heard the vehicle’s engine turn on as I entered the garage, and grinned at the sight of the six-wheeled transport van. The tires were huge, with thick treads, and Tripp stood on the step up near the driver’s seat. He passed each of us handguns, the same ones we’d taken out in Madagascar, and I shoved mine into my parka’s pocket. I had the Tokens on me, and feeling the weight of the four otherworldly hexagons centered me despite our situation.
The Believers were coming for us.
The clock was ticking.
11
The Token’s GPS coordinates were set thirty-seven miles from the research facility, which wouldn’t have been much of an issue if there were roads. I wondered if this was what it felt like to traverse the surface of Mars in a dune buggy. It would be similar, with the exception that every direction was buried in ice and snow. I couldn’t see any hint of vegetation as we drove inland away from the cove, and finally, the ground leveled out, with fewer jutting ranges blocking the wind from buffeting the vehicle.
I was in the passenger seat, with Tripp navigating the beast of a vehicle. The windshield stretched wide, giving us a good view as we drove across the snow-draped expanse. He went slowly, careful not to hit any rocks or jagged chunks of frozen earth. Ice formed along the corners of the glass, stretching like ghostly fingers trying to interlock.
“This thing could use some better suspension,” Marcus complained from the back. He sat in the middle of the bench seat, not wearing a seatbelt.
“We’re lucky no one took the keys, or we’d be screwed,” I reminded him. The heater was on max, and still the windows were continually attempting to freeze up. We’d had some cold winters at home, but nothing had come remotely close to this.
Marcus leaned
forward, his head sticking between Tripp and me. “You really think Veronica’s going to be able to land?”
“If anyone can do it, it’s her. I’ve seen some daring flying before, but I think that woman may take the cake,” Tripp said. His praise for Veronica somehow made me proud, as if I had anything to do with her skills.
“She’s downright crazy,” Marcus muttered. “I thought we were goners, coming to Antarctica.”
The van jostled, and Tripp threw on the brakes, sliding sideways in a fishtail before he gave it a little gas and recovered. The entire area sloped heavily, and he went with the grain until it leveled again. I checked the GPS and asked him to adjust the trajectory slightly.
“Tripp, you have a unique perspective. Why did they choose to attack now?” I glanced at the man driving, and he peered over, his brow set into a frown.
“Couple reasons. They do have one of the Tokens, as Hunter suggests, and they want to complete the task. What better way than to wait and have us do their dirty work?”
“So they know what we’ve been up to, and are anticipating our actions. Makes sense. If I wanted the Tokens and had no information to go by, I’d do the same,” I said, and something clicked. “It’s just like what you did to me.”
“I already apologized for that.”
“Are you sure we can trust you, Tripp?” Marcus asked, addressing the elephant in the driver’s seat. “Or is it Hunter feeding them the info?”
“Don’t worry. If you think this is me playing you guys, it isn’t. I started this mission as a hired gun, but I’ve done work for Hunter in the past. I know full well he may be a little fanatical, but he’s not stupid. He’s as lucid as they come, and I’ve never seen him so worked up as I have these past two weeks. If you’re asking if Hunter is legit, I’d put my money on it. If I still gambled.”
“Why’d you stop?” I asked.
“I prefer a sure bet.”
“Meaning you wait until someone else determines the winner, and…”
“Not like that. Hunter’s a lot of things, but I don’t think he’s with the Believers. If he was, why all the pretenses?”
“Good point,” Marcus said. “It would have been much simpler to kill us, take the coordinates, and send his minions to gather them up.”
I grabbed a bottle of water from the bag at my feet and drank, suddenly feeling a thirst I couldn’t quench. I passed it on and sank into my seat. “Even if we gather these five Tokens, what good does it do? We have the Case, but not the final piece.”
“Hunter will track it. He always gets what he wants,” Tripp grunted.
“He didn’t thirty-five years ago, when Dirk took the Bridge without him,” I reminded the ex-SEAL.
“Sure, and that’s driven him harder. Any idea why Dirk left his sugar daddy behind?” Tripp stared at me, his gloves gripping the steering wheel tightly.
“Not the slightest.”
“I bet someone convinced him Hunter was dangerous,” Marcus said.
“Who?”
Marcus shrugged and settled into his seat. “Beats me.”
“How much farther?” Tripp tapped the navigation screen, which was blank. I used my handheld and checked.
“Two miles.” Wind shook the van again, and I gaped out the window to see a rocky blockade ahead. “We’ll have to go around.”
“Which direction?” Tripp started moving right, and I didn’t stop him.
“I think this’ll work.” The engine struggled at the incline, and we slid before the tires caught.
Tripp drove cautiously, and we finally rounded the rocky hills. He smiled and pushed the gas pedal as the landscape opened up. The sky was cyanic blue; pure white wisps of clouds floated in gentle layers in front of the glowing sun. It was peaceful, despite the harsh climate.
“I think we’re in…” Tripp stopped mid-sentence as the van tilted at a sharp angle and stopped with a loud clunk. He attempted to steer out, pressing the gas again, but the tires didn’t catch. “Damn it. We’re hung up.”
None of us had seen the hole, which had been half-covered by snow drifts, catching the van.
“This is just great,” I said sarcastically. “We’re half a mile from the Token.” I pointed to the window. The Token seemed like it would be in the middle of an open field, flat and devoid of anything.
“As good a place to hide it as any. Nothing around here. No markers. Nobody would ever stumble upon it,” Tripp mumbled. “I have no idea how long we can make it out there before we freeze our asses off.”
“Hunter set us up for the weather.” I patted the jacket, insulated with the best goose down money could buy along with the four layers underneath. My hat was wool, and I pulled it lower onto my forehead. My boots were lined and stiff, and I had on thermal socks underneath. Tripp fiddled with the fleece lining on his parka and flexed his fingers.
“It’s going to be cold, and this wind is no joke. We stay together. I’ll leave the car running. Veronica will be close.” Tripp started for the exit, and I grabbed his arm.
“Hold up.” I removed the radio from the console and tested it. “Veronica, come in. Hunter, do you read?”
It crackled, and we sat in silence for an excruciating ten seconds before I heard her voice. “Rex, what’s the ETA?”
“We ran into an issue with the vehicle, but we’re a half mile from the objective. We’re targeting it now,” I informed her.
“Twenty minutes?” Veronica asked after I didn’t really give her a direct timeline.
“Normally, I’d say yes, but… make it thirty.” I looked at Marcus, who was shoving the water bottle into his pack.
“Roger. How is the terrain?”
“Flat, but could be some hidden dangers, not to mention the ice. Might be tough.”
Tripp snatched the radio from my hand. “Veronica, Tripp here. Come in from the north. Wind is trouble, and that will give you the best cover and allow you to ride it, not fight it,” he said.
“Roger.”
And it was set. Marcus was the first one out, and I went next, instantly feeling the bite of the wind. I wrapped the scarf tighter and started forward. White flakes kicked up the moment I walked past the modified van, and Tripp was shouting curses as we strode in the direction of the Token.
Normally, a half-mile would take a couple of minutes at a jog, but we were walking into the wind, with a foot and a half of snow around our boots. Each step was a struggle, but we went on, determined to find the Token before Veronica arrived. I didn’t expect it would be straightforward to land or take off from these plains, but I kept my worry to myself.
Marcus was the fastest of us, trudging through the elements like he’d done this a million times. Once again, I was impressed by his resilience and determination. The last Token. It was challenging to believe we’d only learned of those coordinates a few weeks ago, and here we were, seeking our last one.
I continued on, my eyes aching under the goggles. I squinted, almost keeping them closed, and tried to think about Beverly and Fred at home with the kids, warm in our childhood home with the Christmas tree lights on and the smell of a turkey baking in the oven.
Then I remembered hearing about Haja and Hasin, and the fire at Brian Hardy’s condo in New York, as well as Castro’s place. I’d been so stupid. If the Believers knew about me, they were definitely aware of my sister. I’d left her alone and vulnerable without a second thought.
I needed to warn her. To tell her to get to somewhere safe. Was it Christmas Day, or was that tomorrow? With the constant sunlight and the relentless traveling, I’d lost track of time.
“How much farther?” Tripp pulled me closer, his voice dying in the wind.
I pulled out the GPS device, but it fell to the snow. I plunged my glove in after it, wiping the flakes off the screen, finding it dark. “It’s broken!”
Marcus had stopped farther ahead, hands on his hips as he waited, and Tripp plucked the tool from me. He rotated it, checking the underside, and hit it against his palm. The lig
hts returned, and I could tell he smiled by the crinkling of skin around his eyes. He shoved it to me, and I signaled ahead. “Almost there. Marcus, a hundred yards that way!”
I returned it to my pocket and continued to think about Bev and her family. If anything happened to them… What about Marcus’ parents in Florida? How deep would these Believers cut to obtain what they were after?
Marcus ran as the sound of the plane’s engines echoed over the field of ice. We’d risen in elevation slightly, and the snow thinned, making the walk easier.
Veronica and Hunter had arrived, and that meant we needed to hurry. I imagined our pursuers were close, and I fully expected the cultists to be armed and prepared to leave our frozen corpses in the middle of nowhere Antarctica.
I stopped to check the GPS, and this was as accurate a location as we had. “It’s here. Somewhere.”
The ground was rocky, with ice chunks settled between any raised earth, and I spotted the bag sticking up from the shallow ice. “I got it!”
The plane flew low, the sound loud as I kneeled at the piece of burlap reaching for the sky. It was stuck, but Marcus already had something pulled from his pack. It was a slim pickaxe, one he’d found hanging in the garage. I took it, hacking at the frozen ground, trying to avoid the rocks as best I could.
“Rex.” Tripp’s voice was distant, and I glanced at him. “We have a problem.”
Not the words you wanted to hear in a situation like this. My entire body was cold, the horrific weather creeping past the protection of my many layers. I shifted on my knees and kept chipping away with the hand-held tool.
“Rex, I said we have a problem!” He loomed over me, and I stared a short distance north, where Veronica was landing. The plane kicked up clouds of snow as it skidded to the ground.
“What is it?” I finally asked.
Tripp had his M4A1 out, his eye pressed to the scope. “Hurry. That’s not Veronica!”
I understood what he meant when I saw the shape of the plane and the fact that it was far larger than ours, with a different logo on the side. This wasn’t our friends; it was the Believers coming to steal the Tokens.
Lost Contact (The Bridge Sequence Book One) Page 24
