Feeling old beyond his years, the blond-haired Spetsnaz lieutenant could only hope that the Premier knew what he was asking of them. It wasn’t necessarily his own life that concerned him. Grigori had consigned himself long ago to the dismal fact that it would be a minor miracle if he ever made it past thirty. Rather it was on the generation pictured in the photograph that his concerns were centered. For if the overly proud Americans ever got wind of just why their precious Space Shuttle had gone down, they would respond with nothing short of World War III.
Certain of this grim fact, Grigori knew it was now up to his team to insure that this impossible mission was completed without a hint of suspicion.
Chapter Twelve
Richard Fuller couldn’t believe it when the Air Force sentry refused him entry through the gate that led to Vandenberg’s Coast Road. Even though Lieutenant Colonel Lansford had put him on the security list, the guard had explained that the route southward was temporarily closed to remove silt deposited on it by the tidal wave. Frustrated by the fact that Lansford had been the one to personally invite him down to the Arguello storage facility in the first place, Fuller pulled into the holding lot to wait for the road to reopen.
Leaving the confines of his car, he stretched his limbs and looked out to the sea that crashed onto the rocks less than a quarter of a mile away. It continued to be an usually clear afternoon. Absent was the thick fog that had perpetually veiled the coastline for days on end. Absorbing the pleasing warmth of the sun as it crept down towards the western horizon, Richard remembered the day’s traumatic sequence of events.
It had all started out early that morning, when he had learned what the warning sirens had been activated for. As it turned out, his frantic dash down to the beach, to make certain that Miriam and her crew were safe, had been accomplished with only minutes to spare. For no sooner had they climbed onto the canyon’s summit when the wave had been first spotted.
The initial sign of its approach had been when the frothing surf-line visible below them suddenly was sucked westward. Within seconds, the powerful riptide had pulled the waters back, exposing almost a mile-wide band of sloping, wet sand. One of the young male students had first sighted the tsunami itself. Still far out to sea, the wave’s spiraling curl had stretched the entire length of the horizon. This sight in itself had been breathtaking.
Soon Richard had been aware of a distant, gathering roar. Like the sound of an approaching freight train, the crashing surge of water had steadily increased in volume. By the time the full extent of the wave’s size could be appreciated, its accompanying sound had been almost deafening.
For the rest of his life, the sights and sounds which he had breathlessly watched take form in the distance would be deeply ingrained in his consciousness. From that day onward, whenever he looked out to the sea, a single, awesome vision would be instinctively triggered.
Over three times as large as the massive surf that had pounded into Hawaii’s north shore, the tsunami had seemed to continue to grow in size until the moment it exploded onto dry land. The very earth below them had rumbled as the seventy-five-foot wave struck the beach with the speed of a jet aircraft.
Richard had been unable to do anything but cower.
The top of the canyon had provided them a safe, bird’s-eye view of this momentous event. They had only become aware of the force and volume of water involved when the bubbling, crashing surf had instantly flooded the beach, inundated the surrounding sand dunes, and engulfed the very valley where they had been digging less than a half-hour before. All eyes had been focused on the swirling deluge as it bit into the canyon’s previously dry, mud-baked walls.
Less than a minute later, the waters had receded and it was all over.
Ever so gradually, that portion of the earth’s surface had returned back to normal. A confused gull had cried out from high above, and a gust of ripe wind had blown in off the Pacific. Few words had been exchanged among the group of shocked onlookers, who had sat there looking at the flooded beach, vainly trying to grasp the enormity of the force they had just witnessed.
It had been decided to wait a bit longer to make certain that another wave wouldn’t follow. When they eventually had returned, it had been by way of the railroad tracks. The going there had been slow and awkward, yet all agreed that the debris-laden beach was just too risky.
Of course, the group had been mainly concerned about how their camp had weathered the deluge.
After an exhausting, tedious hike, they had anxiously peered down from the trestle and were afforded then-first view of Ocean Beach Park. All had breathed a sigh of relief upon finding the parking lot flooded, yet with their trailers still parked in the familiar semicircle.
Apparently the hill on which the tracks had been mounted on had blocked the main onslaught of water, and thus kept their valuables from being swept away.
Heedless of their personal belongings, the group had rushed down the hillside to see to the safety of the Chumash relics they had exhumed. Only when they had been found safe had a collective shout of pure joy issued from the team’s lips.
One instrument that had not been working was the telephone. Miriam had been in a hurry to notify the University that all was well with them. While the kids began the cleanup, Richard volunteered to take their instructor into town to make the call. Though the parking lot had been covered with several inches of seawater, his car started up and they had easily made it to Ocean Avenue. From there they turned eastward towards Lompoc.
It was from his condo that Miriam had initiated the call. While she was engrossed in a lively conversation, Richard jumped in the shower and then made a quick change of clothes. By the time he was out of the bedroom, Miriam had been off the phone, and well into her preparation of a quick lunch. The morning’s excitement had done wonders for their appetites, and they hungrily gobbled down two tuna-fish-salad sandwiches apiece.
They had just finished eating when the call had arrived from Lansford’s office. Speaking for the senior officer, Master Sergeant Sprawlings invited Richard to the Arguello storage facility, which had successfully weathered the wave’s fury. Sprawlings had hinted that something extremely important waited for the Nose researcher there. Richard’s curiosity had been fully aroused, and he wasted no time locking up the condo and getting them back on the road westward.
He had dropped Miriam off back at Ocean Beach Park with a promise to drop by sometime the next day. Backing out of the still-flooded lot, he returned to the intersection of Ocean Avenue, and this time had turned to the right, away from Lompoc. A half mile later, he reached the closed security gate, where he sat presently.
Merely recreating this morning’s activities caused Richard to shake his head in wonder. Who knew just what surprises the afternoon held? Like one who dangles a piece of chocolate in front of a child, the master sergeant had been toying with him. Though he wouldn’t say what awaited Richard at Arguello, his mere tone of voice had indicated that it was something of major significance. Maybe they had found a portion of the Titan that indicated exactly what caused it to fail, or perhaps they had chanced upon the prized nose cone itself. Whatever it was, just knowing that it lay invitingly close, only a few miles from his present location, was most frustrating.
The squeal of car brakes sounded behind him, and Richard diverted his glance away from the blue Pacific.