Cardinal took the first watch, scanning the camp through the scope of his sniper rifle, taking the time to identify possible future targets. His watch soon passed without incident. He was about to head below and wake up Sam, when he heard the unmistakable sound of rotor blades closing in fast. Grabbing up his binoculars, Cardinal scanned the gray sky for any sign of the intruder. Seconds later, a large shape appeared. Cardinal was not surprised, after what they had been through, to see that the helicopter was flying without its running lights on. As it grew closer, Cardinal could see that slung underneath of the helicopter was something large and rectangular. A cold shiver raced down Cardinal’s back. He did not know how, but he was certain that this was the same sea container that he had seen airlifted out of Romanov’s oil refinery in Mauritania. There’s no way this could be a coincidence, thought Cardinal as he quickly made his way down below to wake Sam and Jackson, only to find them already up and looking out the cannon’s firing port, searching the sky for the helicopter.
“Company coming?” asked Jackson.
“Yeah, there’s a heavy-lift chopper coming towards the mining camp,” said Cardinal. “It looks like it’s got a sea container slung underneath.”
At the camp, infrared strobe lights, naked to the visible eye, came to life, marking the landing zone for the helicopter. With a practiced move, the helicopter slowly came in and smoothly deposited its precious cargo on the ground. Seconds later, men ran from the office buildings and swarmed all over the container, releasing it from its chains. With a slight rev of its engines, the chopper banked off to the left and then quickly disappeared out to sea and away from prying eyes.
The instant the helicopter disappeared from sight, a group of heavily armed men emerged from the tunnel entrance. A lean, tough-looking man with thick dark hair and an eye patch surveyed the area and then spoke into a Motorola. Instantly, all of his men readied their weapons and quickly fanned out throughout the camp.
Sam said, “I wonder what the hell is going on down there. What could be so important to them that they had to fly it in here at the crack of dawn?”
“Not sure,” said Jackson. “Not sure I really want to know, either.”
36
Mitchell was happy to be back on solid ground. He was comfortable flying in all sorts of helicopters, but their ten-minute flight had been choppy and his body still felt raw after the beating he had taken from Teplov. Jen walked silently beside him as several of Romanov’s goons led them away from their helicopter towards one of the mining camp’s buildings. Once they were inside the small empty shack, the door was locked behind them. Mitchell quickly slid over to the window and looked outside. He saw four men standing there, weapons cradled in their arms. Moving over to the other side of the office, Mitchell repeated the drill and saw even more men outside.
“Looks like we’re going nowhere for a while,” Mitchell said dejectedly, taking a seat on the floor beside Jen.
“Well at least for once we’re together,” said Jen, giving Mitchell a quick hug and a kiss upon his cheek.
“Yeah, I guess that’s something.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, while outside the sound of heavy machinery starting up and moving about filled the air.
Sam watched through her binoculars as the golden helicopter came into land. Figuring it was another group of workers coming to maintain the equipment, she was about to look at something else, when she saw Mitchell and Jen climb out under guard. Keying her throat-mic, she passed on the news to Jackson and Cardinal, who both quickly made their way to the top of the tower. Crawling over, they laid down alongside her, observing what was going on as Mitchell and Jen were led over to a small pre-fab building.
“Well, that changes everything,” said Jackson as he turned his binoculars towards the mercenaries guarding the container. “How many bad guys do you think there are?” he asked Cardinal.
“I count over thirty. A mix of mercenaries and hired thugs from Romanov’s ship,” replied Cardinal. “Don’t forget those are the ones I’ve been able to see; I have no clue how many people are still inside the tunnel.”
“Swell, at least ten to one,” commented Sam.
“Well, at least we know where they are now, and we don’t have to try pulling them off a ship anymore,” said Jackson.
“Great silver lining thinking,” said Sam with a smile. “Well, I need to get some intel sent back to Fahimah without delay.” Sam dug out a small camera from her pack and then set it up on a tripod that barely peered above the top of the tower. Carefully adjusting the picture with her palm-sized tablet, Sam soon had a steady feed sent straight back to Fahimah and on to Polaris Headquarters.
“Ok then, I’d better come up with a new plan,” said Jackson as he crept away from the wall and made his way downstairs. Sitting on the cold stone floor, he peered out of the open gun port and pondered his options. He knew Mitchell would never hesitate to come to his aid, and he did not intend to let his friend down either; it was all just a question of how and when.
Sitting still and waiting for things to unfold chafed at Mitchell. Curiosity was starting to get the better of him. Standing, he made his way to the front window, pulled up the blinds and watched as two eight-wheeled off-road vehicles, both pulling trailers, drove up and stopped in front of a sea container guarded by at least a dozen tough-looking mercenaries. A feeling of dread seeped inside Mitchell’s consciousness. Something was wrong, very wrong.
“Jen, do you know what was inside the sea container that was flown away in the middle of the night from the refinery in Africa?” asked Mitchell.
“No, why?” said Jen.
“Because it looks like they’ve brought it here with them.”
Jen stood and joined Mitchell looking out the window at the container. “I never saw what was inside, and they never spoke about it around me, not that I would have been able to follow what they were saying in Russian,” said Jen.
“Well, I don’t mind telling you that I don’t like the look of all that security guarding whatever it is they have in there,” said Mitchell.
Voices from right outside the door caught Mitchell’s attention. A second later, the door was unlocked and flung open. A woman stepped inside wearing a tan-colored winter jacket, with matching toque and blue jeans, her jet-black hair braided in a ponytail down her back.
Mitchell looked over and said, “I know you, but where’s the bandage on your nose?”
“Wrong sister, Mister Mitchell,” said Alexandra Romanov bluntly, as she lithely stepped aside, allowing a couple of guards inside the room, their weapons pointing at Jen.
“Don’t tell me. There are two of you?” Mitchell said. “I must have missed that detail before being sucker punched in the back of the head while we were still on the ship of fools.”
“I have no time for adolescent games, Mister Mitchell. My father is waiting for you. Come with me,” ordered Alexandra. “Miss March will remain here.”
Jen reached out and grabbed Mitchell’s arm, her eyes betraying her fear.
“It’s ok,” said Mitchell with a smile. “I’m sure he just wants to talk sports or something. I’ll be back before you know it and then we can go on a nice long holiday somewhere together.”
“You’d better be, mister,” said Jen as she watched Mitchell walk out of the room; the door was quickly closed and locked behind him. Jen’s heart suddenly felt empty as if part of her soul had just left her. She realized that for the first time in her life, she was falling hard for someone. Tears filled her eyes.