They were now held up behind some ramshackle buildings off the main road in the foothills. Alice, in her infinite wisdom, had set up a rendezvous with Pete Golding, Charlie Ellenshaw, and the remaining German commandos at the remote location. Thus far the men from the plane were a no-show and the five of them were getting hungry.
“You have something on your mind, Colonel?” Lee asked, as he rolled his shirtsleeve down, flexing his arm as he did so.
“I want to know exactly why you’re here,” Collins said as he handed Lee a bottle of water.
The former senator from Maine accepted the water with a nod of his head. The fedora he was wearing was tilted at an angle that leaned toward his eye patch.
“Same reason you’re here. I want to know what’s under this mountain.” Lee looked from Jack to Alice. Then his eye fixed on the German. “It was a kind gesture for your chancellor to allow you to assist our boys here.”
Sebastian didn’t respond, since he felt Lee was baiting him for a reason he couldn’t understand. He studied the man a moment and then looked at his companion, the very capable Mrs. Hamilton.
“I follow orders.”
“I’m sure you do, son.” Lee looked from Krell back over to Jack and then Everett.
“Garrison, are you going to let them in on your suspicions, or are you going to play games all damn day,” Alice said, as she placed her small black bag on the backseat of the police cruiser.
“I don’t think I have that much explaining to do. I think Jack knows that something in this whole thing stinks to high heaven.”
Collins for his part was playing it cool. He did have doubts that people were being straight with him on what was happening, starting with his boss, Niles Compton. However, being the career military man that he was he had learned to swallow his suspicions about superiors and follow orders the best that he could, even though he hated going into a mission with only the smallest of details to assist him. He would let the senator do the talking.
Lee stood and placed a hand on Everett’s shoulder, nodding, as if saying he was glad to see him. “For me it all started when I learned that our good friend Niles was placed in charge of organizing the Dark Star missions.” He let out a small laugh. He removed his fedora and wiped the sweat from the inside brim using his handkerchief. He then placed the hat back on. “Niles is a genius, we all know that. But outer space, the Moon, and the equipment used to get people there is a little bit out of his field of expertise.”
“The president is his friend,” Everett volunteered. “He trusts the director. You know, to get it done right.”
Lee nodded again and sat on the edge of the police car’s backseat, as if standing would be too taxing on his failing system.
“Yes, that’s the key word here Mr. Everett-trust. But not in the sense you’re using it. When you’re out to keep a secret, maybe the largest secret in the history of the planet, you turn to people you trust. Keep that trust localized, within a small circle, if you will, I know. I’ve been there.”
“I’m not getting your meaning,” Everett said.
They heard a car coming and Krell stepped out from behind the false front of the old building. He saw an ancient-looking pickup and camper pulling up in front. He saw the crazy-haired Ellenshaw behind the wheel and he relaxed. He leaned back and nodded at Jack.
“It’s them.”
Collins was relieved they had made it from the airport without being stopped. Once more they were wanted men, being hunted by a very angry, very embarrassed Ecuadorian government.
“Get them under cover as soon as you can, and get that vehicle hidden.”
Krell left to get his men settled and find the food that they should have brought with them.
“Back to my meaning, Mr. Everett. There is far more happening than just the recovery of the technology that we believe is here and on the Moon. Why are Sarah and our people on that backup flight?”
“Yes,” Jack said beneath his breath. “Why Sarah?”
A voice from behind them said, “Because we needed Sarah on the International Space Station to analyze the mineral if it was recovered. Regardless of the first two Dark Star missions, we needed Sarah on that station as my eyes and ears, as well as for her expertise on the mineral. She’ll send back a report the president can trust.”
Everyone turned and saw Niles Compton. He was dressed in tan working clothes and his eyes were fixed on Garrison Lee and Alice.
“I should have known you would be getting suspicious. I told the president that you would suspect something,” Compton said. He turned to face Jack. “I also told him that you would be figuring things out before too long.”
“Can someone tell me what’s up?” Everett asked. Just then they were joined by Sebastian, his men, Pete, and then finally, Ellenshaw.
Niles walked over and kneeled down. He looked into Lee’s one good eye.
“What are you doing here? You should be at home and in bed.” He patted Lee on the knee. He looked from his former boss to Alice, who couldn’t hold his gaze for long. She looked down at her feet.
“One last romp around the park,” Lee said and looked at Niles. His eye never wavered. “No fool like an old fool.”
Niles smiled and straightened. He turned to face Jack and Carl.
“I’m sorry, I never liked keeping things from you and you know that. But this… this thing is far beyond my scope. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. So I let the president talk me into secrecy. And I will keep my word on that. Until he gives me the go-ahead, I cannot tell you everything.”
The others looked down, as they understood Niles was just following orders. They could see in his face, his very demeanor, that keeping things from them was driving him close to the edge. Jack for his part watched the man and decided that he would wait to push him on the issue, but he also knew that the closer Sarah and the others got to the surface of the Moon, the more hard pressed he would be not to make Niles talk.
“What are we doing about the people responsible for the attacks?” Jack asked instead.
“The FBI and Interpol have arrest warrants out for your friend McCabe and the Reverend Rawlins. We also know that the good minister has ties with Iran through his ministry and McCabe has his al Qaeda contacts. Thus, we know where some of the manpower came from. The bad news is we can’t find them. They caught the attack team at Cape Canaveral, but they aren’t talking-three Saudis and one Syrian.”
“What’s the Pentagon saying about the forces covering Ecuador?” Everett asked.
“That’s a major concern and one of the reasons I’m here. The president wants to know what you’ll need to get into that mountain. If the mission on the Moon fails, Columbus is our only hope.”
“Again, not knowing the full details of the true mission here, I will only venture a guess,” Jack said, as he stood and paced inside the old building. “Either we need a full air assault element, maybe the 101st Airborne, or just what we have here. Either not enough or too many. How high a price is the president willing to pay?”
“He’ll mortgage the house, Jack. Whatever you call for to get in there, he’ll give you. Ecuador is our friend, there is no doubt about that, but the president will burn them down to get at Columbus, and the rest of the world’s leaders will stand by and do nothing.”
“Just what in hell is that important?” Everett asked. “That we’d kick the hell out of a small country for no reason other than they have something buried here that we want?”
“That’s the entire point, Captain,” Niles said, almost losing his temper. “We don’t just want it, we need it.”
“Well, we’ll see if we can avoid killing a bunch of innocent soldiers and get inside the place the old-fashioned way,” Collins said, turning Everett away from Compton. He looked at Sebastian. “What do you say, my German friend. Feel like preventing an invasion of Ecuador?”