Now all they had to do was wait until the Project Eden assault team left, then inessential personnel could use the emergency tunnel to get away.
Matt would, of course, stay. If Project Eden had indeed triggered Implementation Day, then he needed to be here in the control room where he could do what he could to put a dent, however small, into its plans.
But had they triggered it or not? Given the attack squad aboveground, it seemed pretty damn likely, but he couldn’t afford to make a mistake. The options still open to them would work only once — if that. If he set off the warnings and Implementation had not begun, the Resistance would be like the boy who cried wolf when it really did happen.
One time. One shot. They had to get it right.
For the last hour, Christina and several other communication officers had been trying to contact Resistance members on the outside who were near one of the shipping containers that had already been identified as suspect. They had reached a few people, and sent them to check out the boxes, but no one had reported back yet.
“Matt,” his sister called from across the room. “Your phone.”
“What?”
“Your cell phone. It’s ringing.”
He walked over to where he’d left it on one of the tables. The name on the display read J. HAYES. Why was Jon calling? Protocol in this situation was that all communication should be severed. Had something happened to Brandon?
He punched the ACCEPT button. “Jon?”
There was a pause. “No.”
Matt froze. “Who is this?”
“You can call me Sims. I assume you’re…Matt?”
“Who are you?”
“I just wanted to let you know that you and your friends can only hide for so long, and we’ll still be here when you come out.”
The assault team. They must have found Jon and Brandon.
Matt paled. “What did you do to them?”
Another pause. “I think we’ve talked enough. Call me back when you’re ready to discuss surrender.”
The line went dead.
“What is it?” Rachel asked.
“That was someone from the assault team. He was using Jon’s cell phone.”
“Jon’s?” Her confusion lasted only a second before it morphed into fear. “What about Brandon?”
“He didn’t say anything about either of them, but we probably should assume—”
“No, no. No assumptions,” she said. She grabbed his arm. “We need to send someone out there to get them back.”
“You know we can’t do that. If we do, we’ll expose our location and get everyone killed.”
“Brandon’s just a boy. You promised Ash you’d watch him!”
“What’s going on?” The voice came from across the room.
They both turned to find Josie Ash standing in the doorway.
“I heard you say Brandon’s name. Did you find him? Did something happen?” she asked.
“We don’t know anything at this point,” Matt told her, but it was hard to sound convincing.
Josie stared at him, her eyes wide. “You said he’d be okay. You said Mr. Hayes would take care of him.”
“Get her out of here,” he whispered to Rachel.
Rachel stepped over to Josie.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go talk.”
The two had barely left the room when Christina looked up from her monitor. “Matt. Dale Porter just called in. He drove by one of the containers in San Francisco. It’s open, and it’s humming.”
The entire room went silent.
So this was it.
The end of the world.
Matt said, “I want a second confirmation from somewhere else. Preferably out of the country. As soon as we have that, don’t wait for me to say anything. Initiate WC.”
WC was not some tricky code. Its meaning was simple and clear.
Worst Case.
It would be another three hours before a second confirmation — this one from Copenhagen, Denmark — came in.
Sims hung up the cell phone and smiled. The man on the other end of the line had said, “What did you do to them?”
He looked over at Donaldson. “You’ve got yourself a second chance. There’s at least one more person out there. Find whoever it is and bring them back.”
“Yes, sir.” Donaldson turned and headed quickly back to his squad.
Sims stepped over to the doorway of his helicopter. “So?” he asked.
Inside was an impressive array of communications gear. Included among the equipment was a device that could track cell phone calls and pinpoint the location of both the originator and the receiver.
The technician manning the console was named DeFassio. He kept his attention focused on one of the monitors for a few seconds longer, then looked over.
“You were correct, sir. They’re right here.”
9
AT TIMES THE snow whirling around them became so thick it seemed as if they were walking through a never-ending wall of white.
Several times Ash was sure they were lost, but then they’d reach a landmark Olivia’s man, Kessler, had pointed them toward, and head to the next.
“Which way now?” Ash yelled above the wind.
They had just reached the latest landmark, a small hill with an outcropping of rocks that was quickly becoming covered with snow.
“There’s a little gully up ahead. Should be in that direction about a hundred yards.” Kessler motioned ahead and slightly to the right. “The camp will be right on the other side.”
“You need to rest or can we keep going?”
“Keep going,” Kessler said.
They almost missed the gully, their path having veered a little too much to the right, but Chloe spotted their mistake, and guided them back on track.
As soon as they reached the far end, Kessler pointed to the left. “There. See it?”
A canvas drop that had been anchored to the side of the hill was now flapping in the wind, exposing everything that had been underneath it to the storm.
“I thought you said the others were going to be here,” Chloe said.
Kessler looked confused. “They’re supposed to be. That was the plan.”
“Then where the hell are they?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe…”
“Maybe what?” Ash asked.
“They might have made for the boat.”
“Boat? The island’s iced in.”
“Icebreaker,” Kessler said. “About a mile offshore.”
“You hiked in?”
Kessler nodded.
“So you think they went back there?” Chloe asked.
“It’s the only other place they could have gone.”
“What happens when they reach the boat? Will they wait for you?” Ash asked.
Kessler was silent for a second. “They might think I’m dead.”
Since the three of them had been in the tunnel when the explosions started, Ash was willing to bet that’s exactly what the others thought. They probably decided the sooner they got off the island, the better.
Chloe leaned close to Ash. “We’ve got to get there before they leave.”
“I know,” he said. The plane they had arrived on had crashed upon landing, so it was very likely that the only way they’d be able to get off the island was on that ship. He turned to Kessler. “Do you know where the icebreaker is?”
Another tired nod. “Southeast. Straight out.”
“Then unless you want to die here, we need to keep moving.”
Kessler nodded wearily. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Good.”
“Hold on a second.” Kessler staggered over to the remains of the camp. “There should be a GPS tracker here if it hasn’t blown away. We’ll need that.”
After a minute of rooting around, he came up with the device. He turned it on and studied the screen.