The man shrugged, then connected a hose to the back of the tube. As he was doing this, Moreno climbed up the outside of the conning tower and took his position on the small space on top. He held onto the railing with one hand as he picked up the mike with the other. He issued orders for the submarine to get under way, setting a course that would bring it closer to the atoll.
Moreno glanced down at the deck. The expert gave him the thumbs-up.
When Moreno nodded, the man walked to the bottom of the tower and stripped off the protective suit, then joined him on the bridge. Johnston Atoll was now less than two kilometers away.
Moreno and the expert went into the sub.
"Seal all hatches," Moreno ordered.
When the board showed all green, Moreno turned to the expert.
"Do it."
The man held a small remote. He pressed the red button.
It was anticlimactic, Moreno thought, as he went to the periscope. The sub was still on the surface.
"Turn to course one eight zero, maintain slow," Moreno ordered.
He shifted the periscope as the sub turned and ran parallel to the atoll. Moreno could see no sign of the agent being sprayed, so he had to trust that the job had been done right. He glanced at the expert, who was watching a stopwatch.
His attention back on the periscope, Moreno saw they were now even with the island. He watched as it slowly slid by. He turned the periscope and glanced at the expert. The man clicked the watch and gave a thumbs-up. Moreno looked one more time at Johnston Atoll. Still no sign of anything unusual. He snapped up the handles.
"Dive," he ordered.
"Course one-one-four degrees, full speed."
He looked at the digital clock in the control room.
"We must make the rendezvous in three hours and six minutes exactly."
On Johnston Atoll death came on the air, unseen and odorless. Some of the buildings in the main complex had been designed to handle Level IV contaminants, but these building with their complex filtering systems were designed to keep biological and chemical agents inside, not prevent outside agents from entering.
The first to be affected was the lone guard on duty at the airstrip control tower. The ZX was borne in from the ocean by the wind, carried across the runway. He had been reading a novel while the raid was conducted a kilometer and a half away. He was still reading as the first molecules of ZX arrived. He blinked as he felt unexpected tears form in his eyes. Two seconds later his throat constricted and he gasped for breath. His mind was desperately trying to figure out what was happening as it passed from consciousness to unconsciousness.
Which was fortunate for him. Every muscle in his body began to convulse as the agent spread, the ZX binding to the acetylcholinesterase enzymes at the end of each synaptic membrane. This made the AChE inactive, which then made it impossible for the nerve endings to stop firing, thus the uncontrolled muscle activity. Which quickly led to paralysis and death as the lungs stopped working.
All of this happened within thirty seconds.
The gas floated into the main complex, sucked in by the air-conditioning units in all the buildings and spewed out into the rooms inside. The results were the same. Most of those on the island were contaminated while they slept, and went from sleep to unconsciousness to death in half a minute without any awareness. The few others who were awake had those few moments of awareness that something was wrong. Then they too died.
Nine hundred sixty civilians and 250 military personnel were dead within five minutes.
The generators, amply fueled, continued to run, and the lights on the island continued to glow in the darkness.
Vaughn looked up and could see the first stars. He tried to count the days back to the failed raid. He had to assume his brother-in-law's body was back in the States by now. Most likely even in the ground. A military funeral. And he hadn't been there for his sister or to pay his respects. He looked up at the shaft still blowing hot air out. The one who was responsible was in there.
"You all right?" Tai asked.
Vaughn was startled. He'd forgotten all about his partner.
"I wish we hadn't lost our NVGs on the jump. They'd be real helpful in there."
Tai's dark eyes regarded him for several moments.
"What were you really thinking about?"
"A military funeral."
"I don't think we'll get one with this outfit."
That brought a slight smile to Vaughn's lips.
"Not for us. I plan on us getting out of this in one piece."
"That's a good plan," Tai said.
"Let's hope everyone else is on the same sheet of music."
"What do you mean?" Tai grabbed her ruck and slid the shoulder straps on.
"Nothing."
"Ladies first," Vaughn said.
"Don't go bullshit on me now," Tai snapped. In reply, Vaughn grabbed the edge of the tunnel and pulled himself up and in. It was about five feet wide, which meant they couldn't stand upright but wouldn't have to crawl. It was made of corrugated metal and sloped upward at about a twenty-degree angle. Vaughn pulled his red lens flashlight off his combat vest and clicked it on. The light penetrated ahead as far as he could see, about twenty meters. And the tunnel showed no end at that distance. He felt Tai's presence behind him. She put her free hand on his shoulder and he began to move forward, crouching slightly.
He held the MP-5 in one hand and the flashlight in the other. Had he known he'd be without night vision goggles, he would have made sure to bolt a light to the side of the gun. He was glad that he had the red lens flashlight, or else they would literally be in the dark.
Vaughn tried to keep a pace count as they went up the tunnel but knew it had to be off because of the awkward way he was walking. He estimated they had gone over one hundred meters when the pipe changed angles and went level. The blow of warm air continued unabated as they moved onto the level part and faced their first decision. The large pipe split into two smaller ones, each about four feet in diameter.
"This keeps up, we're gonna be on our bellies," Tai whispered as Vaughn shined the light up each passage. Both went level and straight as far as he could see.
"Any preference?" he asked.
Instead of answering, Tai stuck her head in the left tube and cocked her head, listening as she sniffed. Then did the right tube.
"The air is warmer in this one," she said, pointing to the right.
"And?"
Tai smiled and shrugged.
"I don't know what it means. I was just mentioning it."
"That's a lot of help," Vaughn muttered.
"All right. This way."
He led the way into the warmer tube. The only sound was their boots scraping along the metal and their breathing as they went farther into the mountain. After another fifty meters Vaughn paused. Tai bumped up against him and then also became still.
There was the slightest of sounds. Rhythmic.
"Air pump," Tai finally said.
Vaughn thought about the information he'd researched on underground bunkers. Where were the intake for the air handlers usually located? Above. That was good, he thought. It was always best to approach an objective with the higher terrain advantage, even if, as in this case, the terrain was inside a mountain. He continued forward, Tai close behind.