When Tom had originally heard the sound of gunfire, he’d assumed that it was Blake Simmonds’ mercenaries attacking him. But, he could now see that they were firing at someone else, but who could it be?
The sound of gunfire was drawing closer.
If he wanted to get off the mountain in time to draw the attention away from the mountain, of any other helicopters that were patrolling, Tom was going to have to blow the dynamite soon.
Tom wouldn’t permit himself to worry about or be distracted by potential problems that were out of his hands, and he continued to lay the last of the dynamite fuse lines.
Each of the lines ran to a central location where they attached to a central wireless router, allowing him to set off the charge from the air.
In the distance, he noticed that the first tracer bullets were approaching the edge of the area where his helicopter rested.
He was glad that Sam had suggested laying the extra charges and the line of aviation fuel, and he just hoped that the transmitter would work properly when he needed it.
Blake Simmonds continued to move along toward Lake Solitude with his team of mercenaries.
After coming to terms with the knowledge that John Wolfgang had betrayed his boss, Blake knew their only option was to help Sam Reilly escape, which would give him the chance to steal the virus once they were out of the mountain. There was certainly no time left to make it to the top and then try to follow John’s team in through the tunnels.
Blake’s only hope was that by tipping off Tom Bower about the threat, he would come back and try to find a way to get Sam out of the bloody mountain. Once Sam Reilly was finally free, Blake could take out both Sam and Tom once and for all, and then steal the virus.
When Blake and his team had first arrived at Lake Solitude, he was at first worried that Tom might not have taken the bait. He was relieved when he spotted Tom’s helicopter. Behind it, were the remains of thousands of tons of rocky rubble that appeared to have come from a landslide that must have occurred many decades ago.
That must be the spot where he’s going to attempt to get Sam Reilly out.
His moment of relief was very short-lived, as Michael, the leader of his mercenary team, came to inform him that they’d spotted a team of Navy SEALs rapidly approaching the helicopter.
Where the fuck did they come from?
“Do you want us to remain concealed?” Michael asked, bringing his thoughts back to the matter at hand.
“No, I want you to engage, and make certain that they do not stop the man in that helicopter from blowing the mountain apart.”
“Understood.”
Tom flicked the connection switch on his wireless detonator.
The green light flickered briefly, and then changed to the blue symbol — indicating that the wireless connection wasn’t reaching the helicopter.
He slid the power switch to maximum.
It would drain the power quickly, but provide a greater range for reaching for the wireless connection.
The connectivity light was still firmly locked on the color blue.
Behind him, he noted that there were so many tracer bullets flying through the air, that he could have sworn he was witnessing the Northern Lights. To make matters worse, this simulated aurora borealis was continuing to move steadily closer to him.
Tom’s next decision was a simple one — he could either take off and escape now, or he could detonate the explosives on the mountain while he was still on the ground, and then take his chances by using the confusion to cover his take-off. In reality, either option left both he and his best friends in a deadly position.
He knew immediately that it was no choice at all.
Tom switched the master switch to “on”, and started the rotation of the helicopter blades.
Sam Reilly couldn’t believe their timing.
If Tom had blown the rock wall a minute earlier, they would have been too far into the tunnel, and out of the lake, to be attacked. Instead, John Wolfgang and his team were now stationed on the far banks taking aim at him.
He pulled each throttle to full.
Despite the fact that the tunnel at the end of the lake remained full of water, Sam motored towards its entrance. He knew that Tom wouldn’t fail him.
The splendid red of the tracer bullets looked like shooting stars through the dark cavern.
Behind him, he could hear the sound of a dozen or more rounds spraying the back of the Magdalena’s canopy.
He reduced the power of his port propeller, and then increased power to the starboard one, causing the airship to slowly turn on its axis to port. In so doing, he positioned the back of the Magdalena closer to the enemy gunfire.
Sam looked at Aliana, whose focus on her task hadn’t wavered for a second, despite the gunfire, and said, “Hey, does this story seem somewhat familiar to you?”
“Sure does. Let’s just hope that this time it has a different ending.”
Sam felt the world shudder beneath him.
The water started to move towards the tunnel’s opening.
Aliana pointed at the roof of the tunnel, still only a couple feet above the rapidly receding waterline and said, “We’re never going to make it.”
“Have faith, my darling. This tunnel is well above the height of Lake Solitude. If Tom has successfully blown the entrance to the tunnel, then this entire volume of water is going to quickly disappear.”
“Sure, but if it doesn’t make enough room for us soon, won't the suction drag us under anyway?”
“May do…” Sam replied. It was the best answer he could come up with under the circumstances.
Behind them, more bullets could be heard spraying the Magdalena’s canopy.
Sam put both propellers in full reverse, but found that it had little effect over the strong suction of the current which continued to draw them forward, towards the receding water at the entrance of the tunnel.
Sam wrapped his arms tightly around Aliana.
He was quite certain that the nose of the Magdalena was going to collide with the tunnel’s roof and smash it into a million pieces.
As the Magdalena was about to collide with the tunnel roof, the lake, now almost completely drained of its water, appeared to drop suddenly from underneath them.
It felt as though the Magdalena was sinking.
In reality, she was still floating on the water inside the tunnel, which was disappearing beneath them.
Sam waved goodbye to his attackers as he, Aliana, and the Magdalena disappeared below the surface of the now-empty lake.
Chapter Twenty Seven
John Wolfgang watched in awe as the water level suddenly receded, and the Magdalena floated down and out through the tunnel with it, reminding him of the way a toy boat in a bathtub looked after the drain plug was pulled.
In the process, three of his men were swept away, and he presumed that they’d been drowned in the fast-flowing whitewater.
He didn’t know whether to be happy with the knowledge that his daughter had survived, or terrified by the most likely outcome of this development.
Having failed to capture the Magdalena, John turned towards the remaining two men in his elite team — the men that his employer had sent.
“The buyer is going to be pretty pissed off that we lost them,” John said, as he approached the two mercenaries.
“Who would have thought someone would pull the plug and the entire lake would disappear, taking them with it?” The first man responded.
“Yeah, that was pretty unexpected,” John replied as he pulled his out Luger handgun, and shot each of them in the head… killing them in cold blood.
Circumstances made it imperative that John maintain his allegiance with the other side. He felt no remorse in doing what he believed necessary.