Page 97 of Smoky Lake

He pictured Ani up there in that helicopter. Hadn’t she said something about wanting a normal life without all this drama and adventure? And yet she’d climbed aboard a helicopter to help deal with this crisis. Should that give him hope?

He needed one more chance to make his case to her. Just one more. But first, they had a town to save.

Back to business. “How are the guards situated?” he asked Walters.

The soldier used a stick to draw a little diagram in the dirt. “This one has his back to this tunnel. They’re not really guarding it, it’s just a crack between rocks. I can handle him. The other two are on the western end of the cave. The kids are to the right.”

Silently, the three of them crept toward the cave at the end of the tunnel. When they reached the crack, Gil saw the silhouette of a man in combat gear—his stance was relaxed, unworried.

Walters moved quickly, disabling the guard in one swift stroke. He dragged him back through the crack. He and Gil worked quickly to put him in zip-ties and pull him out of sight, while Nyx hung back, eyes huge in the dark dankness of the tunnel.

With the guard out of the way, they had a clearer view of the cave. Gil and Walters took stock of the situation. The other two guards stood together at the far end of the cave, weapons relaxed at their sides. They were entirely focused on the gunfire ringing out overhead, and the in-and-out drone of the helicopter.

A group of fifteen teenaged kids sat together in one part of the cave, over to the right. Some were curled on their sides, half asleep. They looked hungry and exhausted, in need of showers and food and reassurance. One boy caught Gil’s eye and made a surprised noise.

Gil put a finger to his lips and shrank back into the shadows.

One of the guards looked over. “Keep it down over there,” he said lazily. He obviously didn’t consider them a flight risk.

Where was the canister holding the virus? The hum of a generator came from the left, behind another jumble of rocks. The ceiling of the cave was much lower there, and he imagined it was also colder. Maybe everything was stashed back there.

No sign of Victor Canseco.

He gestured to Corporal Walters—you take the guard on the left, I’ll take the one on the right. These were mercenaries, in peak condition. Gil was still recovering from the virus. The only advantage on his side was surprise, so he had to act fast.

But the corporal shook his head. “I got the guards,” he said in a barely audible whisper. “You look for the virus.”

Gil nodded to accept the assignment, then flattened himself against the wall so the corporal could squeeze past him. They parted ways, Walters headed toward the guards, Gil to the other branch of the cave. As he crept along the wall, Gil kept an eye on Walters. If the corporal ran into trouble, he’d spring into action. But in the meantime, he focused on the hum of that generator. The closer he came to that pile of rocks, the louder it got.

A series of grunts and shouts from the western part of the cave had him looking back. One guard was down, sprawled on his back, unconscious. The other was fighting back, locked in a tight grapple with Walters.

The kids were on their feet, clustered together, watching and murmuring among themselves.

“Nyx,” Gil called. “You’re up.”

At the crack in the rock, Nyx poked his head through. “Come on, guys!” He kept his voice low, then added something in another language. That worked.

The teenagers scrambled across the cave, with the stronger ones helping those who seemed more exhausted and weak. The boy who had caught Gil’s eye ran across the cave toward him. He was a tall young man with dark hair past his shoulders, dirt on his face. He looked weary and pissed off. “There’s something fucked up going on here,” he told Gil. “They have a generator and a freezer and some canisters. It’s all back there. I can show you.” He gestured at the area Gil had already zeroed in on. Good. Confirmation.

The harsh grunts of a fierce battle sounded from the western end of the cave. Corporal Walters was trying to pin down the guard, who was fighting to get a hand on his weapon. If bullets flew inside this cave, it could be disaster for everyone.

“Get out of here,” Gil urged the teenager. “Go take care of your friends. I got this.”

The boy hurried away, and Gil headed for the rocks that protected the other branch of the cave. Back there was the virus, and maybe Victor’s research, his samples, a potential bioweapon in the making.

It had to be stopped, all of it.

He found an opening in the rocks and gingerly poked his head in to see what he was up against.

Something struck his head, hard, and he reeled backwards. Everything went black.

46

The helicopter touched down about a hundred yards from where the mercenaries had taken their stand. At some point—it was all a blur to Ani—they’d stopped firing and run for their own helicopter, which was painted in camouflage and hidden at the edge of the forest.

A soldier had climbed out of a crack in the ground—there must be a tunnel under there—and fired at them as they ran. With surprise on his side, he’d brought them all down.

Now the four mercenaries were in custody, hands tied behind their backs, sitting on the ground about halfway to their helicopter.

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