Hot Zone (10 page)

"10-4, copy that." Then to the group. "Stay together down there. Lets not get lost in that mess. We're going to have about fifteen minutes to check it out before we start heading back up. Lets go." Skip added as they began toward to the structures: "We want to look out for anything with teeth too. So be sharp, just in case."

"I'll take up the rear." Roo said, then looking at Skip: "I got your backs fellas."

Roo always thought of and treated Skip like his little brother. He knew right now his friend was terrified by what he had witnessed and was proud of him for how he was handling the situation.

Skip was one of the toughest, strongest-willed of all the SAS soldiers he'd seen over the years. His talents for hand to hand combat were second to none and it would not have surprised Roo if Skip had taken on whatever monster had killed Shooter and lived to one day tell the tale

But not now.

11

At the same time as Jordan and the Team stood on the summit gazing at the structures below, Grosjean awoke to find his brother standing over him grinning. In his hand was the list of vessels he had requested.

"You look awfully proud of yourself." Grosjean chapped.

"I have your list, Marc. It's short but incredibly distinguished."

Grosjean sat up, snatching the list out of his brother’s hands and read it silently:

_P&0 CRUISE SHIP STARLIGHT_

_CRUISE SHIP SUN VISTA

_FIJI CRUISES X 3 SHIPS

_USS KITTY HAWK

_WHALE WATCHING CHARTER-PAPEETE

_AUS SUBMARINE-DARWIN-TRAINING

_GREENPEACE WARSHIP RAINBOW WARRIOR

_52 PRIVATELY OWNED VESSELS 50 FEET OR LESS_

Grosjean scanned the list up and down, missing it the first two times before he saw it.

_USS KITTY HAWK

"François, you're a good man. Whom did you show this list to?"

"No one. I came straight here."

"Good. Don't tell anyone you got me this list. And don't tell anyone what was on it. Not until I say so."

"Sure, whatever."

Grosjean left his brother standing in his room breathing in the dust trail Grosjean create when he raced from the residence. That race against time he'd felt only hours earlier just took on a whole new meaning.

He took his brother's jeep and sped off to the other side of the Atoll where Special Ops trained for combat. In their off time they also helped to carry out the security measures needed for the on going nuclear tests.

They were about to get their first mission in years.

Exploding through the doors of Colonel Hansie Farry was the exact impression Grosjean wanted to give. Grosjean entered to find Farry lighting up a cigar and reclining back in his seat like he had not a care in the world. Grosjean hated the fact he had to be the one to ruin this falsehood.

"It's like this Colonel. The Greenpeace ship we intercepted a couple of days ago with that body, the guy who made the Mayday call. I am concerned Sir, that the mayday call may have been intercepted by a third party."

"A third party, Marc?"

"Not just any third party Sir."

"The Americans?" Farry drew hard on his cigar.

"Yes."

"Are we sure?"

"We have to plan like we are, yes. A carrier was within radio frequency of the distress call when it was transmitted. With the equipment they have on their ships Sir it's more than likely they heard the call."

"And that means?"

"We need to dispatch a team out to the site immediately. I will take the lead myself."

A light bulb went on in the Colonel's head. "Marc. The location where that ship was found, is that the problem?"

"Judging from the distress call Sir I believe the dead Professor may have seen something. Anyone listening to the call would have taken it that way. We need to make sure that area is still secure."

"Form a group, six men including yourself. Chopper out to Mururoa and find out if the area is compromised. Do whatever you have to keep it secure."

Grosjean was relieved. That was what he wanted to hear. The Colonel had been known in the past to get loud and animated over such situations. This time, however, he had stayed calm.

"You are dismissed Lieutenant." Farry said.

Grosjean turned to leave, not even reaching the door when Farry added: "And Lieutenant."

"Yes Sir."

"Control this situation would you."

"Of course sir." Grosjean said.

Grosjean walked out breathing a sigh of relief. Nodding with a grin to the secretary as he left he began jotting down names in his mind who would be perfect for this mission. The mission itself could boil down to be nothing had the Americans not intercepted the call but he wanted a group of men who could hold their own.

Grosjean headed across a small field where twenty-nine men were busy training for the up coming nuclear test. Out of these men he would pick the five he felt most suitable for this mission.

Each man would have to be experts in weaponry hand to hand combat and even more importantly be comfortable diving underwater in the area. Grosjean knew the area surrounding the Atoll well. He was well informed as to the levels of plutonium leakage into the seabed and that long exposure to it could result in serious medical problems. A fact he had believed his government had been covering up for a very long time.

Approaching the Commanding Officer in charge of training Grosjean already knew whom he wanted. He had followed the current group's progression and had known who the stars would be.

The Commanding Officer addressed Grosjean formally.

"At ease Commander." Grosjean said.

"How can I assist you today Sir?"

"I need to borrow five of your men for a day or two. I have a small mission to carry out."

"Do you know who you want Sir?"

"Absolutely."

And with that Marc Grosjean picked five men who would alter his life forever.

* * *

On Mururoa, Commander Sam Hatick sat in the control tower monitoring the area's radio and radar signals for anything that seemed out of place. With the final test just a couple of days away the area was strictly out of bounds to anyone without the necessary security clearance. When a small blip appeared on the radar screen in front of Hatick, his eyes arched with instant curiosity.

Hatick took down the coordinates and pulled out his small telescope, specially designed to monitor and control the entire diameter of the exclusion zone. Bringing it into focus Hatick could clearly see two black zodiacs in the middle of an expanse of blue water. In the zodiacs he saw a solitary figure. A man dressed in black waterproof fatigues sporting a large assault rifle.

Hatick picked up the phone and called into his sister tower on Hao. On the other end of the line François Grosjean answered the call. He immediately sent word out to the island for his Brother, Marc, to contact him immediately.

It did not take long to get a response.

* * *

When Grosjean received the call he knew his worst nightmare had been realized. With his men chosen, but not briefed, he had little time to prepare them and get to Mururoa. It was only a matter of time before the Americans would learn the secret.

He didn't want that happening on his watch.

12

In her mind's eye Jordan could see giant squid diving down with her, encasing their enormous arms around her, squeezing the life right out of her. With the visions came the overture from the movie Jaws. The unmistakable buildup of terror, climaxing in a final gruesome end for the victim. She couldn't help but think it was going to end that way for the rest of them. Shooter had held a spear gun, she remembered and look what good it did him.

And he was a professional!

That being said the archaeologist in her couldn't fight off the nagging curiosity brought about by the deep-sea structures below. There was no doubt they where man-made.

The thick covering of coral and sand made it extremely difficult to tell exactly what they were or how old. For that she would need to get up close to them. She was still diving with Ice, six feet to her right constantly giving her reassuring looks, though she saw through his facade. He was hurting over Shooter's death, but was too strong and proud to admit it.
Necessary qualities for a leader
, she thought.

The group was fifty feet above the structures, although the water and the fact that in places the seabed dropped out of sight around them distorted their size and depth. Whatever these were they were perched on higher ground, some were higher than others and larger in size. From where she was Jordan could not seen an entrance. They appeared to be sealed, at least from the topside.

The deeper they went the clearer this became. The structures stretched out of eyesight. Whatever was down here was larger than any of them had originally thought. Jordan was amazed at the expanse that lay beyond her.

"I am going to need more time to look at these, Ice." She said. "There's too much down here to analyze it all in ten minutes."

"Time is tight for us, this will have to be a return trip." Ice agreed.

"Before we get carried away down here we should call it quits for now. This obviously isn't going to go anywhere in the next twenty four hours." Roo added.

To the surface Ice called his watchdog: "Ghost. We're coming up; make sure we have a good read on this location for next time. We're starting to ascend now." Ice said

"10-4 Ice, plugging in the coordinates, see you soon." Ghost copied.

"Jordan, what is your take on that?" Ice asked, nodding at the structures as the pair began to rise.

"I've never seen anything like it. I don't know what it is or how long it's been there but it isn't new, the coral formations point to years and years of spawning to get coverage like that."

"What about Shooter? Is anyone wondering what the hell it was that took him? I could care less about those structures right now." Roo barked.

"A manta ray." Skip injected.

"Huh." Ice breathed.

"It was a manta ray, but where there are usually feelers, or lips I guess you would call them, there were fangs. Like walrus tusks."

"I haven’t ever heard of a species like that before...are you sure?" Storm asked.

"Mate. I was right there, trust me, I am sure. It was fast too. For the most part these things just cruise along. This one was slick, it cut through the water so fast. Shooter never had a chance."

"That's a heck of a thing to be saying while we're still in the water. You think we could get back on dry land before we get a play by play?" Jordan asked, the pit of her stomach sitting squarely in her throat.