Temple of Fire (14 page)

Titan Six

Ruins of
Raj
Kithune

 

As Dr. Madison knelt by the side of Quiz, the blistering sun adding to the heat from the increasing number of fires inside the circumference of the crater,
Aiko
checked her communicator.  Her face was ashen.  She’d received a message from Dr. Me-Sung.

 
ORDERS FROM LI SOO YANG.
KILL T6

 

Commander
Aiko
looked up from the text and spied
Jao
Me-Sung hurrying towards the EFV, the Dragons following him. 

The vehicle had become visible after Tank’s earlier warning that stealth mode was consuming too much power. 

If the Chinese were able to take the vehicle,
Aiko
knew that Titan Six would surely be slaughtered and their bodies abandoned.

“What’s going on?” Hawkeye asked.

“My forces have been ordered to kill your men,”
Aiko
replied.

“Titan Six!”
Hawkeye called above the din.  “Take cover!”

Lieutenant
Cho
emerged from the EFV; he was holding the limp body of Will Langhorne and several backpacks.  He dropped the body and the packs on the sand and then reentered the vehicle.  Seconds later he emerged again, handing out weapons to the swarming Dragons.

The EFV was near the granary in the southwest corner of the crater.  Dragons quickly loaded the cache of assault rifles that had been stored in the rear of the vehicle.

Aiko
and Hawkeye dove behind a shrine bordering one of the smaller temples between the
Royal
Palace
and the granary.  Tank, Gator, and Shooter took cover behind a fallen block of stone from the
Royal
Palace
. 

Madison
dragged Quiz’s body behind the palace, away from the looming confrontation.

“Care to explain?” Hawkeye asked
Aiko
.

“
Jao
is taking orders from Yang, not me.  This is dishonorable.”

Tracer rounds crisscrossed the southern part of the crater.  A large chunk of stone above the head of Hawkeye exploded into dust.

“Any ideas on how to manage this mess?”
Hawkeye said.

“Maybe,”
Aiko
said.

“Good,” said Hawkeye, “because we only have forty-six minutes to evacuate.”

 

Ops
Center

Aboard the
Alamiranta

 

“Activating Quiz’s
BioMEMS
,” Touchdown said.  “He’s suffering from hypoxia and poisoning.  I’m going to neutralize the gas particles in his bloodstream and increase his oxygen levels.  Pulse is very weak.”

“What’s the status of T6?”
Caine
asked.

“The Chinese forces are firing thousands of rounds per minute.”

“Where’s
Aiko
?  Can you isolate her target?  Maybe if we take her out, her forces will scatter.”

“She’s next to Hawkeye.  I don’t think she’s our problem.”

“Then who is?”
Caine
said,
her strained voice loud enough to turn all heads in the
Ops
Center
.

“It’s more of a case of what is the problem,” said Touchdown. 
“Not who.”

“Explain.”

“I think the whole city is going to crumble any minute. 
Temples
and pyramids are starting to collapse.”

“Are you reading the bomb?”
Caine
asked.

“It’s deep, but it has a very strong energy signature, as you might expect.  Forty-five minutes to detonation.  If the site blows before the nuke can seal it, this will all have been for nothing.”

“Let’s hope Mr. Hawke can pull a rabbit out of his hat,” said
Caine
.

“Ma’am,” said Touchdown, “I think the Chinese beat us in the magic department.  I read a very unusual target outside the EFV.  It’s a man, and he’s being hit by tracer rounds every few seconds.”

“And?”

“He’s not being harmed in the least.  He’s reading . .
. ”
  Touchdown stroked his chin, perplexed.  “He’s reading as both human and machine.  He’s a
cyborg
.”

Caine
exhaled and lowered her head.  The mission was falling apart.

 

Aft Cargo Hold 6

Aboard the
Alamiranta

 

The seals around the torpedo had been partially removed, and water began to enter the cargo hold at a faster rate. 
Pyro
sat in the caged seat of a yellow forklift and backed it gently against the nose of the torpedo.

“There’s going to be a short window of opportunity to get this done,”
Pyro
said above the growing volume of voices in the compartment.  “When the water really starts pouring in, the forklift’s engine will shut down fairly quickly.

Pyro
gently applied pressure to the gas petal, exhaust spewing from the machine’s tailpipe.  The torpedo slid to the side by five degrees.

Pyro
exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow.  Pushing against a live torpedo with a forklift was the height of folly, but it was the only thing left to try.

Half of the seals around the weapon were gone, and water was now rushing into the hold with considerable force.  Within minutes, one foot of water surrounded the shins of the crewmembers.

Pyro
motioned for members of the bomb squad to push on the torpedo as he gunned the engine of the forklift.

The torpedo slid backwards several inches, its metal skin grinding against the hull of the ship. 
Pyro
cringed at the grating sound, instinctively closing his eyes and tensing his shoulders, as if bracing for an explosion.

All seals were off, and water rose quickly in the cargo hold. 
Pyro
hit the accelerator and pushed the torpedo backwards.  The gears of the forklift were straining, the engine coughing up smoke.

Water was at the three-foot level when the forklift stalled.  The torpedo was almost out.

“Push!” yelled
Pyro
. 

Five of the crew joined the others and heaved the weapon into the Pacific.  The
Alamiranta
was free of the torpedo at last.

Pyro
and the others fought their way towards the main cargo hatch.  They swam in white, foaming water, which was six feet high and rising.

“I can’t get the damn thing open!” screamed one of the crew.  “The water pressure’s too great.”

“We’ve only got seconds left!” said another.

Pyro
frog-kicked to the hatch, plunged beneath the water, and, together with two other men, pulled the thick metal door against the tide of rushing seawater.

Water spilled into the passageway outside the hold as
Pyro
and the crew tumbled to the floor.  They struggled to their feet, clothes dripping, and pulled on the hatch.  It slammed shut, the men locking the hatch by forcing its heavy lever into the DOWN position.

“Let’s get out of here before the Captain finishes sealing off the area,”
Pyro
advised.

Pyro
, the crew, and the bomb squad were two decks higher when the explosion occurred.  The torpedo had detonated.

 

Titan Six

Ruins of
Raj
Kithune

 

Bullets continued to impact the stone structures protecting Titan Six.  The ground shook, causing stones from the already-crumbling
Nizian
temples to fall at an accelerated pace.  The Chinese had hurled a Titan Six concussion grenade at the team, causing the crater floor to heave up and then settle lower, the charge gouging a six-foot pit in the sand and stone.

“Your troops are well trained,” Hawkeye told
Aiko
as they covered their heads with their hands.  He then lifted his body up to gauge the enemy’s strength and position.  Dragons were firing at Titan Six from dozens of locations. 

“You’re their commander,” he said.  “Is there anything you can do to stop this mess before we’re all pulverized?”

Aiko
took out her communicator.

Gator stood quickly and fired his SAW to the right of the EVF.  He ducked down quickly again as four of the Dragons spun around in blood-splattered uniforms.  Shooter took out two more with her assault rifle.

“Why are they fighting us?” Hawkeye asked
Aiko
.  “I’m not sure any of us can get out of here alive, but they’re wasting valuable time.”

Aiko
leaned to the side so that she could be heard above the firefight and placed her lips close to Hawkeye’s ears.

“They have betrayed my promise to you,” she said.  “I suspect they have orders to fight to the death, even if doing so means suicide.  I am ashamed.”

“Don’t be,” Hawkeye said.  “Just help us out, and we’ll take you to safety.  If you want us to, that is.”

“I’ll never be able to return to my people,”
Aiko
said with suppressed sadness.

“It’s your call, Commander.”

She sighed.  “Yang would kill me for siding with you.  I have no choice but to return with Titan Six.”

Commander
Aiko
began to rapidly punch the keys of her communicator, as if programming the device.

Lieutenant
Cho
was now advancing on Titan Six.  He swept the area with machine gun fire as he walked forward, unharmed by Titan bullets thanks to his body’s force field.

Aiko
pushed the SEND button on the communicator.

Cho
stopped, standing completely immobile.  He dropped his machine gun, arms hanging limply at his side.  Blood began oozing from his eye sockets, his hands curling into fists and then uncurling.  Raising his head and gazing at the sky, he let out a loud wail.  Gasping for air, he sank to his knees.  He was now also bleeding from his nose and mouth.  He attempted to walk on his knees, but his movements were spasmodic and ineffective.

Aiko
pressed the SEND button a second time.

Lieutenant
Cho’s
body exploded, his head flying high into the air, bouncing off the stones of a Cambodian-style temple.  His limbs caromed off temple walls, his torso bursting open like a blood-filled bag.

Dr. Me-Sung cried loudly and began to run.  The remaining Dragons followed him.

“He’s called for a retreat,”
Aiko
said.  “They’ll probably regroup somewhere else in the crater.  I’m sure their orders are to prevent you — I mean us — from leaving.”

Titan Six stood as the roar of battle faded.

“What just happened to the
cyborg
?” Hawkeye asked.

“He’s a prototype.  I was given a code to destroy him should he begin to malfunction.  He didn’t.  He was performing all too well.”

“Let’s get to the EFV,” Hawkeye said.  “We have forty-one minutes left until the nuke fries everything in this crater.”

 

Ops
Center

Aboard the
Alamiranta

 

Status reports, everyone!”
Caine
said.

“The torpedo exploded twenty yards off the aft stern,” DJ said.  “We’re taking on a lot of water, and
— ”

DJ checked her right-hand monitor.

“Beatrice is overtaking us again,” DJ continued.

“Ten miles before we clear the storm,”
came
the voice of
Nikos
Papagantis
from the Bridge. 
“If we can hold out that long.
  We’ll have to skirt the edge of the feeder band until we’re free.  Lower port decks sealed, pumps engaged.  We’re listing at a ten-degree angle.  We can expect the ship to list even more in the next few minutes.”

“Titan Six is headed back to the EFV with Commander
Aiko
,” Touchdown said.  “The Dragons that were firing on them are moving to the far side of the crater.  We won’t be
needing
all of the choppers waiting near the rim.  As for the city, the temples and pyramids are almost leveled.”

Caine
turned to the holographic display, which verified that the structures of
Raj
Kithune
continued to deteriorate.  She looked astonished.  “Is
Aiko
defecting?”

“Unknown, ma’am.
  Hawkeye has thirty-nine minutes to get his team into the air and clear of the blast zone.  I think his communication is a bit rushed.”

“That sub we spotted earlier — it’s only twenty miles away,” DJ said.  “I still can’t get an ID on it.”

“Damn,” said
Caine
.  “Damn.”

* * *

 

Joshua Ambergris seemed oblivious to the fate of the
Alamiranta
and Titan Six.  He’d been absorbed in analyzing data recorded by the team’s helmet cams.  He was methodically sifting through the ancient alphabet and glyphs carved into shrines.

He’d found the symbol that he’d been looking for.  He already knew that the
Nizia
were descendents of the Ancients two hundred thousand years earlier, but the symbol on his screen might help interpret much of the other information that Titan Six would bring back from the ruins.

He glanced at nearby stations and saw the looks of grave concern on the faces of his colleagues.

The information from the ruins would indeed be invaluable . . . but only if Titan Six managed to get back alive.