Douglas_Preston_

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Snow stared at the strangely broad footprint, the feeling of menace increasing. As Donovan s laughter
subsided, Snow heard a distant rumble. What was that? he asked.
What? Donovan asked, kneeling and adjusting his H-harness.
Isn t it too early to set off the charges? Snow asked.
I didn t hear anything.
I did. Suddenly, Snow s heart was hammering in his rib-cage.
Donovan listened, but there was only silence. Chill, sport, he said. You re starting to hear things.
I think we should check it with the Patrol Leader.
Donovan shook his head. Yeah, and piss him off good. He glanced at his watch. Strict noise
discipline, remember? The op site isn t even a click away from here. They ll be back in ten minutes. Then
we can get the hell out of this toilet. He spat fervently into the stagnant mud.
The flare guttered and died, plunging the vault into dark-ness.
Shit, Donovan muttered. Snow, hand me another from that ditty bag near your feet.
There was another rumble, which slowly resolved into the faint muffled staccato of gunfire. It seemed to
shiver through the ancient walls, rising and falling like a distant storm.
In the dark, Snow could hear Donovan rise quickly to his feet, finger punching the comm set. Team
Alpha, Patrol Leader, do you read? he hissed.
A mass of static came crackling over the frequency.
There was a rolling shudder in the ground. That was a damn grenade, Donovan said. Alpha! Beta!
Come in!
The ground shuddered again.
Snow, get your weapon. Snow heard the long rattle of a well-oiled bolt being drawn back. What a
cluster-hump this is turning into. Alpha, do youread ?
Five by five. Rachlin s voice came crackling over the comm set. We ve lost communications with
Gamma. Stand by.
Roger that, Donovan said.
There was a brief, tense silence, then the Commander s voice returned.
Delta, Gamma must-have run into difficulties setting their charges. Handle the redundancy. We ve
already set our charges and will check Beta s status.
Aye-aye. A light snapped on, and Donovan looked at Snow. Let s move, he said. We ll have to
set Gamma s charges. Twisting the light into his shoulder snap, he set off at a lope, running low, his rifle
held perpendicular to his chest. Taking a deep breath, Snow followed him into the tunnel. Glancing down,
he noticed footprints in the flickering illumi-nation more prints here, crossing and crisscrossing in a
crazed welter, too numerous to pick out the SEAL booties of Gamma team. He swallowed hard.
Within minutes, Donovan slowed at what looked like an old siding, surrounded by a mass of pylons.
Shouldn t be much farther, he muttered, switching off his light and listening carefully.
Where are they? Snow heard himself asking. He wasn t surprised when Donovan didn t bother to
answer.
We re back at the rally point, came the voice of Rachlin in his comm set. I repeat: charges
successfully set. Going to check on Beta now.
Come on, Donovan said, moving forward again. Sud-denly, he stopped.
You smell that? he whispered.
Snow opened his mouth, then closed it again as the stench hit him. He turned away instinctively. It was
an overripe, earthy smell, its pungency overwhelming the stink of the drainage tunnel. And there was
something else: the strangely sweet smell of a butcher s shop.
Donovan shook his head as if to clear it, then tensed to move forward again. At that moment, the comm
unit buzzed in Snow s ear. There was a hiss, then Rachlin s voice suddenly came through: ... attack.
Drop flares ...
Snow wondered if he d heard right. Rachlin had spoken with abnormal calmness. Then there was a
burst of static from the comm unit, and a rattle that sounded like gunfire.
Alpha! Donovan yelled. You reading? Over.
That s a rog, came Rachlin s voice. We re under at-tack. Couldn t reach Beta. We re setting their
charges now. Beecham,there ! There was a whump, then a terrific explo-sion. Emerging from the
electronic snow were unintelligible sounds: shouting, perhaps a scream, yet somehow too deep and
hoarse to be human. Again, the low rumble of gunfire came through the walls.
Delta ... came Rachlin s voice over the roar of static, ... surrounded ...
Surrounded? Donovan shouted. Surrounded by what? You need backup?
There was more gunfire, then a massive roar.
Alpha! Donovan called. Do you need backup?
My God, so many ... Beecham, what the hell is that ... Rachlin s voice died in a roar of static. All at
once, the sound stopped, and Snow rooted in place in the close darkness thought that perhaps his
comm unit had gone dead. Then it emitted a hideous, coughing scream, so loud it seemed to come from
beside him, followed by the rubbery noise of neoprene being torn. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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