Temple of the Gods by Andy McDermott

Author:Andy McDermott
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Azizex666, Adventure, Thriller
ISBN: 9780755385935
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2011-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

20

In the administration block, Colonel Kern listened to a crackling report over the intercom from Silent Peak’s lowest level. ‘We still haven’t been able to restore full power down here, sir. We need a maintenance crew to fix the breakers.’

‘We’ll have to call a team in from Groom,’ said Kern, concerned. ‘What about the intruders?’ From the moment the alert had come through directly from the Pentagon that their security clearances had been forged, his honoured guests had been reduced in status to targets.

Ogleby came on the line. ‘They’ve wrecked the place!’ he cried. ‘Kern, I hold you entirely responsible for this fiasco. How the hell did you allow them to just stroll in here?’

‘I see from the system that you approved their clearances too,’ Kern replied irritably, checking a monitor. ‘But it looks like security’s been breached at a very high level. There’ll have to be an investigation—’

‘Sir!’ his lieutenant interrupted, pointing excitedly at a status board. ‘The main elevator – it’s coming up!’

‘I think we’ve found them,’ Kern told Ogleby before ending the call. He turned to his subordinate. ‘Assemble a group, everyone armed, then get to the elevator. But keep the guards at the main door in case it’s a ruse and they’re trying to escape some other way.’

The lieutenant acknowledged and rushed out. ‘Keep monitoring things here,’ Kern ordered a corporal as he headed for his office.

He opened a desk drawer and took out his sidearm. Silent Peak’s quiet obscurity and official status as a reserve facility meant that only its security personnel were routinely armed, but right now he wanted every man on the base to have a gun at the ready. Whatever Nina Wilde and her companion were doing here, it was going to be stopped. Flicking off the Beretta’s safety, he hurried after the lieutenant.

In the control room, the corporal’s eyes bugged as he saw on a CCTV screen what the enormous elevator was carrying. ‘Uh, sir?’ he called, but his commander had already gone.

Kern met his men outside the cluster of cabins, where the lieutenant had rounded up twelve troops. Some were support staff armed only with pistols, but the majority were members of the base’s security detail, carrying M4 rifles. ‘Okay, everyone with me,’ he ordered, starting to run. The men fell in alongside him. ‘We have two intruders who infiltrated the base using falsified credentials, and gained access to the repository. They’re to be considered armed and dangerous.’ He hesitated before continuing, but the command from the Pentagon had been clear. ‘You have shoot-on-sight authorisation.’

The responses from the running men showed that few, if any, shared his misgivings.

They raced down the length of the hangar, passing the parked aircraft and vehicles. The great chasm of the shaft opened up ahead as they neared it. A deep mechanical grumbling grew ever louder – the massive elevator platform was approaching the top.

‘Spread out,’ said Kern as the group reached the shaft. ‘I want every part of the platform . . . covered .

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