Deception Point Page 49

Marjorie Tenchs rocky vo folderol echoed in her mind. Are you alive(predicate) that Sexton is accepting bribes from private aerospace companies?Gabrielles beatnik began racing as she gazed down the csete hallway toward the archway that led into the senators den. She knew she should communicate up, announce her presence, and yet she felt herself inching piano forward. She moved to within a some feet of the archway and stood soundlessly in the shadows earshot to the conversation beyond.55While Delta-Three stayed throne to collect Norah Mangors body and the sled, the other twain soldiers accelerated down the glacier after their aim.On their feet they wore ElektroTread-powered skis. Modeled after the consumer Fast Trax fit skis, the classified ElektroTreads were essentially s nowadays skis with miniaturized ar more(prenominal)d combat vehicle treads affixed-like snowmobiles worn on the feet. Speed was controlled by pushing the tips of the index finger and undulate together, compressing two pressure plates inside the expert-hand glove. A powerful jelly battery was molded around the foot, two-bagger as insulation and allowing the skis to run silently. Ingeniously, the kinetic energy generated by gravity and the whirl treads as the wearer glided down a heap was automatically harvested to recharge the batteries for the next incline. re tention the wind at his back, Delta-One crouched low, skimming inshore as he surveyed the glacier in the first place him. His darkness vision system was a further cry from the Patriot model utilize by the Marines. Delta-One was looking through a hands-free face mount with a 40 x 90 mm six-element lens, trio-element detonation Doubler, and Super Long Range IR. The being outside appeared in a pellucid tint of cool blue, rather than the habitual green-the color scheme especially knowing for highly reflective terrains like the Arctic.As he approached the clear upset berm, Delta-Ones goggles revealed several( prenominal) bright stripes of freshly affect snow, rising up and over the berm like a neon pointer in the night. Apparently the three escapees had all not thought to unhook their improvised sail or had been unable to. every way, if they had not released by the final berm, they were now somewhere out in the ocean. Delta-One knew his quarrys cautionary clothing would lengthen the usual keep expectancy in the water, solely the exacting offshore currents would hassock them out to sea. Drowning would be inevitable.Despite his confidence, Delta-One had been trained never to assume. He expected to delay bodies. Crouching low, he touch his fingers together and accelerated up the first incline.Michael Tolland lay motionless, taking stock of his bruises. He was battered, barely he sensed no broken bones. He had little interrogative the gel-filled Mark IX had saved him whatsoever substantial trauma. As he loose his look, his thoughts were slow to focus. Everything seemed so fter here quieter. The wind liquid howled, plainly with less ferocity.We went over the edge-didnt we?Focusing, Tolland institute he was lying on ice, disguised across Rachel Sexton, almost at right angles, their locked carabiners twisted. He could feel her breathing beneath him, but he could not see her face. He rolled off her, his muscles yet responding.Rachel? Tolland wasnt sure if his lips were making sound or not.Tolland recalled the final seconds of their harrowing ride-the upward drag of the balloon, the payload cable snapping, their bodies plummeting down the remote side of the berm, slip up and over the final mound, skimming toward the edge-the ice political campaign out. Tolland and Rachel had fallen, but the fall had been oddly short. instead than the expected plunge to the sea, they had fallen notwithstanding ten feet or so before hitting another slab of ice and sliding to a stop with the out of work weight unit of corked in tow.Now, raising his head, Tollan d looked toward the sea. not far away, the ice ended in a sheer cliff, beyond which he could hear the sounds of the ocean. Looking back up the glacier, Tolland strained to see into the night. cardinal yards back, his eyes met a high wall of ice, which seemed to hang in a higher place them. It was then that he realise what had happened. Somehow they had slid off the main glacier onto a lower terrace of ice. This fraction was flat, as large as a ice hockey rink, and had partially collapsed-preparing to cleave off into the ocean at any moment. folderol calving, Tolland thought, eyeing the parlous platform of ice on which he was now lying. It was a broad unanimous slab that hung off the glacier like a exceptional balcony, surrounded on three sides by precipices to the ocean. The sheet of ice was attached to the glacier except at its back, and Tolland could see the connection was anything but permanent. The boundary where the lower terrace clung to the Milne Ice Shelf was marked by a gawk pressure fissure almost four feet across. Gravity was well on its way to winning this battle.Almost more frightening than comprehend the fissure was Tollands seeing the motionless body of bad Marlinson crumple on the ice. Corky lay ten yards away at the end of a taut tether attached to them.Tolland well-tried to stand up, but he was unsounded attached to Rachel. Repo stickioning himself, he began detaching their involution carabiners.Rachel looked weak as she tried to sit up. We didnt go over? Her voice was bewildered.We pretermit onto a lower stave off of ice, Tolland said, at last unfastening himself from her. Ive got to help Corky.Painfully, Tolland attempted to stand, but his legs felt feeble. He grabbed the tether and heaved. Corky began sliding toward them across the ice. After a dozen or so pulls, Corky was lying on the ice a few feet away.Corky Marlinson looked beaten. Hed lost his goggles, suffered a bad cut on his cheek, and his hooter was bleeding. To llands worries that Corky might be dead were quickly allayed when Corky rolled over and looked at Tolland with an angry glare.Jesus, he stammered. What the stone pit was that little trickTolland felt a wave of relief.Rachel sat up now, wincing. She looked around. We need to get off of here. This block of ice looks like its about to fall.Tolland couldnt have hold more. The only question was how.They had no period to consider a upshot. A old(prenominal) high-pitched whir became audible above them on the glacier. Tollands gaze shot up to see two white-clad figures ski effortlessly up onto the edge and stop in unison. The two men stood there a moment, peering down at their battered devour like chess masters bask checkmate before the final kill.Delta-One was move to see the three escapees alive. He knew, however, this was a temporary condition. They had fallen onto a section of the glacier that had already begun its inevitable plunge to the sea. This quarry could be disabled and killed in the aforementioned(prenominal) manner as the other woman, but a far cleaner solution had just presented itself. A way in which no bodies would ever be found.Gazing downward over the lip, Delta-One focused on the gaping crevasse that had begun to spread like a contract between the ice shelf and the clinging block of ice. The section of ice on which the three fugitives sat was dangerously perched ready to contribute away and fall into the ocean any day now.Why not at presentHere on the ice shelf, the night was rocked every few hours by earsplitting booms-the sound of ice cracking off parts of the glacier and plummeting into the ocean. Who would take notice? contact the familiar warm rush of epinephrine that accompanied the preparation for a kill, Delta-One reached in his supply pack and pulled out a heavy, lemon-shaped object. Standard issue for military dishonor teams, the object was called a flash-bang-a nonlethal cuff grenade that temporarily disoriented an enemy by generating a blinding flash and thunderous concussion wave. Tonight, however, Delta-One knew this flash-bang would most certainly be lethal.He positioned himself near the edge and wondered how far the crevasse descended before tapering to a close. Twenty feet? Fifty feet? He knew it didnt matter. His plan would be effective regardless.