s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

electromagnetic shit happening around the base. We re not sure what s going on or
who s causing it.
 What happened?
 Our surveillance was knocked out. The computer whizzes are trying to get the
stuff back online, but so far, we re still blind.
 Might be an EMP blast. Nice. Radiation?
 A bit higher than normal, but not dangerous.
 We ll leave the hazmat suits at home, then. Mikhail s lips quirked with
amusement.  Let me just go cover my immodesty. He tapped D on the shoulder to
get him to follow him into the bedroom and got dressed with quick, businesslike
motions.
So much for a nice, long heart-to-heart, but the mission always came first.
Damn. He was really looking forward to retirement at times. He walked out, just
slipping into his shirt and buttoning it, amused at how Sam tried to ignore the fact
they d both gone into the same bedroom.
He wouldn t have been surprised if Sam had taped their having sex too, but to
what end? Maybe the little spook liked having the dirt against his brother, or it was
just habit, or he kept it in case he planned to wreck Daddy Dearborn s career at
some point. None of Mikhail s business. Sam was a control freak, but to a large
Risky Maneuvers 43
extent, he was a useful control freak, and Mikhail actually liked the man s lateral
thinking. Of the two men, Sam was the sneakier one, but Mikhail could respect a
pro. Plus Sam s resourcefulness had saved his life or at least his liberty a couple
of times, so it was easier to forgive him.
 You okay, D?
D still moved a little gingerly but grinned at him.  You could kiss it better.
Mikhail laughed.  Not in front of the kids. Finally D was starting to be his old
self. They just worked well together, and it tightened his heart to have D again.
He d missed the man, not just because of the sex, but the way they could banter,
even during sex. D was the only guy he could joke with like this, somebody who was
neither scared of him nor threatened. D just cut through all the bullshit and
touched the deeper layers, the core of him, effortlessly, like all the other bullshit
wasn t even in the way. For an American, D was awfully profound.
They were in the helicopter ten minutes later, after a stop at a shop for high-
end survival gear that also sold some other hardware. Most things Mikhail wanted
could be bought in any hunting shop it always amused him how outdoor gear was
much more advanced than anything armies issued to their soldiers.
Everything packed into bags, they still traveled light. The focus was on
mobility, stealth, and versatility, as usual. D was a tanker boy he thought like
somebody trained to use armored cavalry but Mikhail knew all he had were the
resources of his own body, his feet, and his brain. He could go where no tanker could
go. He considered that a fair deal.
 I always figured you had weapons cached away in a number of places, Sam
said.
 Used to. Still have some stuff in Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, but the
places I operate in, you can always exchange a couple of goats for an AK-74. Gear is
never the problem.
 What is?
44 Barbara Sheridan & Aleksandr Voinov
 Intel. Mikhail leaned back. He sat close to D, who gazed out the window
while the chopper brought them ever closer to their destination. Their thighs lined
up. A subtle press of leg against leg told him D was with him, could be relied on,
and not least of all, wanted to touch him like this. Mikhail grinned with wry
amusement. Look at you, Misha. Don t tell me you haven t been lonely in your  I
don t need anybody game.
To occupy his mind, he went through the photos of the base again, gleaning
from the images what he could and committing the details to memory. In a tight
spot, anything could be important every small fact but at the same time, he
needed to get an understanding of the whole. Not for a moment did he believe he d
been briefed completely. This could well be a suicide mission. The only thing that
convinced him the United States actually expected them to come back was that D
was with him. D s father wouldn t send him off to be killed& or would he? Was this
just an elaborate plan to get rid of a gay son and make him a quick hero for more
political currency? He hated to think it was the case, but paranoia had saved him
too often to discard that thought entirely.
 Gimme that, D said, snatching away one of the images of the upper base s
interior. With his free hand he grabbed the small magnifier tucked into a corner of
the briefcase on Mikhail s knee.
 What? Mikhail asked, watching him tilt the photo and focus on what
appeared to be a reflection on a stainless-steel lamp base visible behind a man
wearing a white lab coat.
 I knew it, D said in an angry whisper, then louder,  I fucking knew it. He
glared at his brother and pointed to the spot on the scientist s desk.  That s that
goddamned emerald tablet from Baghdad. When I saw it last, one of your little
spook friends had it. Fucker killed a civilian woman for it. I want to know why.
 I don t know.
D lunged across the space separating the jump seats and seized Sam s throat.
 The fuck you don t. Tell me.
Risky Maneuvers 45
 Fuck you.
 Tell. Me.
D may have been out of shape in some respects, but a man s training never
really faded, and Mikhail could see by the tensing of his fingers and the subtle
movement into position of his other hand that D was of the mind to snap his
brother s neck and be done with it.
Mikhail reached out to restrain D. Whatever internal demons tormented him
since his time in Iraq, Mikhail wasn t about to let him add fratricide to the mix.
D backed off, and Sam sank back, muttering,  Crazy, crazy fuckers. He
rubbed the red marks left from D s fingers, which had added to the bruise from the
wire. Sighing, the spy shook his head.  All I know is that we need as many
bargaining chips as we can get. Some ancient shit was part of the deal.
D glanced over, and Mikhail knew he was sensing the same bullshit, answer-
evading vagaries. Still, D let it pass. The whirl of the chopper filled the tense silence
until D s voice broke it a short time later.
 What enemy are we dealing with exactly? We got little E.T. or the Predator?
Sam appeared to hesitate.  Give me the netbook.
Mikhail removed it from the bottom of the attaché case and handed it to Sam.
He watched as Sam inserted a military-grade USB stick.  There s been contact with
a couple of races, but the ones you ll likely encounter are these. He turned the
computer around.
 Fuck, D muttered.
Mikhail took the netbook so they could get a closer look. One photo was
displayed, with two more windows minimized.
The first photo showed two beings: a shorter, stereotypical ET, slight in build,
a pasty skin tone, bald head, slits where the nose should be, and large black eyes.
Next to it was a similar creature, a head or so taller, with a slightly more
46 Barbara Sheridan & Aleksandr Voinov
proportioned, more human look, and with long black hair pulled back into a
ponytail.
 The little ones on the left we don t deal much with. They do their
experimental shit, and we stay out of their way. I hear they re mean little bastards,
though, and a lot stronger than they look.
D made some sound, and Sam waited for him to speak. D waved it off, and his
brother continued.  That other one is the type we communicate through. Knew a
guy who met one. Said he didn t trust  em, said they were too conniving. He thought
they d put all of us out of a job if they came topside.
Mikhail chuckled, minimized the window, and brought up the next.
 Dude s a fucking dinosaur? D asked.
Sam shrugged.  Reminds me of Jurassic Park gone cosmic.
 Fucking raptor, man, D said.  I don t believe this shit. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]