Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

"So where would they go?" he asked.

Tina shrugged. "I don't know the answer to that one, but we could go find out. How much gas do you have?"

"I've got plenty. You go back to town, I'll go check it out and meet you back in an hour or two."

"And what happens when you get lost?" she asked. "Should I just leave you out there to die or would you like me to send out a set of sled dogs?"

"I don't get lost," he said, chuckling and tapping his temple. "I'm one of those people with a built-in compass."

"Maybe so," she said, "but you don't even know what you're up against at this point. I'll tag along and if something starts going down, I'll get out of your way. I'm a guide, but you aren't paying me enough to take a bullet for you. Either way, I can't let you wander off into the middle of nowhere without your guide. If you died, it would play hell on my business."

"Tina, I'm not going to argue," he said, his voice firm.

"Good," she said. "That will save us a lot of time because I'm following the tracks whether you are or not. Curiosity and all. You coming?"

She didn't wait for his reply, but jumped on her quad and took off without him.

Jason had difficulty catching up at first. The ground was boggy in places, rocky in others, and Tina knew how to avoid the obstacles easily. Once Jason fell in behind her, he made a point to stay directly in her tracks to avoid any problems.

They traveled for the better part of an hour before they crested a ridge and Tina rolled to a stop. Jason pulled up next to her.

"That was a dirty trick, driving through that boggy area," he said.

"It wasn't a trick," she replied. "Just a friendly reminder that you may not be able to instantly recognize when and where the dangers are. That's part of the reason you hired a guide, remember?"

"Vaguely," he said, smiling. "My reasons for doing that come and go from my mind, depending on your behavior."

She laughed and then pointed down into the shallow valley below them. "What do you make of that?"

Jason could see the outline of several trucks and a small building. He grabbed his binoculars and took a harder look. The building looked like a large tin structure. Four men milled around outside, heavily armed. The trucks that had been on the beach were sitting outside and appeared to be heavily loaded.

"You had to know about this place. It's not that far from the village," he said.

"Far enough," she said. "No one comes out this way, Jason."

"Well, there sure is someone here now. Have a look," he said, handing over the binoculars.

She peered through them. "Oh, my God. Those guys have guns." She paused. "A lot of guns."

"Do you recognize any of them?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, that's Chris coming out of the building now. I'm not sure who the thugs with the guns standing around outside are. The other guy coming out of the building is…holy shit! That snake, that dirty rotten snake!"

"What?"

"His old boss is there. Boris Ambros — the one that I told you left town. He's there. Chris must have been working for them the whole time. What the hell do they want?"

"I don't know," he said, filing the name away. "You didn't mention before that the oil company was Russian."

"No, I didn't," she said. "I guess…I didn't think it was important. Every other company that tries to break in up here is Russian." She peered through the binoculars again, then added, "He had lots of different people working for him — locals, whites, Chinese, Russian. It was a pretty mixed crew."

Jason took the binoculars back and watched as the men climbed into vehicles and left, while Chris and the older man Tina said was his boss walked behind the building. A moment later, it was Jason's turn for a surprise. "Holy shit!" he said, echoing her comment. "I don't believe it."

"What?" Tina asked.

"Do you know what that is?" he asked, watching in stunned amazement as it lifted up beyond the building.

"That?" she asked. "Unless they've invented a new type of flying can opener, that's called a helicopter."

"That, my dear, is not just any helicopter. That thing makes my underwater craft look like a bath toy. It's not even supposed to exist yet!"

"What do you mean, it's not supposed to exist?"

Still stunned, Jason explained. "That helicopter is an XJ6, developed under the prototype name Asp. It's the most advanced combat helicopter in the world. It has rotor dampeners that adjust as it flies to make it virtually silent and an advanced weapons system that is pinpoint accurate. It doesn't show up on most forms of radar, because it uses light-and signal-bending technology that the rest of the world doesn't even know exists."

"Is it too much to hope that his boss is some eccentric rich guy who likes to collect odd military equipment?" Tina asked.

"You don't understand," he said. "The Asp doesn't exist. The only reason that I know about it is…" His voice trailed off, suddenly aware that he had already said too much. If she ever decided to get out of the guide business, she'd make a hell of an interrogator. People would just talk to her and not even know it.

"Long story short, I was asked in an advisory capacity to look at some of the designs and give input on what would work tactically in the field."

"Well, just because you didn't see it built doesn't mean that it didn't happen. How long ago were you asked?" she asked.

"Three weeks," he said. "They told me it was a prototype." His mind was working quickly. Someone inside Room 59 had either sold or leaked the plans even before he'd seen them. Or they'd been stolen. In either case, Denny had to be notified immediately of a possible security breach.

The helicopter took off and, as Jason promised, it was virtually silent. It flew off into what Jason knew from his premission review was a military-only fly zone.

With the compound below deserted, Jason knew he had to see what else was there. These had to be the guys. There was a very good chance they were involved with more than just weapons smuggling. If they had the helicopter, it wasn't a huge leap to imagine that they also knew about the sub. He needed to know where they were getting their technology and more importantly still, where they were getting their intelligence.

"Tina," he said. "I need you to go back. I have to see what else is down there and now is the perfect time to do it. The place is practically deserted."

"If it's deserted, then I should be able to come along."

"Practically doesn't mean entirely," he said. "They won't leave it unguarded." He held up a hand as she started to object. "Please," he added. "I can't do my job if I'm worrying about you, too."

She looked as if she wanted to argue some more, but said, "All right, but if you aren't back in town in two hours, then I'm calling in the cavalry and we're coming out to find you."

He chuckled. "There isn't a cavalry within two hundred miles of here, but…if I'm not back in two hours, a cavalry will come whether we want it to or not, because I'll be dead. I can promise you that wouldn't go unnoticed."

"Good to know," she said. "Stay safe." Then, without another word, she turned her quad around and headed back in the direction of the village. He waited until Tina was out of sight and then planned his approach to the compound, looking for the best way in.

His plan crystallized in his mind, and he said, "Bingo," then headed for his destination.

Rather than risk being spotted, Jason left his quad where it was and set out on foot. There were enough trees, shrubs and grasses to give him adequate cover, especially if his approach was at more of an angle rather than straight ahead on the rough track the trucks had followed. He low-crawled the last fifty yards until he made his way to the back of the first truck and took a moment to look at the building close up.