The Project 05 - The Tesla Secret

green.
    "Go," Korov yelled in Russian. He leapt into the darkness. The others followed close behind.
    Nick didn't like low altitude jumps. That close to the ground, there was no room for error. He kept his knees bent tight together and his stomach taut. The chute opened with a familiar jolt that grabbed him in the groin. The night sky was cloud covered. There was no light. The air smelled of coming snow.
    The landing zone was flat, free of boulders or trees. The ground came up in seconds, a white blur emerging from the darkness. The snow cover wasn't enough to cushion the shock. Nick hit hard and rolled. Warning stabs of pain shot up his spine.
    He was last man down. He pulled in his chute and ignored the pain. The others had gathered around something. Nick walked over and looked down at the body of Captain Zhukov. He lay shattered on the ground, his chute tangled about him. The bones of his legs stuck out through his bloody uniform. It was a bad way to begin.
    Korov was stone faced. "Leave the chutes over him."
    They covered the body.
    "The river canal is that way," Korov said. "We go there and follow it in."
    He set off at a fast trot. The snow crunched under their boots. Someone's equipment creaked. The pyramid loomed on their right. They ran until they came to the canal and followed it to the shaft. Water from the Irtysh River plummeted down over the edge and out of sight. Freezing spray drifted over the opening. Steel rungs covered with a thin coating of ice descended at precise intervals along the side of the shaft.
    Korov gestured. "Nick, take the point. I will come last."
    Nick slung his AK muzzle down and began the long climb to whatever lay below.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

    If there had been a window in Elizabeth's office, she could have looked out on a warm Indian Summer afternoon. There was no window. She had a satellite display on the wall monitor instead.
    They had infrared visual on the objective. Selena, Stephanie and Elizabeth had been listening to the mission unfold. The jump. The death of the Russian captain. They watched the luminous heat signatures of the men run toward the river canal, turn, and reach the black hole of the water shaft. They heard Korov tell Nick to start down.
    The shaft was visible only as a dim heat gradient. Selena watched one of the green figures detach itself from the others.
    She clicked her microphone button twice. "We can see you and hear you, Nick. We might lose you under ground." She stopped. What should she say? She didn't want to distract him. "I'm with you. We're watching."
    Cough.
    Then he was gone. The others followed down the ladder. The three women watched until all that remained on the screen was darkness.
    "This is the part I hate," Steph said.
    "What do you mean?" Selena rubbed the surgical scar on her abdomen, still fresh. It itched.
    "The waiting. To see how it turns out."
    To see if they come back. The unspoken thought.
    "It can't be that bad," Selena said. "How about some coffee?"
    "Oh, oh," Elizabeth said.
    On screen, the infrared image flared. A large heat source moved into view.
    "What's that?" Selena asked.
    "A helicopter coming in."
    "What's it doing there that early in the morning?"
    "Good question. That's not normal." Elizabeth swore under her breath. "It's trouble. Selena, get Nick."
    She pressed her transmitter button twice.
    "He's not responding."
    "See what I mean about the waiting?" Stephanie said.

CHAPTER SIXTY

    Ogorov ducked under the whirling blades of his helicopter and walked toward the pyramid. Tonight they would use the weapon for the first time. He'd gotten word the site had been penetrated and radioed ahead to warn Kaminsky.
    General Kaminsky waited by the entrance to the pyramid. Ogorov was climbing the hierarchy of power. Kaminsky intended to climb with him. He was Ogorov's man.
    "Minister." He clicked the heels of his shiny, high topped boots together.
    "What is the situation regarding the intruders?" Ogorov's breath formed clouds of condensation in the cold air.
    "I thought it wise to use our special detachment, rather than troops from the base. They're ten minutes behind you. Whoever they are, they will be killed or captured."
    Ogorov said, "One of our people is with them. He informs me there are three Americans in the group."
    "Americans? What are they doing here?"
    "Probably CIA. It doesn't matter. Try not to kill them. I want to question them."
    "That may not be possible."
    The two men went inside and got into an elevator. It