The Siberian Incident 2 Page 15

  "Not since 2017," Scott said.

  Colin shot an angry glance at Scott.

  "So, do you think that the US Government and I can make an arrangement, Maddock?"

  "You'll have to ask him," Maddock replied nodding toward Scott, "He's going to have to help you, I'm just a contractor."

  "What the fuck?" Colin exclaimed, "I thought you were an accountant?"

  "I'm an accountant," Scott said, somewhat angry that Maddock had outed him.

  "Just…Scott. It's going to be easier to do this with him than have him and his friends against us," Maddock said insistently.

  "Alright, maybe I know some people who will listen to you if you have information they find to be of value," Scott said.

  "Well, get a hold of them, I'm not helping you until we have an agreement," Colin insisted.

  "We have no comms out here," Scott said.

  "You guys are fucking unbelievable, here's my sat phone. 1024 bit encrypted private VPN to my own satellite, call your people," Colin said.

  He handed Scott a phone that looked remarkably smaller and more modern than any satellite phone he'd seen anyone in the agency using.

  "You have your own satellite? Who launched that for you?" Scott inquired.

  "Yeah, I have a satellite. I had to contract with Musk to do it," Colin answered.

  "I didn't think he liked you. I saw his Tweets about you. They were actually pretty funny. No buddy discount there, I assume. No wonder you don't have any money," Scott said, taking the phone.

  "I told you, I am still a billionaire," Colin paused.

  He suddenly remembered that Scott probably had better intel than he could buy from the Russians.

  "Oh, never mind, you probably do know, yeah, I am not a billionaire anymore. Just call your people, please."

  ***

  Sandy Magdalena stood looking over Franklin's dead body, she was hoping for some sign of life. She kicked him over, and the massive wound on the back of his head revealed that more than half his brain had been scooped out by the force of the bullet.

  The doctor hadn't arrived yet. They contracted out to trusted medical teams in the cities where they kept offices, and the doctor in Columbus lived in Dublin and was about 30 minutes away if there was traffic. She looked down at the knife sticking out of her arm and felt very alone.

  Suddenly the Polycom lit up, three green lights flashed on the device indicating an incoming call. Magdalena winced as she instinctively reached out her right arm to answer it, and the movement dug the knife into her flesh. It had better not be the doctor calling her to tell her he was delayed.

  "Yes," she said, her voice quivering a bit as the reality of the previous ten minutes somehow hit her all at once as she answered.

  "Ladyhawk 1, this is Badger 4," a familiar voice said on the other end.

  Magdalena's face lit up, despite the throbbing pain in her arm. It was Scott, and he sounded healthy and alive.

  "Badger 4, go ahead."

  "Ok, well, you're not going to believe this but, um someone wants to talk to you."

  "Who?" Magdalena asked, had they been captured?

  "Who is this?" She heard a voice say away from the receiver, then the voice spoke directly to her, "Um…yeah, Ms. Ladyhawk?"

  "Yes?" She said, responding to the incorrect callsign.

  "This is Colin Crossfield, I have information on The Russian Federation and the President of Russia that would be of pertinence to the United States Government. I want to receive immunity from prosecution and protection from retribution. In exchange, I will cooperate fully with the United States Government and answer truthfully any questions you have about my dealings in Russia, with Demitry Strovenyevich and with The Russian President."

  After a long pause, Scott could hear Agent Magdalena's voice speaking on the phone to Colin.

  "She says she wants to talk to you," Colin said, handing the phone to Scott.

  Scott took the device and pressed it hard against his ear, attempting to ensure that no sound escaped as Magedelena talked to him.

  "Scott, can you hear me?" Agent Magdalena asked.

  "Yes," Scott answered.

  "Ok, only answer yes or no. We have an issue, Strovenyevich's people have infiltrated our operations. We need Colin's information to weed out any more of them. I've made a deal with Colin, he has immunity, but that does not mean that you are not still cleared to assassinate him as planned. If you feel that you or Maddock are in danger because of him or if you feel that he will compromise your mission. If you don't like the cologne he currently has on, you have 100% clearance to terminate him. Is that understood."

  "Yes," Scott answered, looking at Colin, who stared back at him with a smirk, utterly oblivious to what Scott was being told.

  "Affirmative, be at the extraction point in 1 hour and 23 minutes Agent Brubeck, I don't care how you have to do it."

  "I will be," Scott answered.

  He pressed a red button that hung up the satellite phone and gave it back to Colin.

  "I told you I had good information, she got it approved. Excellent, I am finally going to be able to make some real money! No threat of prosecution, wow, it is like a weight has lifted from my shoulders," Colin said excitedly.

  "Didn't think you were cooperating for an altruistic reason," Maddock said out loud, "You still need to help us. What exactly do you bring to this team? What do you know about those things that we don't?"

  "Behavior patterns, weaknesses, and I have this," Colin said, holding up a small black device.

  "The Crossfield Communication device? Didn't that fail in the early 2000s?" Maddock asked, knowing full well it was one of Colin's biggest failures.

  Colin had invested in a device that would allow unlimited usage of texting in the early 2000s. It was expensive, and it failed miserably when phone carriers began offering unlimited texting for cheap.

  "No! Well, yeah, that's what this is, but what it does is another matter. The Magadan cave is wired to explode. I text the code and it collapses on itself. We can't go in and get your Snow Yetis with a couple of small arms and an RPG-7. I text the code, and you won't have 40 angry, violent hominids chasing you to your extraction point. Where is your ride out of here, and how long do we have anyway?"

  "It's about 20 miles away, and we have about an hour and a half," Scott said.

  "An hour and a half? You're idiots! Let's get out of here! This Bigfoot bitch is not worth it!"

  "We're helping them out Colin, it's part of your deal with us," Scott said plainly.

  Colin looked at Maddock, hoping he'd be more sensible.

  "Either get over here or leave Colin, I don't want to explain to my sister why I shot you," Maddock said.

  Colin reluctantly stomped through the snow. He was a person who was used to getting his way, and now he wasn't.

  "Alright, it's worth it. This is the dumbest thing I have ever done, but I'll do it," Colin said, pulling back the action on his AK-74M and letting it snap back.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The Magadan Lair

  SCOTT TOOK COLIN’S hand and led him down the dark corridor. He turned on his NVGs to navigate the pitch-black corridor but walked quickly, knowing there were no endless pits. Ahead he could hear Maddock calling them and the grunts of the Snow Yetis that accompanied him. However, Scott found that his way was blocked by what appeared to be a massive amount of snow in the middle of the corridor blocking their way. Had there been a cave-in?

  “You could at least make out with me if we’re going to hold hands this much,” Colin snarked.

  “Shh!” Scott demanded as he attempted to make sense of what he saw in his NVGs.

  Scott saw that the pile of snow was moving, heaving up and down. That was when Scott realized that it was not snow but a yeti that blocked their path. At that very moment, the smell of urine and wet fur hit his nostrils, confirming that it was indeed a yeti that hunched before them.

  The smell must have reached Colin simultaneously because he did n
ot protest Scott’s admonition to be quiet.

  “Oh fuck,” he said in barely a whisper, his voice quivering again.

  He slinked down into a fetal position and leaned against the wall as he let go of Scott’s hand.

  The beast then turned, realizing something stood behind him. It let out a terrifying scream, Scott felt the hot humidity of its breath, and saliva droplets landed on his face.

  He watched as it blindly searched the darkness for whatever shared the corridor with him. It stabbed and slashed forward with its spear, which came sailing out of the green darkness too close to Scott’s face. Scott ducked and bobbed, attempting to avoid being skewered by the gigantic spearhead.

  Again the beast roared, frustrated by its inability to see and certain that a threat lurked behind it. Scott raised his M4, with a fresh magazine, he had 30 rounds he could pump into the beast. He’d succeed in maybe irritating it enough that it would run toward him, and he could maybe dive out of the way before it crushed him or found him. He glanced back at Colin, who appeared to be shaking in the darkness, crouched down, holding his knees. He wished he could tell Colin to flatten himself against the wall. Would it be a great loss if he was killed by the Magadan, though? Maybe not.

  Scott pressed the button near his trigger that turned on the beam of the IR scope. The Magadan’s flailing made a shot in the face impossible. He’d unload the magazine in the beast’s chest and hope for the best.

  His finger touched the trigger and depressed it. Only three rounds came out of the barrel as the Magadan flew backward. Scott was so shocked by what had happened that he stopped firing and watched as a dervish of white fur exploded before him.

  As he contemplated firing again at the Magadan, he saw chunks of fur and flesh flying into the air and felt the spray of blood from the beast that had blocked his path. He then realized that a Snow Yeti had come from behind the Magadan and torn it to shreds, both creatures had ignored his bullets as they tangled. The Snow Yeti was victorious in only seconds and shoved his foe into a corner, beckoning the two men to come his way, assuming that they could see in the darkness as well as him.

  Only one of them could, “Let’s go,” Scott said, once again grabbing Colin’s hand and leading him into the light.

  Colin now appeared pale and frightened as he came into the white light of the corridor. The male yeti, Mother Goddess, and one of the princesses stood waiting for the two men to emerge with the princess who had shredded the Magadan hiding in the tunnel. He must have retreated into the darkness after the initial grenade explosion and been too petrified to join the others in the ensuing chaos.

  The distant sound of gunfire echoed through the rock walls of the corridor like someone tapping on them with a metal rod.

  “I think we’re going to have more to deal with than Yetis when we get up there,” Maddock remarked.

  Maddock’s thoughts were confirmed as they reached the light of the cave entrance.

  Magadan warriors hid behind cover as heavy fire from AK-74M rifles pounded the cave entrance. The Magadans who were brave enough to leave the rocks and cave walls behind which they hid were pelted with heavy automatic fire, which forced them to return to their hiding spots.

  The group of Snow Yetis slowly crept toward their hiding counterparts. The Mother Goddess was the first to kill a Magadan warrior. One of the first they encountered, far back in the corridor, fixated on the events unfolding in front of him. He did not notice as she grabbed him by the ankles and then dragged him back into the cave where the Snow Yetis viciously tore him apart.

  “They didn’t do that before,” Colin whispered to Scott and Maddock.

  “You forced violence on them, they just learned to survive,” Scott said.

  “If these Magadans had adapted this fast, we would have got our funding,” Colin said indifferently. Scott shot him an icy glare, and he shrugged his shoulders.

  The group crept slowly forward, Magadan yetis lay in bloody pieces throughout the cave entrance, dead from rockets and mortar fire. Another RPG sailed into the cave as Colin, Maddock, and Scott took cover. Fragments of rock shot toward them, hitting the Mother Goddess and her remaining Snow Yeti, forcing them to wince as the sharp, hot rocks hit their bodies.

  Now more Magadan lay dead, and the remaining warriors realized that they could not confront the enemy they faced. They scattered, some running out of the cave into the forest and some running back into the cave. They ignored the presence of the Snow Yetis and the humans. The only danger they presented to the group was from barreling over them as they scrambled to escape. Outside small arms fire could be heard as the soldiers fired in vain at the Magadan warriors. It would take much more powerful ordinance to take down the great beasts, and some escaped into the forest. The screams of men indicated that others shredded their enemies before disappearing into the woods.

  “Why didn’t they just bomb this cave?” Colin asked rhetorically.

  “What?” Scott asked him.

  “Good question Colin,” Maddock replied as the three humans crouched in the light of the mouth of the cave.

  “The Russian army would have sent a load of helicopters. They’d have air-fuel bombed this cave. I told you, these aren’t Russian military,” Colin remarked.

  “They’ve got a fucking Hind helicopter,” Scott said.

  “Yeah, there’s someone else I know with one of those,” Colin said, “If this was the Russian army, we have no chance to escape, if this is who I think it is, we can get out of here.”

  “Who the hell has enough money to field a private army and own a Hind helicopter?” Scott asked.

  “Well, I used to. There are plenty of Russians who own their own military regiments, and there is one in particular that Roskovski must have called. Dimitry Strovenyevich,” Colin said, the name escaping his mouth as if it were a curse word.

  “These are Strovenyevich’s soldiers?” Scott asked.

  “I’d be willing to bet,” Colin replied.

  “These are mercenaries. Colin is right. The Russian military wouldn’t waste time trying to advance into the cave. They’d strafe the shit out of this place with MiGs. These guys don’t have that luxury apparently,” Maddock said.

  Just then, a soldier appeared at the mouth of the cave and fired down at Maddock and the group, the only targets he could see. The three quickly took cover, and the Snow Yetis followed their lead.

  “How the hell are we going to get out of here now?” Scott asked as bullets zinged by impacting the floor and stone walls around them.

  The Mother Goddess made a move to advance toward the cave entrance, enduring the bullets that were caught in the weave of her thick fur.

  “No!” Scott shouted.

  She seemed to understand him and moved back behind cover.

  Maddock fired a few bursts at the soldiers entering the cavern. The fire was only effective at slowing them down. They took cover and began shooting down into the cave, making the central corridor a deadly path filled with flying hot metal.

  Maddock made a motion to move and fired a few rounds to keep the soldiers’ heads down as they retreated into the cavern.

  “This is not the way I want to go,” Colin remarked.

  “I don’t think we have a choice,” Scott replied.

  The Snow Yetis led the way as the group made their way back down through the lighted corridors through which they had just ascended. The passage was surprisingly devoid of Magadan stragglers.

  “Where are the bad yetis?” Maddock asked to no one in particular.

  “Will you quit calling them that Maddock? The bad yetis? You mean the Magadan? They hole up in the crevices and cracks along this path. We’ve probably past several of them already. Keep moving, and maybe they won’t pounce on us,” Colin warned.

  The Snow Yetis led them to the corridor where light had streamed in, and all four went into the tunnel.

  “No, we can’t go there!” Scott said, expecting that they’d understand him.

  The yetis ignor
ed his pleas and went into the unlit corridor. The muted sunlight of a cloudy day streamed in through the ceiling. The steep walls went straight up.

  “See, I told you,” Scott remarked as the yetis looked up the steep shaft above them.

  “They can’t understand you, Scott,” Colin said.

  Outside they heard shouting in Russian and hurried footsteps. Strovenyevich’s troops were advancing. There was nowhere to go now.

  “We’re fucked,” Colin said with a hint of panic in his voice.

  The Mother Goddess grunted at the princesses and the male yeti, then suddenly, using her paws and feet, she ascended the shaft by pressing her hands and feet on opposite walls. She quickly scaled the steep, vertical tunnel as if climbing a ladder.

  One of the princesses grabbed Colin by the back of his jacket and hoisted him on her back.

  “Alright! Hang on, Colin!” Scott exclaimed.

  “Do I have a choice?” he said as he clung to the locks of fur on her back as she ascended the shaft just as quickly.

  The remaining female snatched Scott, placing him on her back she too climbed effortlessly up toward the light cascading into the tunnels.

  The cold wind bit their faces as they emerged from the cave into the outdoors. A steep tree-lined path led down into the forest below. They could see the path that led to the entrance of the cave and which descended to their snowmobiles.

  Maddock then came, clinging to the back of the male yeti.

  “Everyone’s out?” Colin said.

  “Yeah, we’re all here,” Scott replied.

  “All of them went into the cave?”

  “I don’t see any still on the path,” Maddock said, squinting to adjust to the comparatively bright light of the cloudy mid-afternoon skies.

  “Then, I guess, I might as well…”

  Colin removed a small black box from a pocket within his parka. Pushing a few buttons, he then looked quizzically at the device in his hand.

  “What the fuck?” He exclaimed.

  “What are you doing?” Maddock asked.

  “It should have worked, what is wrong with this thing?”