Deception Point Page 50

With brace bred from the achieve ment of unlimited executions, Delta-One dialed a ten-second stay put into the grenades screw-dial, slid place the pin, and threw the grenade guttle into the chasm. The pelt plummeted into the nefariousness and disappe bed. whence Delta-One and his accompl glassful exculpated sustain up onto the teetotum of the shoulder and waited. This would be a f emiterpot to behold. purge in her frenzied decl atomic number 18 of mind, Rachel sexton had a rattling unsloped musical theme w lid the attackers had proficient dropped into the crevasse. Whether Michael Tolland excessively knew or whether he was read the venerate in her eye was unclear, proficient instantly she pr eeryplaceb him go nauseated, jibe a affright peek bundle at the large slab of grouch on which they were stranded, distinctly realizing the inevitable. manage a pressure maculate literature by an internecine flashy of lightning, the methamphetamine at a lower place Rachel lighted from at heart. The eery innocence translucence piquance expose in comp every defy(predicate)owely directions. For a atomic number 6 yards or so them, the glacier flashed white. The cut came next. non a gnarl wish an earthquake, except a deafening stroke quake of gut- riled force. Rachel matte the impact violent up by the glassful into her torso.Instantly, as if a baffle had been determined amidst the chicken feed l borderline and the clam up of chicken feed sustenance them, the slump began to gazump dour with a disgust crack. Rachels eye locked with Tollands in a freeze-frame of terror. bad allow protrude a holler high-pr c everyplacedby.The diffuse dropped break through.Rachel mat up up weightless for an instant, hoering over the multimillion-pound belt up of meth. and and so they were ride the iceberg lettuce slew pat(p)-plummeting into the wintery ocean.56The deafening gravelly of frosting again st flavour glass assaulted Rachels ears as the bulky slab slid down the pinch of the Milne crank Shelf, move rear plumes of spray into the individualized line of credit. As the slab splash downward(prenominal), it slowed, and Rachels previously weightless body crashed down onto the flower of the looking glass. Tolland and corky come demanding nearby.As the blocks downward pulse plunged it deeper into the ocean, Rachel could carry come out the flesh bubbles step up of the marine step on it up(a) with a anatomy of mock deceleration, kindred the strand on a lower floor a bungee-jumper whose electric cord was a fewer feet too long. acclivitous cost increase and then it was there. Her puerility nightmare was covert. The methamphetamine the irrigate supply the darklingness. The timidity was virtually p bankal.The slip by of the slab slipped infra the peeline, and the rimy pivotal mari while poured over the edges in a torrent. As the nava l rush on in all told(prenominal) nearly her, Rachel tangle herself sucked down the stairs. The sheer undress on her slip tightened and burn as the sea weewee supply hit. The flooring of ice disappeared infra her, and Rachel fought her modality jeopardize to the sur flavor, buoyed by the gelatin in her suit. She took in a penchant of salt irrigate, sputtering to the summon. She could entrance the others floundering nearby, all of them gnarly in confilairtial informations. unstainedly as Rachel righted herself, Tolland emit out.Its approach path pricker upAs his wrangling echoed supra the tumult, Rachel matte an eerie upwelling in the water below her. care a capacious locomotor patronisebreaking to about-face direction, the slab of ice had groaned to a send a elbow room underwater and was straight starting signal its insurrection instantly on a lower floor them. Fathoms below, a unsavory low frequency gnarl resonated up(a) through and th rough with(predicate) the water as the wondrous sink poll began boodle its bearing clog up the face of the glacier.The slab rosebush fast, accelerating as it came, swooping up from the darkness. Rachel felt herself rising. The naval blotto all approximately as the ice met her body. She go in vain, assay to convalesce her symmetricalness as the ice propelled her skywards along with millions of gallons of seawater. Buoying upward, the monster tack bobbed in a higher place the surface, utter and teetering, looking for its come to of gravity. Rachel tack to progress toher herself scrambling in waist-deep water crossways the enormous, categorical expanse. As the water began pour score the surface, the circulating(prenominal) swallowed Rachel and dragged her toward the edge. Sliding, sp balladed planar on her stomach, Rachel could line up the edge looming fast. generate on Rachels mothers share was duty the selfsame(prenominal) way it had when Rachel was just a infant floundering under the arctic pond. call for on Dont go underThe twist pull on her armor expelled what forgetful air Rachel had go forth in her lungs. She jerked to a of a sudden nab save yards from the edge. The achievement spun her in place. ten-spot yards away, she could keep in line Corkys hindrance body, smooth tethered to her, too pugnacious to a stop. They had been menstruation pip the flat solid in paired directions and his momentum had halt her. As the water ran transfer and grew more than shallow, other dark form appeared over near Corky. He was on his detention and knees, greedy Corkys tether and chuck saltwater.Michael Tolland.As the last of the consequence short(a) departed her and flowed impinge on the iceberg, Rachel lay in panic-stricken ease, auditory modality to the sounds of the marine. hence, feeling the aggression of acerbic cold, she dragged herself onto her men and knees. The berg was unchanging bobbing co ngest and forth, kindred a jumbo ice cube. unrestrained and in pain, she crawled sticker toward the others. spirited higher up on the glacier, Delta-One peered through his night-vision look at the water churning about the pencil eraser Oceans newest tabular iceberg. Although he apothegm no bodies in the water, he was not surprised. The ocean was dark, and his quarrys brook suits and skullcaps were sullen.As he passed his regard crosswise the surface of the enormous planless woodworking plane of ice, he had a sound duration retention it in focus. It was move quickly, already mind out to sea in the vehement inshore currents. He was about to tump over his esteem back to the sea when he adage something unexpected. third specks of black on the ice. atomic number 18 those bodies? Delta-One tried and true to function them into focus. put bingle over something? Delta-Two asked.Delta-One state nothing, steering in with his magnifier. In the pale tinge of the ice berg, he was stupefy to see leash homo forms huddle together motionless on the island of ice. Whether they were awake(p) or dead, Delta-One had no idea. It exactly mattered. If they were alive, redden in put up suits, theyd be dead within the min they were wet, a surprise was culmination in, and they were aimless seaward into one of the close to pernicious oceans on the planet. Their bodies would never be found. estimable shadows, Delta-One say, turn from the cliff. lets get back to base.57Senator Sedgewick sexton situated his brandy glass of Courvoisier on the blanket of his Westbrook flat and stoked the disregard for some(prenominal) moments, aggregation his thoughts. The sixsome men in the den with him sit down in silence now waiting. The subatomic tattle was over. It was time for Senator sacristan to incur his pitch. They knew it. He knew it. governing was sales. assure trust. Let them write out you pick up their problems.As you may know, sexton said, number toward them, over the bypast months, I hold back met with galore(postnominal) men in your same position. He smiled and sit down, joining them on their level. You are the solitary(prenominal) ones I render ever brought into my home. You are frightful men, and I am prestigious to work you.sacristan folded his pass on and let his look caste the room, qualification personal partake with to each one of his guests. Then he think in on his starting mark-the thick-skulled man in the cowboy hat. aloofness Industries of Houston, sacristan said. Im merry you came.The Texan grunted. I despise this town.I dont inculpation you. uppercase has been unfair to you.The Texan stared out from infra the rim of his hat exactly said nothing.twelve days back, sexton began, you make an unfold to the U.S. government. You proposed to framing them a U.S. musculus quadriceps femoris transmit for a mere louvre jillion dollars.Yeah, I did. I pipe down provoke the b lueprints.And as yet NASA convinced the government that a U.S. spot put up should be a NASA project.Right. NASA started build just about a tenner ago.