Chapter 49

The road that went near Kondor's chalet was a few kilometers past the town of Ringgenberg. Nick drove through town, careful to observe the traffic signs and speed limit. Ronnie watched the GPS. The snow was still coming down. There was already a thick coating of white everywhere.

"It's the next left," he said.

Nick signaled and made the turn. They began climbing the side of the mountain. Spruce and pine trees lined the road on both sides.

"Good thing this car has good tires," Nick said.

"Getting close," Ronnie said. "The spot we picked is coming up on the right."

Nick slowed and watched for the opening in the trees they'd spotted using the satellite scans.

"There it is," Selena said.

Nick turned off the road, drove into the trees until he could no longer see the road, and shut down the engine.

Nobody said anything as they climbed out. Ronnie and Lamont went to the back and pulled out the change of clothes. In silence, they dressed in black tactical gear, then took turns blackening their faces. As it grew dark they seemed to disappear into the deepening shadows under the trees. Even with the snow on the ground, it would be almost impossible to see them without night vision gear or bright light.

They each took a suppressed MP7 and extra thirty round magazines. Nick, Ronnie, and Lamont took stun grenades. Ronnie had a few pounds of C4 and some detonators with him. Nick had decided against frag grenades. There was too much danger of killing Kondor during the assault. If that happened, it would all be for nothing.

"Everyone set?" Nick asked.

Nods all around .

"First priority is the guards. Once the alarms are down, we take out whoever is in that barracks and anyone outside. Valentina, Selena, you cover the back entrance in case anyone comes out of the house. Ronnie, Lamont, we'll clear the barracks. Ronnie, once that's done you open the door to the main building. Use your picks. I don't want to blow it unless we have to. Try it first. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will be unlocked."

"You believe in leprechauns too?"

"Just try not to blow it. The noise will echo down the mountain and get people wondering. Everyone clear on what they're supposed to do?"

More nods.

They donned NVGs and set out for the chalet. Nick preferred the monocular version. It took some getting used to, the mind trying to balance the green world it saw from one eye with the darkness of night in the other. The advantage was that if a sudden burst of light temporarily blinded one eye through the lenses, the other eye could still see and respond to the threat.

It was slow going through the forest. The mountainside was steep. In places the branches were thick and low, and they had to push their way through, slogging in the new snow. It took an hour to work up behind the chalet and start down toward it. Security lights surrounded the building, visible as bright green blobs in the night vision lenses. Several windows were lit. One light was on inside the security barracks.

Lamont tapped Nick on the shoulder and pointed at the dark shape of a sentry under the trees. Everyone halted. Lamont drew his knife and slipped forward, his feet making no noise on the soft snow as he came up behind the unsuspecting man. He rose and wrapped his left hand over the sentry's mouth, stifling his cry. He yanked the head back and drew the razor blade across his throat. Blood spurted out, red on the fresh snow.

He let the body fall and came back to the others .

The trees had been cleared away in back of the house, leaving a wide, exposed area. In his NVG, Nick spotted lines of lasers crisscrossing the cleared area. He held up his hand.

"Lasers," he whispered.

Nick took out his satellite phone and powered on. The connection made, he speed dialed Elizabeth and texted GO. Then he waited.

There was nothing to indicate when the EMP pulse was delivered, no humming sound, no sense of electricity or heat. All that happened was that all of the lights went out, leaving everything in blackness. The laser beams disappeared.

"Go," Nick whispered.

Selena and Valentina ran forward and knelt, covering the back door to the chalet with their weapons. Ronnie, Nick, and Lamont ran to the security barracks. The door to the barracks opened when they were still twenty feet away. A man stepped out. He carried an H & K G36 assault rifle. The rifle was a formidable threat. It fired a .556 x 45mm round at seven hundred and fifty rounds per minute.

Lamont and Nick fired at the same time, three round bursts, the shots muffled by the suppressors. The man went down. Someone shouted inside the building. Ronnie tossed a stun grenade in through the open door. They turned away, closed their eyes, and covered their ears. The grenade went off with a dull boom that vibrated under their feet, lighting the forest night with a brief, white glare.

Ronnie was through the door firing, followed by Lamont and Nick. The flashes of the guns made a bizarre strobe effect, illuminating men scrambling to get up from their bunks. Thirty seconds later, the guns were silent. Everyone in the barracks was dead.

"Ronnie, the door," Nick said .

They ran out of the barracks and toward the door. A wide balcony stretched across the back of the building. A man came out onto the balcony and fired at them. The bullets kicked up dirt around Selena. Valentina raised her weapon and shot him. He fell over the balcony and landed heavily on the ground.

"That's torn it," Nick said. "Get that door."

Ronnie tried the knob. The door opened.

"I'll be damned," he said.

"Must be leprechauns," Nick said. "Go."

Somewhere a generator started up. The lights came back on, blinding them in one eye. They pulled the NVGs up and out of the way.

They had entered the basement of the chalet. Ahead stretched a hallway. A door opened, and a man in pajamas stepped out into the hall. He had a gun in his hand. Valentina shot him. Blood sprayed out and he collapsed onto the floor. A woman's scream came from inside the room.

"Wilhelm!" she shouted.

Nick paused at the open doorway, then risked a glance. He ducked back as a shotgun boomed inside the room, blowing a hole in the opposite wall. Nick dropped to the floor, reached around the doorway with his MP7 and fired a burst. Someone grunted as the bullets hit. He heard the shotgun clatter on the floor, then the thump of a falling body.

He stood and glanced inside. A woman in a nightdress lay unmoving on the floor. The shotgun lay on the ground beside her. Blood spread in a growing pool under her body.

"They should have stuck to cooking and cleaning," Lamont said.

From here, stairs led to the upper levels.

"I hate stairs," Ronnie said.

Nick's vision was coming back.

"Remember. We need Kondor alive."

Ronnie started up the stairs. Something rolled down the steps, past his legs .

"Grenade!"

Valentina grabbed the deadly cylinder, and threw it back up the stairs. The explosion ripped through the floor above.

Ronnie ran up the stairs, the others after him.

They were now on the main floor of the chalet. To the right of the stairs, a man lay dead. A pistol lay next to him. His lower leg was in bloody shreds, his face unrecognizable. Fragments from the grenade had ripped it apart. Along one wall, a large, antique desk was placed under a large window. The grenade had taken out most of the glass. Cold air and snow blew in through the broken panes.

A quavering voice came from another room.

"Hans! What is happening?"

"That sounds like Kondor," Nick said. "Ronnie, Lamont, Valentina. Clear the upper levels. Be careful. There may be more of them. Selena, let's go talk to Herr Kondor."

As they moved toward the stairs to the next level, Ronnie turned to Valentina.

"Thanks," he said. "You've got a hell of an arm."

"It is nothing," she said. "I was lucky."

"Yeah, well, I owe you one."

"Perhaps you buy me drink when we are home, no?"

Ronnie grinned. "You asking me for a date?"

Valentina looked puzzled.

"Date?"

"Never mind. We get back, I'll buy you a whole bottle, you want."

"Just drink will be fine. Maybe two."

They started up the stairs.