Chapter 26

“It’s lucky that Fire of Dawn doesn’t have a large budget for guards,” Kostya said as they loaded the medical kits into the car. “Otherwise I don’t think I would risk doing this.”

“It’s just been a short time since you wandered down into the silo by yourself. It should be easier now that we’ve planned it.” Meredith pulled her hair back into a low ponytail and slipped on a black, knit hat and lined microfiber gloves. She had on warm, fleece-lined black leggings and a form-fitting black jacket provided courtesy of a package sent to the Melnyks from TRUST. She also had a shoulder holster and a Glock handgun, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. A youngster didn’t grow up in the South without learning to shoot, but she’d rather not test her skills while trying to disarm a nuclear weapon.

Leaning over to tighten her boots, she straightened to see Kostya behind her. She turned, and with a smirk asked in Ukrainian, “Are you enjoying the view, Cossack?”

Kostya leaned back on the car. “I’ve seen better.”

“You have?” Meredith asked, eyebrow arched with jealousy. “Where, exactly, were you when you were looking at something better?”

“Last night, next to the bed, with you getting undressed,” he playfully whispered, throwing his arms around her as he pulled her close.

“Kostya!” She pushed back playfully. “Maybe you need to get a better view of my front side, too.”

He drew her in and kissed her passionately. “I want to become very familiar with every side of you, dushen’ka.” His embrace sent jolts of lightning through her as he shamelessly reignited the desire between them. After a stolen minute, he pulled away reluctantly. “Meri, we need to get this stuff loaded and leave.”

“I know.” Meredith pouted. “Let’s get going.”

They used GPS instructions until they had to leave the regular roads, and then they relied on the maps Will had superimposed on satellite pictures of the sites. They travelled to the site Kostya had never been to first. Just like the other site, there was a large cleared out area and evidence of recent upgrades to the concrete pads and radio antennae.

Kostya stopped the car in the trees outside the clearing and pulled out a pair of military binoculars. He watched carefully for a few moments and then handed the pair to Meredith. “I don’t see anything outside, but it looks like there is a car parked outside the silo entrance.”

“Probably two rent-a-cops like they had guarding the other site when you found it,” Meredith guessed.

“Yeah, or lower rank Fire of Dawn followers.”

“With just a couple of guards, they may not have a missile yet.” Meredith put down the binoculars, not sure whether to be disappointed or relieved that there wasn’t more action. “There certainly isn’t a lot of activity out here.”

“We still need to check the silo,” Kostya said and Meredith nodded in agreement. “I think we should try the two-door approach on this one. It will be easy to distract a couple of guys while I check the components.”

“That sounds good. Do you want me to enter by the main entrance or by the silo stairs?”

“By the silo, definitely. It’s a lot of steps up and down, but I think it is the safest option,” Kostya said.

“I’m glad I’ve picked up more cardio lately,” Meredith said, thinking of the several stories of stairs Kostya and Bohdan had climbed to escape the other silo. “This should be better than the stair-stepper at the gym.”

They covered the car, which had been parked away from the paths entering the clearing, with camouflage netting and carefully placed pine branches on the front hood, which was facing the silo through the trees. Circling the clearing using the trees for cover as long as possible, they situated themselves at the two entrances to the silo—Kostya near the underground command center entrance and Meredith back toward the missile housing. Approaching the entrance, Meredith signaled to Kostya when she found the doors were unlocked, just as they expected. He returned an all-clear wave, and Meredith pulled the metal door toward her.

The entry led immediately to metal steps that zigzagged as she descended down, deeper and deeper underground. Moving quickly, she tried to pace herself, knowing going up would be much more challenging. Finally, she landed on an alcove adjacent to a concrete floor that encircled the silo itself. Metal scaffolding arched above, supporting the circular wall inside the alcove. The sliding doors to access the missile, if there was one there, were all shut.

Meredith used her flashlight to look high and low for a spot against the concrete and metal walls with several wires going in and out. She found it in the scaffolding between two of the segments of the walkway. Reaching as far as she could, she placed the magnetic backing of the small plastic boxes she carried with her against the steel scaffolding near the wires. Stretching up, she pushed two buttons: the first started a bright strobe light flashing into the space, and the second shrieked an alarm. If this doesn’t cause a distraction, nothing will.

Running to the steps, she climbed for her life, reaching the top and closing the doors in record time. The outside air burned inside her lungs as she exhaled a vapor mist in the cold. Although her leg muscles protested, she didn’t dare stop. Circling around using the trees for cover, she found the car, climbed under the camouflage netting, and slid safely into her seat.

Still catching her breath, she pulled out the binoculars to watch events unfold. Kostya had already gone under through the command center doors, but he would have to get past the men on duty to access the components. She prayed that the alarm would lure them out, but so far, it was quiet above ground.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered to herself, watching for any sign that their plan had worked. It was only a couple of minutes until two men, dressed in military-style clothing, emerged from the main silo entrance, one talking frantically on a satellite phone. He gesticulated broadly, obviously frustrated by the response he was getting on the other line. When he hung up, he was equally angry with the other guard, who genuinely seemed to want to calm him down. Meredith sighed in relief, knowing if the two guards were on the ground, Kostya was free to do what he needed to.

After about ten minutes the alarms suddenly stopped, and the men looked around, puzzled and unsure of what to do. Meredith watched the main entrance closely, fearing that Kostya would try to escape before the men headed back down.

The men argued but eventually decided to go back underground. As soon as they disappeared into the doorway, Meredith flashed the headlights and Kostya emerged from the back doors of the silo and made a break for the car.

Meredith jumped out of the car and started to remove the netting as Kostya returned.

“No,” he called quietly but frantically. “We can’t leave yet. There are more on their way.” He and Meredith replaced the netting and returned to the car. He was breathing hard from his sprint up the stairs. “There was a radio communicator. I heard them say they were on their way.”

“Are we hidden well enough?” Meredith surveyed the area around them and frowned.

“We’re off the path, so we’re not where they’d expect to see an intruder, and there’s no evidence that there was an alarm to begin with, so the superiors may not want to look.” He dropped the alarm and strobe box back into the case. “We’re back here quite a ways and covered. I think we’ll be fine.”

Even with his reassurances, the next three hours were long ones. First, the workers left in the car that was parked by the silo entrance. Then, another car came and drove past the site and around the perimeter of the cleared area. This car came within fifty feet of their hiding place, but their attention was focused inward and not toward the trees. Finally, a black sedan arrived, and the driver got out to open the door for the passenger.

Dropping the binoculars, Kostya reached for the satellite phone, carefully turned off the flash, and took several pictures of the man as he looked around the area.

“Who is that?” Meredith asked, sensing a seriousness in the air she hadn’t felt before.

“Petro Vlasenko. I need to send these pictures to TRUST right away.”

The man and the driver and passenger from the other car entered the silo from the main entrance and disappeared. The driver entered the car, probably to stay warm.

“Did you get what you needed underground?” Meredith asked.

“There’s no missile yet, but it appears like they might be preparing for one. Someone is setting up some of the components, and the possibility is there.”

“I guess that can be good news or bad news.” Meredith stared toward the site. “There’s no threat here, but we still need to deal with a danger that’s out there.”

“And that danger can explode in our faces if we are not careful.”