The Arctic Event (18 page)

“Okay, I’m at the bomb bay,” he reported. He paused for a moment to catch his breath and reached for the undogging lever. “I’m opening the ha...” His words trailed off.

“Jon, what is it?”

“So that’s why the tunnel ladder was been moved. Somebody has been here, Val, and recently. Everything in here is covered with frost. Everything but the release handle on the hatch. It’s been wiped off. I can make out the finger marks.”

Smith twisted and whipped the flashlight beam around the cockpit. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could spot the smears and scrapes in the frost cover where someone had moved around the cabin. “He got in through the pilot’s-side window.”

“Did he get inside the bomb bay?”

“We’ll know in a second.” Smith got a grip on the dogging lever, twisting it. The hatch unlatched and swung open with disconcerting ease. Hunkering lower, he peered into the dark opening.

Smith’s strained breath caught in his throat.

It filled the entire upper half of the bomb bay: a great lozenge shape held in place by a network of struts and braces, the iced stainless steel of the case sparkling. The latent death of entire cities whispered from within it, billions upon billons of lethal disease spores slumbering in icy suspension, waiting for revival, waiting for release.

Confronting such horrors were part of Jon Smith’s profession, but he still had to suppress a shudder.

“Val, you were right. It’s in here. Put Major Smyslov on. I’m going to need him.”

As he waited for the Russian to come online, he quartered the interior of the bay with his light, looking for damage to the containment vessel or for the deadly telltale gray-brown stain of spore spillage. After a few moments Smyslov’s filtered voice filled his earphones.

“I gather we have a hit, Colonel.”

“We surely do, Major,” Smith replied. “I’m looking at the reservoir now. From this end at least, it appears to have survived the crash in good shape. The bomb bay doors are partially caved in, but the casing doesn’t appear to be involved. The mounts and bracings seem to be intact as well. Did Val tell you that we’ve had at least one snooper inside the aircraft?”

“Yes, Colonel.”

“He’s been in here as well. There is an instruction plate on the front of the reservoir casing directly opposite me. The frost’s been wiped from it. I can see a Soviet Air Force badge, a hammer-and-sickle insignia, and a lot of bright red writing. I’m not up on my Cyrillic, but I gather it’s a bioagent warning advisory.”

“Quite correct, Colonel. That would tell the inquisitive one everything he would need to know about the payload.”

“Then I think we’ve found our information leak. Now, Major, the containment vessel and the anthrax dispersal system are your babies. Walk me through what I should be looking for.”

“Very well, Colonel. If the casing is intact, you should next inspect the dispersal system manifolds to ensure that the manual containment valves on the pressurization ducts are still closed and sealed. The valves shouldn’t have been opened and the system armed until the bomber was coming in on target, but...”

“But, indeed. From those diagrams you showed me, those containment valves should be right over my head.”

With his head and shoulders inside the bomb bay, Smith carefully rolled onto his back and found himself looking up into a tangle of large-diameter stainless steel piping.

“Okay, I’m looking up into the manifold assembly. I see two large lever valves directly above me. The valve gradations seem to just be marked with red and green zones.”

“That is correct. Those are the forward containment valves. How are they set?”

“The levers are turned all the way to the left and right, with their pointers aimed at the green zones. There appear to be intact wire seals on both valves, and the frost buildup hasn’t been disturbed.”

“Very good.” Smyslov sounded relieved. “The containment valves are still closed. The system was never armed for drop. Now, just to the right, looking aft, next to the access hatch, you should see two more levers marked and sealed as were the overhead valves. These control the valves on the dispersal vents at the rear of the reservoir.”

Smith squirmed onto his left shoulder. “Okay, I see them. They are set vertically, in the green, and the wire seals are still in place.”

“Excellent!” Smyslov exclaimed. “Those are all metal-to-metal knife valves with single-use lead gaskets. Nothing will get past them. We still have full containment.”

“Theoretically. I’m going into the bomb bay to do an eyeball inspection of the whole system to make sure.”

There was some thumping and murmuring at the other end of the circuit, Valentina’s voice taking over from Smyslov’s. “Jon, are you sure that’s wise?”

“It’s got to be done, and if I do it now, I won’t have to come back later.” Smith tried to sound offhand about it. In truth he wasn’t sure he could make himself come back later. Belly crawling into the freezing blackness beneath that concentration of megadeath was a singularly unappealing prospect.

In fact, he had to do it right now, immediately, or see his nerve crack. “I’m going into the bay,” he said shortly.

Backing his shoulders out of the entry hatch, he swung his legs in and dropped to the crumpled metal floor of the compartment. Sinking to his hands and knees, he began to squirm down the length of the bomb bay, hugging the starboard bulkhead to take advantage of the space offered by the curve of the containment vessel.

Even at that, the crawl was claustrophobic in the extreme, complicated by the crash-buckled aluminum of the bay doors. Smith had to carefully plan each move, flowing himself over the torn metal, striving to protect the MOPP suit’s integrity. He couldn’t help but flinch each time his shoulder bumped the brooding mass of the spore-packed casing.

The hood faceplate was fogging again, hampering his vision, and he had to partially feel his way ahead. He reached forward...and froze. Very slowly he lifted his head, trying to peer around the edges of the visor.

“Major,” he said deliberately, “my right arm is fouled in a wire. The wire is connected to a series of rectangular metal boxes attached by some kind of metal clip to the side of the reservoir. The boxes appear to be one foot by four inches by three, and there are half a dozen of them spaced out along the near side of the casing. I can’t tell if another set is mounted symmetrically on the far side. They do not appear integral to the reservoir. The boxes and wiring are frost covered and undisturbed. They’ve been there for a while.”

“You are all right, Colonel,” Smyslov replied promptly. “You are all right. Those are thermite incendiary charges. They are part of the bomber’s emergency equipment. They were intended to destroy the anthrax to prevent its capture should the plane be forced down in enemy territory.”

“Fine. What do I do about them?”

“You don’t have to do anything, Colonel. The charges are stable. They would have to be set off deliberately using a magneto box or a heavy battery, and if there are any batteries aboard the wreck, they would have been drained by the cold long ago.”

“Thanks for telling me.” Smith untangled his arm and paused for a moment, panting.

“This is odd,” Smyslov said. “The bomber’s crew must have deployed the incendiaries after the landing, with the intent of destroying the warload. I wonder why they didn’t fire them.”

“They would have saved everybody a lot of trouble if they had.” Smith resumed his crawl to the rear of the bay. He had never considered himself a claustrophobe, but the bomb bay was getting to him, and badly. The cold metal walls kept folding around him, and it seemed increasingly difficult to breathe. He was getting a headache as well, the beating of his heart pounding at his temples. He had to force himself to focus on the job, checking the casing, inch by deliberate inch, for cracks or other damage and for spore leakage.

He made the last yard to the rear of the bay, twisting onto his back to check the rear of the reservoir and the dispenser manifolds. The fogging of his faceplate was getting worse, and the flashlight seemed to be dimming. His head suddenly seemed to be exploding, and he gulped for air, cursing weakly. This was no good! He had to get out of here!

“Jon, what’s wrong?” Valentina was back on the circuit.

“Nothing. I’m fine. It’s just...tight in here. The containment vessel is intact. I’m starting back.”

He tried to roll over and turn in the confined space. He couldn’t seem to make it around. He kept hanging up on things that hadn’t been there before, and his suppressed panic flared. He lost his grip on the flashlight and swore again as it rolled out of reach.

“Jon, are you all right?” Valentina’s words were sharp this time, demanding.

“Yes, damn it!” He gave up on the flashlight and tried to drag himself toward the dim patch of outside illumination at the far end of the bay. Cold sweat burned in his eyes, and his arms felt as if they were encased in solidifying concrete. His breath hissing through clenched teeth, he commanded his body to move. Only his body refused to obey.

And then it reached him through his muddled mind. He wasn’t all right. He was dead.

“Get away from the plane!” he shouted weakly, his lungs suddenly on fire.

“Jon, what is it? What’s happening?”

“The plane’s hot! I’ve been contaminated! There’s something else in here! It’s not anthrax! Abort the mission! Get away from here!”

“Jon, hold on! We’re suiting up. We’re coming for you!”

“No! The suits are no good! It penetrates! The antibiotics aren’t stopping it, either!”

“Jon, we can’t just leave you!” Beyond Val’s frantic words he could hear Smyslov’s demanding questions.

“Forget it!” He had to force each word with its own racking breath. “I’ve had it! I’m already dying! Don’t come in after me! That’s an order!”

It had been bound to happen sooner or later. He’d dodged the biological bullet with Hades, with Cassandra, and with Lazarus. He had to take the fall sooner or later. That bit of his disintegrating consciousness that was still the researcher, the scientist, pushed its way forward. There was a last service he could render to those who would follow him into this black pit to learn and fight this thing.

“Val, listen...listen! It’s respiratory. It hits through the respiratory system. My lungs and bronchial tubes are burning...No congestion or fluid buildup...no pulmonary paralysis...but I can’t get oxygen...accelerated pulse...vision graying out...strength...losing...Get away...That’s...order.”

There was nothing left to breathe and speak with. They were calling to him over the radio, something about the MOPP suit. He couldn’t hear over the staggering hammer of his heartbeat in his ears. Was this how it had been for Sophia at the end, drowning in her own blood? No. At least Sophia hadn’t been so alone. He made a final effort to drag himself toward the light, just so he wouldn’t die in this hideous place. Then the light was gone, and the dark took him fully.

An eternity passed, or maybe only a second.

Smith became aware of fragments...Movement...Touch...Voices...Pressure on his chest...Lips, soft, warm, living, pressed against his, with urgency but without passion.

Sensation returned within himself. The lift of his chest; air, cold, pure, pouring into his lungs like water from an iced pitcher. Life stirred with its bite, radiating outward. He could breathe. He could breathe! He lay there in the suddenly pleasant cool darkness, almost orgasmically relishing each inhalation.

A small ungloved hand brushed back his hair, and those lips pressed against his again. Gently this time, pleasantly lingering.

“I think respiration has been fully restored, Professor,” an amused, accented voice commented.

“Just making sure,” a second lighter voice replied.

Smith realized that his head was pillowed on a rolled sleeping bag. Opening his eyes, he found Valentina Metrace kneeling beside him, her parka hood thrown back and ice crystals glittering like stars in her black hair. She smiled down into his face and quirked one of her expressive eyebrows at him.

Smyslov was looking over her shoulder, grinning as well. Smith realized he was lying on the deck in the forward compartment of the bomber. He was vague for a moment on just what they all were doing there; then full memory came crashing back.

“Damn it, Val! What do you think you’re doing?”

Both brows lifted. “So I’m enjoying my work?”

“That’s not what I mean!” he exclaimed, struggling to sit up. “This plane is a hot zone! There’s a contaminant—”

“Easy, Jon, easy,” the historian replied, holding him down gently with her hands on his shoulders. “There is no contaminant. You’re fine, we’re fine, and the plane is fine.”

“This is true, Colonel,” Smyslov interjected wryly. “I told you before, barring two tons of weaponized anthrax, there is nothing the least bit dangerous aboard this aircraft.”

Smith sank back and found he was still in most of the MOPP suit. Beyond the glare of the electric lantern that filled the cockpit, he could see a lingering trace of daylight through the windscreen. He must have been unconscious for only a matter of a few minutes. “Then what the hell did happen to me?”

“You almost protected yourself to death.” Smyslov held up the hood of the MOPP suit. “It’s cold in here. The moisture in your breath condensed and froze in the filters of your breathing mask. It gradually cut off your air.”

Valentina nodded. “Something similar happened in Israel during the first Gulf War. During the SCUD bombardment, when it was feared that Saddam might be using nerve gas, a number of Israeli citizens suffocated because they forgot to remove the filter caps on their gas masks. You were rebreathing your own carbon dioxide. Only with you the effect must have come on so gradually that you didn’t notice the buildup.”

Smith looked back over his clearing memories. “Yes. When I started to have breathing problems I first thought I was just having a bad attack of claustrophobia. Then I thought...”

“We know what you thought,” Valentina said softly. “You started to report the symptomology of your own death. But when you began to give us a very good clinical description of a man dying of suffocation, we realized what was going on. We tried to tell you to take off your mask, but you were too far gone to understand.”