The Pacific Conspiracy Page 8

  "Mission accomplished," Frank said, climbing on one of the bikes. "Let's get going." Endang slid on behind him, and they were off.

  The road was unpaved and clearly used infrequently. Rocks and other debris from the forest often blocked their path. They kept having to ride around outcroppings of blackened rock that sometimes stretched for several hundred feet, like hardened streams.

  "What are those?" Joe called ahead. He was riding behind Frank and Endang.

  "Lava flows," she called back. "From Agung's last eruption."

  Joe noticed the forest thinning out as they continued. He realized that they'd probably gone up a thousand feet in elevation. Every few hundred yards or so there would be a break in the forest canopy, and he could see Mount Agung looming above. It was probably just his imagination, he thought, but at one point he thought he saw the top of the volcano actually smoking.

  Suddenly he heard a loud noise like a gunshot.

  "What was that?" he asked.

  Up ahead Frank had pulled off the road.

  "Flat tire," he said disgustedly, climbing off the bike. He examined the front tire and shook his head. "And there's no spare. I'm going to have to go back to Selat to get this fixed."

  "I could take the tire, get it fixed, and ride back," Joe said.

  Frank shook his head. "Then three of us are sitting around waiting. It's already getting late." He looked up at the sun, which was starting to set. "We don't have a lot of time to find this place before dark. You two had better go on ahead."

  "All right," Joe said reluctantly. Endang climbed on behind him. "If we don't find anything, we'll meet you back at that roadside stand."

  "I'll catch up to you!" Frank called after them as they pulled away.

  ***

  Ten minutes later Joe and Endang found the construction site.

  They almost missed it. In fact, Joe had already ridden by when Endang tapped him on the shoulder.

  "On the right!" she said, pointing behind her. "I think I saw something."

  Joe made a U-turn and went back. Sure enough, barely visible was a small dirt road. The entrance had been blocked by a chain strung between two trees. A sign hung from the chain.

  " 'No trespassing. Construction site,' " Endang read. "Bingo."

  They got off the bike and wheeled it around the chain, then hopped back on and continued down the road for about a quarter mile. The road ended in a clearing. Joe knew they were nearing the Assassins' hideout, and he certainly didn't want the motorbike announcing their arrival so he hid it in the trees. They continued through the forest on foot till they came to the edge of the clearing.

  Joe stopped and looked at the area before him. It was an airstrip. Directly opposite it was a small shack made of corrugated steel with an overhanging steel roof and a single pull-down door. A small wooden dolly sat in front of the door.

  Pacing back and forth in front of the shack was a man in tan shorts and shirt with what looked like an assault rifle strapped to his chest. As Joe watched he pulled a handful of peanuts out of his pocket, cracked the shells open, and began eating them.

  "It's Bill," Joe said.

  "This is it," Endang said. "Your brother was right."

  Joe nodded, then cocked an ear upward. "Did you hear something?"

  Endang frowned. "No."

  "Look." Joe pointed across the horizon. "It's a helicopter, and it's coming down here." He and Endang crept farther back into the woods.

  As they watched from behind the cover of trees the helicopter landed. Two men Joe had never seen before got out and shook hands with Bill. Then one of the men went back into the helicopter. Joe saw Bill wheel a dolly underneath the copter's cargo bay, and a crate was lowered onto it.

  "This must be their drop-off point," Endang said. "They're probably ferrying supplies from here up the mountain."

  Even from this distance Joe recognized the SMCS logo stamped on the crate. He also saw something in Indonesian stenciled across it in red.

  "I've seen that crate before," Joe whispered to Endang. "Frank and I opened it in the Hatta's cargo hold." Joe took a deep breath. "Inside is part of the nuclear reaction chamber!"

  "Let's go," Endang said.

  "What?"

  "We have to tell the Network about this."

  Joe shook his head. "We can't just leave," he said. "Think a minute. They're supposed to set off the bomb tomorrow morning if they don't get their money."

  "So?"

  "So we have to stop them before the bomb is finished and in place. And that crate contains a piece they absolutely need to finish it."

  "You've got a point." She nodded grudgingly. "What do you suggest?"

  Joe watched as the three men wheeled the crate into the shack. The two newcomers emerged a few seconds later, climbed into their helicopter, and flew off.

  "We circle around and wait behind the shack. They'll need to fly in another helicopter to move it up the mountain. When they do, we move in on them."

  "It's too dangerous," Endang said, shaking her head.

  "And letting them get away with the piece they need to finish building the bomb wouldn't be?"

  Endang stared at him a minute. "All right," she said finally. "Let's go."

  They made their way through the forest to an area just behind the shack and waited.

  About twenty minutes later Joe heard another helicopter approaching. Under the cover of its landing they crossed the short distance between the forest and the back of the shack. After the copter's engines cut off he heard the sound of familiar voices. Boris. Nwali. Bill. And another, fainter voice he couldn't quite place.

  The door to the shack opened and closed again. He nodded to Endang.

  "Let's do it," he said.

  They burst out from behind the shack on opposite sides of the Assassins. Boris and Bill were standing in front of the shack, talking.

  "Freeze!" Endang called out, drawing her gun.

  Joe rushed forward and grabbed Bill's assault rifle out of his hands.

  Surprise registered momentarily on Boris's face, instantly replaced by a look of cold hatred.

  "You!"

  Joe smiled. "You peeked." He knocked on the door of the shack. "Whoever's in there, come on out with your hands up."

  The door to the shack opened. A split-second later Nwali appeared, followed by a girl.

  It took Joe's brain a few seconds to register what his eyes were telling him. The girl was Gina Abend.

  She was alive.

  Chapter 14

  "Gina! How - " Joe shook his head in confusion.

  "Don't move," Endang said, waving her gun in the Assassins' direction. "Joe, who is this?"

  He couldn't answer. He was still in shock. Gina was alive. It couldn't be! The Assassins had said she'd died in a hail of gunfire back in Alaska, trying to save his life. They had lied - of course they had lied.

  Gina ran to him. Before Joe's mind could register what was happening, she was embracing him.

  "Joe," she said.

  He was really confused.

  As Endang took a step forward Boris dropped to the ground and spun his legs to the left, sweep-kicking her feet out from under her. She fell to the ground, and her gun went off harmlessly.

  "Endang!" Joe shouted.

  Something hit him across the back of the neck, and he stumbled forward. Gina stepped out of his way, and he fell to the ground. Someone stepped on his wrist and took away the gun he was holding. He heard the crystal on his watch shatter.

  Then he heard Gina laugh.

  "Why did you do that?" Joe asked Gina, climbing to his feet. "I don't understand."

  "You're such a fool," Gina said. "What don't you understand?"

  He looked at her, and the truth hit him.

  "Gina is one of us," Nwali said. "She has been from the beginning."

  Joe's mind reeled. "Even when we were working with you in Atlanta and Alaska?"

  "I tried to have you killed before you got to Atlanta," Gina said. Her voice was col
d and far harsher than Joe remembered it.

  "Eddings's plane," Joe said. "You sabotaged it!" He and Frank had almost died that day. Only Solomon Mapes's skill as a pilot had saved them.

  "But how did you know about us?" Joe asked. Gina laughed.

  "The Assassins always know what you and your brother are up to. Did you really think you had us fooled all this time? That we were such amateurs?" Nwali asked. "We were playing with you. It made us laugh to watch you react."

  "I should have taken care of the plane myself rather than trust that fool Forrester," Gina added.

  "You killed him," Endang said.

  "I killed him," Boris said, a light dancing in his eyes.

  "The fool got greedy," Nwali said. "As if we hadn't paid him enough to deliver the case with Stavrogin's notes to us." He turned to Endang. "Though I suspect I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. How is Gray, by the way?"

  Endang shook her head. "Who?"

  Nwali laughed. "And, Joseph, where is your brother?"

  Joe shook his head. "I have no idea."

  Nwali rammed him in the stomach with the butt end of the machine gun.

  Joe gasped, the wind knocked out of him, and bent over double.

  "No more unpleasant surprises, Joseph. Is he out there," Nwali pointed to the forest, "waiting for us?"

  "I already told you," he said, struggling to catch his breath. "I have no idea where Frank is."

  Nwali held the machine gun pointed at Endang's head. "Now do you have an idea?"

  Joe shook his head again.

  "Talk," Boris commanded, stepping in front of Joe. He drew his right hand back and punched Joe in the jaw. Joe fell to the ground.

  "He's useless now," Joe heard Gina say. "Let's get rid of both of them."

  "Not yet. We may still need hostages before this is over," Joe heard Nwali say. "Let's finish loading the helicopter. Professor Krinski is anxious to complete his work."

  Joe rolled over and looked up.

  The sun was setting behind Mount Agung.

  ***

  Night was already falling as Frank rode back up the mountain. He missed the dirt road on his way up, and it was pitch-black by the time he turned around and finally found it.

  There was no sign of Joe or Endang.

  The road ended in a clearing with a small shack in the center of it. It was completely deserted. Frank turned on the flashlight he had bought in Selat and pointed it toward the shack. His beam fell on something on the ground on front of it. He bent down and looked closer.

  Peanut shells. Had Bill been here?

  He must have been. That meant the Assassins had been here, too. So where were they now? And if this was the construction site, where were all the supplies Kouri had sold the Assassins?

  He walked back out on the main road, shining his flashlight left and right. Finally he found some tracks on the left side of the road and traced them into the forest.

  Something reflected off his flashlight. Chrome. Joe's bike. So Endang and Joe had found this place, too. Where were they now?

  There were only two possible conclusions: His brother and Endang had been kidnapped, or they'd been killed.

  He rode back down to Selat. The roadside stand had closed, but Haji was still there, waiting by their car.

  "Where's the other bike?" the young man asked.

  "Where's your friend?" Frank countered.

  "He got tired and went home. Nothing happened to that bike, right?"

  "It's fine," Frank said. "We'll go get it in a minute. But first I need to use a phone." He wanted to contact the Network.

  "There's no phone service here," the young man said.

  Frank nodded. It figured. He'd have to rescue Joe and Endang on his own. He thought a moment. Krinski's equations called for dropping a hydrogen bomb through lava. To drop something you had to be fairly high up, right?

  He looked at Haji. "I need to get up the mountain. To the top."

  "Up Agung?" Haji shook his head. "The crater's been closed for the last three months. The government decided it was too dangerous."

  "Really?" Frank asked. He bet he knew whose money had helped them make that decision - the Assassins'. "Then I definitely have to go."

  Haji shrugged. "I can take you, but we'll have to do it on foot. No roads go all the way up. And we'll have to wait until morning. The trails are too dangerous at night."

  "I have to go now," Frank said. He needed the cover of night and the advantage of surprise when he came upon the Assassins.

  The young man eyed Frank. "You're wearing shorts. Do you know how cold it gets up in the mountains?"

  Frank shook his head.

  The young man pointed toward Agung. "That's three thousand meters high. Ten thousand feet. Why do you have to go there now?"

  Frank smiled. "I'll tell you on the way."

  ***

  Haji rode with Frank up the mountain until they came to the other bike. Then the two of them took a back road to his house in Sebudi, a small village a little farther up the mountain.

  His mother tried to talk them out of climbing the mountain at night, but when she saw that they weren't going to listen she made them some strong coffee and gave them a knapsack full of snacks. Frank also borrowed long pants and a sweater from Haji. By the time they set off it was close to midnight.

  "You were going to tell me why you have to climb Agung tonight," Haji said. There was a full moon, so he was able to set a brisk pace for them. As he walked his breath turned to steam in the night air.

  "Where'd you learn to speak English so well?" Frank asked, changing the subject.

  Haji smiled. "Cable television. I worked at one of the tourist hotels down south for three years. Then I quit and came back here. Now I am taking a correspondence course with an American institution.

  "Really?" Frank asked. "In what?"

  "Computers," Haji said. "I want to marry an American girl and work for a big company." He pointed to the side of his head. "I have big ideas."

  For the next hour or so they walked up the mountain along a dry streambed, talking about computers. Then they came to another village. Haji sat down on the ground, pulled out a canteen, and drank.

  "Have some," he said, offering the canteen to Frank.

  "No, thanks. I'm not thirsty."

  "You'd better drink," Haji told him. "From here it gets tough."

  Frank held out his hand and took the canteen. He took a swig and handed it back to Haji. "Let's get going."

  Those were the last words he spoke for the next hour and a half. The trail went almost straight up. Frank found that he needed all his breath just to keep up with Haji. As they walked the forest changed from tropical vegetation to pine trees.

  Then the trees disappeared, and they were staring up a steep, rocky climb to Agung's summit. The wind was blowing, and for the first time since he'd left Alaska Frank felt cold.

  Haji pointed up. "That goes straight up to the crater wall. There's a breach at the top that leads you in."

  "Thanks," Frank said. "I think I can manage from here."

  "You want me to leave you?" Haji shook his head. "How are you going to find your way back down?"

  "My brother's up there," Frank said. "I'll manage." He shook Haji's hand. "Thanks."

  Haji shrugged. "Have it your way." He handed Frank the knapsack of food. "Good luck."

  "Thanks," Frank said again.

  He turned and started the long ascent to the top of the mountain. The way up was all shale and loose volcanic rock, and incredibly slow going. By the time he neared the top the sun was starting to show over the horizon.

  He scrambled up the last few yards to a narrow path that circled the crater wall. He found the breach in the crater wall about two hundred yards to his left. There was a yellow sign on it, with writing in both English and Indonesian: Danger.

  The thought occurred to him that the Assassins might have planted the sign to hide what was going on inside the crater. If that was true, he was abou
t to walk into the middle of a very risky situation.

  On the other hand, maybe the Assassins weren't involved at all. Maybe the crater was simply too unsafe to explore.

  Either way, Frank knew he couldn't win.

  He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  Chapter 15

  The volcano was alive.

  Frank could feel the heat coming off it. He looked down and saw that he was standing on a narrow trail, about three feet wide, that ran inside the crater. Steam rose from the massive pit beneath him. Frank sniffed the air, and the smell of sulfur bit into his nose.

  The Assassins were here, and so were their supplies. Just as they'd done in Alaska, they had brought an inactive volcano to life, probably using a series of small explosions to rekindle it.

  This time Frank knew that the Assassins weren't going to stop at small explosions, though. No, this time they were planning to cause a major volcanic eruption.

  Frank knew that this was the Assassins' grand plan. They had probably been working on this for months. He looked at the incredible structure laid out before him. Now he knew where all the construction supplies they'd bought from Kouri had gone.

  The terrorists had built right up against the crater wall, using it as the foundation for a series of six small, interconnected structures stacked one on top of the other at roughly five-foot intervals. The largest was at the bottom and appeared to be about twenty feet square. At the rim of the crater was a helicopter pad.

  Forrester's blueprints, Frank realized, were preliminary sketches for this place.

  Ladders covered the crater wall between each building and ran to the helicopter pad at the top of the rim. A series of rails for the elevator, he remembered, ran from the helipad down, past each of the six structures. But the rails didn't end there. They continued down inside the volcano and disappeared into the crater below.

  That's how they're going to lower the bomb, Frank thought. All right, then. He had found the Assassins. Now he had to find Joe and Endang.

  A light snapped on in one of the sheds. Through a window Frank saw a figure. He rubbed his eyes. Could it be? Frank focused his eyes on the window again. Yes, it was true. He was looking at Gina Abend. She was alive!