The Milestone Protocol, Ernest Dempsey [100 best novels of all time txt] 📗

little abode. Here, in this control room, we will begin a new civilization, one that will live in harmony with the earth and work toward colonizing other worlds so that humanity can not only survive, but thrive, and take its rightful place in the universe.”

45

Svalbard

Sean peered through the windshield of the cargo truck as tiny flecks of snow blew over the hood. He admired the peaceful serenity of this place, out in the middle of the Arctic Circle, far away from the troubles of civilization, the rat race, and what had become a divided world.

There was none of that here. Not in the Arctic. He wished it weren’t so cold there, and a little closer to home, so he could visit more often just to get away from the noise.

Sean traveled plenty, as did all the IAA agents, but their journeys rarely took them to such remote locations.

He thought about the trip to the Sahara several years before, and about the discovery they made there. That was about as distant a spot as he’d ever visited, but even that was reachable by car or a short plane ride.

The aurora borealis shimmered and writhed overhead, snaking its way through the sky amid the stars in the background. Snow glowed dimly on the mountains around them and on the flats between the hills.

The truck hit a bump on the road and jostled Sean and the others. He tugged at the collar of the delivery company uniform he’d borrowed from the men at the hangar. It was fortunate the workers had spares on hand in their lockers. Sean hated to think about wearing clothes someone else had been wearing for who knew how long.

Getting the two delivery trucks had been easy enough, though he’d expected trouble when the group decided going the truck route would be the best play. He had imagined a shootout or, at the very least, a sneak attack on the drivers and their loading crews that would end in some kind of hand-to-hand combat.

Instead, when Sean saw the men, he realized they weren’t part of the cult. They were ordinary workers just doing their jobs. He realized it when he and his team approached the hangar where the two trucks were loading their supplies. Sean observed the men closely, and while he couldn’t tell if they had the ankh tattoos that all the other cult members bore, there were no gunmen standing watch, no guards, and no other signs that the men were anything but delivery guys.

Sean suggested that they use an alternative approach, one that ended up costing Tommy $10,000.

Tommy offered to pay the men $2,500 each to take a break for the next few hours and assured them that the cargo would still be delivered to the diamond mine at the mountain. The four delivery men considered the offer, weighing the risk of losing their job against what would amount to about half a month’s salary for just sitting on their tails for a couple of hours.

When Tommy saw they were still on the fence about it, he reassured them, promising that no one was going to find out about it, and that there was nowhere for them to go on the island other than into town or to the mine. They certainly didn’t want to borrow the trucks for a joyride in the eternal night.

His explanation made sense, and the delivery crew accepted the offer, happy to take a break for a few hours and check their accounts, wondering when the wire transfer would finally hit. Tommy collected their ID cards that they said would get them into the mine, along with the keys. He knew the money transfer wouldn’t show until the next business day, which he reminded the men, but that didn’t stop them from checking their phones as Tommy and the rest of the team loaded into the vehicles.

The cargo bays in both trucks were heated, which made things livable in the back for the members of the team hiding there.

Sean drove the first vehicle, and Dak drove the second, a decision that had everything to do with the men’s experience in the field with tenuous situations. They could have let the women drive, but it was assumed that whoever was guarding the mine entrance would be expecting men.

As the cargo trucks drove away, Sean watched the men in the rearview mirror as they laughed and clapped each other on the back and made their way into an office on the side of the hangar. He’d been 99 percent sure the men were legitimate cargo delivery guys, but when he saw their reactions as he and the other truck drove away, he knew his assessment had been correct.

The truck bounced and rumbled on the rough, snow-covered road, and Sean hoped that the knobby tires had enough grip not to slide off and into the icy lake to his right.

He shrugged off the concern and continued around a long left-hand curve. Around a tall hill, bright lights appeared at the top of another rise straight ahead, and a hundred-foot-deep pit dropped into the earth to the left.

Sean pulled up the CB radio and held it to his mouth. “Okay. The mine is straight ahead. Stay with me. I hope this works. If it doesn’t, we’re going to have to force our way in.”

“Understood,” Dak said.

They’d already discussed the contingency plan if things didn’t go as hoped. With little analysis on the entrance to the mine, the team was working on several assumptions. The first was that it would be sealed shut with a large vault-like gate that—without an access code—would be impenetrable.

As Sean rolled up to the two guard shacks, he realized that wasn’t the case at all. The initial gate blocking the way into the mine was little more than a chain-link fence on wheels. There was barbed wire at the top, stretched out in both directions at an angle, but if he’d needed to step on the gas and barge