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

through, Sean had no reservations that the big cargo truck would be up to the task.

He slowed to a stop and waited as one of the guards emerged from the shack to the left while another waited inside, looking at a computer screen. Sean made sure his black mask was still pulled up over his nose and his matching beanie down low, close to his eyebrows.

The guard approached, and Sean lowered the window. He held out the ID card and allowed the guard to inspect it. The man looked up at him with a strange, suspicious glint in his eyes, then nodded and handed the card back to Sean.

That was easy, Sean thought.

But his relief was only temporary.

“I’m going to have to take a look in the back,” the guard announced in a thick Scandinavian accent. It could have been Norwegian, but there was a hint of some other nationality to it.

Sean nodded his understanding but didn’t want to speak. He could imitate accents from all over the world. It was one of his gifts, and one that had served him well during his time in the field for Axis. Now, however, he wasn’t sure which accent the guards might be expecting, so the less talking did, the better.

He rolled up his window as the guard walked around behind the truck. Sean looked over at Tommy, who looked anxiously in the side mirror to see what was going on in the rear. There was no sign of the guard. Only the truck behind them with Dak and Alex in the cab.

Both Sean and Tommy knew that Niki, Tara, Emily, June, Adriana, and Tabitha waited in the back of the second truck with guns at the ready. They were instructed to hide behind the crates, and when the trucks came to a full stop, to be prepared for any contingency.

The idea was that the guard would probably check the cargo of the first vehicle and then send the second on without bothering to look. After all, it was devastatingly cold out here, and the last thing any human wanted to do was to be exposed to the elements for longer than necessary.

The guard disappeared behind the cargo van, and Sean looked on the screen in the center of the dash as the rear-camera display showed the guy lifting the clasp and raising the big door. He looked around for less than five seconds, then closed the bay again.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, the man trudged around to the back of the second truck.

Sean felt a wave of tension build in his gut.

“He’s checking the second truck,” Sean said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Tommy said, indicating the screen view. “I can see that. I hope he’s as thorough as he was with ours.”

The guard rounded the corner of the second truck and vanished from sight.

“What have you got, Dak?” Sean asked into the radio.

“He’s trying to lift the clasp,” Dak replied. “But it looks like it’s frozen shut. Must have gotten wet before we left, or maybe some snow clogged it up. Either way, it doesn’t look like he can open it.”

Sean and Tommy waited for what seemed like hours, hoping the guard couldn’t find a solution to the issue of the stuck door.

A full minute and seven seconds later, Dak’s voice came over the radio. “He’s giving up.”

The guard marched back toward the front of the two-truck convoy, shaking his head along the way. He motioned toward the shack, and the man inside pressed a button. The gate rolled away, clearing the path to an arched inflatable tunnel connected to the mountain.

Sean remained calm and stepped on the gas, but once they were beyond the gate, he glanced at Tommy, who had paled during the ordeal.

“You okay, pal?” Sean asked coolly.

“Oh yeah. Fine. Just wasn’t sure if we were going to get through that gate.”

Sean chuckled. “Good news is it’s only going to get harder from here.” He noticed the concerned look on his friend’s face. “Don’t worry, Schultzie. I’m sure there are only a few hundred, maybe a few thousand, of Sorenson’s troops in here.”

The truck passed under the steel divide between the mountain and the outside. Both men saw the heavy steel gate opened to the side.

“Looks a lot like NORAD,” Sean said.

“I’ve never been there,” Tommy admitted.

“Why would you go there?”

“Good point.”

Sean checked the side mirror multiple times to make sure Dak was keeping up as the two trucks rolled onto the smooth asphalt inside the mine tunnel.

Tommy stared out the window at their surroundings. “Doesn’t look like any mine I’ve ever seen before. And I’ve been in a few.”

“The mine carts and tracks will be down below,” Sean said, half joking.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “I know that. I’m saying, this isn’t like any modern mine I’ve seen in that it’s much larger. Usually, the tunnels aren’t this big.”

“It’s not really a mine anymore, though. Is it?”

“I suppose not. They need this extra space to get big trucks in and possibly other equipment. Maybe helicopters. A few planes. Who knows what Magnus is planning?”

The thought saddened Sean. Magnus had been a trusted friend, a mentor, and benefactor for all of Sean’s adult life, and even before then. It didn’t do any good to wonder how much of Sean’s personality was due to the Swede’s influence. He would have time to contemplate that later, or so he hoped. In the back of his mind, he wondered if everyone would get out of this alive. He thought about Adriana, Emily, June, Tara and Alex, Niki, Tabitha, and Dak.

Dak, of all the crew, would be okay with things. He was former Delta Force, accustomed to facing death and losing people closest to him. Sean had little doubts that Dak was mentally ready for the coming battle.

But was Sean? Was he prepared to do whatever it took, to potentially sacrifice those he held dear, to stop a madman from killing billions?

His reflexive answer was, of course, yes. But when the bullets started flying, would he still