Page 34 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
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Lincoln was driving againwhen they made it to the west side ofOzero Yulya-Viyeks”Yarvi,in Russia. It had taken five days from the time they’d left Helsinki. They could have made it there faster if they hadn’t needed to take a day and scout out where the cameras, guard towers, and landmines were and ensure that they circumvented them.
Right now there was a break in the storm and the sun was shining, but according to the International Weather Bureau, it wasn’t going to last for long. Besides it not snowing, Kostya was also thankful that the howling wind was silent for a change, too. It made it easier to think.
They were all taking a break from being cooped up in the all-terrain vehicle, God knew they needed a chance to stretch their legs.
“It’s beautiful,” Ryker said in a hushed tone. He’d grown up in Southern California. Kostya managed not to roll his eyes. He took a deep breath. He could swear that the air smelled different; it was as if he could taste Russia.
Gideon looked over at Kostya. Even behind his polarized goggles, Kostya could feel his piercing gaze. His friend didn’t know hisentirestory. He knew that his parents died in Russia and that he and his sister were Russian refugees, but he didn’t know about Kostya’s brother, Roman. It was a story he couldn’t bring himself to tell.
“Do you have a lock on where Commander Clark said the Russians were building?” Kostya asked Gideon as he came closer.
Gideon pushed up his goggles and peered down at the device in his hands and nodded. “It’s fifteen kilometers southeast of the lake.” Kostya held out his hand and Gideon gave him the device.
Before examining the GPS, Kostya took another look around and studied his men. They all looked in good shape, some even had the good sense to be putting on sunscreen. Gideon looked around and smirked.
“There’s one thing I won’t be needing.”
Kostya looked at his friend’s mahogany skin. “Still isn’t going to make up for the burning sensation you suffered from losing the pool to Ryker. Wasn’t that two hundred dollars?” Kostya grinned.
Gideon shrugged. “I forgot to factor in that Ryker more than likely plays Call of DutywithLandon regularly.”
Kostya snorted. “Seems to me that was a pretty major oversight.”
“Yeah, well, I noticed you lost out on the pool, too.” Gideon smirked.
Kostya sighed. What could he say, Ryker had snookered them all. He looked down at the upgraded navigation device and hit the toggle button.
“So, fifteen kilometers southeast of the lake?” he asked Gideon again.
“That’s what the satellite images showed two months ago.” Gideon nodded. “They saw the trucks going in, but never coming out.”
“What the hell kind of trucks made it into the forest? Are you telling me there are roads in there?”
Gideon unbuckled his arctic backpack and fished out his tablet. They went back to the SUSI and bent over the hood. After spending days in it, neither of them was eager to get back into the vehicle. Gideon pulled up a map of Western Russia and zoomed in on their location. “This road encircles the lake and will eventually get to a highway that leads into St. Petersburg. The trucks went into the forest here.” Gideon pointed to a spot where there was no discernable road breaking off into the forest.
“Do you have the sat images on your tablet?” Kostya asked.
They immediately flashed on the screen. Apparently, Gideon had once again anticipated his request.
“Can you zoom in?” Kostya asked.
“Nope, this was as good as it got. I already asked the techs to get clearer images and they couldn’t.”
“So we have no idea what they were hauling or what they were driving,” Kostya said in disgust.
“Nope.”
“And when the satellite passed again?”
“Nothing.”
“What are you thinking we can do with your magic box?” Kostya asked Gideon.
“Go to where they drove in, then do a grid search and see if anything solid pings. Not trees or rocks, but more like a building.” Gideon grinned at him. “But you already knew that.”
“Seemed like the logical thing to do,” Kostya agreed.
