Page 35 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
Gideon sobered up. “Do you think they’re alive?”
“I really don’t know. But I think somebody in there,” Kostya said pointing to the screen, “knows. I intend to go in there and shake things up and get some answers.”
“How far are you willing to go to get answers?” Gideon asked quietly.
Kostya gave Gideon a penetrating stare. “Things in Russia have supposedly changed since I was a child. The Soviet Empire collapsed and now we’re all friends and on the same side, right?”
Gideon nodded. “Sure, we share a space station.”
Kostya’s jaw tightened. “Don’t you fucking believe it. Leopards don’t change their spots. Sure, some of Russia embraces the West, but there is a part of Russia that will always be a power-hungry autocracy. It might smile to the world, but deep down there will always be a small dark underbelly that can’t be trusted.”
Gideon frowned. “Kostya, that’s cold.”
“No, that’s real. I’ll know who we’re dealing with when we get there. It’ll be on me to decide how I play things. You will all be out of it.”
Gideon snorted. “So sorry, Boss. That is so not how things work. I believe we are called a team. I know English isn’t your first language and all, so you might want to go look that up, but in a team, we work together.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Chief Petty Officer, didn’t you hear? I’m what is called a lieutenant. That’s an officer, which means I outrank you. That’s a wordyoumight want to look up. You and all of the other enlisted men might want to remember that when I give orders tomorrow. You got that?”
Gideon rolled his eyes. “Sure I do.”
Asshole.
* * *
The good weatherlasted exactly two seconds as far as Kostya was concerned. How in the hell had that happened he wanted to know as he glared up at the dark sky that was spitting a blanket of snow down on him.
“Got anything yet?”
“You asked that thirty seconds ago, Lieutenant,” Gideon muttered into his mic. Kostya didn’t bother to respond. His second-in-command knew damn good and well that Kostya had not asked thirty seconds ago—it had been precisely ten minutes since he’d asked for an update. Kostya and his men were in the forest following a grid pattern search and rescue protocol, being directed by Gideon. They’d been at this since sunset and it was nearing midnight. Seriously, Gideon should be in a better mood since his happy ass was planted back in the SUSI coordinating things while the rest of them were balls-deep in slush.
Kostya tramped past the clearing and was once again under the deep, aged forest growth where he was protected from the snow. It was eerily quiet and sent his mind spinning backward in time to when he had been a shivering seven-year-old carrying his baby sister and cajoling his older brother to keep up, glaring at the big man who had greedily taken their diamonds to get them over the Russian border but unwilling to do more than lead them.
Gideon’s voice jerked him to the present. “Got something. It’s big and it’s square, underneath the trees.” He gave out the coordinates. Kostya calculated where his men were and realized that Sebastian was the closest. Hell, he was almost on top of whatever the Russians had built.
“Sebastian, halt,” Kostya commanded. “Linc, Landon, you’re closest to him. When you’re together, reconnoiter and report. Gideon, can you pinpoint any smaller items, like the number of vehicles?”
“Give me a few and I’ll have a diagram flushed out of what’s there and I’ll send it to all of you via your hand-helds.”
“Sebastian, did you see any sign of a path that led to the facility?” Kostya asked.
“Negative.”
“I’ve got something, Lieutenant,” Landon answered. He must be crossing over tracks to get to Sebastian.
“What?” Kostya asked.
“No discernable path, what with all the snow, but you can see the cut trees.”
“We’ll stay far away from that entry point, Boss, as we enter,” Linc said.
While Kostya waited for another report from that trio, he turned his attention to his other men.
“Mateo and Nolan, you head northwest one kilometer around the back of the coordinates. Ryker, I’ll meet you a kilometer southwest from the coordinates. Gideon, get us that map, STAT.”
“On it,” Gideon replied.
“Linc and Landon are with me,” Sebastian reported.
