Page 127 of Stars

“They have not run far,” he said. “Only one hundred meters or so. I could hear them halt.”

“You could hear that?”

“I listen not only with my ears.”

Ethan blinked. He turned to Welby, his weapon aiming into the dark. “On three.”

They counted together and spun, flattening to the wall and gliding to their corners. The tunnel was dimly lit, every third light bulb flickering. Ten yards ahead, a crimson stain spread across the ground, a pool of blood still tacky as it dried. Glimmers of light reflected off stagnant puddles of moldy water, an urban starscape from an apocalyptic nightmare.

In the distance, shapes disappeared from the lights and blended into the shadows. Ethan gave the signal to move out.

“Wait.” Kilaqqi sidestepped to the wall.

“Ethan…” Blake said, peering through his NVGs. “There’s something up there…”

“What do you see?” Ethan pulled his NVGs down and dialed them as far as they could go, maximum brightness, maximum magnification, trying to peer through the tunnel. Emerald and jade twisted together, writhing against a black velvet that pulsed in time with his heart. “I can’t see anything.”

A pop of lime appeared, then another, and another. Blurry outlines like bowling pins, moving chaotically.

People.

“There they are—”

“I know why they stopped a hundred meters out,” Kilaqqi suddenly said. His voice was low and taut, and it made Ethan still. “We have to go back.Now.”

“Why, what do you see? What’s happen—”

“RPG!” Welby yelled. He grabbed Pete’s and Ethan’s arms and flung them backward toward the bunker, then threw himself on top of Blake. Kilaqqi rolled into the darkness, into the corner of the tunnel, and disappeared.

A dragon’s roar exploded toward them, fire from the launch of a rocket expanding and filling the tunnel. Flame licked the darkness and propelled a high-explosive antitank round straight for them.

Jack.

Ethan squeezed his eyes closed, squeezed every muscle in his body, held his breath—

The RPG round slammed into the tunnel’s roof thirty yards out, exploding in a bloom of pure white light.Thermobaric round. We’re fucked.The explosion would suck the oxygen from the tunnel, use it as fuel, sustaining the flames as long as it was fed.

Rumbling shook the earth, the mountain, the bunker. Concrete cracked in spider lines from the impact. Boulders tumbled loose, the tunnel coming apart above and around them in chunks the size of cars. The falling rock blocked the roaring flames, at least for a moment.

“They’re bringing this whole thing down!” Pete shouted.

Pieces from the collapse rolled toward them, following gravity. Chunks slammed into each other, breaking apart and tumbling again. They were going to be pulverized if they stayed.

“Move!” Ethan bellowed. “Back to the bunker!”

They scrambled, flinging themselves back through the door. Kilaqqi melted out of the darkness and followed on Pete’s heels. Ethan brought up the rear, hauling the door closed as the thermobaric bloom brushed against him. The heat was enough to burn his hair, roast his skin in a single moment. He stumbled into the bunker, gritting his teeth.

Welby and Kilaqqi caught him, holding him up as the pain nearly brought Ethan to his knees. “We have to get out of here,” he hissed. “This whole place could come down.” If the thermobaric reaction went on long enough, it would destroy the entire bunker, seep and spread through the cracks and crevices and burn the complex from the inside until there was nothing left.

They helped him across the empty nuclear command center, rushing past decades of Soviet and Russian secrets. Then, “Wait,” he said. “Wait.”

Damn it, they didn’t get Zeytsev, but they could damn well make sure no one got hold of this fucking bunker again.

“Give me all your grenades.”

* * *

Climbingout of the mountain took longer than it had to enter, and by the time they dragged themselves back through the east entrance, the sun had nearly set. Tawny smoke rose from the west side of the mountain. Ash fell like snow, coating the trees and the forest.