Tucker shifted them to the edge of the railing and rolled off. As they fell, he clutched Kane tightly against his body. They hit hard, especially for landing in mud—then they were tumbling down the slick surface of the mire. The smell filled his every sense. Muck soon covered them in a heavy coat.
In a matter of a few moments, they rolled free of the compost mountain and out across a mix of snow and sand. Tucker stood up, weaving and unsteady. His left shoulder throbbed. Kane limped a few steps, his left rear leg tucked up against his body, but as his partner worked the kinks out of his muddy body, he brought the limb down and tentatively took a few hops.
Sprained perhaps, but not broken.
Now where was General Kharzin? He was nowhere in sight.
Kane limped forward, ready to go, but Tucker forced the shepherd down with a firm, “STAY.”
You’ve done plenty, buddy.
Tucker drew the Browning from its holster and edged forward, sticking to the deeper shadows of the Macoma’s canted hull. Now out of the wind and snow, he could hear the pop and metallic groan of the dying ship. It loomed above him, like a building frozen in the process of collapsing.
He noted a rope dangling from a railing ahead, marking Kharzin’s exit from the ship. The end hung a good ten feet off the ground. He pictured Kharzin dropping from it.
Continuing onward, he climbed the bulldozed wave of sand and rock at the ship’s bow. The tip of the ship hung like a massive shadowy hatchet in the storm overhead, waiting to fall.
Tucker reached the crest of the stony tide and peered cautiously over its lip.
Fifty yards away, a figure moved through the storm, his back to Tucker and favoring one leg. Apparently Kharzin’s descent hadn’t gone any easier. The man slowly limped toward a snowy tree line, marked by park benches and gravel pathways.
Tucker cautiously picked his way down the backside of the rocks and started stalking toward his target, not wanting to spook him. Whether Kharzin heard his approach or not, the man suddenly shrugged off his backpack, knelt down near a copse of leafless maples, and unzipped the bag.
A stainless steel tank shone brightly within the muddy pack. Kharzin unscrewed the nozzle hose of the sprayer and tossed it away.
Uh-oh . . .
Tucker moved swiftly forward, incautiously snapping a twig.
Kharzin turned his head.
The two of them locked eyes.
Tucker raised his pistol and charged Kharzin. The other swung around, shaking free the tank from the pack and hugging it to his chest like a shield.
Kharzin confronted him, dared him. “Go ahead! Shoot! Hit the tank or hit me . . . it doesn’t matter! Either way, the corruption inside will spill free upon your precious soil. And I’ll have my revenge for my daughter, for my country!”
Tucker lowered the Browning and slowed his run to a walk.
Off in the distance came the wail of sirens.
The pair stood staring at each other, neither speaking.
Tucker considered his options. First of all, he had no idea whether Bukolov had succeeded in decontaminating the ship’s hold. He smelled the ripe sludge covering his body. The monster could already be out of the bag, set loose upon the shores of Lake Michigan.
If so, the tank in Kharzin’s arms was irrelevant.
Still, Tucker waited, wanting extra insurance for his next move.
Then he heard it: thump, thump, thump—multiple helicopters echoed over the water behind him.
Good enough.
He shot Kharzin in the right kneecap, breaking the stalemate. The man’s leg buckled, and he pitched forward. As he hit the ground, the canister knocked from his arms and rolled free. Yellow liquid spilled out its open spigot, blazing a toxic trail, mapping its trajectory. As the tank came to a rest, it continued to leak weaponized LUCA.
Tucker moved forward, taking care not to step on any of the yellow lines.
Kharzin rolled onto his back, his face twisted with rage and pain.
Behind him, a helicopter swept over the bulk of the Macoma, then hovered for a landing at a neighboring open stretch of beach. Others buzzed higher, circling wider, stirring through the storm.
“The cavalry has arrived,” he said to Kharzin.
As the skids of the first helicopter touched the rocky beach, the side door popped open, and a pair of men jumped out, both wearing anorak parkas and shouldering backpack sprayers. They should be able to quickly clean up and decontaminate the brief spill. Behind them followed another trio of men armed with assault rifles.
The group began jogging toward Tucker’s position.
He returned his attention to Kharzin. “Do you see the men with the rifles?”
The general remained silent, his gaze burning with hatred.
“They’re going to take you into custody, whisk you off somewhere for a long talk. But I’m not officially with them, you see. So before they take you away, I want you to know something.”
Kharzin’s eyes narrowed, showing a glint of curiosity past the pain.
“You’re going to need new shoes.”
He shot Kharzin in the left foot, then right—then turned away from the screaming and the blood. He’d had enough of both.
Time to go home.
He headed back to where he had left Kane.
That was home enough for him.
48
April 7, 10:43 A.M.
Spitskop Game Park, South Africa
Footsteps entered the barn.
Now what?
Lying on his back, Tucker scooted his roller board out from beneath the Range Rover. He wiped the oil from his hands onto his coverall, but there was nothing to do about the splatters on his face. No doubt about it, the Rover needed a new oil pan and gasket.
As he rolled free of the bumper, he found himself staring up at the worried face of Christopher Nkomo.
“My friend,” he said, “I am not comfortable accepting such a large gift.”
Tucker sat up and climbed to his feet.
Kane stirred from where he had been curled on a pile of straw, patiently waiting for his partner to realize he was not an auto mechanic.
Tucker scratched at the bandage over his ear. The sutures had returned his ear to its proper place on his head and were due to come out now.
It had been ten days since the crash of the Macoma. It seemed Bukolov’s kill switch had proved successful, the site declared LUCA free, although monitoring continued around the clock. The entire event was reported to the media as a mishap due to a fault in the ship’s navigation systems during a severe winter storm. Additionally, the cordoning of the site was blamed on a hazardous spill. Under such a cover, it was easy for teams to move in with electric-powered dispersion sprayers and swamp the entire area with the kill switch as an extra precaution. It also explained the continued environmental monitoring.