Chapter 4 - Buster’s Recording
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The helicopter touched down hard behind an abandoned maintenance building.
Before the wheels had fully settled, I jumped out.
My wounded leg nearly folded beneath me.
I caught the side of the aircraft and kept moving.
Pendelton shouted something behind me, but I was already running.
Marcus had disappeared back into the hangar.
Gunfire cracked through the compound.
Three security agents moved ahead, covering the open ground.
I followed them through cold rain that soaked through my ruined uniform.
Every step hurt.
I did not care.
“Marcus!”
No answer.
Then Buster came out of the darkness.
The Belgian Malinois hit me so hard I nearly fell.
His paws landed against my chest.
He whined frantically and pushed his head beneath my damaged hand.
For the first time since the mountains, something inside me broke.
I dropped to one knee and wrapped my left arm around him.
“You crazy dog.”
Buster licked my face.
“Where is he?”
The dog turned immediately.
He ran toward the hangar.
I followed.
Inside, emergency lights flickered above overturned crates and rusting training equipment.
A man lay unconscious near the entrance.
He wore civilian tactical clothing.
Buster stepped over him.
Then I saw Marcus.
He was leaning against a concrete pillar with a rifle pointed toward the rear door.
His jacket was black with old blood.
A crude bandage wrapped his ribs.
The scar across his jaw looked darker than I remembered.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“Captain.”
My throat closed.
“You look terrible.”
He smiled.
“So do you.”
I crossed the distance between us and hit him in the chest.
Not hard.
But hard enough.
“You were supposed to stay alive.”
Marcus winced.
“I did.”
“You were supposed to tell me.”
“I was unconscious.”
“That is a terrible excuse.”
His smile faded.
Then we embraced.
Carefully.
Like two people afraid the other might disappear again.
Buster circled our legs, whining.
Secretary Pendelton entered with his agents.
Marcus immediately straightened.
“Sir.”
“At ease, Corporal.”
Pendelton looked at the blood on Marcus’s jacket.
“You need medical attention.”
“So does she.”
“I’ve been telling her that.”
Marcus looked at me.
“You never listen.”
“Neither do you.”
For the first time in days, I almost laughed.
Then Marcus reached inside his jacket.
He pulled out a small black device.
Buster’s telemetry recorder.
Pendelton stepped closer.
“Is that intact?”
“Mostly.”
Marcus placed it on an overturned crate.
“The external casing is damaged, but the memory core survived.”
“How do you know?”
“I checked the status light.”
A tiny green indicator blinked once every five seconds.
Alive.
Like Marcus.
Marcus looked toward me.
“You carved the code?”
“Yes.”
“I figured.”
“How?”
“Because Vance sent men here looking for me three hours ago.”
My relief disappeared.
“What happened after I left you?”
Marcus sat slowly against the crate.
Buster immediately lay beside him.
“You remember the avalanche shelf?”
“Yes.”
“I woke up sometime after dawn.”
His hand moved unconsciously to the dog’s neck.
“Buster was lying across me.”
I looked at the Malinois.
Marcus continued.
“He kept me warm.”
Of course he had.
“I heard vehicles.”
“Enemy?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at Pendelton.
“American.”
The Secretary’s expression hardened.
“They were searching the area.”
“For survivors?”
“For bodies.”
Silence spread through the hangar.
Marcus looked at me.
“I heard one of them say Vance wanted confirmation.”
My stomach tightened.
“Confirmation of what?”
“That Snow Lantern was completely erased.”
Pendelton gripped his cane.
Marcus continued.
“I crawled into the drainage tunnel under the old communications station.”
“How did you get out?”
“Buster.”
The dog’s ears lifted at his name.
“He found the service route.”
Marcus smiled weakly.
“Then he found food.”
I glanced at Buster.
“What food?”
“Frozen emergency rations from 1998.”
“That explains his breath.”
Marcus almost laughed.
Then his face became serious.
“We spent two days moving through maintenance tunnels.”
“You had no radio?”
“Damaged.”
He tapped the recorder.
“But this survived.”
Pendelton looked at the device.
“Play it.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not here.”
“Why?”
“Because Vance’s men were using this facility to access a remote command server.”
He pointed toward a sealed room at the rear of the hangar.
“They know we’re here.”
As if responding to him, the lights went out.
Buster stood instantly.
A growl rolled from his chest.
Security agents raised their weapons.
Then a loudspeaker crackled overhead.
Vance’s voice filled the hangar.
“Captain Jenkins.”
My blood went cold.
“You have caused enough damage.”
Marcus looked at me.
Pendelton lifted his head.
Vance continued.
“Give me the recorder.”
His voice echoed through the building.
“And I will allow the Secretary to leave alive.”
Pendelton muttered, “Generous.”
Vance ignored him.
“Corporal Thorne was never meant to survive.”
Marcus raised his rifle.
“Sorry to disappoint you, General.”
A pause.
Then Vance laughed.
“You always were difficult.”
Pendelton looked toward the ceiling.
“Thomas.”
The laughter stopped.
“You crossed a line you cannot return from.”
Vance answered quietly.
“You still think this is about me.”
Pendelton’s expression changed.
“What does that mean?”
Vance’s voice became almost sympathetic.
“You saw the code and assumed you found the traitor.”
A red light began blinking above the hangar doors.
Marcus looked upward.
“That’s not good.”
Vance continued.
“You found one name.”
The alarm started screaming.
Marcus grabbed the recorder.
“Move!”
Security agents rushed toward the exit.
I grabbed Buster’s harness.
Pendelton ran beside us as fast as his injured leg allowed.
Behind us, fuel lines ignited.
Flames raced across the hangar floor.
Vance’s final words thundered from the speakers.
“There are twelve more.”
The rear wall exploded.
Heat threw me forward.
I hit the concrete.
Buster landed beside me.
Marcus shouted my name.
The telemetry recorder skidded across the floor.
Fire spread toward it.
I crawled through smoke.
Reached out.
My burned glove touched the black device.
And from its damaged speaker came a voice recorded thirty-one hours earlier.
General Vance.
“Confirm Directive Twelve.”
Then another voice answered.
A voice Secretary Pendelton recognized.
His face went completely white.
May you like
Because the second man on Buster’s recording was not a soldier.
He was the Vice President of the United States.
