Tom Clancy's Op-center Balance of Power - Tom Clancy [117]
August put his arm around Sondra DeVonne as though she were his traveling companion. The two laughed as they walked. But when August looked at her he was actually looking past her at the traffic. It was virtually nonexistent due to all the military activity in the area. When Sondra looked at August she was keeping an eye on pedestrians. Like the streets, the sidewalks were relatively deserted.
They reached the corner and waited. Pupshaw had run over and caught up to them. No sooner had he arrived than the middle of the street erupted into a bright billowing cloud of orange smoke.
The wind blew the smoke toward them, which was why they had selected that site. Before it arrived, George, Scott, and Prementine had walked into the middle of the street. They stopped and knelt and pointed toward the smoke with their right hands. As they did, they lowered one end of the headphones into the manhole cover holes. A few seconds before the smoke reached them, they hoisted it up and moved it aside. Sondra whipped a palm-sized flashlight from the pocket of her windbreaker and shined it down. The light was not only for illumination: once the operation was underway, hand signals and on/off signals from flashlights would be their normal form of communication.
As the Interpol street plans had indicated, there was a ladder just inside. She went down quickly, followed by August, Aideen, and Ishi Honda. The other four men went down next, the burly Pupshaw waiting on the ladder to pull the lid back over the hole.
The entire operation took less than fifteen seconds.
The sewer was approximately ten feet tall and it was easy to walk through it. The system was flushed at noon and one a.m., and refuse was slightly more than knee-deep. But the relief of being inside and on the way compensated for the discomfort of the viscous liquid and its stench. They followed Sondra's flashlight to the west and the catacombs.
As they walked, August put in his EAR plug-Extended Audio Range. This device looked like a hearing aid and allowed secure audio reception within a two hundred mile range. A Q-tip-shaped microphone taped to his chest allowed him to communicate with Interpol headquarters.
The sewer turned to the north at a brick wall that stood almost shoulder-high. There was a nearly three-foot gap at the top-the entrance to the catacombs. DeVonne handed the flashlight to Private George while Private Scott boosted her up and over. It had been agreed ahead of time that she would handle point for the mission. August was next in line followed by Aideen, with Corporal Prementine bringing up the rear. Private DeVonne was still suffering from occasional emotional slumps over Lt. Col. Squires's death. That had occurred during her first mission with Striker. However, August was pleased to see that she'd been completely focused since they'd reached Madrid. And she was even more so down here-moving like a cat, quiet and alert. Since they'd entered the sewer, not a rat had passed that she'd failed to notice.
After the seven Strikers and Aideen had gone over the brick wall, they pressed on following a map Luis had had printed out. It wasn't as easy moving in here. The roof was only five feet high here, and the rubble and dirt crunched loudly under their feet. Their clothes were clammy at first, then thick and hard as they dried in the cool, extremely musty air.
Suddenly, August stopped.
"Incoming message," he whispered to the others.
The Strikers formed a tight circle around him. Sondra reminded in front and Corporal Prementine stayed behind. The other Strikers and Aideen had gathered close in on either side. Their proximity would enable Colonel August to speak quietly if there were new orders.
"Are you in?" Luis asked.
"We're about fifty feet into the catacombs," August replied. Since the audio line was secure, scrambled on both ends, there was no chance of it being intercepted and no reason to speak in code. "We should reach the dungeon