He looked at each of them in turn, giving them all a chance to voice their thoughts. Frost looked uneasy but determined. Keegan was smiling, as if amused by the whole thing. Mason was his usual composed and implacable self, while Dietrich’s face betrayed no emotion at all.
None of them said a word.
Drake nodded, satisfied. ‘All right. Now, let’s move on to the plan of assault.’
In his briefing dossier, he’d outlined five major challenges that needed to be overcome if the operation was to succeed:
1. Getting to the target area.
2. Making entry to the prison.
3. Neutralising the guards and security measures.
4. Finding and extracting Maras.
5. Getting out of the target area.
‘Phase One, getting there,’ he began. ‘Because of the time constraints and the nature of the target, we can’t approach by land. Our only option is insertion by air.’
‘We have an MC-130 transport standing by,’ Cain chimed in. ‘Our jumping-off point will be Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.’
Drake moved over to the map he had pinned to the wall behind him. ‘The plan is for our transport to fly as close to Russian airspace as possible, right along the coast here. We then exit and parachute towards Khatyrgan Prison,’ he explained, indicating the rough drop zone on the map, and the proposed descent route.
He then switched his attention to the prison blueprints. ‘Phase Two, making entry. Our aim will be to land on or adjacent to the south-west defensive tower,’ he said, indicating the tower on the plans. ‘We’ll take out any sentries that are on station, and neutralise any security measures nearby. Keegan, your call sign for this op is Delta. Your objective will be to set up a sniping position in this tower and cover the remaining three towers, plus the exercise yard.’
Keegan raised an eyebrow. ‘Jesus. Talk about multi-tasking, Ryan.’
Frost grinned. ‘Should have brought more women on the team.’
The veteran sniper gave her a withering look. ‘You could do the job if you weren’t smaller than the rifle.’
Frost tipped her coffee to him in mock salute but said nothing.
‘Phase Three is to neutralise the prison’s security and communication systems. Once Keegan is set up, we’ll split into two teams. Keira and Cole, you’re Alpha One and Two, respectively. You’ll head to the prison’s security station in the south block,’ Drake said, indicating a room on the second floor of the prison which they believed served as the nerve centre for the prison’s security cameras. ‘Keira, your objective will be to secure the station and destroy or disable any electronic security measures on site, and take out their communications.’
The young woman smiled. ‘Tell me what you want destroyed and I’ll make it happen.’
This was the part of the job she enjoyed. Computer hacking and data-trunk bypasses had their place, but sometimes a good crowbar was just as effective. And easier.
‘Good. Cole, you’re on cover duty.’
Mason nodded. ‘No problem.’
‘Right, Phase Four – finding Maras. As soon as the security system is down, myself and Dietrich will split off as Bravo One and Two. We’ll make our way along the roof to the north-west tower. That’s our closest access point to the solitary confinement cells, where we’re reliably informed she’s being held.’
Cain nodded. ‘She’s not the kind of prisoner you’d want in the general population, unless you had a pretty decent infirmary.’
‘How cooperative is she likely to be?’ Dietrich asked.
Cain folded his hands and leaned forward. ‘It’s hard to say. She was a rogue agent, so she’s unlikely to have
much
love for the Agency. There’s also no telling what effect prison has had on her. Whatever the case, you should still consider her extremely dangerous.’
Dietrich looked dubious. ‘She’s only one woman.’
Frost gave him a hostile glare but said nothing.
‘One woman who could easily kill every person in this room, son,’ Cain warned him, his expression deadly serious. ‘Believe me, I’ve seen what she’s capable of. The second you underestimate her, you’re as good as dead. Don’t turn your back on her for an instant, and don’t give her an opportunity to arm herself. Are we clear?’
Dietrich regarded the older man in silence for several seconds.
‘Are we clear?’ Cain repeated.
‘Yes, we’re clear,’ he said at last.
‘Good. You’re not to make any attempt to communicate with her either,’ he added. ‘She might say or do things to make you drop your guard.
Don’t
let yourself get taken in. Don’t believe anything she says.’
The others exchanged curious glances but said nothing.
Drake cleared his throat to resume the briefing. ‘According to the blueprints there are thirty-two cells in this block. Aside from searching them one at a time, our best chance will be to interrogate one of the prisoners and see if they know where she is. That’ll be your job, Jonas.’
Dietrich nodded. He had expected as much.
‘What kind of forces can we expect on site?’ Mason asked.
Drake leafed through his dossier. ‘According to their old personnel listings, there are a dozen guards, one warden and assistant warden, and about ten other support staff in various roles – technicians, cooks and so on.’
Mason raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s all? For a maximum security prison with nearly three hundred inmates?’
‘Cutbacks. Russia isn’t exactly rolling in money these days.’
‘There’s no need for them,’ Dietrich added, indicating the map again. ‘Khatyrgan is a hundred miles from anywhere, and well north of the Arctic Circle. Even if a prisoner made it out, they’d have nowhere to go.’
The prison itself was a fortress, but the real enemy was the icy wilderness beyond the walls. Without a vehicle, any escapee was as good as dead. The futility of their situation was probably enough to keep most of the inmates in line.
‘Based on similar facilities in East Germany, I’d expect no more than two or three guards on duty overnight,’ Dietrich went on. ‘One patrolling the cell blocks, one in the security centre and one as backup. They’ll all be tired and bored. They won’t be expecting trouble.’
Drake nodded. ‘Which brings me along to Phase Five – extraction. Once we’ve secured Maras, both teams will rendezvous with Keegan at the south-west tower. We’ll rappel down the outer wall and exfil.’
‘How do we get out of the country?’ Mason asked.
‘We’ll have a Chinook transport chopper on standby,’ Cain explained. ‘Once you’re out of the prison, it’ll land nearby and pick you up. It’s been modified for long-range operations so it should have enough range to get you home.’
Mason leaned back in his chair. ‘Then it’s back to Alaska in time for coffee and bagels, huh?’
‘Here’s hoping, anyway,’ Drake said.
‘The pilot won’t be able to stay on station for long,’ Cain reminded them. ‘So I suggest you don’t waste time.’
Drake raised an eyebrow, but said nothing on this. ‘I suggest we use the time we have to cover as many contingencies as possible. I want to hear absolutely everything you think could go wrong, every concern, every worry you have. We plan this thing down to the last detail, because we don’t get second chances in this job. We plan as a team, we go in as a team, and we come home as a team,’ he added, giving Dietrich a significant look. He snatched up his cup of coffee and downed the remaining contents in one gulp. ‘Let’s get to work.’
Chapter 11
DRAKE WAS ALONE
in his cramped office, surrounded by stacks of paperwork, folders, maps, photographs, notebooks and empty coffee cups. Light from the setting sun slanted in through his window blinds, casting thin strips of shadow on the opposite wall. It was a beautiful day outside, not that he was in a mood to appreciate it.
The entire afternoon and evening had been occupied with intense planning sessions, going over every aspect of the operation from beginning to end, trying to anticipate every potential problem and find ways to counter it.
What kind of defensive positions were sitting atop the watchtowers? Would there be a guard in each one, or none at all? If the stairwells leading down into the prison were locked, did they have the right tools to break in? Did the stairwell doors open inward or outward?
These were all questions that could mean the difference between success and failure – or more likely, life and death – when they were halfway around the world in a Russian prison. Drake had seen more than one operation almost end in disaster because of some minor hitch that nobody had anticipated.
Every member of the team had a chance to voice their concerns, and often did so in very vocal terms. But at last they’d hammered out an operational plan that
everyone
was more or less satisfied with; no mean feat considering how little time they’d had.
Now the planning was over, the real work began for Drake. As team leader, that meant reviewing every aspect of the op from beginning to end, processing equipment requests, and making sure everyone in the team was organised and ready to go.
His job wasn’t unlike a parent watching over their brood of children before school, checking they had their lunches packed and clean clothes on. Except, instead of asking for crisps and cheese sandwiches, these kids were pestering him for assault rifles, blowtorches and hand grenades.
He looked up when a knock came at the door.
Frost let herself in. ‘You asked to see me, Ryan?’
He nodded and gestured to an empty chair. ‘I need a favour. Close the door, would you?’
The young woman did as he asked, then sat down. ‘I’m listening.’
He leaned back in his chair, watching her thoughtfully for a few moments. ‘What’s your opinion of this operation?’
‘It’s a clusterfuck just waiting to happen,’ she replied without hesitation.
Despite himself, he couldn’t help but smile. Frost had never been one for sugar-coating things. ‘Thanks for the insight.’
She shrugged. ‘Just calling it as I see it. But I assume you didn’t ask me in here for my opinions?’
Drake nodded and slid the file photo of Maras across the table. ‘We’re risking our lives to recover this woman, and we don’t even know her name. We don’t know a single thing about her, in fact. That’s not acceptable.’
A slow smile spread across her face. ‘Want me to do some snooping?’
Again he nodded. ‘Can you do a facial recognition search?’
‘No problem.’
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the desk. ‘Yeah, but can you do it quietly? If Cain gets wind of this, good things are not going to happen.’
In addition to her skills with electronic surveillance, Frost was a pretty decent hacker. Her problem was that she was a little too confident for his liking. He wanted to know more about Maras, but he didn’t want Frost to end up in prison for her efforts.
‘You don’t trust him, do you?’ she asked. ‘Cain, I mean.’
‘He’s not giving us the full story, or any story at all for that matter,’ he evaded. ‘That makes me nervous.’
‘You’re not the only one.’ The young woman grinned. ‘But relax, he won’t find out what I’m up to. I’m good at what I do.’
‘And modest, too,’ he observed.
‘Modesty’s for you Brits, along with warm beer and stiff upper lips,’ she taunted. ‘Look, I know a guy in the Office of Information Technology. He’s pretty good. We’ll make a few enquiries, see what we can come up with, and we’ll cover our tracks real well.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘Promise.’
Drake grinned, returning to his computer. ‘All right. Go to work.’
‘I’m on it.’ She rose from her seat, but seemed to think better of it. ‘Oh, and Ryan?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Try to get some sleep, would you? You look like shit these days.’
‘Sounds like good advice to me,’ another voice remarked.
Drake and Frost both looked up to see Dietrich hanging by the door.
‘Some people actually knock before coming in,’ Drake pointed out with an angry look, wondering how much he’d overheard.
Dietrich shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Duly noted.’
‘What do you want?’
‘A word. In private,’ he added with a dismissive look at Frost.
The young woman crossed her arms and returned his gaze with one of simmering hostility, making no move to leave.
‘All right, Keira,’ Drake prompted her. ‘I’ll pick up with you later. And remember what we talked about.’
‘Yeah, I remember,’ she replied, not taking her eyes off Dietrich.
‘Better get to it,’ he suggested. ‘And let me know as soon as you have something.’
She seemed reluctant to leave, but at last nodded agreement. Giving Dietrich one last hostile look, she turned and strode out of the office, closing the door much harder than was necessary.
Dietrich smiled in amusement. ‘Quite a little firecracker, isn’t she?’
‘She doesn’t react well to certain kinds of people.’
This prompted a cocked eyebrow. ‘Really? What kind?’
‘Your kind,’ Drake said. ‘Look, I’ve got a lot to do. What do you want to talk about?’
The older man helped himself to the spare seat. ‘You, actually.’
‘What about me?’
‘I want to know why you’re here, Ryan. This operation has got fuck-up written all over it. Most people would have passed it up, but you took it on. You practically begged me to come on board despite our history. Why?’
Drake shrugged. ‘Someone had to do it.’
‘Bullshit.’ The word was delivered with such conviction and finality that it reminded Drake of a judge passing sentence. ‘They offered you something, didn’t they? That’s why you’re so desperate to get this done. What was it? A promotion? Another step up the ladder?’
‘I don’t have time to listen to this—’
‘Then make time,’ Dietrich cut in. ‘Because I’m not risking my life just so you can move into a bigger fucking office. You already killed my career on your way up. Are you trying to finish the job now?’
Drake had heard enough. ‘If you weren’t such an arrogant fuck-up, you’d still be a team leader,’ he snapped. ‘What? You think I did what I did just so I could take your job? Grow up. You almost got two people killed because you wanted all the glory for yourself. I wonder how many other lives you risked over the years.’