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TheTitan X.
And Monk.
Despite the risk of flying through this foul air, Kowalski wasn’t about to sit idly by. While he had some satisfaction in downing the helicopter, he was not sated. His heart pounded as he stared down at the bodies floating among the debris.
A hatch slammed behind him.
He turned as Byrd marched toward him. He was shouldering a pack and carrying a rifle. The billionaire had his own score to settle. Plus, the man knew theTitan Xbetter than anyone.
Down at the mooring dock, Jarrah was loading more gear. The security chief was determined to continue his role. He had found one of his teammates, injured but alive, among the survivors. The lone man would do his best to guard the station after the three of them left.
Byrd joined him. “Jazz and Haru are both resting in the med ward. But there’s no doctor, only a nurse.”
“That’ll have to do for now. I’ll keep trying to reach someone. Get them to send help.”
“If you do, warn them about what’s in the water around us.”
Kowalski nodded. “The UUVs will lose juice after a day or so. But until then, they’ll help keep the station protected.”
The radio chirped at Kowalski’s neck.
“All set down here,” Jarrah reported. “We can depart any time.”
Kowalski turned to Byrd. “Ready for some payback?”
Byrd’s expression remained grim. “I’m more than happy to return the package they left us.”
Kowalski looked past his toes to the Twin Otter. Earlier, he had collected all the charges that the commandos had been planting, along with their extra satchels of Semtex. Leaning on his demolition background, Kowalski had crafted a special care package for the Chinese.
“Then let’s go play mailman,” Kowalski said.
Byrd set off down the steps.
Kowalski followed, while still staring to the east. He recognized a major obstacle to his plan.
First, we have to get there.
With every passing hour, the world steadily shrank. The skies lowered. The horizons, aglow with distant fires, closed around them. Lightning shattered across dark clouds. Distant thunder rumbled—not from the skies, but from deep in the earth. And ash fell in a continual hot wash of powder, filling the air and sea.
Still, he was determined to fulfill the postman’s credo about completing a route.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...
Kowalski scowled at the world and added his own postscript.
Or motherfucking volcanic eruptions.
9:55A.M.
Buried under blankets, Jazz shivered in the small medical ward. Her head throbbed. To fight the chill, she had piled on Kowalski’s long coat, too.
When Jazz first got to the ward, a slim red-haired nurse with a thick Aussie accent had passed her a couple tabs of Tylenol. Due to her concussion, Jazz couldn’t take anything stronger, not even aspirin, as it might aggravate any intracranial bleeding.
Best to just rest, the nurse had suggested.
She glanced to the neighboring bed. Haru had gotten jabbed with the good stuff while his arm had been splinted. He drowsed in a drug-induced haze, snoring slightly through his open mouth. She was happy he was finally able to get some sleep.
On her other side, the bed was occupied by someone she was less keen to see.
