Chapter 74 - Shadows Over the Engadin
The G-Wagon climbed the winding switchbacks of the Engadin Valley like an iron beast chewing through ice.
Below us, the resort town of St. Moritz was a scattering of golden fairy lights nestled in the frosted valley, completely oblivious to the war that moved above it. Up here, where the pines gave way to sheer cliffs of grey granite and howling wind, there was only darkness and falling snow.
Ethan sat in the passenger seat, his laptop glowing faintly as he intercepted local satellite telemetry.
"We have four private birds on the summit helipad," he reported, tapping the keys. "One registered to an offshore trust in the Cayman Islands, one to a private equity firm in Frankfurt, and two unmarked Russian VIP transports out of Vienna. The bidders are already inside."
"How much time do we have?" I asked from the back, adjusting the straps of the white winter-camo assault vest.
"The timer on the feed is down to eighteen hours," Ethan said. "They're running preliminary medical scans. Leo and Maya are in the subterranean recovery ward on Sublevel 4. But the main auction hall is on Sublevel 2—a converted observation gallery overlooking the old particle accelerator shaft."
"Viktor," I said, leaning forward. "Where does the road end?"
"Two kilometers ahead," Viktor replied, squinting through the windshield wipers fighting against the driving snow. "Past the avalanche barrier, the road is barricaded with concrete dragons' teeth and an armored guard shack. They have heavy machine guns mounted on the roof. You won't drive through it."
"We aren't driving through it," I said, checking my watch. "We go on foot along the ridge. The storm will blind their thermal drones."
"A blizzard at three thousand meters?" Viktor glanced in the rearview mirror, his brow furrowed. "You'll freeze to death before you reach the outer fence."
"I spent six months dead inside," I said, staring out at the swirling white void. "The cold doesn't scare me."
The vehicle shuddered to a halt in a carved-out snowdrift beneath a massive overhanging rock wall. Viktor killed the headlights. The silence of the mountain crashed down upon us, thick and suffocating.
Ethan turned to me, his dark eyes reflecting the green luminescence of the dashboard. "Claire. If we breach that facility, there is no extraction team. Viktor stays with the truck to monitor the coms. Once we blow the perimeter, we are on our own. If they realize what we’re doing, they’ll trigger a scorched-earth protocol. They won't let living evidence leave that mountain."
"They took my babies while I wept over empty graves," I said, pulling the white balaclava over my face, leaving only my eyes exposed. "They should be praying that a scorched-earth protocol kills them before I do."
I kicked the door open.
May you like
The Alpine wind hit us like a wall of broken glass. I stepped out into the knee-deep snow, the rifle slung tight against my chest, and turned toward the dark, jagged silhouette of Sanatorium Corvatsch looming like an iron fortress against the frozen sky.
***
