the blow somewhat, Sikes could not believe the agony that coursed up his
body, paralyzing his breathing and starting a gag reflex that threatened to
turn into the real thing. The pain, oh, God, the pain. He tried to
suppress a groan and couldn’t as his body curled into a fetal shape. His
consciousness dimmed out at its edges, his eyesight losing color and going
gray. While he was still lying on the deck gasping for breath, the man
walked around to his other side and kicked him solidly in the kidney.
Sikes felt tissue rupture, the incredible pain radiating down his other
leg, and the nausea now forcing him to vomit. He tried desperately to hold
on to consciousness and failed.
Rogov stared down at the man on the ground. A SEAL, no doubt about
it. He recognized the look in the man’s eyes as easily as he saw it in his
own troops. A field interrogation would be unlikely to yield anything of
interest, he decided. No, not on this one.
“When is our next communication break with the submarine?” he asked.
The communications officer glanced at his watch. “Eighteen hours.”
“Very well. Make the necessary arrangements. We will transport him
back to the boat for further interrogation. The drugs, the other
techniques-” Rogov glanced around the ice cave. “A nice outpost, but it
lacks certain essential equipment. You understand?”
His communications officer nodded. “If the weather holds, we should
be able to transport him in twenty-four hours. That will give them time to
come to communications depth, receive our message, and make preparations
for receiving this.”
Rogov fixed him with a glare as cold as the weather outside. “Ensure
that that happens. And as for the weather–after centuries of exile in
Siberia, do you really think that we should worry about that?”
The communications officer nodded again.
Rogov turned and snapped out a command for his operations officer. A
man detached himself from his comrades and walked over, still chewing on a
high protein, calorie-rich field ration he had taken from his pack.
“You understand, this is an American SEAL?” Rogov asked.
“Of course, sir,” the operations officer said after swallowing the
chewy mouthful. “Obvious from his gear, isn’t it?”
“And what else is so very obvious?” Rogov sneered.
The operations officer looked uncertain. “That when there is one,
there are more,” he said tentatively. Seeing the expression on Rogov’s
face, his voice took on a more confident note. “And the SEALs do not leave
their comrades behind. Never.”
“Ah. Then you’ve already made preparations for an adequate defense of
this entire area, have you not?”
“Indeed. But I will review them once again. It might be a wise idea
to supplement certain positions.”
The operations officer glanced over at the crumpled body of the SEAL,
tossed carelessly in a far corner of the ice cave. He pointed to it. “You
know the other thing we have learned about SEALS. They do not leave their
dead behind.”
Rogov sneered. “They have this time.” But the expression on the
operations officer’s face made him add another phrase silently–for now.
2300 Local
Bicycle Alley, USS Jefferson
Sweat streamed down Bird Dog’s face, stinging his eyes. He reached
for the towel draped across the frame of the Stairmaster and glanced down
at the LCD display. Fifty minutes elapsed, and two more steep hills coming
up. Already his legs were burning, the lactic acid build-up turning them
heavy and wooden. Still he pounded, increasing his stepping rate until he
could no longer feel his feet.
“You can’t kill us in the air, so you’re trying to do it on land, is
that it?” Gator gasped from the other machine.
“No pain, no gain,” Bird Dog grunted. He reached out and touched the
level display, increasing the difficulty from seven to nine. Immediately,
he felt the added resistance of the stairs as he struggled to force each
one down. Those next two hills–he groaned, then made himself work for it.
“I quit.” Gator ground to a halt, then spent a few moments stepping
gently on the machine to cool down. He picked up his towel and wiped his
face off, then snapped it at Bird Dog. “And you would, too, if you had any