The Sphinx

CHAPTER 25

The reentry capsule angled into the atmosphere over the Sierra Nevadas, the heat shield leading the way. Thirty seconds later it crossed the California/Nevada border at two hundred miles of altitude. Drogue plates, less than ten inches long and six inches wide, popped out perpendicular on the side of the capsule, slowing it enough so that it would not burn up.

“Seal the Cube!” Major Quinn ordered.

“Two minutes to impact,” Kincaid announced.

A heavy steel door, over two feet thick, slowly swung shut over the only exit out of the underground complex, sealing off the elevator to the surface.

“Do you think that will make a difference?” Kincaid asked Quinn.

“We’re going to find out, aren’t we?” Quinn snapped in reply. He nodded at the door. “That’s not the important thing. What’s critical is that our air filtration system works. The bomb should go off in the air to maximize the spread of the cobalt.”

“What about all the people still on the surface?” Kincaid asked. Quinn’s silence was answer enough to that question.

Over target, the reentry capsule split in two, the pieces ripping away into the air at 5,000 feet altitude. A drogue chute popped open on top of the bomb itself as it drifted down. A built-in sensor on the bottom of the casing ranged a radar beam to the ground below and received immediate bounce-back, giving the arming system relative altitude. The detonator had been preset many years before the launch to go off at 3,000 feet relative altitude above target.

“There it is!” Quinn pointed at the corner of the front screen, where the feed from one of the surface video surveillance cameras had picked up the small dark dot of the deployed parachute directly overhead. “Any second now.” Quinn’s voice had dropped to a whisper and all activity in the Cube had ceased.

Breaths were held as the parachute grew larger, and now a small black object could be detected hanging below.

“How high?” Quinn asked.

“Passing through four thousand feet,” Kincaid replied.

The ring of Quinn’s SATPhone caused everyone to jump. For the first time, Quinn didn’t jump to answer. His gaze was fixed on the screen.

“Three thousand, five hundred,” Kincaid announced.

The phone continued to ring.

“Three thousand.”

“Damn it!” Quinn snatched the phone. The bomb could clearly be seen now. “Quinn!” he yelled into the phone.

“Do you believe me now?” Lexina’s genderless voice was barely audible. “Can you stop it?” Quinn felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck. Kincaid’s voice echoed through the Cube. “Two thousand, five hundred.”

“Give me the key,” Lexina said. “In a little over three hours, Stratzyda will be over the center of your country, the warheads able to blanket it completely.”

“Two thousand!” The strain was getting to Kincaid, his voice rising.

“When you are ready to be serious,” Lexina said, “you can contact me… SAT Code two-four-bravo-six-nine-eight.”

“Wait!” Quinn yelled into the phone. “Can you stop the warhead?”

“One thousand.”

Quinn looked up at the screen. The camera was panning from the vertical as the bomb rapidly descended. It followed as the black orb slammed into the desert floor less than a hundred meters from the control tower on the edge of the runway.

“The warhead is one of six that are nonfunctional,” Lexina said. “Rest assured, though, that the other twenty-six will work quite well.” The SATPhone went dead.