Hassan nodded, he knew that from the driver’s report. “Our ATVs appear to have been headed this way when they wrecked. A short way from there, the tunnel splits. Since the intruders didn’t come back through here, they must have gone up into the main hall.”
“The main hall,” Shakir pointed out, “is like the trunk of a giant oak. At least fifty tunnels branch off from it. And dozens more from each of its branches.”
Hassan nodded again. “They could be anywhere now.”
Shakir stood and rushed toward Hassan, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the cave wall. “Three times you’ve had the chance to kill them. Three times you’ve failed.”
“Shakir,” Hassan pleaded. “Listen to me.”
“Send your men after them. Put everyone you have on it.”
“We’ll never find them,” Hassan shouted.
“You must!”
“It’s a waste of manpower,” Hassan blurted out. “You know as well as I do how extensive the tunnels are. As you told Piola, there are literally thousands of tunnels and rooms, hundreds of miles of passageways, many of which aren’t even on our maps yet.”
“We have two hundred men to send looking,” Shakir said.
“And each group will be alone,” Hassan pointed out. “Radios don’t work down here. They’ll have no way to communicate with each other or with us. We’ll have no way to coordinate or to measure the progress.”
“Are you suggesting we just let the intruders go?” Shakir bellowed.
“Yes,” Hassan said.
Even through his blinding rage, Shakir sensed Hassan was getting at something. “Explain yourself!”
“There are only five exits to the mine,” Hassan said. “Two of which are hidden under pumping stations manned by our people. The other three can be watched easily. Rather than chase them through the maze, we should station well-armed groups at each opening and wait for the intruders to appear at one of them. Put one of our missile-armed helicopters into the air. Put two or three up, if you wish.”
Hearing what sounded like a sensible plan, Shakir released his lieutenant. “And if there prove to be more exits? Portals we haven’t found yet?”
Hassan shook his head. “We’ve been mapping this place for the past year. The chances of them finding some way of escape that we haven’t discovered are small. More likely, they’ll wander and get lost, dying long before they find any way out at all. Should they happen to find a shaft that leads to the surface which we haven’t discovered, they’ll end up in the White Desert, where they’ll be easy targets for our recon units. And if they come to one of the known exits, our men will be waiting to gun them down.”
“No,” Shakir corrected. “I want them obliterated. And when it’s done, I want to see their bullet-riddled bodies in person.”
“I’ll give the order,” Hassan insisted, straightening his jacket.
“All right,” Shakir said. “But I warn you, Hassan, do not fail me again. You won’t enjoy the consequences.”
53
Renata continued to drive like she was on the track at Sebring until the tunnel began to narrow and debris filled the road. She slowed and tried to crawl over it, but the gap between the ceiling and rubble on the floor became too tight and the ATV couldn’t pass through.
She looked back and flipped the gearshift into reverse.
“Easy,” Kurt said, seeing that she was about to stomp on the gas again. “I think we’ve lost them.”
A quick look back proved that to be true. No lights were coming up behind them. Renata shut off the engine and the darkness and silence melded into one.
“They’re not the only ones who’re lost,” she said dejectedly. “We’re never going to find a way out of here. I don’t even know where we are in relation to where we started.”
“We’re not lost,” he said in a cheery tone. “We’re just locationally deficient and directionally challenged at the moment.”
Renata stared at him for a second and then burst out laughing.
“Locationally?” Joe said.
“Good word,” Kurt replied. “Look it up.”