The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,98
the harbour through the Lloyd’s Register. The Anadyr Star is Russian, and it doesn’t seem to have been to any non-Russian port in the past five years; it’s just a local transport. The Woden, though . . . Panamanian registry, departed Lingayen in the Philippines thirteen days ago. It got here last night.’
‘So it could have brought al-Rais,’ mused Tony. ‘Kyle, give us a closer look at the Woden.’
The drone’s cameras had provided the names of the two ships lacking a deep coating of ice. Kyle brought the miniature aircraft about to focus on the larger of the pair, an elderly thousand-ton freighter. The UAV was a few hundred feet above the bay, giving the observers an oblique view of the ship. Lights were visible in its portholes, but there was no activity on the decks. ‘Whoever’s aboard, they’re not coming out,’ he said. ‘When it’s this nut-freezingly cold, I can’t blame ’em.’
‘Someone might come out soon,’ Tony replied, checking his laptop. ‘We just got an update on Zykov’s plane. Looks like he made good time; he’ll be landing in ten minutes. We’d better be ready for him. Kyle, get the drone back over here so we can see what he does.’
‘On it,’ Kyle responded.
Baxter and his men finished preparing their weapons. Bianca sat with Adam, unable to shake off a growing nervousness. Before long, Holly Jo provided an update. ‘He’s on final approach. Coming in from the south.’
Everyone moved to the right side of the cabin to watch. Lights shone above the sea as the incoming plane made its final descent. It hesitantly lined up with the narrow strip of snow-cleared runway, then dropped down to a bumpy landing. Before long, it had taxied around to the terminal building, stopping directly in front of it some three hundred metres from the Bombardier.
‘There’s Zykov,’ said Kyle as he brought the UAV in closer. The squat Russian was the first out of the business jet, pulling a heavy coat tightly around himself. Two other men emerged behind him. Bianca recognised one as a bodyguard from Macau.
The pilot closed the hatch behind them. ‘I guess al-Rais didn’t fly in with them,’ said Baxter, sounding disappointed.
Two Russian officials came out to meet the trio. After a brief exchange, all five men headed into the building. ‘Tony,’ said the Bombardier’s pilot over the intercom, ‘port side. We’ve got company.’
The rush to the other side of the cabin was enough to make the plane rock slightly. Everyone peered out of the windows. The Global 6000 was parked on a broad expanse of concrete north of the terminal, at the edge of which was a chain-link fence separating the airport from the snowy landscape beyond.
Something was making its way towards them along a track running around the bay’s shore. ‘What the hell’s that?’ said Kyle.
Baxter eyed the approaching vehicle. ‘It’s a Vityaz.’
‘A what?’
‘A Vityaz. DT-10 all-terrain vehicle. The Russians love ’em. Mud, snow, swamp, water – you name it, those things can drive through it.’
Bianca watched the Vityaz as it trundled towards the airport boundary. It was a low, wide slab of snow-caked metal painted a dingy military green, riding on broad caterpillar tracks. As it turned to follow the fence, she saw that it had two separately articulated halves, an equally boxy trailer on its own set of tracks connected to the forward section by a clutch of hefty hydraulic rams. From the way it was effortlessly carving through the snow, it appeared Baxter was right about its off-road capabilities, even if speed had not been high on its designer’s list of priorities.
‘Is al-Rais in it?’ Tony wondered aloud. ‘Kyle, get the drone over there. I want to see who’s inside.’
It took another couple of minutes for the Vityaz to reach the terminal. By that time, the UAV had taken up station to observe it. ‘Damn it, we can’t see anything from this angle,’ muttered Baxter, looking over Kyle’s shoulder. ‘Bring it lower.’
‘If I do that, someone might see it,’ Kyle shot back. ‘I know what I’m doing, brah.’
‘I’m not your braaahhh,’ Baxter said, growling the word.
‘Keep it at the same height,’ Tony ordered. ‘But pull back so we can see into the cabin.’
Kyle complied, zooming in on the Vityaz’s row of four front windows. Reflections made it difficult to see inside, but movement within revealed a shadowy form at the controls. ‘I don’t see anyone else.’
‘Could be someone in the rear cargo bed,’ Baxter suggested. ‘Or the trailer.’