Temple of Fire Read Online Free Page B

the bed to tilt forward.
    “What are you talking about?” asked the team leader.  “I just closed my eyes.”
    Grace shook her head and tapped her wristwatch.
    “I feel terrific,” said Gator.
    “Uh . . . well . . . I have to admit that I feel extremely alert,” said Hawkeye.
    “It’s like eight hours of sleep without the morning cobwebs,” commented Shooter.
    “I feel pumped,” said Tank.  “Like I could go ten rounds for the Heavyweight Championship.   Kudos, Grace.”
    “Get into your combat suits and grab your gear,” said Nguyen.  “You’re jumping in ten minutes.”
    Hawkeye bowed from the waist.  “My apologies, Grace.   Titan Global has done it again.”
    “Damn straight,” Nguyen said, winking at the Titan commander.
     

Ops Center
Aboard the Alamiranta
     
    “I have some troubling news,” said Captain Papagantis .
    “Shoot,” said Caine .
    “The torpedo is Chinese.”
    Caine raised her eyebrows.  “How could a sub possibly hit us in rough seas?”
    “Torpedoes can acquire targets from just about any angle or depth,” the Captain explained.
    “Do you read any underwater targets, Touchdown?” asked Caine .
    “Negative — probably a stealth sub with internal propellers — but I think that Titan Global isn’t the only world power to have a dog in this fight.  I’m guessing that the Chinese have some interest in the abiogenic theories of U.S. Petroleum.”
    “Something doesn’t add up,” said Caine .  “I don’t see how the Chinese could possibly have intel on a drilling site in Nevada .  U.S. Petroleum takes extraordinary measures against industrial sabotage.”
    “Nevertheless,” said Touchdown, “we have company.”
    “My men below have the casing off the torpedo,” said the Captain.
    “And,” said Caine ?
    “It would be a lot easier to disarm it if the Alamiranta wasn’t heaving up and down in a typhoon.”
    “We play the hand we’re dealt,” said Caine .  “Right now, we’re holding a pair of deuces.  Let’s hope we can bluff Beatrice.”
     

Titan Six
Altitude: 25,000 Feet
     
    It was a standard HALO jump: High Altitude, Low Opening.  Titan Six dove towards the ground, air rushing by their sleek bodies, arms tucked at their sides.  The morning sky was clear, but the earth directly below wasn’t visible.
    “It’s like diving into a bowl of soup,” Tank said in his COM set.
    “It’s a miasma of dust, gas, and smoke,” said Touchdown from the Ops Center .  “We actually dropped you a few miles to the northeast of the crater, but prevailing winds have pushed this mess in your direction.  You’re going to have to rely on your helmet altimeters when it comes time to open your chutes.”
    The inside of Titan’s helmet visors could display numerous kinds of data: atmospheric, biometric, and tactical, plus anything that the Ops Center wanted to relay to the members of its team.
    Titan Six plummeted head first through the dawn until they entered the haze wafting up from the crater below.
    “Temperature just jumped thirty degrees,” Hawkeye reported.  “Altitude is ten thousand feet.”
    “I’m tumbling out of control,” Quiz said.
    “Visibility is very limited,” said Tank.  “How the hell are we gonna land?”
    Shooter angled her body, causing her to veer sharply to the right.  “I think I see him,” she said.  “He’s spinning like a son of a bitch.  Quiz, can you hear me?”
    Silence.
    “Quiz!” said Shooter.
    “Yeah, I’m here — wherever here is,” said a shaky voice.
    “Quiz, we only have a couple of minutes,” said Shooter.  “Do exactly what I say.  Spread your arms and legs as widely as you can.  Don’t worry about your orientation towards the earth.”
    A strange voice entered Quiz’s consciousness.
    * I suggest you follow the lady’s instructions to the
    letter .  I haven’t stuck around all these centuries for nothing. *
    I’m trying, thought Quiz.
    Quiz spread his limbs and began tumbling more