Chapter 9 Chapter Six Chasing Who They Came After

She stopped and knelt down to look at the sign: American Aerospace Corporation. Puzzled, she inspected the other briefcases. Bill Aerospace, Microworld, Rotary International, Kistler Aerospace. Marjorie Tench's gruff voice echoed in her head again.Did you know that Sexton has been taking bribes from private airlines? Gabrielle stared at the archway leading to Sexton's study at the end of the dark hall, and her heart began to beat faster.She knew she should speak loudly to announce her arrival, but she found herself moving forward, step by step.She walked a few feet from the arch and stood silently in the shadows... overhearing the conversation on the other side of the arch.

Delta Three stayed behind to collect Nora Manger's body and sled, while the other two soldiers sped down the glacier in pursuit of their man. They ride on snowboards powered by electric tracks.Delta One sailed with the wind, while looking at the glacier ahead, bent low and ran towards the sea at high speed.He approached the first cliff path, and through the goggles, he could clearly see several long and narrow snow belts that had just been disturbed. The height fell to the other side of the cliff path.It was evident that the three escapees had either failed to think of removing their improvised sail, or had failed to remove it.In either case, if they hadn't let go of the rope at the last cliff pass, they would be floating somewhere in the sea by now.Delta-One knew that the protective suits worn by the men he was after would prolong their survival in the water, but the constant rip currents would drag them out to sea.Drowning would be inevitable.

Although well-informed, Delta One was trained not to make assumptions.To die is to see a corpse.He bowed his body low, squeezed his fingers tightly, and accelerated up the first cliff path. Michael Tolland lay motionless, assessing the bruises on his body.He gradually concentrated his thoughts, and found that they did not plunge into the sea as expected, but landed on the lower ice section.This section protrudes from the glacier like a giant balcony, with cliffs near the sea on three sides, and only one side is connected to the glacier.As a result of the compression, the junction formed an open crack about four feet wide.The role of gravity has gradually become apparent.

Rachel looked weak.Corky looked seriously injured.He lost his goggles, his cheek was badly scratched and his nose was bleeding.Just as they considered how to get out of there, there was a familiar sharp whirring sound from the glacier above.Two figures in white appeared on the edge of the high glacier. Delta One was amazed to see that the three escapees were still alive.However, after seeing the section of the glacier, he thought of a cleaner way to kill them. With that familiar and powerful urge to kill, Delta One reached into the storage bag and pulled out something heavy, lemon-shaped.Standard equipment for offensive military units, these are called flashbangs -- "non-lethal" concussion grenades that temporarily disorient enemies by producing blinding lights and deafening shock waves.But tonight, Delta One was sure that the flash would be deadly.

Having cultivated a calm mind due to countless executions, Delta One adjusted the spiral dial of the grenade to a ten-second timing state, pulled out the safety pin, and threw the grenade into the crack below.The bomb plummeted into the darkness and disappeared. Immediately afterwards, Delta One and his accomplice climbed back to the top of the cliff path and waited.It will be a sight to behold. With an eerie click, the cliff began to break.Rachel stared motionlessly at Tolland in horror.Corky let out a scream nearby. The ice cubes in the lower part fell down. Rachel suddenly felt weightless, suspended above the millions of pounds of ice.Immediately afterwards, they descended on the iceberg - plummeting into the icy water.

When the huge block of ice slid down the steep face of the Milne Ice Shelf, sending a large tower of ice and snow flying in mid-air, the deafening crackling sound from the collision of the ice blocks pierced Rachel's eyes. Ear.The ice cubes fell with a loud bang, slowing down, and Rachel's body, which had been in a weightless state, landed on the ice with a thud.Tolland and Corky also fell hard nearby. The ice plunged deeper into the sea with its downward momentum, and Rachel saw the frothy sea splashing upwards. As the sea level rose, the rising speed gradually slowed down, like a rope stretching a few inches. feet of bungee jumpers looking at the ground below them.The sea rose higher and higher...higher and higher...and then reached the top.The childhood nightmare reappeared.The ice... the sea... was pitch black.That fear is almost releasing pent-up emotions from childhood.

The top of the ice block slipped below the water line, and waves of icy Arctic Ocean water rolled over the edge of the ice block.Just as the sea water came in from all directions, Rachel felt herself being swept underwater.The bare skin on his face was taut, and there was a tingling sensation when the salty sea water hit him.The ice disappeared under her feet, and Rachel fought her way back to the surface, buoyed by the gel in her immersion suit.She filled her mouth full of sea water and spit on the sea surface.She saw the two of them struggling nearby, all three tangled in the rope.Rachel had just regained her balance when Tolland yelled.

"The ice cubes are floating up again!" As his words echoed above the chaos, Rachel felt an eerie upwelling in the sea below her.Like a gigantic locomotive trying to turn around, the block of ice, which had creaked to rest under the water, began to rise again from directly below them.A few fathoms down, an eerie rumble of low frequency echoed from below as the great block of submerged ice resurfaced with a crackling sound. The block of ice rose rapidly, faster and faster, rising suddenly from the darkness.Rachel felt herself gradually rising.As soon as the ice hit her body, sea water flowed down from all around.She climbed in vain, trying to keep her balance as the ice pushed her upwards, along with the millions of gallons of seawater.The huge block of ice floated up and jumped out to sea, bumping and shaking to keep its balance.Rachel found herself waist-deep in water, paddling on the huge flat ice block.The sea water poured down from the ice, and the current engulfed Rachel, dragging her back to the edge of the ice.Rachel, lying on her stomach with her arms outstretched as she slid, saw the edge of the ice approaching eerily fast.

hold onto!Rachel heard her mother's voice again, the words her mother had said when she fell into the frozen pond and struggled as a child.hold onto!Don't sink! Rachel's seat belt was jerked, shaking out what little breath was left inside her.Just a few yards from the edge, she stopped abruptly.The tug made her spin on the spot.Ten yards away, she saw Corky's limp body, still tied to the same rope as her, and he also wobbled to a stop.It turned out they were sliding outwards in opposite directions, and it was his momentum that stopped her.When the seawater ceased to surge and became shallower and shallower, another black figure appeared not far from Corky.He was lying on all fours, holding on to the rope on Corky's body, and kept vomiting sea water.

Michael Tolan. As the last wake passed Rachel's side and flowed down the iceberg, she lay there frightened and silent, listening to the sound of the water.Immediately afterwards, she slowly felt a bone-piercing chill, and struggled to move her body into a ball.The iceberg is still drifting around, like a huge square ice.Delirious and in excruciating pain, she struggled to crawl back to them. High on the glacier, Delta One squinted through its night-vision goggles to watch the water churn near the newest flat-topped iceberg in the Arctic Ocean.Although he didn't see any corpses on the water, he wasn't surprised at all.The sea was pitch black, and the parka and beanie of the men he was after were black.

Scanning the surface of the huge floating block of ice, it was difficult for him to see the block of ice clearly.The ice was soon out of sight, and immediately drifted out to sea with the turbulent offshore current.He was about to turn his eyes to the sea again, when he suddenly saw something unexpected.Three black spots appeared on the ice cube.Is that a corpse?Delta One tried to get a better look. "See anything?" Delta Two asked. Delta One said nothing, and aimed the amplifier at the target.On the gray-white iceberg, he was shocked to see three figures huddled together, lying motionless on the ice.Whether they were dead or alive, Delta One had no idea.It doesn't matter anymore.Even if they were alive and in their snowsuits, they would be dead within an hour, because they were wet, a blizzard was coming, and they were floating in one of the most dangerous oceans on earth.No one will find their bodies. "It's just a ghost," Delta One said, turning his back on the cliff. "Let's go back to base." Senator Sedgwick Sexton placed the goblet of Napoleon Cognac on the mantelpiece of Westbrook Flats, and for a moment he collected his thoughts as he added fuel to the fire.The six people who were with him in the study were sitting quietly, waiting.The chatter was over, and it was time for Senator Sexton to make his case.Both they and he were aware of it. Politics is sales. Build trust by letting them know you understand their struggles. "As you probably all know," Sexton said, turning to them, "I've met a lot of people in the same situation as you over the last few months." He smiled and sat down with them in the same situation. Horizontal position, "So far, I have only brought you into my home. You are all outstanding people, and it was an honor to know you." Sexton crossed his fingers, clasped his hands, and glanced around the room, making direct eye contact with each visitor.Then, he stared intently at the first target—a stocky man in a cowboy hat. He is the head of the aerospace industry in Houston.Twelve years ago, he made a proposal to the U.S. government to build an American space station for them for only five billion dollars.Later, however, NASA convinced the U.S. government that the US space station should be part of NASA's program.As a result, NASA didn't get around to building it until a decade ago, and the project has so far cost twenty times what Houston's aerospace industry was bidding at the time.In this regard, the person in charge of the aerospace industry in Houston has been brooding. Several of them have been snapped up by NASA.In their view, NASA is playing unfairly competitively, leading to a sort of space Wal-Mart effect in the aerospace industry.There are also several aerospace companies that have been robbed of customers by NASA in the same way. During the conversation, Sexton gave enough sympathy for their situation to gain their trust and tried to make them understand that he was on their side. "Gentlemen," said Sexton, stopping abruptly in front of the fireplace, "I think it is in the general interest of our future that Americans understand the truth of the matter. It is time that Americans understand that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Agency is not leading us to outer space, it is preventing the exploration of outer space. Space is no different than any other industry, and it is criminal to keep the private sector in check. We are stagnating right now in space people should leave outer space exploration to the private sector, that's the business of the private sector. Americans are sure to be amazed by the rapidity of development, the fruitfulness, and the many dreams that have been realized. I think we The free market should inspire us to reach new heights in space. My mission, if elected, is to open the doors to the cutting edge and keep them wide open." Sexton raised a trivet of fine brandy. "My friends, you are here tonight to decide whether I am a man worthy of your trust. I hope I have earned your trust. Investors form companies in a certain way, and in the same way they must cultivate one. President. Shareholders of corporations expect profit, and you as political investors expect something in return. What I'm going to say to you tonight is: Trust me, I'll never forget you, never Yes. We share the same mission." Sexton toasted them. "My friends, with your help, I will soon be in the White House... and you will all achieve your dreams." Just fifteen feet away, Gabrielle Ash stood stiff in the shadows.From the study came the melodious clink of crystal glasses and the crackling of the fire. In a panic, the young NASA technician galloped through the sojourner sphere.Something terrible has happened!He found Chief Extron alone near the press conference area. The technician told Extron that they had found Dr. Min's body.In order not to affect the upcoming press conference, Director Extron ordered the technician to hide Dr. Ming's body. Lying exhausted on the expanse of ice, Tolland could just make out the blurred outline of the towering Milne Ice Shelf receding.He knew they might have thirty minutes... forty-five minutes at the most. Rachel's body was trembling desperately, while her brain was searching for answers, desperately thinking about who was the culprit.The President was clearly duped by NASA.It was only about an hour before Herney announced NASA's discovery.Although Rachel is powerless to stop the press conference now, she swears that whoever planned the attack will not escape punishment. With all her strength, Rachel tried to sit up, fumbling with her right hand around her waist to find the ice ax still hanging from her belt.Her stiff fingers gripped the handle.She turned the ice ax upside down, forming an upside-down T.At this time, with all her strength, she smashed the thick end of the ice ax into the ice below. Bang, bang, bang. bang... bang... bang... Bang, bang, bang. She did it only to hand over this GPR printout to the NRO.Despite her frantic state, Rachel was sure someone would get her message.The NRO's $12 million "Classic Wizards Utility" for listening to the ocean floor would surely have registered the anomalous sequence and deciphered the SOS signal.At that time, Thule Air Force Base in Greenland will send a rescue plane.That plane would have found three frozen bodies on an iceberg.One was an employee of the National Reconnaissance Bureau... and she had a strange blueprint with her body temperature in her pocket. A GPR printout. Deathbed remains of Nora Manger. After rescuers take a closer look at the printed drawing, the secret tunnel beneath the meteorite will be revealed.After that, Rachel doesn't know what's going to happen, but at least the secret won't be lost on this iceberg with them. "Mr. President?" his secretary called out, looking carefully into the office. "Your call has just been connected." Herney waved his hand, "Thank you." He reached for the phone.He wished there were fewer distractions on this call, but he knew full well that there wasn't going to be a moment of peace right now.Two professional make-up artists hovered like mosquitoes, retouching his face and brushing his hair.office Directly in front of the desk, a TV station worker was adjusting equipment, and a large group of consultants and public relations personnel hurried through the office, discussing strategic issues excitedly. Less than an hour to go... Before the press conference began, President Herney couldn't hold back the joy in his heart and called Lawrence Extron, the administrator of NASA. "Hey, Lawrence?" Herney's voice became low and dignified. "You did an amazing thing there. I'll never forget it." Outside the sojourner sphere, Delta One carefully retraced the route the scientists had taken, gathering clues of whoever had been there, while Delta Three and his companions pushed a sled full of equipment across the glacier.They struggled over the cliff path and finally came to the cliff at the end of the Milne Ice Shelf.They pushed hard, and Nora Manger and her sled slid silently over the cliff and into the Arctic Ocean. Cut the weeds and root them out, Delta Three thought to himself. As they returned to base, he watched with delight as the wind gradually wiped away the marks left by their skis. The nuclear submarine USS Charlotte has now been anchored in the Arctic Ocean for five days.Its presence here is highly confidential. The technician sitting in front of the oscillator screen in the sonar room is one of the best in the world.But at this moment, he was listening to a dull and repeated echo.Although this sound is easy to distinguish, it is greatly unexpected.He immediately reported to the captain.The sound turned out to be coming from the surface, about three nautical miles to the starboard side of the submarine. Gabrielle Ash stood in the dark hall outside Senator Sexton's study, her legs shaking.Not so much because standing still exhausted her, but because the words she heard disillusioned her.The conversation in the next room continued, but Gabrielle didn't have to listen to another word.It seemed painful that the truth was stark. Senator Sexton has been taking bribes from the private aviation sector.Marjorie Tench always told the truth. A strong wave of disgust came over Gabrielle. She felt betrayed.Gabrielle was sure she could never support the Senator again.She felt a wave of disgust and didn't know what to do. That's when Gabrielle learned that President Zach Hurney was going to hold an emergency press conference at eight o'clock in the evening.In a panic, she worries that the White House plans to make public the unsubstantiated allegations.The White House has offered no clues about the subject of the evening's surprise presidential address, according to media reports. Feeling more and more urgent, she looked at her watch: there was less than an hour left.She had to make a decision and knew exactly who she was going to talk to.Clutching the envelope with the picture under her arm, Gabrielle quietly walked out of the apartment. In the street outside, the fading twilight felt unnaturally cold.She waved for a taxi and got in, telling herself over and over that she knew what she was doing.