Back Deep Sleep Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART I
  7. CHAPTER 1
  8. CHAPTER 2
  9. CHAPTER 3
  10. CHAPTER 4
  11. CHAPTER 5
  12. CHAPTER 6
  13. CHAPTER 7
  14. PART II
  15. CHAPTER 8
  16. CHAPTER 9
  17. CHAPTER 10
  18. CHAPTER 11
  19. CHAPTER 12
  20. CHAPTER 13
  21. CHAPTER 14
  22. CHAPTER 15
  23. CHAPTER 16
  24. CHAPTER 17
  25. CHAPTER 18
  26. PART III
  27. CHAPTER 19
  28. CHAPTER 20
  29. CHAPTER 21
  30. CHAPTER 22
  31. CHAPTER 23
  32. CHAPTER 24
  33. CHAPTER 25
  34. CHAPTER 26
  35. CHAPTER 27
  36. CHAPTER 28
  37. CHAPTER 29
  38. CHAPTER 30
  39. CHAPTER 31
  40. PART IV
  41. CHAPTER 32
  42. CHAPTER 33
  43. CHAPTER 34
  44. CHAPTER 35
  45. CHAPTER 36
  46. CHAPTER 37
  47. CHAPTER 38
  48. CHAPTER 39
  49. CHAPTER 40
  50. CHAPTER 41
  51. PART V
  52. CHAPTER 42
  53. CHAPTER 43
  54. CHAPTER 44
  55. CHAPTER 45
  56. CHAPTER 46
  57. CHAPTER 47
  58. CHAPTER 48
  59. CHAPTER 49
  60. CHAPTER 50
  61. CHAPTER 51
  62. CHAPTER 52
  63. CHAPTER 53
  64. CHAPTER 54
  65. CHAPTER 55
  66. CHAPTER 56
  67. PART VI
  68. CHAPTER 57
  69. CHAPTER 58
  70. CHAPTER 59
  71. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  72. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Easy enough. I’ll have them pack the light machine guns and their ammunition in separate bags. One for each helicopter,” said Oleg.

“Good idea. And the more I think about it, make sure everyone packs a separate mission bag with their primary weapon, pistol, ammunition, night vision, and plate carrier gear. If privacy turns out to be a concern at the Branson Airport, we’ll have to kit up in the helicopters.”

“Got it,” said Oleg. “No grenades or heavier stuff?”

“Not if we’re flying in hot,” said Felix. “One unlucky hit and kaboom. Everything that doesn’t go in the personal kits should go into sorted bags for easy access if the mission profile changes. I’m told we’ll have some friendly support at the hangar to watch over anything we don’t take in the helicopters.”

“And some friendly ground support at the site? Radio frequencies for contact and coordination?” said Oleg. “What exactly are we defending here? My guess is an oligarch’s mansion or one of Pichugin’s rich American friends?”

“That was my first guess, but a quick look at the attached maps shows what looks to be some kind of campground or summer retreat,” said Felix.

“What? Like a snazzy summer camp where rich people dump their kids?” said Oleg. “I heard the Ozarks are a popular vacation place, but I didn’t think people like Pichugin sent their children to the United States.”

“To be honest, I don’t know what this is,” said Felix, opening a few attachments.

One was a schematic representation of the camp’s layout and internal roads. Shaped like an X, with four larger buildings and a pool in the center and two square fields a few hundred yards to the north. The four wings of the X appeared to be rows of cabins and longer structures labeled BATHHOUSE. Another contained several photographs of the buildings and cabins. All one-story structures, the cabins built in orderly rows between the trees. The X was simply labeled SITE ZERO.

“Definitely not a camp for rich people,” said Oleg. “Unless this is what they’re into these days. You can never say, right? I mean, they pay twice as much for tattered clothing.”

“Looks abandoned in these pictures,” said Felix, still not sure what to make of it.

The next set of pictures gave him an uneasy feeling. A Google Maps satellite image of the same site without any structures, the location only recognizable by the two rectangular clearings shown in the schematic to the north, labeled as ATHLETIC FIELDS. Only the outline of an X meticulously drawn in the center indicating where the camp should be. He searched the image, finding no indication of the camp, or any roads leading to it. A small icon to the east, at the end of a long cover, was labeled DOCK. Only accessible by water and somehow invisible to Google Maps. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill summer camp.