"It didn't work. . . anywhere," Gerhardt said grimly. "But it's put us in an uncomfortable position. The Stone is a capped bottle as far as we're concerned. Not that we particularly want to leave, or could go anywhere if we did. I'm worried about SPETSNAZ, myself. They could have assassins and sappers spread throughout the second chamber by now, and they'll find their way to us in a few days; we don't have the troop strength to keep them out of the third chamber, or the fourth. They're nasty individuals, Garry. Dedicated and well trained. The longer we wait, the more they'll drain us."

"So we're at an impasse in the second chamber?" Lanier asked, his eyes darting nervously to the maps.

"Everywhere. Nobody's going to move. The only thing progressing will be casualty counts."

"Do you think they know that? I mean, will they acknowledge it to themselves?"

"Having come all this way, with all the training that would require, I think we can safely say their COs aren't fools."

"What about the grunts?"

"Like us, I doubt they have any grunts."

"How long before they start listening to reason?"

"Hell, Garry, they may be listening now. They're just not showing any sign. We stick our heads up, they start shooting, and vice versa."

The sergeant stood before his superiors with a troubled expression. His face was covered with scratches from crawling through undergrowth in the patches of forest. He saluted and bowed in Mirsky's direction.

"Colonel, they have found our transponders in the bore holes. We cannot communicate with any other chambers."

"Now I ask you," Mirsky said, "is that a sign they want to lay down their arms and welcome the wolves into the sheep pen?" Garabedian took his binoculars and surveyed the forests and fields between them and the bridge, a kilometer away. He then looked at the shell-pocked, laser-scored bridge—marred but still very much functional—and returned the glasses.

"Pavel," Garabedian said, "we should cut that bridge, don't you think?"

Mirsky looked at his deputy commander disapprovingly. "And what other way do we have to cross? We can walk fifty kilometers or more to the next bridge, or we can swim."

"Then they cannot cross, and they cannot get any more reinforcements from this chamber—"

"No, but they can be reinforced from the first chamber. We have no idea how many there are in there."

"Trapped like pigs—"

"We keep this bridge intact," Mirsky said. "Besides, we can ill afford to lose more men on a desperation move. Or to lose them from snipers while we swim!"

"It was an idea," Garabedian said.