The military guard standing at the end of the alley signaled the driver to turn right and then saluted smartly as the car passed. At the next intersection, another guard signaled another right turn. The driver followed the directions without question while the president of Russia sat in the backseat, already absorbed in a discussion of economic policy with the uniformed man, his chief adviser. No one recognized that they were being directed deeper into the submarine base, not toward the landing strip where the president’s plane awaited, its engines already turning, warming, ready to whisk the leader away ahead of the looming storm. Nor did any of them notice the guards as they systematically blocked off access to the streets behind the car as soon as they had passed by.

Another guard flagged at them, signaling a left turn. There was a frown on the driver’s face now as the limousine made the turn into what looked like a narrow alley between two large, dark warehouses. This was not at all the route he had followed coming in that morning.

He had already made the turn, though, before he saw a BTR-80 armored personnel carrier sitting astride the far end of the alleyway, its machine cannon pointing its snout toward the president’s car. The driver hit the brakes and slid to a stop just as a large searchlight, mounted on the BTR-80’s turret, flashed on. The brilliant beam of white light blinded everyone in the limo.

The driver cursed, but, being specially trained in combat driving techniques and intensely loyal to his most important passenger, he jammed the big vehicle into reverse and stomped on the accelerator. Blue smoke enveloped the spinning wheels as they screamed, begging for traction on the alley’s icy surface.

It was a futile effort. Another APC had already pulled up behind them, blocking their only escape route. The APC behind them flashed on its searchlight as well, filling the car with light from that direction.

The driver jumped on the brakes just as a burst of machine-gun fire from the first APC slammed through the armor plate protecting the car’s engine. Armor-piercing bullets ripped into the engine block. The vehicle shuddered to a halt as the motor seized. Thick white steam poured from beneath the hood.

There was no way out. President Gregor Smitrov was trapped.