They regrouped and crouched down out of sight.
“Unless the indigenous natives have a local construction company that we haven’t seen yet,” Juan said, “I’d say the Indian government is going to get a big surprise soon about their off-limits island.”
“Unless they’re the ones who built this,” MacD said. “Maybe the indigenous angle has been one big con all these years.”
“How about we knock on the door and ask?” Linc said.
Raven nodded. “I have a feeling whoever they are won’t be happy to see visitors.”
Juan said, “Gomez, give us a close-up of the front.”
“Close-up on the way,” Gomez replied.
The quadcopter flew down until Juan had a clear view of the door. Next to it was a keypad and flat panel big enough for a hand.
“Could be a biometric scanner for a palm print,” Eddie said.
“Out here?” Linc said, looking around at the desolate jungle. “Why would they need that kind of security?”
“We might be able to find someone who knows the answer to that question,” Gomez said.
“What do you mean?” Juan asked.
Gomez rotated the drone’s camera so that it pointed down at two sets of footprints leading to a footpath. It went in the direction of the cigarette butts they had spotted on the beach halfway around the island from the concealed plane.
“I think someone went for a stroll recently,” Gomez said.
The footprints in the mud were empty, unlike the other depressions around them that had been filled with water from the short downpour twenty minutes before.
Two people had walked out of that building since Juan’s team had landed on the island. And judging from the footprints, they hadn’t returned.
Either Juan and his crew were about to become hunters or they were the hunted.
EIGHTEEN
INDIA
Romir Mallik watched in silence as Xavier Carlton continued to make his case for Lionel Gupta’s treason. Gupta had remained tight-lipped up to this point, and Mallik certainly wasn’t going to throw him a lifeline. He’d relaxed the grip on the vial in his hand when he realized he wasn’t the one being confronted.
Mallik initially hoped it would be the Colossus 5 damage that was pinned on Gupta. But to Mallik’s surprise, it was the destruction of his own satellite launch that Gupta was being accused of.
“We all know that Romir’s satellite system is critical to the functionality of Colossus,” Carlton said. “That’s why Lionel had to keep the Vajra constellation from being completed.”
Finally, Gupta spoke up. “I did no such thing.”
“To prove it, I even know the name of the man you had on the inside. Eshan Chandra.” Carlton looked at Mallik. “Is that correct?”
Mallik couldn’t contain his shock at hearing the name and nodded. “We discovered that Chandra altered the fuel feed software, which caused the engines to fail. When we questioned him, he told us he didn’t know the name of his employer. He took the job after a million dollars was wired to his account.”
“Where is Chandra now?”
“He committed suicide.” In fact, he was killed during questioning by an overzealous interrogator, but Mallik wasn’t going to mention that.
“I’m telling you I had nothing to do with this!” Gupta yelled.
“Please, Lionel,” Carlton said with utter disdain. “I have records of your correspondence with Chandra instructing him to destroy the rocket.”
“Whatever ‘proof’ you have is faked.”