Mission: Her Protection (Team 52 #1)(9)

“You think someone attacked them?” Axel’s voice was a smooth drawl.

“I don’t know.” Lachlan never speculated. He planned for all the contingencies he could think of, but he waited for the facts.

“And why has our little outfit been called in for this mission?” Blair called back from the cockpit.

“Team 52 was activated based on a comment by Dr. Malu, and an email sent earlier by the expedition leader, a Dr. Schafer.” Lachlan looked at them all. “Malu was rambling and afraid, but he mentioned some unusual object they’d found in the ice. An object that was perhaps made of metal, and with possible strange carvings on it.”

Smith leaned forward. Born and raised in the Colorado mountains, with his brawn and beard, he looked like a mountain man. The former Navy SEAL knew more about weapons than anyone Lachlan had worked with. He was also a hell of a tracker. “How old’s the ice on this glacier?”

“Five thousand years old.”

Smith blinked. “Well, I take it we’re here to find out what happened and procure the object.”

“You guessed right.” Lachlan looked back out the window and studied the connected domes rising up off the ice. He could see one large dome was damaged, like a giant had punched its way out. “We’re here. Let’s get ready to go. Be prepared for anything.”

Lachlan checked his high-tech CXM7 integrated assault rifle. The experimental weapon had an integrated grenade launcher and combat shotgun, as well as assisted targeting. He watched his team ready themselves. All of them were professionals, from all branches of the armed forces. Like him, their traditional military careers had ended for various reasons—he flexed his prosthetic hand—but because of their skills, they’d been offered an opportunity with Team 52.

His covert team was tasked with collecting and safeguarding artifacts and objects deemed highly dangerous or classified. Artifacts that no one wanted falling into the wrong hands.

Lachlan might still feel the odd pang of loss for his Force Recon days, but working with this motley crew, and the strange assignments they took on, had proved rewarding. They did good work. Important work.

“Landing now,” Blair said.

Seth and Blair set the X8 down close to the camp. Lachlan slid the side door open and leaped out first. He scanned the surroundings, then waved the others to follow. Moments later, his team fanned out beside him.

Apart from the several flags fluttering on the nearby flagpoles, there was no sound.

“Spooky,” Seth murmured, his pale-blue eyes alight.

“Stay sharp.” Lachlan moved forward. “Let’s clear the place and look for survivors.”

They all nodded. Lachlan moved forward and as he reached the entrance to the first dome, he lifted his weapon.

It was cold inside. They moved quickly to clear the first dome.

“What the fuck?” Seth moved forward, staring at the macabre scene.

Lachlan’s mouth firmed. A woman hung from the roof, frozen in a web of ice, her face etched in fear. What the hell had happened here?

“Let’s clear the rest of the domes, then we’ll cut her down and bag her.”

Lifting his rifle again, he waved two fingers at Smith, Axel, and Callie. The trio split off. Seth and Blair fell in behind him. They methodically moved through the domes.

They found more bodies in the labs and sleeping quarters. Lachlan studied the icy-white eyes, and the coating of ice covering the scientists’ skin and clothes. Several had wild slashes on their chests.

Blair knelt beside a young woman with dark hair. “She froze to death.”

Lachlan rubbed his prosthetic thumb against his rifle. “Yeah.”

Blair leaned closer. “This isn’t from exposure, Lachlan. It’s cold in here, but not that cold. See their eyes? And their veins? Frozen solid. I’ve never seen anything like it. Whatever happened, it happened quickly.”

Seth frowned, his gaze scanning the room around them. “Flash frozen?”

Blair stood. “Something like that.”

Lachlan stared at the bodies. “We’ll bag the bodies and take them with us. Ty will want to examine them.”

Axel and the others appeared. “These are going to make the doc bitch and moan.” Axel’s thick brown hair fell over his dark eyes.

Dr. Ty Sampson was Team 52’s lead genius. The big man was a former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, scientist, once responsible for developing emerging technologies for the military. Now he did it for Team 52 and he was grumpy as hell, especially when he had a mystery to solve.

“Let’s clear the last two domes.” Lachlan moved forward. “Blair, you and Seth start bagging the bodies. Check to see if we’re missing anyone.”

His second nodded and waved at Seth. “You’re with me, Lynch.”

“Smith, with me,” Lachlan ordered. “Axel and Callie, you check the other dome.”

Lachlan and Smith found a dark-skinned, older man next to a destroyed communications system. He matched the photo of Dr. Malu. Lachlan stared numbly at the man’s face. It had been a long time since death had made him react.

Shit. Maybe he’d been doing this too long? He remembered his dad. A Marine to the bone, Douglas Hunter had come back from Vietnam and never been the same. He’d had a numbness in his eyes mixed with pain that could explode into rage without warning.