"Thomas E. Sniegoski - Sleeper 2 - Sleeper Agenda" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sniegoski Thomas E)

PROLOGUE
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KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, SIBERIA. 1992

Bodies—animal and human—were scattered about the dirt paths of the tiny Chukchi fishing
village on the desolate shores of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Christian Tremain, director of field operations for the Pandora Group, felt an icy claw of
fear slowly constrict around his heart as the Chinook helicopter banked to the left and began
its descent to the inhospitable terrain.

“Whatever it was,” Brandon Kavanagh said from beside him, “it worked fast.”

Tremain didn’t respond, slightly disturbed by the hint of excitement he heard in the voice
of his acquisitions director. Instead, he focused his attention on the village below.

At precisely 0800 hours, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale had been
detected in the northeastern region of the Siberian wilderness, namely, the Kamchatka
Peninsula, a bleak, sparsely populated place. Ordinarily a quake like that would barely have
generated an eyebrow raise from the Pandora Group, a covert agency whose sole purpose was
to protect the United States from corrupt technologies developed throughout the world. But
this village just so happened to be home to Vector 6, a biological warfare research station
belonging to the former Soviet Union.

“We’ll take a quick look at the village and then move on to Vector 6,” Tremain said,
slipping into his decontamination suit.

“Sounds like a plan.” Kavanagh flipped the hood of his own protective garb over his head
and face and secured it at his neck. He peered out through the clear plastic face mask, giving
Tremain a thumbs-up.

The chopper landed with a bounce, and its back slowly dropped open. The security team,
automatic weapons at the ready, were first to disembark, scanning the area for any threats—so
far the Russians had been slow to respond, but who knew what kind of defenses they had set
up around the village.
 Tremain was next to descend, a cold blast of wind from the Sea of Okhotst chilling him
through the lightweight fabric of the protective suit.

“Should’ve brought a sweater,” Kavanagh joked as he followed with the two Pandora
scientists, Drs. Martin Rigby and Stephanie Lane. The trio were laughing, joking about how
Pandora was too cheap to buy decon suits with heating units.

Am I the only one who feels this? Tremain wondered. He looked through the faceplate of his
suit at the frozen landscape and the tiny village ahead that seemed to have been dropped down
in the midst of the cruel desolation of Siberia. Overwhelming dread.

The first bodies they found were those of a young man and his dog. It was apparent that
death had come quickly, but judging by the expression frozen on the man’s face, it had not
been painless. The exposed flesh of his face and hands was covered with large, oozing sores.