Free Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist Aftermath by Peter Telep Page A

shivered through a breath, the adrenaline coursing through his chest. No matter
     how many times you did it, every step into oblivion was a tremendous rush.
    The loadmaster was there to shut the door behind him. He gave the young airman first
     class a curt nod, which she returned, then he threw himself out of the aircraft.
    The wind struck a massive blow to his body, wrenching him far and fast. The disorientation
     was normal and no reason to panic. Reflexes and training took over, muscle memory
     causing him to extend his arms and legs so the wingsuit would catch air. The roar
     of the wind deepened as he straightened his spine and pushed his shoulders forward.
     Since his entire body was now acting as an airfoil, he need only adjust his arms,
     legs, and head to maneuver deftly through the air.
    Briggs was down below, appearing as a black hourglass against a mottled backdrop of
     snowcapped mountains and an almost imperceptible thin line of smoke. He, too, knew
     they needed to cover a great distance, so like Fisher, he was now lowering his chin
     against his neck, rolling his shoulders even farther forward, and pushing the wingsuit
     into a head-low position downwind while narrowing his arms. Decreasing the amount
     of drag always increased velocity, and you always sacrificed altitude in order to
     gain speed. Indeed, HALO jumps were dangerous enough, but a wingsuit insertion from
     nearly thirty thousand feet opened a whole new world of hazards, including unrecoverable
     spins that led to blackouts and unhappy endings. Moreover, they hadn’t had much time
     to pre-breathe 100 percent oxygen beforehand, so the possibility of getting the sort
     of “bends” that sometimes accompanied scuba diving was still there.
    Briggs banked to the left, aiming for the smoke and mountains, and Fisher began twisting
     his arms and legs in small but appreciable movements to drop in behind the man. The
     key was to make gradual changes, no sharp or chaotic moves that could result in a
     loss of control. As a former SEAL, Fisher likened the maneuvering to swimming underwater
     and shifting one’s body to change direction. Flight was simply the relationship of
     four opposing forces: weight, lift, thrust, and drag, and as expected, Grim adroitly
     reminded him of those facts:
    “Sixteen thousand feet and falling. Airspeed 191. Your glide ratio looks excellent.
     On target.”
    They might be on course, but that airspeed was too slow for Fisher. “Tighten it up,
     Briggs. Let’s get in there a little faster.”
    “Roger that.”
    Briggs narrowed his position even further and dropped like a missile, picking up so
     much speed that Fisher found it difficult to follow his lead.
    “Airspeed 210,” reported Grim. “Take it easy, Briggs.”
    “I’m good. I’m good.”
    “Sam, you’re up to 215. Slow down! You can’t afford to get sick.”
    Fisher rolled his wrist slightly inward to check his altimeter and airspeed, verifying
     it against Grim’s report. He shifted his arms a little wider. No, he wasn’t going
     to break any records today. They’d never get reported anyway. And who knew if that
     speed record still held? He’d read that report a few months prior. Better to just
     take a deep breath and enjoy the ride.
    He soared in behind Briggs, and they swooped down like a pair of vultures, tiny against
     the mountains, impossible to see by most distant aircraft whose radar systems would
     filter out slower moving blips like themselves, mistaking them for birds.
    His breathing grew even as they approached the mountainside and the long rings of
     talus and scree scattered like broken necklaces across the valley. The peaks thrust
     up in crystalline white arches that made him feel insignificant. These were the Caucasus
     Mountains, a broad range considered the dividing line between Asia and Europe, with
     the northern section in Europe and the southern in Asia. The region was split between
     Russia, Turkey, Iran, Georgia, Armenia,