2
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THE PLACE WHERE our battle began.
A small lump of rock surrounded by the sea.
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The Aleutian Islands stretched like a necklace across the Pacific from the chin of Alaska to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The Aleutian low-pressure area drew in Arctic air and often left the chain of islands exposed to tremendous cold.
But despite being so close to the North Pole, the climate of the archipelago was milder than Siberia or Anchorage, partly due to volcanic activity along the Ring of Fire and the Aleutian Current flowing along its southern edge. The Arctic was generally warmer than the Antarctic also because the surface of the ocean has a tendency to retain heat. The temperature above frozen ground and thick layers of snow differed from that above water.
The Fox Archipelago sat on the Alaskan side of the Aleutians, and the island, birthed from the volcanic fires of Old Moses after World War II, lay close enough to the island group that a ship would need to take care when sailing between.
The Aleutian fishermen considered the area a place of great evil, and none came near. Even if they had, there were no natural harbors. Sheer cliff face surrounded the land on all sides.
The fishermen called the island the Shadow of Moses.
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Snake rode the freight elevator from the cargo dock and arrived at the island’s surface.
A blizzard awaited him. The fury of the Aleutian Low spread across the sea. Because the weather made landing an aircraft too dangerous, Snake had approached the island first by submarine, then by a smaller submersible called an SDV, or Swimmer Delivery Vehicle. For the last stretch of the icy Bering Sea, he swam. An injection of peptides temporarily boosted Snake’s blood glucose level and lowered his body’s freezing point to below zero, preventing him from freezing in the Aleutian water and drowning at sea. The concept worked the same way as mankind did during the Ice Age—essentially cultivating diabetes.
Despite the severe weather, the island’s occupiers seemed determined to fly a helicopter. Snake hid behind a stack of containers beside the elevator and watched incredulously as the helicopter’s rotor spun up. The Soviet gunship had once been the terror of Afghani jihadist fighters.
“A Hind D …”
Shadow Moses was supposed to be an American base, yet here was this attack beast built by their former adversary.
“Colonel, what’s a Russian gunship doing here?”
“I have no idea,” the colonel said over the codec, “but it looks like our F-16s got their attention. Now’s your best chance to slip in unnoticed—”
Another voice, sounding incredibly out of place, cut in.
“Wow!” she said. She sounded like a teenage girl. “He must be crazy to fly a Hind in this kind of weather.”
“Who’s that?” Snake asked.
“Oh,” the colonel replied, “sorry, I haven’t introduced you two yet. This is Mei Ling. She designed your Soliton radar system.”
“Nice to meet you, Snake.” Mei’s voice possessed a childlike, innocent quality. “It’s an honor to speak to a living legend like yourself.”