She joined me and together, we pushed the Bell forward. Abruptly, metal scratched on metal. I jolted as the Bell bumped into something.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she grumbled. “Of all the lousy…”
“We’re hitting there.” I pointed to the top right corner. “Let’s try pulling it down.”
Reaching up, we directed the Bell downward. It dropped a few inches. Before it could settle, I shoved it into the car. It came to a halt a few feet into the interior before slowly drifting upward again.
“Should we reconnect the cables?”
I shook my head. “We have more important things to do.”
“Aren’t you worried about an explosion?”
“That won’t happen for a few hours. We’ll get the cables from the
Omega
and put them in here. But after that, we need to work on our escape plan.”
We spent the next few minutes detaching the cables and piling them into the pneumatic car.
Afterward, Beverly cleared her throat. “What now?”
“We need to finish clearing off the car,” I replied. “But first, we should focus on removing the explosives from the tunnel.”
“I can do that.”
“How? By blowing yourself up?”
She shrugged. “I’m trained to handle unexploded ordinance.”
“Really?”
“Sort of.”
My ears perked. The air started to crackle with tension. Swiftly, I made my way to the mouth of the pneumatic tube.
“…your guess…”
“…up. The tracks…”
The voices were faint but they were audible.
And close by.
I looked at Beverly. “They’re here,” I whispered. “Clear away the explosives and make it fast.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to check on Cap.”
I ran back into the access tunnels and headed for the maintenance room. Inside, I found Cartwright lying on the ground underneath the engine.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
He looked up at me, his face covered with sweat and grease. “It’s not,” he grunted. “I barely understand what I’m looking at here.”
“Well, you’re going to need a steep learning curve. We’ve got company.”
“I need more time.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I sprinted back to the station and saw Beverly kneeling on the ground, playing with wires. She looked at me. “What did he say?”
I grabbed a long piece of loose wire from the ground and examined it for a moment. “He needs more time.”
“He doesn’t have more time.”
“He needs it and we have to give it to him. I’ve got an idea. If it works, we’ve got a chance.”
“If not?”
“Well, then it’s been nice knowing you.”
Chapter 58
Although cool on the outside, my insides broiled. I shifted my footing, trying to get comfortable.
It didn’t work.
I stood just outside the pneumatic tube, slightly off to the side. My position mattered. When Chase penetrated the wall, he needed to see me. But he also needed to see the
Omega
.
The noise level outside the tube increased and I heard scuffling noises. It wouldn’t be long before they found the Sand Demons’ symbol and opened the door. Frankly, I preferred it that way. I was tired of waiting for the inevitable.
Gradually, I got my restlessness under control and expelled it to the far corners of my body. It was still there, just beneath the surface. Still, that was the best I could do given the circumstances.
Will Chase believe me? Or call my bluff?
The next few minutes would determine the future. Not just for me, not just for my friends, but for New York and perhaps, the rest of the world as well. It was all so simple, yet so complicated at the same time. I could count the possible outcomes on one hand, but predicting the most likely one was impossible.
How would it all end? Would I buy enough time to escape with the Bell? Could I manage to do it without causing harm to Diane? Could I rescue her?
Or would I die and in the process, enable Chase to recover one of the deadliest inventions in the history of mankind?
I directed my flashlight at the small, hunk of plastic in my hand. It looked real enough, but it, along with the wires that extended from it, was just a prop. I twisted to the side and followed the wires as they trailed across the floor. My beam finally settled on Beverly. She stood next to the
Omega
, leaning into the interior.
After a few moments, Beverly removed her head from the
Omega
. She caught my eye and flashed me a thumbs-up.
I heard a soft sliding noise. I spun around just in time to see the bedrock door open. Quickly, I stepped into the tube and leaned against the wall, adopting a casual pose.
Dust cleared. Chase materialized before me. He stood on the opposite end of the tube, arms crossed. His eyes reflected ecstasy as he stared over my shoulder and took in the
Omega
.
Chop off the snake’s head and the body will die.
My hand reached for my pistol. I wanted to shoot him right in his cleanly shaven face. But somehow, I managed to stay in control. The moment I opened fire, it would be open season on me, Diane, and everyone else. Even if I managed to kill him, I doubted his soldiers would stop shooting until we were dead.
Shifting position, I deliberately drew his attention.
His eyes flitted toward me. His expression changed, reflecting a mixture of surprise and suspicion. “Cyclone,” he said in a booming voice. “I can’t say I’m not surprised.”
“Me neither. I’ve been one step ahead of you this entire time.”
Chase strode toward me. I considered doing the same and meeting him in the middle of the tube. While it was essential for him to see the
Omega
, I didn’t want him to know about Beach’s pneumatic car just yet.
But he stopped after a few steps. His expression changed again, morphing into one of amusement. He snapped his fingers.
One of his guards marched forward, pushing Diane ahead of him. She looked weak and pale. But she was alive and I was determined to keep her that way.
I turned back to Chase. “We want to make a deal.”
He chuckled. Reaching for his jacket, he withdrew his Smith & Wesson Victory Model. “It’s too late for that.”
This was it, the moment of truth. I lifted my hand into the air. His eyes shifted to the hunk of plastic in my fingers and the long wires that trailed away from it.
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “If you want to live, put your gun away.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll use this device to blow up the Bell. You may have survived Hiroshima. But there’s no way in hell you’ll survive this.”
Chapter 59
Chase pointed his gun at me and I held my breath.
Then his hand wavered.
And in that brief moment, I saw a spark of uncertainty in his eyes.
Standish stepped forward, next to Chase. He folded his powerful arms across his chest and shot me an amused look. “You’re not fooling anyone.”
“Go ahead then,” I retorted. “Shoot me. Shoot me and see what happens.”
Standish looked at Chase. “You heard him, Jack. Shoot him and be done with it.”
I held up my hand, displaying the plastic hunk. “This thing here is hooked up to explosives. Those explosives are currently sitting in the
Omega
, surrounding the Bell. So, if you shoot me, I press this button. They blow up, followed by the Bell, followed by, well, everything.”
“That wouldn’t do anything but make a big mess.” Chase frowned. “The Bell is nothing more than a particle accelerator.”
“As we stand here, the Bell is creating Red Mercury.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It needs to be in operation at all times.” I narrowed my gaze. “Otherwise it loses stability and becomes explosive. And since the Bell is always working, there’s always a small amount of Red Mercury inside.”
Standish glanced at Chase. “Don’t listen to this crap. He’s lying.”
“Maybe I am,” I said. “But are you willing to risk your life to find out?”
Chase gave me a skeptical look. “What do you know about explosives?”
“Nothing. But your old friend Beverly, well, she knows all about them. And she assures me that the moment I press this button, this whole place blows up.”
Chase pointed his gun at my face. “Then I guess I’d better shoot you quick.”
“Beverly’s in the
Omega
. If you shoot me before I reach the button, she’ll just blow the explosives manually.”
“I want to talk to her.”
“Too bad she doesn’t feel the same.”
“Beverly!” he shouted.
Glancing back, I saw her stick her head out from inside the subway car. “Did I hear my name?”
“This has gone far enough.”
“I don’t work for you.” Her voice stiffened. “Not anymore. Now do us all a favor and listen to Cy. No one needs to die today.”
As she vanished back into the
Omega
, Standish shook his head. “You’re a liar. A damn good one maybe, but still a liar. A couple of ounces of Red Mercury wouldn’t just kill us. It would kill everyone above us as well. And I know for a fact you could never do that.”
He was right, of course. There was no way in hell I’d ever kill innocent people. But if they didn’t believe my threat, then I was as good as dead. “Why not? If I don’t do it, your boss will.”
“He’s lying,” Chase said. “Just like I told you he would.”
“No, I’m not.”
Standish sneered. “I’d believe Jack over you any day of the week.”
I glanced at Chase. “You told me before you didn’t want to kill me. Is that still true?”
“Of course.”
Liar.
“Then, look at it this way. You want the Bell. You want it so badly that you’ve spent the better part of your life searching for it. I’m not looking to be a hero. I just want Diane back and safe passage out of these tunnels. If you agree to those terms, you’ll have your Bell in a matter of minutes.”
Chase hesitated. Then he lowered his gun.
Standish shot him an angry look. “Are you really listening to this crap?”
Chase snapped his fingers. Instantly, the guard pushed Diane forward.
He shoved her to her knees. Repositioning himself, he pointed his gun at her head. “Put the detonator down. And do it slowly. Then I need my little traitor friend to exit the
Omega
.”
I did my best not to look at Diane. But I couldn’t completely avoid those pained blue eyes.
I’d expected the situation, prepared for it even. But as I stared deep into her eyes, surging anger threatened to overwhelm me.
I breathed deeply. After a moment, the surge dulled. My mind crystallized. Backing down wasn’t an option. Although it would buy Diane a few seconds, I’d lose all my leverage. We were in a standoff and if I blinked, my entire side would die.
“Go ahead and shoot her,” I said. “But if you do, I press the button.”
“You have five seconds. Five…”
My face twisted defiantly.
“Four.”
“Three.”
An unwelcome thought crossed my mind. We were locked in a lethal standoff and as far as Chase was concerned, the explosives were like a gun with a single bullet. The moment I used them, the standoff ended and everyone lost. Knowing that, he might decide to murder Diane, assuming I still wouldn’t detonate the Bell.
“Two…”
Panic gripped my chest. What if he shot her?
“One…”
I steeled myself and glared into his eyes.
“Zero.”
Chase didn’t move a muscle.
Neither did I.
With an annoyed grunt, he pushed Diane onto the floor.
Relief swept over me. “Are we done with this nonsense? I’d like to get on with our deal.”
“What do you propose?”
“You leave Diane with me. Then you wait outside for five minutes. After that, this room and everything in it is yours.”
“How do I know you won’t use the time to set a trap for me?”
“We have nothing to gain from fighting. That’s a battle we won’t win. I just want to take my friends and leave.”
Standish gave me an amazed look. “You’re just going to walk right by us?”
“Of course not. There’s a maze of maintenance tunnels connected to this station. We’ll leave through one of them.”
“How do I know you won’t detonate the explosives once you’re gone?” Chase asked.
“And blow ourselves up too? I’m a little crazy but I’m not suicidal. I just want out of here. And I want to take my friends with me.”
Chase stared at me. Then, he nodded. “You’ve got five minutes. After that, we’re coming in with guns drawn, explosives or not.”
“Fair enough.”
Chase glanced down at Diane. Before I could react, he reared back and kicked her in the head. Her face distorted to one side and blood splattered onto my clothes.
I started for him but he lifted the gun again. “You’ve got five minutes,” he said. “Use them wisely.”
Seething with anger, I watched him back away and leave the tube. Moments later, the door slid to a close.
Leaning down, I checked Diane.
Her eyes fluttered and looked up at me. “I should’ve known you had something to do with this.”
“I didn’t mean –”
“Look, I don’t know what this is all about,” she whispered in a pained tone. “But that man’s insane. He’ll never let us escape.”
“I know.”
“Then, what’s your plan?”
“Let me put it like this. The easy part is over. The hard part comes next.”
Chapter 60
As I helped Diane out of the tube, I felt fireworks shooting off inside me. She was in even worse shape than I thought. Her face was pale and dripping with sweat. Her clothes were unkempt and covered with dirt and blood. She clutched her stomach as she walked as if she were having gastrointestinal problems. Unfortunately, I knew it was far more serious than that, given the sheer amount of dried blood caked on her shirt.
At the end of the tube, I heard a soft pop followed by a choking noise. A sudden gust of wind bowled into me, bringing with it a lungful of musty, dusty air. I coughed. Clearly, Cartwright was making progress.