The wire cutters
clicked softly – almost without a sound.
“We’re all still
here, right?” Private Eckstrom said. “Looks
like you made the right call, Colonel! The
timer is off. The bomb’s diffused.”
Graham continued
to look into Peggy Lee’s eyes. She
looked so small now, like a balloon slowly losing air. Her shoulders sagged; he thought she might
collapse. Her eyes were resolute,
however, as she mouthed the words “I am so very sorry,” and then said to the soldier,
“Same wires for the other bomb.”
Private Eckstrom nodded,
walked over to the bomb that was attached to the servers, and quickly disarmed
it. “All clear!”
“Good work,
soldier,” Graham said as he released Peggy Lee.
“Now, take Ms. Swenson down to Holding Cell B and make sure that she has
everything that she needs to be comfortable.
Then meet me in the dining hall for the debriefing. Afterwards, we will reassign stations and
shifts and start the long process of getting this mess cleaned up as quickly as
possible.”
##
Graham left the
Brain Room and walked to the dining hall.
Approximately twenty soldiers stood in a group near the waterfall,
waiting for him. When he emerged, the
soldiers all cheered. Charley rushed
over to him and shook his hand. “Good
job, Graham. So we’re safe now, right?”
“Yes, the bombs
are diffused.”
“That’s great, sir! Did you hear that, men, the facilities are
secured!” The soldiers clapped and
hollered.
“You did it,”
Charley said, turning back to Graham.
“They got the Battery Station, sure, but that’s small potatoes compared
to the Brain Room. Hell of a job in
there, Colonel. Hey, by the way, here’s
your pass card. I recovered it off of
that monster Ian. Man, he’s a brute,
eh? He was still giving us some trouble down
in the holding cell. But we took care of
it.”
“Thanks again for
showing up just in the nick of time. I’m
afraid of what would have happened had you not been there.”
“All in a day’s
work, right? I think that I might have
scraped some of the skin off of my right hip getting around that corner, but I
needed to lose a few pounds anyway – easier than dieting!”
“Yeah, well, like
I said, I’m sure glad you got through.” Graham
didn’t feel like laughing or celebrating.
He just had to get through this confab without breaking down. Then he would have a chance to catch his
breath and figure out what it all meant.
“Now, is everyone here? I’d like
to get started.”
“Looks like a full house, chief. Private Eckstrom just arrived. Take it away.”
Graham stood in front of the small crowd,
cleared his throat, and then began to explain what had happened. He skipped over his plans with Peggy Lee to
see the stars and Charley’s seeking out wine for them. And of course, he skipped the kiss. He detailed the destruction in the Battery Station
and then talked about the fight, emphasizing Charley’s last minute heroics. He did not know exactly what to say about
Peggy Lee. She had helped save the Brain
Room, but she was responsible for the destruction of the Battery Station. Instead of going into great detail, he simply
said that she had a change of heart and had turned against Ian in the end.
At the end of the debriefing, Graham
announced that almost everything would go back to the normal schedule. He ordered a replacement shift of soldiers to
take over for the soldiers who had been tied up in the Brain Room. He figured they deserved the rest of the
night off. Then he told them that the
boat for the mainland would leave the Platform at the scheduled time the
following morning – only now with two prisoners in the place of two honored
guests.