Graham backed away
slowly, pulling Peggy Lee back along with him.
“Where are you
running to?” Ian said. “You like to back
yourself into corners, I guess, right?
But this time there’s no way out.”
When Ian was just
a few yards away from Graham and Peggy Lee, Charley slipped out from his hiding
place and began walking silently towards him.
As he approached, he said, in a calm, restrained tone, “Hey buddy, you
looking for a fight?”
Ian spun
around. Before he could utter a word or
defend himself, Charley landed a solid blow to his left eye. Graham sprung from the corner and threw
himself at the back of Ian’s knees, knocking the giant to the ground. Ian fell onto his injured shoulder, twisting
and howling with pain. Then Charley
jumped on top of Ian and struck him powerfully on the jaw. Ian rolled onto his stomach to try to protect
himself. Charley grabbed his one good
arm, wrenched it up behind his back, and pinned him to the ground. Graham held his legs.
“Alright, I got
him,” Charley said.
“You can handle
him?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll untie
the soldiers, and we can secure him with those straps.”
“Hurry
though. This ox is even stronger than he
looks.”
Graham ran over
and pulled the gags out of the soldiers’ mouths and untied them. “You guys are techies, right? Go figure out how to get those doors open. Break into the emergency protocol and see
what you can do,” Graham ordered.
Peggy Lee sat down
on the floor, put her head in her hands, and began to sob. Graham and Charley bound Ian’s good arm to
his feet. He lay there silently, like a
roped calf, spitting blood onto the floor.
“Peggy Lee, are we
in immediate danger from those bombs?” Graham asked.
She shook her
head. Then she said, “We have about half
an hour before the back-up detonators are activated. Then, you will have fifteen more minutes
before they go off.”
Charley stepped
over to Peggy Lee. “I need to restrain
you as well. You are under military
arrest.”
“Don’t bother
her,” Graham replied. “She’s not going
to try anything now. When we get those
doors open we’ll take them both to the holding cells, but there’s no need to
bind her hands.”
“If you say so,
boss.”
“I say so.”
##
Within five minutes,
the two techie soldiers had managed to get the doors open. All of the soldiers on the Platform burst
into the room ready for a fight.
“Stand down,” Graham
ordered. “Now, do any of you have explosives
experience? We need to deactivate these
bombs.”
One of the escort
soldiers from the boat stepped forward.
“I used to tinker a lot with electronics when I was a kid. I could probably help.”
“What’s your name again?”
Graham asked.
“Private Eckstrom,
sir.”
“Anyone else?”
The room was
silent. Then, Peggy Lee stood up and
said, “I want to help too. I know the
bombs. They’re very sophisticated. You cannot move them because any motion will
cause premature detonation. If you cut
the wrong wire or pull any circuit boards, they’ll blow. You need my help if you’re going to have any
chance of disarming those bombs.”
Graham turned and
looked hard at her. “Why would I trust
you?”
“Because I helped
you stop Ian.”
“Okay, but why did
you do that? Your mission was clearly to
destroy the facilities.”
“I changed my
mind, okay? I helped you, not him. That should be enough. Let’s just deactivate the bombs, okay?”
“As I see it, I
don’t really have much choice. Okay everyone
clear the room, except for Peggy Lee and Private Eckstrom. Charley, take a couple of
soldiers and escort Ian to holding cell A.
The rest of you, get down to the dining hall, where I will debrief you when
we’re finished here.”
“You’re staying
too?” Charley asked.
Graham nodded as
he grabbed a toolbox from one of the soldiers.
“Now go!”
The room emptied
quickly. Graham, Peggy Lee, and Private Eckstrom
walked over to the bomb attached to the central console.
Peggy Lee pointed to a green wire and a blue wire, “Cut those two
simultaneously.”
“Are you sure?”
Graham asked.
“Yes, I studied
these bombs for months getting ready for today.”
“What do you
think, soldier?” Graham asked.
“Looks plausible
to me. The better question is how sure
are you that you can trust this terrorist?
Because if she’s wrong . . . .”
Graham turned and took
Peggy Lee by the shoulders. “Look at me,
damn it,” he said.
Her beautiful,
blue-gray eyes came immediately into focus on his. Tears streaked her face and her bottom lip
quivered, but her eyes were steady and clear.
He wondered what she saw when she looked at him. Her eyes seemed to be pleading with him for
forgiveness, but he could not be sure. He
wasn’t even sure if she wanted to live or die. He knew now that she was lost in this deteriorating
world – that her convictions had dissolved into nothing. She had managed to maintain a polished
presentation to the outside world, but what lay inside was dark and wrought
with confusion. Something in her
sorrowful gaze, however, assured him that she did not want to hurt him. She nodded just once, and Graham made the
call.
Without taking his
eyes off of hers, he ordered the soldier to cut the wires. If he was wrong and the room exploded, at
least the last thing that he would see would be beautiful – strange,
frightening, frail, and complicated, but also extremely beautiful.
“Alright, sir, I
hope you know what you’re doing,” Private Eckstrom said.
They all took a
deep breath.
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