Heart suddenly pounding, Nina opened the door a crack and peered through. The stone-walled corridor outside was dimly lit and, except for a faint humming noise, silent. She looked in the other direction. A narrow flight of stairs led upwards. “It’s clear,” she whispered.
“Okay, go.”
She kicked off the sodden sneakers so as not to leave wet footprints, then padded lightly down the corridor. “Oh. Problem.”
Even through the hiss of static, she could hear the concern in Chase’s voice. “What?”
“There are two doors. Which one do I go through?”
“There’s only one on the plan, they must have added something. But one of them has to be the generator room. Try them both.”
Both doors bore a high-voltage warning symbol, so that didn’t help. Bracing herself, Nina tried the nearest one first.
It wasn’t a room full of technicians or a security station, thankfully. In fact, it looked more like the IT department at the university. She recognized one rack of equipment as a computer server-maybe Hajjar ran his own secure Internet link. Various black boxes were connected to it, as was a PC, a screensaver swirling on its monitor.
Out of curiosity-the room was small, the computer within arm’s reach of the door-she moved the mouse. The screen lit up with various windows. Most of them were incomprehensible status displays, but her eyes instantly went to one in particular. It was split in two, each part showing what was apparently a videoconference call.
She didn’t recognize the stern-faced man in one of them, but the other…
Hajjar.
“Nina?” Chase hissed. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a computer room-”
“Then forget it! Go into the other room, quick.”
It turned out to be her intended destination. A pair of large generators occupied most of the space, thrumming away. On the wall next to them was a complicated array of fuse boxes and circuit breakers.
“Another problem,” she said quietly. “All the labels are in Farsi!”
“I see you have Yuri there as well,” said Qobras.
“Giovanni!” Volgan said desperately, staggering to his feet. His guard raised the gun as if to club him again, but Hajjar shook his head. “Please, I’m sorry! I made a mistake, I know, but I’m sorry!”
Qobras shook his head. “Yuri… I trusted you. I trusted you, and then you betrayed me-and the entire Brotherhood! And for what? For money?” He shook his head again. “The Brotherhood provides for the needs of its own, you know that. But you wanted more? That is the thinking of those we are fighting to stop!”
“Please, Giovanni!” begged Volgan. “I will never-”
“Yuri.” The single word silenced Volgan instantly. “Hajjar, I have no use for him, and I am sure you do not either. I will pay you five million dollars to kill him, right now.”
“Five million dollars?” gasped Hajjar. Qobras nodded.
“Giovanni!” shrieked Volgan. “No, please!”
Hajjar sat motionless for a few seconds, apparently lost in thought… then he opened a slim drawer set into his desk, took out a silver revolver and fired.
Chase came back online. “Okay, I’ve got the wiring diagram. There should be three tall panels with a row of big switches running down them.”
Nina saw them. “Yes!”
“The middle panel. Turn off the third, fourth and sixth switches.”
Each heavy switch made a loud chung! noise as Nina moved it. “Okay, now what?”
“That’s it. You’re done. Find somewhere to hide and we’ll see you in five minutes.” The radio sent a crunch of static into her ear, then fell silent.
“Wait, Eddie-Eddie!”
Kari stared in disbelief at Volgan’s body. Even the guards seemed shocked by the suddenness of the killing. “My God!”
On the screen, Qobras reacted to her voice with wary surprise. “Hajjar! Who else is with you?”
Hajjar turned away from the bleeding body to face the screen. “I have a… rival of yours, you could say. Kari Frost.”
Qobras was stunned. “Kari Frost? Let me see!”
Chase and Castille quickly scaled the slope leading up from the river. Chase tested the fence by tossing a pair of wirecutters against it. No sparks, no shorting. It was dead.
“Go!” he ordered. Castille quickly used the wirecutters to snip the bottom of the fence. Chase pulled up the loose section like a flap, creating a gap just large enough for them to fit beneath.
On the other side, they jumped to their feet and looked up at the fortress. The rocky slope led up to the twisting access road, and the main entrance of the building itself. There were no guards in sight, but from what Shala had said, they would be there somewhere.
As well as his own gun, Castille still had one of the G3 rifles taken from Mahjad’s soldiers. Chase had his Wildey, and a weatherbeaten Uzi provided by Shala. He checked both guns. Ready for action.
“Okay,” he said, “time to be heroes.”
They set off at a run.
Nina decided that the server room was as good a hiding place as any. It also let her have another look at the computer.
It only took a moment to expand the window of the videoconference call the PC was relaying, and a little longer to increase the volume. Hajjar and the other man were talking about…
Kari!
Not only that, but now she appeared behind Hajjar, pushed into the frame by one of his men.
“What is she doing there?” Qobras demanded.
“I have some business with her father,” said Hajjar. “It is not your concern.”
“It is very much my concern!” Qobras almost shouted. “Kill her.”
Hajjar gaped at the screen. “What?”
“Kill her! Now!”
Cold fear clenched Kari’s stomach. The gun was still in Hajjar’s hand. If he obeyed Qobras’s order, she could be dead in moments.
“Are you mad?” Hajjar exclaimed. “She is worth ten million dollars to me! Her father has already agreed to pay the ransom!”
“Listen to me,” said Qobras, leaning forward until his face filled the screen, “you have no idea how dangerous she is. She and her father are attempting to find what the Brotherhood has been fighting to keep hidden for centuries! If they do-”
Hajjar waved his hands. “I don’t care! All I care about is the ten million dollars for returning her to her father!”
Something approaching desperation crept into Qobras’s voice. “Hajjar, I will pay you twelve million dollars if you kill her.”
“You are out of your-”
“Fifteen million! Hajjar, I will pay any price you want! But only if you kill Kari Frost, right now!”