Cliff Ryder - Out of Time

He gripped the handle and tugged it free. The panel opened, and he reached inside, found the switches to call the dumbwaiter and set it in action.

“We don’t have much time,” Liang said.

“Someone is going to notice you are gone, or call for those two in the lab.”

“We have exactly fifteen minutes,” Alex responded. “That’s when the charge I set is going to blow those computers into the next galaxy. We need to be outside the building. I think they’ll have plenty to worry about inside once the charge blows. We should be able to slip off in the chaos.

The hole I cut the other day is still in the fence.

Once we’re out, they might try to follow, but I think it will take time to organize anything solid.”

“If you get us out, I’ll get us to safety,” Liang assured him. “This is my city. When we are in the streets, I have a lot of places to turn for help.”

The dumbwaiter clanged to a halt and the two men slid through the small gap. Liang pulled the access panel closed behind them. The cables groaned and creaked, and Alex prayed they were rated for this much of a burden. The two of them together weighed nearly four hundred pounds.

When he hit the up button, the car swayed slightly, then righted itself and began the slow ascent.

“We’re going all the way to the top,” Alex whispered. “When this opens, we’ll be coming out into the main break room. I don’t know who might be there, or how they might be armed. They put on a good show of normalcy topside, so it will likely be just the regular guards—and they should be patrolling. If we are lucky, we’ll hit the parking lot before they really spot us.”

“Can you run?” Liang asked.

Alex started to say of course he could run. He’d been pushing his body to the limit for so many years, it was difficult to keep his current situation in perspective. He knew that if the MS left him alone, he could run. He knew that if he hadn’t lost too much blood, or pushed his adrenal glands beyond their limits, he could run. He knew there were a lot of ifs involved.

“I think so. I’ll get by somehow,” he said.

“You go first, then,” Liang said. “I’ll follow and that way if something goes wrong, I’ll back you up however I can.”

“If not, you get out,” Alex said softly. “The folder I have is a transfer report. They sent some of this crap to an MRIS facility in the States. If it arrived safely, and if they sent files along with it, then we’ve only wiped out half of the threat. Once they know for sure we’re after them, they’ll guard that a lot more carefully.”

“We’re both getting out,” Liang stated. “When the company says I’m supposed to get your sorry ass home, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Alex grinned tightly. He knew Denny wasn’t going to be happy with him at all. He wouldn’t be surprised if both he and Brin had become targets.

He knew they’d work it out—they had to. He also knew, despite his momentary questioning of it, that Brin would never support something like what MRIS planned for those microbes. If she was involved in the research, she thought they were going to put it to beneficial use. That put her in even more danger. If she found out, he knew she wouldn’t take it lying down.

They passed an access panel door for each level. As they neared the final door, Alex whispered, “Ready?”

He brought the car to a shuddering halt.

“On three,” Alex said. He counted one and Liang kicked the access panel off its hinges, rolling forward and dropping out of the chute. He came up quickly. Alex followed.

The laundry room was empty.

“Wait a minute!” Alex said, before Liang could move on into the next room.

“What?” Liang said. “We’ve got to keep moving!”

Alex pointed to the corner of the ceiling, where a small strobe light was flashing in red. “They know I’m loose,” he said. “Or that you’re here.” He shook his head. “Either way, that’s got to be a security alert and if we continue to rely on timing and luck, we’re both going to die. We need a new plan.”

Liang nodded. “What have you got in mind?”

he asked.

Alex’s mind raced, then he moved across the room and climbed into an empty laundry cart.

“Take some of those linens and pile them on top of me,” he said. “They’re most likely looking for me, and you’ve got on a maintenance uniform.

Maybe we can make it to the doors before anyone thinks to question you.”

Liang agreed and started piling uniforms and towels on top of Alex, who was kneeling at the bottom of the cart, his gun held at the ready. If the worst happened, he’d at least have the advantage of surprise springing out of the cart.

“Just keep calm and act like you should be here,” Alex said. “There’s no helping it, but the front doors are closer and we’re running out of time.”

“Got it,” Liang said, adding the last of the laundry to the cart. “Now, if you please, shut up.”

Alex felt the cart lurch into motion and heard the voices of men and women. He tried to control his ragged breathing and ignore the excruciating pain in his legs—his position in the cart was almost in-tolerable. He listened carefully and it sounded as if they were in a break room of some kind. By now, there were at least two interior squads on patrol, maybe more with the alert.

Over the faint squeak of the carts wheels, he heard several people talking. One of them said,

“Another security problem? How long do you think we’ll be locked down this time?”

Liang didn’t hesitate, but kept right on going.

In a barely audible whisper he stated, “We’re in the lobby.”

Alex looked at his watch. “Four minutes,” he whispered.

“Uh-oh,” he heard Liang say. “Get ready!”

“You!” a voice cried out. “You there! Stop!”

The cart lurched into motion as Liang shoved it forward, running for all he was worth. “They’re on us!” he cried just before the cart slammed into the front doors, jarring Alex’s shoulder hard enough to make him bite his lip to keep from crying out.

The sound of guns cocking echoed throughout the lobby and Alex whispered, “How many?”

“Five,” Liang said. “The doors are locked.”

“Stall them,” Alex replied. “Get them closer.”

He peered up through the linens to see Liang raise his hands. “Don’t shoot,” he said. “Please.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” one of the guards asked. “We’re in lockdown.”

“I’m new,” Liang said. “I just work maintenance and they asked me to take this cart out.”

Footsteps drew closer and Alex tensed, waiting to spring.

“Outside?” the guard asked. “Are you stupid or something?”

Alex jumped up. “No, but you are,” he said, firing even as he spoke. The squad leader took two rounds in the chest, flying backward and knocking down a second man in his death throes.

The guards already had their weapons out. Alex lurched out of the cart and shoved it toward them, forcing them to pause, while Liang opened fire with his own weapon. Another guard went down, screaming as the bullet took him in the stomach.

“Get that door open!” Alex cried, diving and rolling over the hard marble floor. He came up shooting, taking down the fourth guard with a center-mass shot that knocked him on his heels.

Liang went to work behind him, and Alex knew that it was him against the remaining two guards.

In seconds, the whole lobby would be swarming with armed men and they would both be dead.

He picked himself up and dived forward again, smashing into the guard who’d been knocked down earlier. Alex drove his knees hard into the man’s sternum and heard the ribs crack, even as more guards began swarming into the main lobby.