Michael Palmer - Fatal

Matt raced over to the head-wall. Above him, Ellen was down, but he could see that she was moving.

"Ellen?"

"I'm okay," she called back. "I slipped when I threw the rock. My pride's going to hurt when I sit, but otherwise I'm not hurt badly."

"Is Nikki all right?"

"She's back there with the others. It's slow going with her ankle. I think it's broken."

"Is there enough air in there?"

"There is now, thanks to whoever created that hole."

Ellen began making her way down to where Matt waited. Vinny Sutcher lay at his feet, deeply unconscious, breathing shallowly and intermittently. His broad pancake face was a pulpy mass, his eyes obscured beneath twin pools of blood. His head was cocked at a sharp angle, leading Matt to suspect that his neck had been fractured. Ellen moved in beside him, her jaw tightly set, her eyes fixed on the horrific damage she had wrought. Then, without a word, she bent down and, with great effort, picked up the rock again and leveled it over Sutcher's face.

"Ellen, don't," Matt urged. "It's over. Trust me, it's over."

Tears glistened through the dust on Ellen's cheeks. Her arms were shaking from the effort of holding the rock. Sobbing, she turned and dropped it to the floor, where it split in two. Matt put his arms around her and held her. A few seconds later, Sutcher took a single, shuddering gasp, and stopped breathing forever.

Matt led Ellen over to where Frank was once again arranging the Gel-Paks, and introduced the two.

"I'm going in to see Nikki," he said.

Ellen pointed to his watch. "Matt, listen. That first shot of Omnivax is going to be given to that baby in a little over three hours. As soon as it is, other kids all over the country are going to start getting it. We've got to stop them."

"Is there someone we can call?"

"This is the biggest campaign stunt of this election. I don't know anyone in a position to rein in the First Lady at this point. Do you?"

"No. We could try calling in a bomb threat."

"I hate that idea, but I suppose we could try it if we absolutely had to. I can see us accomplishing nothing except to give them more publicity and land us in serious hot water."

"If they go ahead with the shot, how many kids do you think will be vaccinated by the end of the day?"

"I really can't do more than guess," Ellen replied, "but I think it could be lots, especially on the West Coast, where pediatricians' offices will be open three hours later than the ones on the East Coast. Thanks to the President's publicity people, the papers are calling today's injection The Shot Heard Round the World. The public and the pediatricians just love vaccines. Omnivax is the most eagerly awaited advance in immunizations in decades, but it's been made clear that even though tens of thousands of doses have been shipped to offices and clinics around the country, administering it to patients won't be legal until after Lynette Marquand and Secretary Bolton have had their worldwide TV photo op. So… What? Maybe a few thousand doses by the end of the day? Maybe more. Who knows?"

"With a three percent prion infection rate."

“Or more.”

"Or more," Matt echoed.

He peered up at the hole high on the rock wall and made his decision.

"My Harley's at my Uncle Hal's place. I can probably get you to D.C. on time, but I don't want to leave before I see Nikki. We've been through too much together."

"I understand, but please, let's get going as soon as you can."

"We will."

"And Matt, I apologize for getting so wrapped up in my issues just now. I'm sorry about your uncle. I really am."

"Thanks. Me, too. Lewis, can you wait a little before setting off those charges?"

"Ain't no place we got ta be. We don' 'specially need Lyle, neither. He kin drahve ya ta yer bike."

"Great. Lewis, tell me something. How on earth did you guys get your guns out so fast?"

Grinning broadly, Lewis pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing an arrangement of leather straps and springs.

"Ma brother Frank, thar, invented this here gizmo a couple a year ago an' built one fer each a us. We ain't really got ta use 'em, but we put 'em on taday 'cause we jes don' truss Bass Vernon much. An' the older we git, the more careful we git. That rot, Frank?"

"Thassit."

"So that's why you guys were looking at each other like you had a secret."

"We knowed somethin' they dint, thet's fer sure," Lewis said. "The moment Grimes tol' his boy thar ta git our guns an' dint jes pull the trigger, we knowed he 'uz a dead man, providin' Frank's gizmo worked the way it's s'pose ta."

"And did it ever. Ellen, I'll be right back. We'll make it. My uncle's place isn't too far from here. His girlfriend is away, but I know where he keeps a spare key."

"Good, because there's someone I need to call."

"I'll be back."

Matt was halfway up the head-wall when he heard Nikki's voice.

"Hey, sailor, come up here and get your Red Cross advanced swimmer's badge."

Looking about as grungy and disheveled as a person could, she sat perched on a slab to one side of the rent Lewis had made in the massive wall. Matt hustled to her side and kissed her unabashedly.

"I knew you'd make it," she said. "I just knew it."

"You did not."

"Okay, I didn't. But you made it just the same, and that's what counts."

"How's your ankle?"

"Better now than it was a few minutes ago. You know any decent orthopedists?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. How many people are still alive down there?"

"Believe it or not, a)} the ones that were alive when you Mt."

"Even Fred?"

"He's actually a little better. I did a trach on Colin."

"Incredible. You dun need no steenking OR."

Nikki looked down at the three bodies sprawled in blood amid the stones and dust.

"Did you do that?" she asked.

"In my mind I did, especially Grimes. But I didn't even get a shot off."

"I never trusted that Vinny."

"I know. Listen, it's almost noon. Let me help you down. I've got to get Ellen to D.C."

"Oh, yes, that first shot is due this afternoon. Hurry. I can get down myself."

"You can let me help you."

It was a slow, awkward descent. When they finally reached the bottom, Matt carried her to a safe spot in the tunnel and set her down. Even beneath the bandage he had applied, he could feel the enormous swelling in her ankle. He kissed her hand, then her neck, and finally her lips.

"You think you might like to, I don't know, hang with me after I get back?"

"Only if you promise me we get to do something really, really dull."

"I promise."

They kissed once more before he headed back to Ellen. As he passed Grimes's bullet-riddled body, he paused.

"See, I told you there was proof," he said.

Clearly pleased with the responsibility Lewis had bestowed on him, Lyle Slocumb hopped up behind the wheel of the old Ford pickup. Matt saw Ellen mulling over how best to negotiate the gearshift protruding up from the floorboards and saved her the maneuvering by taking the center seat.

"I could have handled it," she said, sliding in beside him.

"Hey, after watching what you did with that rock, I would say you can handle just about anything. I just figured since me and Lyle have known each other from when I was a boy, he might enjoy rubbing elbows with me."

"Yer nuts," Lyle said.

"Yes, and don't you ever forget it."

As they pulled away, Matt looked back toward the mountain, feeling an odd mix of horror, relief, and foolishness. True, there was a toxic waste dump just as he'd suspected. Soon the mine owners were going to be exposed for the callous, unscrupulous profit-mongers they were, and the cave would be cleaned out. But his narrow-mindedness regarding the mine owners and the cause of the Belinda syndrome had kept him from the truth and had, to some degree, cost lives — most notably for him, his godfather's. He also knew that there was going to be trouble for Lewis and his brothers. The Slocumbs had become legendary for their mysterious, hermitlike existence. Now, unless a way could be found to dissociate them from the carnage in the tunnel, there was going to be publicity, inquisitions, and scrutiny, and probably weapons charges as well.