Matthew Reilly - Area 7

main elevator platform down to Level 4. When they'd arrived

at the elevator shaft from the Level 4 observation lab,

Schofield and Gant had found the giant platform sitting right

there in front of them, piled high with no less than fifteen bodies--prisoners, 7th Squadron commandos, Marines and

White House staff--bodies which Leary no doubt planned

to dismember in strange and unusual ways.

As such, the shaft now yawned wide above Schofield

and Gant, open and airy.

As they traveled quickly up it, Gant reached underneath

the moving platform. She emerged with her Maghook, which she'd left attached to the underside of the mini elevator earlier.

"Get ready," Schofield said.

They had arrived at the main hangar.

THE HANGAR LOOKED LIKE HELL.

Literally.

Fires burned all over the place, bathing the enormous

space in a haunting orange glow. Bodies lay everywhere.

Assorted debris littered the area--the remains of blown

up helicopters, crumpled towing vehicles, the pieces of

Bravo Unit's failed barricade over by the internal building.

Nothing, it seemed, lay unscarred.

The slanted windows of the control room overlooking the

hangar were completely shattered. Even one of the giant

wooden crates hanging from the overhead crane system had a

gnarled piece of Nighthawk 2's tail rotor embedded in its side.

Amazingly, however, one object remained untouched

by the day's mayhem.

Marine One.

It still stood on the western side of the aircraft elevator

shaft, miraculously intact.

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Matthew Reilly

As their elevator jolted to a halt inside the hangar,

Schofield and Gant looked about themselves cautiously.

11:02.

"The self-destruct computer is in the control room,"

Gant said.

"Then that's where we're going," Schofield said, heading

for the internal building.

"Wait a minute," Gant said, stopping suddenly, her eyes

scanning the debris-covered floor around them.

"We don't have a minute," Schofield said.

"You go, then," Gant said. "Call me if you need any

help. I'm gonna try something."

"Okay," Schofield said, charging off toward the internal

building.

Gant, meanwhile, dropped to her knees and started

searching through the bodies and debris around the mini elevator platform.

schofield burst inside the lower floor of the internal

building, leading with his Desert Eagle.

He hit the stairs on the fly, charged up them. For the first

time that day, he actually felt in control. He had the lock down code--10502--and now all he had to do was punch it

into the computer and disarm the nuke.

Then he would have plenty of time to find Caesar--whose men were now history--before he killed himself, and

drag him out of Area 7 to face justice.

11:03.

Schofield came to the control room door, pushed it

open, his gun leveled in front of him.

What he saw took him completely by surprise.

There, sitting in a swivel chair in the middle of the destroyed

command room, waiting for Schofield and smiling

broadly at him, was Caesar Russell.

"I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE BACK," CAESAR SAID.

He was unarmed.

"You know, Captain," he said, "a man like you is wasted

on this country. You're clever, you've got courage, and

you'll do whatever it takes to win, including the bizarre

and the illogical, such as saving me. You and your efforts

would be unappreciated by the ignorant fools who make up

this nation. Which is why," he sighed, "it is such a shame

that you have to die."

It was then that the gun cocked next to Schofield's head

Schofield turned--

--to see Major Kurt Logan standing behind him, his silver

SIG-Sauer pistol pointed right at Schofield's temple.

11:04.

"Come in," Caesar said. "Come in."

Logan relieved Schofield of his Desert Eagle as the two

of them stepped into the destroyed control room.

"Come and watch America's death sentence," Caesar

waved at an illuminated screen behind him. It was like the one Schofield had seen outside. It read:

LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL S.A.(R) 7A

FAILSAFE SYSTEM ENACTED

AUTH CODE: 7-3-468201103

452

Matthew Reilly

***************

'WARNING"

***************

EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.

IF YOU DO NOT ENTER AN AUTHORIZED LOCKDOWN

EXTENSION OR TERMINATION CODE BY 1105

HOURS, FACILITY SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE WILL

BE ACTIVATED. SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE DURATION:

10:00 MINUTES.

**************** yu a pMlMft*****************

Schofield saw a clock at the bottom corner of the computer

screen ticking upward.

11:04:29.

11:04:30.

11:04:31.

"Tick-tick-tick," Caesar said deliciously. "How frustrating

this must be for you, Captain. No clever plans to save

you now, no space shuttles, no secret exits. Once the ten

minute self-destruct sequence is set in motion, nothing can

stop it from going off. I will die, and so will you, and so, too, will America."

The clock on the screen ticked upward.

Covered by Logan, Schofield could only watch helplessly

as it approached 11:05 a.m.

11:04:56.

11:04:57.

Schofield clenched his fists with frustration.

He knew the code! He knew it. But he couldn't use it.

And where the hell was Gant? What was she doing?

11:04:58.

11:04:59.

11:05:00.

"Lift-off," Caesar smiled.

"Shit," Schofield said.

The screen beeped.

Area 7 453

LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL S.A.(R) 7A

FACILITY SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED.

10:00 MINUTES TO DETONATION.

A blinking countdown commenced on the screen.

10:00.

9:59.

9:58.

At that very same moment, an army of battery-powered

revolving red lights exploded to life throughout the complex

--inside the main hangar, down in the aircraft elevator

shaft, even inside the control room.

An electronic voice boomed out from an emergency PA

system.

"Warning. Ten minutes to facility self-destruct ..."

And just then--as they were bathed in strobing red

light--Schofield saw Kurt Logan take his eyes off him, just

for a split second, to look out at the lights.

Schofield took the chance.

He drove his body into Logan's, sending both of them

crashing against a computer console.

Logan brought his gun around, but Schofield grabbed

his wrist and banged it down against the console, causing

the 7th Squadron commander to release the pistol.

Caesar just sat back, grinning with satisfaction, watching

the fight in front of him with mad delight.

Schofield and Logan fought hard, covered in red emergency

lighting. They looked like mirror images, two elite

soldiers who had studied from the same manual, exchanging

identical blows, employing identical evasive moves.

But Schofield was exhausted from his previous battle

with Lucifer and he unleashed a loose swing which Logan punished without mercy.

He ducked beneath Schofield's wayward blow and then

tackled him around the waist, lifting Schofield clear off the

ground and driving him backwards toward the shattered

windows of the control room.

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Matthew Reilly

Schofield blasted out through the destroyed windows of

the command room, back-first, flying through the air. He

shut his eyes and waited for the crushing impact with the

floor thirty feet below.

It never came.

Instead, his fall was unexpectedly short.

Thud!

Schofield slammed down on a rough wooden surface

that rocked beneath his weight.