Chapter Thirty-Two

 

 

Turning toward Uni, Mildred shouted, "You have to go back. It's not safe in here."

 

Uni narrowed its big eyes. "Why not? I've been here plenty of times."

 

Waving toward the row of generators below, she answered, "I'm going to blow those up. There's no telling what will happen."

 

Staring first at the generators and then at Mildred, Uni asked, "I don't understand."

 

"You don't have to. Just get back below. I think you'll be okay. I'll give you a minute to get started."

 

The red disk shaped eyes moved from her face to the generators, then back to her face. "What about my new brain?"

 

Mildred swallowed hard, feeling pity well up like a lump in her throat. "You don't need one, honey. The one you have is just fine. Now go!"

 

Uni moved a few faltering steps toward the round hatchway, then turned, beaming broadly. "Come back when you're finished, okay?"

 

Mildred nodded. "I'll do my best. Be on your way now."

 

Uni flipped her a quick salute and scuttled through the hatch opening, swinging the heavy cover closed. Mildred counted to sixty under her breath, trying to give Uni as much time as possible to get away from the area. As far as she or Ryan knew, destroying one generator might trigger an atomic chain reaction that would result in a do-it-yourself Hiroshima.

 

Mildred moved around the catwalks, heading for the optimum position from which to throw the grenades. Though her hand-eye coordination was excellent, she didn't possess the muscle strength or the experience to throw one of the deadly explosives very far. Her best bet was to get right over the generators and drop them straight down.

 

She was able to reach a point on one of the walkways that was almost directly above the generator connected to the pump array. Best of all, it was only a couple of long steps to a lift cage. She examined the control box inside of the cage and saw that it was a simple lever to go down, you pushed the lever down, to go up, you pulled it up.

 

Mildred undipped two grenades from the combat harness, an incendiary and a fragmentation. She hoped the combination of shock, heat and about three thousand ball bearings spraying out at six thousand meters per second would accomplish her task.

 

Leaning as far out over the vibrating railing as she dared, Mildred held both grenades in her right hand. She armed them by pulling away the pin levers. She opened her fingers, letting both of the devices fall away toward the rows of generators fifty feet below. Then she bounded for the elevator, slamming the gate shut and grabbing the lever. Before she could jerk it up, the brutal sound of detonating high explosives and ripping, rending metal filled the vast room.

 

The lift cage shook violently, rattling and clattering. Water, chunks of concrete and metal flew upward in a fiery column, battering the underside of the catwalks. Mildred got a blurred image of a layer of fire clinging to the handrails and grillwork. The double concussion slapped against her eardrums.

 

The angry, deafening shrieking of raptured metal replaced the thunder of the explosion, and blinding clouds of white vapor spewed up from below, billowing and rolling like heavy fog. It doused the flames and coated all of the walkways with a patina of frost. Mildred inhaled just a bit of the supercooled air, and for a moment she gagged herself blind, the soft, wet tissues of her throat afire with agony. She slammed the cage lever as far as it would go in the up position, and with an electrical whine the elevator shot upward. It rose, rattling and shaking, past level after level.

 

Once, she hazarded a look over the gate and saw nothing but an expanse of white clouds, as though she were rocketing high in the air, far above the earth. Then, over the hum and the rattle, she heard the warbling and wailing of alarm Klaxons. Quickly she drew her revolver. She had no idea where she was going to end up, but she was at least on her way.

 

The lift clanked to a jolting halt. Pushing aside the gate, Mildred stepped into a small alcove fronting a tunnel from which a group of men emerged. They wore white coveralls and were frantically donning breathing masks. They stumbled to unsteady, fearful stops when they saw Mildred and her blaster. She almost shouted "Freeze!" but thought better of it and commanded, "Don't move!"

 

The man in the lead wore a badge identifying him as MIKE. He sputtered and stammered behind the mask. "Pl-please, we've got to get down to the station!"

 

Snatching the badge from his coverall pocket, Mildred said, "First things first, Mike. Show me the nearest computer tie-in."

 

Mike pushed his way through his companions, moving toward the rear of the tunnel. Mildred said, "The rest of you can go about your business."

 

They made a concerted rush for the lift cage, and Mike stopped in front of a wall panel. "Here."

 

"Complex display," Mildred announced.

 

The wall panel flashed with light, and a diagram of the complex appeared. "Where are we?" Mildred asked.

 

Mike pointed to a throbbing green dot.

 

"Locate Doug."

 

Another dot began to throb. Counting the levels, Mildred saw she was far below Ryan's location. "Where's the nearest lift, Mike?"

 

"Out the doors, a hundred feet to your right. To get to Doug's level, all you have to do is say into the tie-in, 'Doug.'"

 

"Handy. You may go now."

 

Mike bustled away, and Mildred went through the doors at the end of the tunnel. She called Ryan on the transceiver and told him, "On my way."

 

"Good," he responded. "J.B. and the rest should be here soon."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"No. Watch your back."

 

"Watch yours."