Part 46 (1/2)

56.

The emergency lights in the stairwell had been a casualty of the fight here. Kris found herself searching for a foothold among the dead bodies and failing.

Jack brought up his flashlight without being asked.

The defenders above had put up quite a fight.

Kris made her way carefully, avoiding the bodies, going from one patch of damp blood to the next open bit of gore. Behind her the others followed in her tracks.

She reached the ground floor and peeked out over the sights of her rifle.

The butcher bill for tonight was going to be huge.

These people must have been mowed down early in the attack. Many of them appeared to be security types taking a break, or actual government workers who'd picked a bad night to work late. Grant hadn't considered these folks important enough to keep alive.

”Nelly, where's that jammer?” Kris bit out ”Not on this floor.”

”Is there a bas.e.m.e.nt or sub-bas.e.m.e.nt?” Kris asked over her shoulder.

”There's a door here, in the back of the stairwell,” a kid's voice called.

”Don't touch it,” the demolition tech called.

Too late.

The explosion was subdued, but the boy's scream was harsh on the taut nerves left by this evening.

Kris and the Marines got back to the stairwell to find two boys bleeding. One badly.

Jack stripped off the boy's belt and made a tourniquet for the shattered arm. Another Marine cut strips from the boy's s.h.i.+rt and used it to bandage his chest.

The demolition expert ran his fingers around the door. It was still solidly closed.

”Why don't you wait outside?” he suggested to Kris and the rest.

n.o.body argued with him.

A long moment later there was a click, and the sergeant said, ”The door's open. You all stay here while I check out the stairs.”

Kris felt guilty, but she stayed put.

”Do you need some light,” Bronc said, eyeing the darkness yawning from the newly opened stairwell.

”Don't mind if you do,” the expert said, ”but you stay well behind me and don't touch anything you don't have to.”

Bronc followed the sergeant, one hand holding a light, the other hand in his pocket.

The other kids and the Marines moved as far from the door as they could.

”It's clear to the next landing” came a full minute later. ”Stay to the center of the stairs and don't touch the walls.”

They followed, Jack first, Kris second, the remaining three kids coming up the rear.

”Is it on this level?” Kris asked Nelly.

”It is at the other end of the building, the north end, and I think it is a floor lower. Or maybe the floor angles down. I do not know, Kris.”

”There's more stairs here. Give me a second to check them,” the sergeant said, and moved off, with Bronc two steps behind him.

Kris glanced up. There were emergency lights in the corners. Tiny red lights flashed, testimony that they worked, just turned off. She announced that.

”Yeah, I noticed that, too,” the sergeant drawled back. ”I didn't really want to see what happened if I turned them back on. Do you?”

Kris agreed to the dark.

A moment later they were descending to the next level.

Emergency lights were on here, making this concrete sub-bas.e.m.e.nt seem almost cheerful after the rest of the evening.

There also were no bodies. No wreckage from the fight. Here was a simple, functional area where workers did what needed to be done to make the rest of the place work.

It seemed almost painfully normal.

”The jamming is coming from the far end of the hallway,” Nelly announced.

The sergeant led off, carefully doing his job. The rest followed in his footsteps.

It seemed easy.

Right up to the discovery of the jammer.

It was in a squat black box, sitting on a table, with antenna leads connecting it to pipes and power lines.

The sergeant studied it and shook his head.

”How much do you want this thing?”

”I'd like to take it home for study. It's the only thing that's managed to jam my computer's net,” Kris said.

”The only thing,” Nelly added for emphasis.

”But right now we need to turn it off. Kill this jamming and get some ambulances in here,” Kris added.

”This baby looks to me to be rigged to explode. Say twelve different ways to Sunday. It is not meant to be turned off,” the sergeant said, shaking his head.

”You need some explosives?” Jack asked. ”Penny gave me her last grenade.”