Part 12 (2/2)

”Lila!” came a voice from nowhere. ”Lila, are you all right?”

She knew that voice. ”DADDY!”

”Lila! Where are you?”

Toms heard the voice, too, and stiffened with anger. ”Where? Where? ”

”Where are you?” Lila called.

Dr. Cooper had no idea. All he knew was he'd come up through the tunnel to a flat stone surface that seemed like it might move, but didn't. With one hand hanging onto the hissing, flapping carvies, he only had one hand with which to explore or push. ”I'm under a slab of stone. Can you see where it is?”

Lila looked at the pedestal under the coffin. Her father's voice seemed to be coming from there.

In the moment she looked away, Toms lunged for her.

He didn't see the vase lying on the floor in front of him. He tripped on it, sailed through the air, and slammed into the coffin at full speed. It pivoted with a stony rumble as he rolled into a stack of gold cups and utensils. The bomb flew from his flailing hand and skittered across the floor; the display still blinked the shrinking time.

The pedestal was hollow. With the coffin spun c.o.c.keyed and leaving a gap, Dr. Cooper was able to poke his head into the middle of all-out chaos.

”Daddy, it's a bomb!” Lila screamed, pointing at the device.

He jumped out of the tunnel to run to her.

Jay screamed at him, rattling the chain. Dr. Cooper hurled one of the carvies. It sailed through the air, spinning like a Frisbee, and hit Jay's forehead with a loud splat. Now Jay really had something to scream about as the venom went to work.

”Look out!” Lila screamed.

Toms came leaping over the coffin and landed on Jacob Cooper like a ton of bricks, knocking him to the floor. They rolled and grappled and tumbled into gilded battle s.h.i.+elds and war masks, which crashed down around them like a chorus of gongs and dinner bells. Toms was grabbing and clawing and looking for something to bite; Dr. Cooper was just trying to get out from under him.

Lila got into it, grabbing up a candlestick to hit Toms on the head. WHAM! He swatted her away with his arm, and she fell against the coffin, hitting her head.

Dr. Cooper saw her sink to the floor, out cold. Then he saw Toms take a swing at him and blocked it. With a quick twist and a good wrestling hold, he flipped them both over so he was finally on top.

Not for long. Toms was young, strong, and supercharged with toxin. He threw Dr. Cooper off with one powerful shove, and he went sliding through a pile of gold trinkets.

The air was filling with green dust. Through the green haze Jacob Cooper could see little red numbers blinking across the room: 2:38, 2:37, 2:36.

”Lila!”

She didn't answer. She didn't move.

Toms came after him again. He used a judo move to trip the man and sent him careening into another stack of gold dishes.

In the excitement, he had let go of the other carvy. Where was it? If he could just get the venom on Toms ...

Oh no. He spotted it on the corner of the coffin, happy as a clam, gobbling down the spores and already s.h.i.+fting color from yellow to green. Jay was close to that corner. Maybe he could reach it.

”Jay!”

Jay didn't hear him. He was too disoriented, trying but unable to peel the carvy off his head.

Dr. Cooper dove for the bomb. Toms dove for Dr. Cooper. They collided before Dr. Cooper could reach the bomb, and they went at it again. Dr. Cooper threw him off and reached for the bomb. Toms grabbed him again and threw him over the coffin and into more cras.h.i.+ng, tinkling treasure.

1:32, 1:31, 1:30 ...

Jacob Cooper struggled to his feet, looked everywhere trying to get his bearings, coughed in the green dust, and then spotted the red numbers: 1:20, 1:19, 1:18. Toms was coming after him again.

Another head popped up out of the tunnel under the pedestal! Ben Cory!

Oh no. Two of them?

Dr. Cooper shot out his left hand, grabbed the remaining carvy off the corner of the coffin, and prepared to throw it. It didn't resist him. It didn't hiss, or bite, or chirp angrily.

It purred. It was a beautiful, deep green.

I'm sunk, Jacob Cooper thought.

Toms was half laughing, half growling, slinking like a big cat around the c.o.c.keyed coffin.

0:44, 0:43, 0:42 ...

Ben Cory jumped up out of the tunnel and grabbed Toms from behind. They fought, they growled. Toms kicked. Cory hung on. They were busy, occupied with each other.

Dr. Cooper scurried the other way around the coffin and finally grabbed the bomb. 0:30, 0:29, 0:28 ...

How do you stop this thing? Dr. Cooper tried pressing some of the b.u.t.tons on the key pad. He tried cancel, he tried pound and star, he tried 000, he even tried reset. The thing just kept counting down, 0:15, 0:14, 0:13 ...

Ben Cory finally got the upper hand, landing a punch to Toms's jaw that sent him tumbling over the coffin and to the floor, out cold.

Oh great! I'm next! thought Jacob Cooper.

No time left. Dr. Cooper ran for the hole in the wall. Maybe they would survive if the bomb exploded in the hallway.

Ben Cory jumped in his path!

Dr. Cooper braced himself. You or me, buddy, but this bomb's going through that hole!

Ben Cory didn't throw a punch. He held out his hand, palm up, gesturing, Let's have it.

Dr. Cooper hesitated, not sure.

0:05, 0:04, 0:03 ...

<script>