Time passed in tentative gait, unsure whether to continue forward. Although it felt like forever, the final group had been inside for only eight minutes. Linda watched the seven stopwatches on the floor. Down the hall, Fritz stood with Colonel Mitchell and Captain Burnett. Tony sat on the floor monitoring the low buzz of the generators and reading the dials. Suddenly, Fritz's door burst open. Ashley moved to the door to assess the traffic. The Marine captain held the door, his pistol drawn. Twelve blindfolded men in white coats came out first. Captain Burnett told Ashley to go get guards from the reserve room. Six soldiers moved the prisoners toward the exit.
“Take them to a bus and keep guard,” said Ashley. Then he looked at Captain Burnett and said, “That's okay, isn't it?”
“For now, that's fine.”
The first soldiers came out as Linda and Lois counted. Soldiers carrying computer terminals and pushing a server came next. Ashley directed them to leave the electronics in the hall by the exit. The captain kept his eyes on his watch. He anticipated imminent detonation. Ashley sent the soldiers to the end of the hall to keep the area clear.
“Thank you, Mr. Gilbert,” the colonel said.
“Happy to help however I can,” Ashley answered.
When the whole team had returned, Fritz closed the door. Sweat droplets cascaded from the Marine captain's face. As he moved past Colonel Mitchell, he said, “We just made it. Fifteen seconds left.”
“That's not enough room,” said Captain Burnett. “Can we tell them to leave more time?” Ashley motioned for Fritz. When Fritz listened to the story, he flexed his fingers, making and opening a fist. He hadn't taken into account needing to call in. Only about calls coming out.
“Do we know what phone numbers the groups are carrying?” Fritz asked. Neither the colonel nor Captain Burnett had the answer. “We're going to need to get in and tell them.”
“Mr. Russell, the major mentioned the phones earlier, but I don't have a list,” said Burnett.
“We don't know where the teams have moved around in there. They could be spread out,” the colonel said.
Fritz said, “Whatever happens will be able to come through the open portal door, like the bullets last night. If others are also delayed, the rest might not get out at all. Can we call the major?”
The colonel tugged at his shirt collar, and cleared his throat. “I don't have her number either,” he said. “We've been concentrating on getting everything here.”
Fritz ran down the hall to Linda and Lois. Ashley walked over. Fritz said, “Lin, Lois, look at what the major gave you and see if you can find any phone numbers, so we can call her. They need to set the timers for a longer amount of time.”
When the second group came back, Ashley began directing again. They also had computers and over twenty prisoners. Captain Burnett rushed over to help Ashley. The colonel asked the team leader how much time remained. “It'll be close sir. We have about thirty seconds until the first charges go off.” As time ticked down, more computers started to come through the portal.
“Hurry,” said Ashley to the doorway. Linda and Lois were counting.
“That's all of them,” said Lois. Fritz pushed the door shut with less than five seconds left.
“This is too close,” said Ashley, moving the soldiers to the end of the hall.
The phone rang in Fritz's pocket. “Hello, Mr. President. Two groups back.”
“Good. We've seen one of the sites explode from the satellites. How is everyone doing?”
“We're worried. They need to give themselves more time to get out. The second group just—”
The president interrupted, “We just picked up a substantially bigger second explosion.”
“Mr. President, are these places close enough that the blast could be felt or heard at the other spots?”
“They are. You were saying.”
“We don't know how to contact them from here. We only have plans for them to call out.”
“I didn't think of that,” said the president.
“No one did. Captain Burnett said the major mentioned phones, but we don't have any numbers to call. The only way is to try to go in and warn them. But we don't know their locations or the order they'll come out.”
“Fritz, let me talk to Colonel Mitchell.” Fritz handed him the phone.
“It's the president,” Fritz said.
“Yes, sir?” The colonel listened, said “Yes sir,” and handed the phone back.
“I'm back, Mr. President.”
“Fritz, I don't want to lose anyone, but we need to find Major Barclay.”
“Mr. President, you called my phone. Not Linda's. This is the one she'll call on.” The line went dead, and then a phone rang down the hall. Linda answered, as Fritz walked toward her. Linda held out the phone.
“Mr. President,” Fritz began, but the president interrupted him.
“Did the major bring a briefcase or satchel? You might look in there if she did.”
“We'll check. Hang on.” Fritz asked Linda, “Do you know if the major has a briefcase?”
Linda said, “Her shoulder carrier is right here” and motioned behind her. “What do you need?”
“Check to see if she made a list of phone numbers or if her number is anywhere,” said Fritz. “We're looking, Mr. President.”
Ashley asked, “Do you think she has her own phone? I have her number on mine.”
The women dumped out the contents of the major's satchel and were sorting through it when the sixth team reappeared. They scrambled to count the returning men. “Colonel,” said the captain leading them, “the place was empty. We looked everywhere. Their computers are all mainframes. We used all our explosives to do as much damage as we could, but we could still use more.” The colonel asked Ashley to relay that message to the men in the room where the explosives were stacked, and in seconds, a line of soldiers from the reserve group formed by the door. The explosives were carried through the portal door that Fritz had held open.
The captain said, “Take it in. You're live.” Group six and the reserve additions walked through the open portal.
“Lin,” Fritz called. “Add seven men to group six's count. They went back through.”
“Can I do anything,” asked George.
Lois pointed down the hall and said, “George, why don't you check to see if the boys at the end of the hall need anything.” As George passed Fritz's room, the door opened again. The men rushed out, bent over, clearly ducking something. The first soldier ran into George and knocked him down and out of the way. They could hear gunfire. The plunks, plaster chunks out of the wall that wrecked the previous night's paint job, made a powdery mess on the floor. Plaster dust puffed into the hallway like an exhaled cigarette. George rubbed his head where it had hit the floor, and groaned, “Not again.”
Ashley yelled, “Everyone stay back” as the portal clogged with soldiers carrying computers. “We need help here,” he yelled. Men ran down the hall from the first two groups. “Stay down,” Ashley repeated, as the doorway cleared. A crowd of soldiers had come out of the reserve room across the hall and one door down. When bullets smacked the wall, they moved back toward the classroom where they had been as others emerged from the reserve room with rifles and helmets. The lieutenant holding that door had been hit, but held on until the traffic stopped. Ashley called for the medics and grabbed the door, while the other soldiers dragged the lieutenant away from danger. Access to the hospital room, across from the portal, would have to wait.
A soldier's helmet poked through on the floor of the portal. Crawling out, he said, “We're pinned down. We set the timers and grabbed all we could, but then a patrol came in. We don't have much time left.”
Ashley walked into the portal. He came back quickly, leading the remaining team members on all fours. “Shut the door. I told them we need to get out. We left everything by the portal. We could hear an explosion when I went in.”
Linda called from down the hall to say the president said they h
ad seen another explosion. “Are you all right?” she asked. Fritz flashed a thumbs-up, all he could do until the crowd at the door cleared. Ashley crawled away from the door and stood up.
Linda asked, “Is everyone out. I didn't get the count.” The team leader checked and called to her that they were all back. She nodded and went back to searching the major's bag. The computers had been set down outside the portal. The colonel asked for help taking them to the truck. In just an eye blink, activity had reverted to anticipation. Most of the reserve team had gone back into their classroom. One group rested, sitting on the floor at the end of the hall. George had returned from another bathroom run. The medical team treated the wounded lieutenant, and Linda and Lois continued looking for phone numbers. Four teams remained inside the portal.
“Colonel, do you know how to call the major? We don't know if she has her own phone,” said Fritz. “Do you know where she is? Should we try to call her?”
“We considered allowing more time on the detonators, Mr. Russell. We didn't expect it to be this close, or we could have tried to call earlier. How long has she been inside?”
“Lin, how long has group four been gone?”
Linda looked at the stop watches. “Thirty-seven minutes and twenty-six seconds,” she said.
“We can't call her now. Expect her back in about a half hour. Mr. Russell, her group's at a different location. They're not underground, so getting them out may be more difficult. Greater chance to be seen, but we're ready.”
“Is she going for the president?” asked Fritz.
“No. We don't want him. Hopefully she won't have prisoners. I just hope they don't get caught. It's probably not safe for a phone to ring where she is.”
“Yes, sir.”
Looking down the hallway, the portal ejected group six on the run. Ashley directed them as Linda rose to do the count. Twenty-one had gone in, plus the extra seven. Her count had reached twenty-three returnees when a rifle report echoed in the hall. Then bullets began slamming the wall, which had, by then, an indentation almost three feet across and six inches deep. Everyone ducked, Linda finished counting, and the door clicked closed.
With four groups back, Fritz asked Tony how everything was working.
“So far, the energy level is stable,” said Tony. “There seems to be a little blip downward with each explosion, but it's come back right after.” Just then, the door opened again. Ashley sprang into action. He asked how much time was left. The team leader, an army major, looked at his watch. They stepped in to move half a dozen prisoners to the buses while computers and file cabinets came out. The relative quiet shattered when the sound of a klaxon left the portal and rebounded down the hallway. When the door closed, the sounds stopped, and the major leading group seven said, “Three, two, one, BOOM!” Linda was back on the phone with the president, who said they had seen it from above.
Two groups had not returned yet. Colonel Mitchell had dispatched the first bus of prisoners to the airport with their guards. The computers had been loaded on the truck, which waited for any additions.
Fritz walked over to Linda and hugged her. He whispered in her ear, “Love you. Are you doing all right?”
“I'm fine. How are you?”
“I'm fine too. I wonder how we'll feel when the adrenaline turns off.” he said.
“I don't care,” said Linda. “I just want this to be over.”
“Not much longer, I think. But the Narians have got to be on alert now. This last part could be dicey.”
The portal banged open. Two grappling soldiers, one a Narian wielding a knife, tumbled out. Four contained pops exploded in the confined hall, and the Narian was lifted sideways, his blood splattered on the walls, lockers, and floor. The reserve team, armed in the hall, had not hesitated to shoot. Standing nearby, Ashley avoided the shower, but caught a sprinkle, when he pulled the Narian away from the door to clear a path for the team coming out.
“How much time?” Ashley yelled. One exiting soldier told him less than 30 seconds. Next, a box and a crawling soldier poked out. Ashley pulled the box the rest of the way and dragged the soldier out of the way.
“Colonel, they've got to get out!” Ashley shouted.
The colonel looked at Captain Burnett, who signaled for the reserve team to move up.
“Cover fire and get them out,” Burnett said to his command. “Shoot high, our guys are close by. Then get out. We have twenty seconds. Go, go, go.”
Ashley counted the seconds tick by on his watch. No one had come out. He dropped to his knees and crawled in, and then he and everyone else rushed out. Fritz ran to the door and pushed it shut, but the explosions started before the door clicked. He could feel the door rattle. Linda shouted, “We got them all.” Then she saw Ashley's face, covered in bloody polka dots. She put her hands over her mouth. Ashley looked at her, then at his shirt and pants, and said, “Not mine, his,” and pointed at the dead Narian in the hallway.
George had wandered back to Lois, rubbing his head and looked around at the hallway. He waved at the plaster dust. Then he saw the blood and the body. “Oh my,” he said. “We can't have this. This is a school.”
While the others looked on, Lois took her husband's hand and said, “George, come with me. This will be fixed.” He jerked when she rubbed the bump on his head, so she walked him to the hospital room, not busy at the moment. Two medics with a gurney were wheeling the dead Narian soldier's body to a waiting truck.
Fritz and Ashley stood near Linda. While biding time until the major's group returned, Linda talked to the president. Then she put the phone down. “He's doing something. He said he'll call back later.”
Fritz said, “Fine. One less thing to worry about. Ash, has anyone ever told you that red is your color?”
“Fritz!” exclaimed Linda.
Fritz and Ashley grinned at each other. Linda shook her head. Lois stopped returning the major's satchel's contents and said, “You know, I'm right. They are both trouble.”
Looking again at his watch, Fritz said, “It can't be much longer. I wonder what she's doing.” He called to Colonel Mitchell, who came over. Fritz said, “The president said you know what the major is doing. Are we going to need to do anything different when she comes back?”
“Different?” said the colonel. “No. Unless you didn't have your fingers crossed.”
For the final time, the door opened. Fritz ran to hold the door. Ashley moved to where he could see. Explosions in the distance jarred the door as the soldiers moved through. A number of the uniforms were bloody.
Ashley directed, Linda counted, Fritz watched. Finally, the major, the last one through, came into the hallway and fell into Ashley's arms. He looked down at her, put his arms around her, and feeling moist warmth, looked over her shoulder. “Medic!” he shouted. Her team carried her to the waiting gurney as a doctor and nurse came into the hall. They laid her on her stomach, cut away her shirt to expose a six-inch wound gushing blood, and then they wheeled her into the hospital room. Ash stared at his cherry-colored hands, extended out, palms up in plaintive search for the luck he was seldom granted. Please not again.
The mission now finished, Fritz shut the door.
Fritz answered his phone and said, “It's over, Mr. President. The major is wounded. Should we start moving everyone out?”
“No. I want to hear how the Narians respond. One of the explosions took down a lot of their communications networks. We may have to wait for a public statement. Once again, Fritz, thank you so much. We'll talk more later. Let me speak to the colonel, please.”
The colonel took the phone. “Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President.” He switched the phone to his other ear. “I'll pass on the message. I don't know how badly. Yes, sir, we'll wait until we hear from you. Thank you, sir.” He handed the phone back. “We'll wait until he calls again.” Captain Burnett joined them, and the officers shook hands with the civilians. “Folks, you really made it easier for us to do what we came here for,” said Colonel Mitchell.
Thank you, Captain,” said Lois. “I think this was a little more than he anticipated. You will be sure to clean up for him?”
“Yes, ma'am. Clean up and repair crews are already outside.”
“Do you think you can get rid of the smell, too? Gunpowder would be hard to explain.”
“By the morning, it'll be like we were never here,” said the colonel.
For the first time since he arrived, Fritz had a brief moment to stop and think. He was used to activity in the hallway. But this was different. He saw relieved soldiers, some packing the nuke suits, others checking their gear. A few were sitting on the floor, waiting. Down the hall, soldiers hugged and high-fived. The quiet of anticipation and noise of action were both gone. The hall had become a place of loud chatter. They were done, the mission a success. Then Fritz had a light-bulb moment. They were all so young.
Chapter 11
AS THE COLONEL organized his men for the departure, Lois and Ashley went to the hospital room and Fritz and Linda walked outside. “Fritz, I've been standing for an hour. I need to sit down. Let's go to the car.” Fritz had parked at the front to be out of the way of any traffic. He took her hand as they walked across the parking lot. A few stars were visible through the mostly cloudy night. He opened the door, and she sat sideways on the passenger seat, her feet almost on the ground.
“Better?” Fritz asked.
“Uh-huh. Now it is.” He waited for her to express her worries, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Tom Andrews and James Williams.
James said, “Are you all right, Linda?”
She replied, “You got it right this time.”
“I've been practicing,” he grinned.
“I feel kind of like a full sink after you pull the stopper,” said Fritz. “Like all the energy is draining out my toes. Is that what you guys go through?”
Tom said, “That's normal. You'll be better soon. Take this,” and he handed Fritz a chocolate bar. “It really helps.”
Quantum Touch (Book 2): Sand Storm Page 11