"I won't need this," Frank said.
The bearded Assassin's dark eyes narrowed. "You refuse to carry out the execution?" he growled in his heavy accent.
"I didn't say that," Frank replied. "I said I won't need the gun. There are much more interesting ways to kill a man, don't you think?"
Boris raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
Frank nodded. "Remember those flying lessons you wanted to give us?"
A thin, savage smile curled the corners of the Assassin's mouth.
"I thought you would," Frank said. "Why don't we take the old man outside, push him off the cliff, and see how well he flies? That way we won't waste any bullets, and we won't have a body to get rid of.
The terrorist let out a cruel, harsh laugh. "That is a fine idea. You will make a good Assassin." He ducked into the tent and dragged Dr. Stavrogin out. "Come, old man. Time to go."
Stavrogin blinked and looked at Frank. "Where are we going?"
Boris laughed again and roughly pushed the physicist toward the tunnel. "You will find out soon enough."
Frank leaned over to his brother and whispered in his ear. "Stay close to our bearded buddy."
"Why?" Joe asked.
"Because you're going to accidentally trip and fall into him," Frank said.
Joe glanced at his brother. "I am?"
Frank nodded. "And it's going to be a really nasty fall, too."
"It is? How nasty?"
"So nasty Boris won't make it to the end of the tunnel."
"That's pretty nasty," Joe whispered with a slight smile.
Something roared in the depths of the mountain, and a violent tremor shook the cavern. Frank and Joe reached out and steadied each other.
"This neighborhood is getting dangerous," Joe remarked. "It used to be such a nice, quiet place. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"I think the Assassins woke up a sleeping giant," Frank responded. "And I don't think the giant is happy about it."
Frank didn't know what the terrorists hoped to accomplish by bringing the volcano back to life. The pent-up forces churning in the magma beneath the earth's crust could easily obliterate the top half of the mountain in an explosive burst far more devastating than the most powerful nuclear weapon.
The Hardys followed the Assassin into the tunnel. Frank edged past Boris and get between him and Stavrogin.
"Keep moving!" Frank snapped, giving the physicist a light shove. Stavrogin jerked his head around, obviously confused. Frank winked at him and gave him another nudge. He had to put some distance between them and the "accident" that was about to happen. He hoped the physicist would understand that the rough treatment was only an act to fool the terrorist.
Joe's part in the act turned out to be fairly easy. A distant blast echoed up the lava tube, followed by a tremor that rippled along the passageway. Instead of putting his arms out to brace himself against the wall, Joe rolled with the shock wave and added a little force of his own as he hurled himself at his target.
"Whoa!" Joe cried out for effect as he smashed into Boris's back. The Assassin grunted and pitched forward as Joe clutched the man's arms and threw all his weight against him. With his arms pinned to his sides, Boris couldn't use his hands to break his fall. He toppled over and his head smacked hard against the rock floor.
Frank pulled his brother off the Assassin, then bent down close to the man's head. Blood trickled from a gash in Boris's forehead. He moaned softly, but his eyes were closed and he didn't move.
"He's out cold," Frank said to his brother.
"You stay here with him. If he comes out of it, stall him as long as you can."
Joe nodded. "Don't worry about Boris. I can handle him." He reached out with his right arm and shook hands with Dr. Stavrogin. "Good luck," he said with a smile. He knew the physicist would need a large dose of luck to get off the mountain alive.
Frank led Dr. Stavrogin out to the ledge on the mountainside. The bulk of the covered helicopter concealed them from anybody who might wander out through the entrance cave.
Stavrogin put on the bulky down parka while Frank lashed together the last pieces of the hang glider.
"I'm sorry we couldn't test it," Frank said as he strapped the physicist into the harness. "Do you know how to use a hang glider?"
Stavrogin's eyes darted over the contraption, and he nodded. "The aerodynamic principles are simple enough." His gaze shifted to Frank. "Do not concern yourself with me. You have given me a chance and hope, which is far more than I had before. Now you must forget about me and do everything you can to stop these madmen."
"We'll stop them or die trying," Frank assured him. He checked the rigging one more time to make sure all the lines were secure.
"One last thing," he said, reaching down and taking off his shoe. He dug out the tiny homing device. "I don't know how far you'll get in the hang glider, but I know you won't get far enough to walk out of these mountains on your own. When you land, turn on this little gadget. It shouldn't take long for friends to find you after that."
Frank showed the white-haired physicist how the homing device worked and then handed it to him.
"I cannot thank you enough," Stavrogin said.
"Don't thank me yet," Frank replied with a faint smile. "We don't even know if the thing works."
Stavrogin shrugged. "We will never know until we try it. I am ready."
Frank helped him to the end of the ledge. "Well, this is it, I guess," Frank said.
"Yes, it is," Stavrogin responded, and before Frank could say anything else, the physicist leapt off the ledge.
Frank gasped as the hang glider plunged down a hundred feet or more, then caught an updraft and soared away. Frank watched it intently, holding his breath, waiting to see if the flimsy device would fall apart and plummet out of the sky. When nothing happened after a few minutes and the glider was just an orange speck in the distance, he began to think Stavrogin had a real chance.
Then he remembered the physicist's parting words and hurried back into the cave.
A series of powerful underground explosions rocked the mountain as Frank ran down the tunnel toward the spot where he had left Joe and Boris. The Assassin was awake and on his feet when Frank got there. Frank assured the groggy terrorist that he had gotten rid of Dr. Stavrogin, which was basically the truth.
"I think we'd better get out of here," Joe said as the lava tube shuddered from the force of another subterranean blast. A section of the solid rock ceiling collapsed behind them, choking the tunnel with dust and debris.
"Good idea," Frank agreed quickly. "Let's head back to the entrance cave. I have a bad feeling this mountain is about to blow its lid, and I don't think Bob is going to hang around to watch the fireworks."
A half dozen men poured out of the other two tunnels at the same time the Hardys did. The pilot and the curly-haired Assassin were already yanking the white tarp off the helicopter.
"Ah, good!" the pilot shouted when he saw Frank and Joe. "I was afraid we might have to leave you behind. This phase of the project has been a great success. Now we move on to the final stage. You are lucky to have joined us on the verge of our greatest triumph!"
"Sounds exciting," Joe said, trying to sound like an eager recruit as the terrorists crowded into the helicopter. "What exactly is the final stage?"
"You will find out soon enough," the pilot responded as he started the engine and the rotor blades began to spin overhead. "For now, let us just say that we will change the world forever."
Frank and Joe exchanged a troubled glance. They both knew that any change the Assassins were planning wasn't likely to benefit anybody else living on the planet.
***
Ten hours later, bone-tired from being awake almost constantly for the past two days, Frank and Joe were back in the airport in Fairbanks. They were sitting in the departure lounge, waiting for a plane.
"I still don't get it," Joe said, stifling a yawn. "I can understand why the Assassins would put us on a commercial f
light. Even though they might have a few helicopters, they probably don't have a fleet of intercontinental jets. But I still don't understand why they're letting us travel alone."
"It could be another test," Frank suggested. "For all we know, one of the other passengers is an Assassin assigned to keep an eye on us."
"Two of them, actually," a voice murmured from the seat behind him.
Frank fought the urge to turn to face the man. "Mr. Gray?" he whispered.
"Yes," the Gray Man said, "although you'd never recognize me."
Joe vaguely recalled that a nun had been sitting there a few minutes earlier.
"You'll be happy to know we found Dr. Stavrogin," the Gray Man continued. "He broke his leg and a couple of ribs when he landed, but he should be fine in a few months. That was quite a job you boys did with that hang glider."
"How did you find us?" Frank asked.
"As soon as we picked up the signal from the homing device, we rerouted an air force surveillance jet to scan the area. We tracked a low-flying chopper that hadn't filed a flight plan and figured you might be on it. We've had somebody on your tail ever since."
"Do you have any idea why the Assassins are shipping us off to Hawaii?" Joe asked.
"If I did," the Gray Man answered, "I probably wouldn't let you go." He paused for a moment, then said, "You can still back out if you want."
"No, we can't," Frank said grimly. "Stopping the Assassins is more important than whatever might happen to us."
"And we owe it to Gina," Joe added.
The Gray Man sighed heavily. "I hate asking you boys to take on this dangerous job, but you're the best chance we have to stop the Assassins. We know they have Stavrogin's formula, and if Krinski really is work - "
"Krinski?" Joe cut in. "The Assassins mentioned that name."
"Yes, I know," the Gray Man said. "Stavrogin told us. That's why I'm letting you get on a plane to Hawaii instead of one back home to New York. If Krinski is involved, the situation could be much worse than I originally anticipated. We have to move fast, and a couple of inside men are our best shot."
Joe wondered what could be worse than a hydrogen bomb in the hands of a bunch of bloodthirsty terrorists.
"By the way," the Gray Man added, "you might be interested to know that Alaska has a new volcano. There was a huge eruption in the Brooks Range this morning, not too far from where we picked up Stavrogin."
"Looks like the Assassins' little experiment backfired on them," Joe said.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," the Gray Man responded ominously.
"Attention, passengers," a pleasant, relaxed woman's voice announced over the intercom. "Flight Five-sixteen to Anchorage is now boarding at Gate Twelve."
Frank glanced at his ticket. "That's us. From Anchorage we take a nonstop flight to Honolulu." He looked over at his brother. "I'm ready. How about you?"
Joe nodded and stood up. "I'm with you - all the way."
Frank smiled and put an arm around his brother. "As long as we stick together, nothing can stop us."
Continued in the next volume.
Concluding the Ring of Evil Trilogy:
From Atlanta to Alaska to the exotic shores of Indonesia, Frank and Joe Hardy have penetrated the inner sanctum of a worldwide terrorist network: the Assassins. Now, drawn into the enemy's lair, the Hardys face their greatest challenge and greatest risk - to uncover the true purpose and power of the violent criminal conspiracy.
Trapped deep in the Indonesian jungle, their covers blown, the boys can't afford to turn back. They confront a force so potent, and an intelligence so evil, that there's no time to seek reinforcements. Braving the heights of terror, Frank and Joe alone will have to defuse an explosive scheme that could erupt into a catastrophe of global proportions ... in The Pacific Conspiracy, Case #78 in The Hardy Boys Casefiles®.
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