Silent Assassin(64)

“Shit!” came Spartan’s voice.

“What’s going on?” asked Morgan.

“Hold on,” said Bishop. “We’ve got a problem.”

“What is it?” asked Bloch. “Did Novokoff get away?”

“A little worse than that,” said Bishop. “He locked us in. We’re going to need you to open this up for us, Diesel.”

“I’ve got explosives enough for one door,” came Diesel’s voice.

“We’re not leaving Cobra!” said Spartan.

“There’s nothing you can do!” said Morgan. “Even if you get me out of here, you won’t be able to open that door, which means that even if you get me out, I’m still dead, and so are both of you! Just get the hell out of here! Go!”

“You’re a good man, Cobra,” said Spartan through the comm. Morgan heard the sound of boots on the floor as they ran away from the door and up the stairs.

“Shep, is there any other way out of here?”

“Hold on, let me examine the specs on the self-destruct sequence,” said Shepard.

“I’d really appreciate it if you focused on—”

“This can save you. You won’t have another way out, but I can buy us time. Just let me work.”

Morgan stared down the hall nervously on both sides, then the ceiling. There was nothing there that suggested itself as any kind of solution. He felt like a trapped animal.

“Anything?” Morgan demanded.

“Good news,” said Shepard. “The bombs are primarily incendiary. White phosphorus. They’re meant to cleanse the facility of all biological matter—”

“Last I checked, I’m all biological matter,” said Morgan. “How is that good news?”

“That should keep structural damage to a minimum.”

“So I’ll die, but the facility will be fine?”

“So, the facility won’t come crashing down on you when the bombs go off. If you deactivate the bombs on your level, you can survive the self-destruct.”

“Oh,” said Morgan. “Is there any way we can do that?”

“Okay,” said Shepard. “Let me see. The electric systems for all the bombs on your level go through a single relay. If you cut through that, you can stop the detonations where you are.”

“Okay,” said Morgan. “Tell me how to do that.”

“First, I need you to get to the access door for the upper level.”

“I’m there,” he said.

“Okay, looking at the door, go down the hall to your right, about thirty yards. There should be a panel on your right, at about waist level.”

“Got it.”

“There should be a rubber conduit running through there, about one inch and a half across. Do you see it?”

“Yeah, I see it,” Morgan said.

“Okay, cut through that.”

Morgan reached for his combat knife, and then realized that it was embedded in the chest of a man at the monkey lab. He ran down the hall as fast as he could.

“Cobra, what the hell are you doing?” said Shepard.

“You’ve got just under two minutes to cut that line, or you’re toast! And I mean that a little more literally than I’d like!”

“Got nothing to cut it with!” he said. It took him a full minute to reach the door to the anteroom that he and Rogue had walked through. He went in, and through the airlock, where he found Rogue, lying dead in a pool of his own blood. Morgan saw Rogue’s knife in a holster in his boot, and drew it. Then he turned back and ran.

“Forty seconds, Cobra!” said Shepard. “Get your ass back and cut that line!”

Morgan pushed himself harder than he had ever before. His right knee screamed in pain, and all his muscles burned as he dashed down the corridor.

“Ten seconds!”

He caught sight of the panel ahead. In leaps and bounds and with ragged breath, he reached it, pulled the conduit out enough to get the knife on the other side of it, then sliced through the it and all the wires that ran through it. It was hardly two seconds before the walls, ground, and ceiling shook as something exploded violently above. The lights went out, and the emergency lights came on. The apes in the lab began to screech and wail madly.

“Cobra, Cobra, are you there?” came Shepard’s voice. “Come in, Cobra.”

Morgan dragged the body of the security guard that had been dead near the door and put his hand against the reader next the door. The device gave him clearance, but the door did not open. Instead, there was a low groaning of machinery tugging at a door that would not budge, two sides that refused to separate. The explosion had fused the metal together, making the door as impassable as a wall.