The Pacific Conspiracy Page 9

  The Assassins must have been lying about her death all along. Joe and Endang were probably being held with Gina in the same shed, then. At last, a lucky break.

  Rescue one of them, and he'd rescue all three.

  ***

  Joe couldn't sleep.

  It had nothing to do with the concrete floor or the gusts of wind that whipped through the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor. He'd slept in worse places. The problem wasn't physical. It was mental.

  He couldn't get over the expression on Gina's face when she'd called him a fool. He'd let himself be used by a girl who didn't care for him at all. Now it was going to cost not only his life, but the lives of a lot of others as well. Unless the U.N. could come up with the money. They'd have to, wouldn't they?

  Gina had thought so last night after they'd landed on top of the crater complex. "They'll get it," she said. "Now that we've proven the kind of destruction we can cause."

  Krinski had been waiting for them as the helicopter landed. He actually smiled as Boris led Joe and Endang, both with their hands tied securely behind their backs, off the plane.

  "Good to see you again, Joe," Krinski said. "Sorry I can't offer you any cookies, but" - he shrugged - "them's the breaks, as they say."

  Joe shook his head. "Give it a rest, will you?"

  "This is the last crate, Professor," Nwali said.

  "I believe you have everything you need now to complete the bomb."

  "Have it brought down to the lab," Krinski said, focusing on Joe and Endang. "You're very lucky. You're about to see history made."

  Joe watched as Nwali clenched his teeth at Krinski's offhand order to have the crate moved. There was definitely tension between those two, he observed. He hoped he'd get a chance to play on it at some point.

  "The only thing these two will see for the moment is the inside of the supply shed," Nwali said. "I want them securely out of the way until morning. We'll know if we have any further use for them by then."

  Boris grabbed hold of Joe with one hand and Endang with the other and dragged them forward and into an elevator car at the edge of the helipad. As they descended Joe peered through the gate into the crater below.

  The elevator ran from the helicopter pad at the top of the rim down the inside of the crater wall along two steel rails. The crater complex was impressive. They passed three small buildings set into the crater wall before they stopped at the fourth.

  Boris slid the gate open and shoved them forward into the supply shed. It was a bare room, its only light coming from a line of fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling. Most of the shelves were empty.

  "Looks like you're not planning to stay too long," Endang said, glancing around.

  "Neither should you," Boris replied. "Of course, if it were up to me, you would be in that volcano already."

  "They don't let you decide anything, do they? Poor boy." Joe shook his head. "Just because you're not very smart."

  The big man smiled. "I'm smart enough not to let some girl throw her arms around me while I'm trying to fire a gun."

  "What girl would want to throw her arms around you, anyway?" Joe shot back.

  Boris smiled and backed out of the shed. "We'll see you in the morning. Get a good night's sleep." The smile disappeared from his face. "It will be your last."

  "Aren't you at least going to untie us," Endang asked, "so we can move around a little?"

  Boris shook his head and slammed the door shut behind him.

  "He's right," Joe said. "I blew it big time. How could I have let Gina trick me like that?"

  "She lied, Joe," Endang said. "Your only crime was believing what she said."

  "I was an idiot."

  "It's over and done with," she insisted. "Come on," she added, sitting down against the wall, "let's get some rest."

  Joe sighed and sat down next to her, but he couldn't fall asleep. His thoughts kept turning to Gina - how she'd tricked him, how Bill had gotten his gun back, and how Gina had shattered the crystal in Joe's watch.

  If only he could get at a piece of it and use it to cut through his rope.

  He stood and walked to the opposite wall, then drew his hands back and slammed the back of his wrist directly into the wall. He was rewarded by the sound of a tiny piece of the crystal tinkling to the floor.

  Across the room Endang woke up. "What was that?" she asked groggily.

  "Nothing," Joe said. He sat down on the floor and reached for the broken crystal. "Go back to sleep."

  She obliged.

  He sat back down against the opposite wall and started to work on the rope.

  ***

  Frank stopped to catch his breath. He'd had to go back through the breach in the crater wall and climb to the summit of Mount Agung to get to the helicopter pad.

  The sun was just starting to rise as he stepped onto the asphalt surface. He took the last of the food Haji's mother had packed - a handful of rice and meat in a spicy peanut sauce, wrapped in a banana leaf - out of the knapsack and swallowed it in two bites. He was running on adrenaline now.

  Frank leaned over the edge of the helicopter pad and looked down. The shed Gina and the others were trapped in was about thirty feet down. He didn't have a rope, and the inside of the crater wall was too sheer to climb. All the ladders ran through each building. The last thing he needed to do was run into Boris right then.

  That left the elevator. He couldn't use it even though the car was right in front of him, waiting. The noise would alert everyone. But the rails the elevators ran on - that was another story.

  He examined them closely. They were about four feet apart, offering a gap big enough to wedge himself between and shimmy down to the building he wanted. Of course, one slip and he'd end up as lava soup. He didn't want to think about what would happen if someone summoned the elevator while he was climbing down.

  Still, what choice did he have? Slinging the knapsack over his shoulders, Frank lowered himself from the edge of the helipad and dangled over the crater below.

  He moved his feet around until they banged into one of the elevator support struts. He wrapped his legs around that and shimmied down the strut until he was flush against the crater wall. From there he swung into the gap between the two rails, pressing himself tightly between them.

  Then he began climbing down. It took close to half an hour to reach the entrance to the third shed. Grabbing onto one of that building's support struts, he swung himself into the narrow door frame.

  Slowly he forced the elevator door open.

  Gina was standing there, shock written all over her face. "Frank! How did you get here?"

  "It wasn't easy," he admitted. "Where's Joe? And Endang?" There was a door to another room at the end of the shed. He walked past Gina and entered it. It was a bathroom, with the access ladder he'd noticed before running through it.

  "You've come to rescue me," Gina said. "Haven't you?"

  Frank was a little confused. "This doesn't seem like a prison cell."

  "It isn't," Gina responded.

  Frank didn't have a good feeling about this situation. What was going on here? Why was Gina acting so strangely? Slowly he turned and found himself facing the barrel of a gun.

  "But I'll be happy to show you to a cell in a minute," Gina said, a smile spreading across her face.

  Chapter 16

  "I'M so GLAD you could join us," Nwali said to Frank. "With you here, our little family is all together again."

  "What have you done with my brother?" Frank asked. "And Endang?"

  "Don't worry," Nwali said. "They're resting comfortably. Why don't you relax and enjoy your surroundings for now?"

  Frank looked around the room they were gathered in. Gina had told him it was Krinski's lab, the last and biggest of the structures inside the crater wall. After capturing Frank Gina had summoned the elevator and brought him down there immediately. Boris, Nwali, and Krinski were already in the lab, waiting.

  Seeing the Assassins again didn't really shock Fr
ank. What shocked him was the bomb. He and his brother were about to witness the Assassins' grand finale. No, Frank thought, he had to find a way to stop them.

  Frank studied the bomb the Assassins had created. To Frank it looked like a fancy piece of medical diagnostic equipment, something you might see a technician wheeling down any hospital corridor. It was about a foot high and six feet long, with an industrial gray casing. On the outside was a clock with a digital counter. Red numerals reading 00:00:00 kept flashing on and off.

  "I see you've noticed our little surprise package," Krinski said. "You'll be happy to know it's completely ready to go. We've used conventional explosives to reach the magma layer, and now all that remains is to lower the bomb into the crater."

  "It'll be too bad if the U.N. decides to pay your ransom and you don't get to try your bomb, though."

  "The explosion at Bandanaira already proved my theories," Krinski said. "My share of the money would suit me just fine right now."

  "Why haven't we heard from them yet?" Gina asked. The clock on the wall opposite her read eight-thirty. "They've only got another half hour."

  As if one cue, a buzzer sounded softly. Nwali crossed the room to a video monitor embedded in the wall and pressed a button. Bill's image filled the monitor.

  "A message is coming in from our agents in Zurich," he said. "The U.N. representatives have agreed to pay."

  "Is the money in our account?" Nwali asked.

  "No, but they assure us it will be there by the end of the day."

  "Not good enough," Nwali said. "Tell them we need the money in half an hour, or we detonate."

  Bill seemed to be surprised, and suddenly the monitor went blank.

  "Come in," Nwali said. He twisted a knob on the console. "Come in!"

  There was no response.

  "Very convenient timing," Nwali said. He turned to Frank. "You brought others with you."

  Frank shook his head. "No. I have no idea what's happening either."

  The terrorist leader spoke to Krinski now. "Professor, prepare the bomb for immediate launching."

  "But they've agreed to pay," Krinski said.

  "Do as you're told," Nwali snapped. He backhanded the professor across the face, and Krinski stumbled and fell to the floor.

  "You fool. They've said they'll give us the money. What more do you want?" Krinski got to his feet and straightened his clothing. "I insist we at least reestablish contact with them."

  "You insist. I see." Nwali nodded to Boris. "Kill him."

  Before Frank could move, or before Krinski could react, the Assassin drew his gun and fired. Krinski crumpled to the ground again. This time he wouldn't be getting up.

  "No one, and nothing, is more important than our goals," Nwali said. His eyes scanned each of the Assassins in turn. "Is that clear?"

  "Perfectly," Gina said. Then she smiled. "Besides, now our share of the money is bigger."

  She still didn't get it. Frank had seen the horrifying truth in Nwali's eyes when he ordered Krinski's death. The Assassin leader wasn't interested in money - he wanted to set off the bomb.

  He took a hesitant step forward. If he could get Nwali's gun -

  Nwali whirled. "Not so fast. Step back." Frank obliged, and the leader turned to Gina again. "Get the elevator. We will have to lower the bomb ourselves."

  "If they don't give us the money, you mean," she said. There was a slight crack in her voice as she walked to the doorway and pressed a button. Maybe she realized Nwali's true intentions now, too, Frank thought.

  "And then check on our prisoners. Use the access ladders. You go with her," he commanded Boris. "It's time to tie up all the loose ends."

  "You mean kill them?" Boris asked, a smile spreading across his face.

  "Yes," Nwali said. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

  ***

  After an hour of whittling away at his bonds with the piece of crystal from his watch, Joe had managed to free himself and Endang. They were still trapped inside the shed. Then he'd spotted the air ducts in the ceiling and remembered something from the blueprints Forrester had been carrying.

  "These run between the buildings," he said. He was able to boost Endang up into the shaft. He watched as she wedged herself in the shaft and began shimmying up. Then she disappeared from sight.

  The next thing he heard was a yell of surprise and a loud thump. Then nothing.

  A cable shot down from the ventilation shaft.

  "Come on up," Endang called down. "The coast is clear."

  He pulled himself up into the next building and saw what she was talking about.

  Bill was on the floor, out cold. Endang was sitting before a shortwave radio holding a transmitter and frantically twisting knobs.

  "This is their communications center," she said. "From here we ought to be able to reach the Network."

  She tried for five minutes to get the system working. Nothing.

  "Here," Joe said, taking the transmitter from her. "Let me try."

  Just then a door at the rear of the structure swung open, and Boris and Gina stepped through, both carrying guns.

  "Well, look who's here," Joe said. "Our couple of the month. Mr. and Mrs. Psycho."

  "Get away from that transmitter," Gina commanded. "And get your hands up. Both of you."

  "There's no need for that," Boris said. "We're just going to kill them, anyway."

  He raised his gun and pointed it straight at Joe. "Right now."

  ***

  "I don't think you ever wanted the money," Frank said to Nwali. "Why? What do you hope to accomplish by blowing up half the world?"

  "You're mistaken, my friend. I would have taken the money," Nwali said, "if they'd given it to me on my terms." With one hand he held a gun on Frank, and with the other he wheeled the bomb into the elevator.

  "But I don't look at the world the same way you do," Nwali continued. "I was born an Indonesian, born into a country held hostage by Dutch colonialists for three centuries. When we finally became independent I saw the almighty Western dollar take us hostage all over again."

  He looked at Frank. "I would have taken the money. But what I want most of all is change."

  "Destroy a country to change it?" Frank asked. "That makes no sense."

  "Sometimes it is the only thing that does make sense," Nwali replied. "Tear something down to start all over again. And Indonesia will not be the only country destroyed by this explosion."

  "I've seen Krinski's simulation," Frank said.

  Nwali nodded. "Then you know the entire world will be different after today. America, Europe, Africa. No place on earth will escape untouched."

  "You're crazy," Frank said. "Millions will die."

  "And millions more will be born into a better world. A world without superstitions like the Eka Dasa Rudra. When people believe such foolishness they can never have real power. Like the wayang kulit and the dalang," he said. "In the world of wayang the dalang is king. But outside that world he is just a man."

  He shook his head. "My father was a dalang, and the Dutch killed him as easily as you or I would stomp on a bug."

  Frank was finally beginning to follow Nwali's twisted logic. He realized there was no way to talk the Assassin out of the decision he'd just made. In a sense, Nwali had been preparing for this moment all his life.

  "Now, this," Nwali said, pointing at the bomb, "this is the ultimate truth, the ultimate power."

  Nwali pressed a button on the clock, and the display on it changed to read 00:30:00.

  "Thirty minutes till it explodes," Nwali said. "Come, Frank." He held the elevator gate open. "Let's take a little ride."

  Chapter 17

  "Drop the transmitter," Gina ordered.

  Joe put the transmitter down by slamming it into the console. Sparks flew from it, and lights all across the room dimmed.

  "You idiot," Gina said.

  "Enough," Boris said. He squeezed the trigger.

  Endang moved, diving and rolling to the other side
of the room, somersaulting again and again. Boris changed targets quickly, trying to follow her. Gina turned and took aim at Endang, too.

  Joe had to stop them. He hurled himself through the air at Gina, batting away her gun and knocking her to the ground. He dived over her, reaching for her weapon. She leapt after him just as Boris fired.

  The bullets caught her in mid-leap.

  She screamed once and fell to the floor.

  "Gina!" Joe cried out, turning.

  Boris brought his weapon to bear on Joe again.

  Endang came up behind the big Assassin and slammed him over the head with a chair. He fell to the ground, and Endang picked up his gun.

  Joe knelt beside Gina and felt for a pulse. "Nothing," he said, stunned. "She's dead."

  This time she really was dead. He felt hollow inside. Gina had tried to kill him, so why he should feel anything at all for her was beyond him, but still . . .

  Endang laid a hand on his arm. "Joe, I'm sorry."

  A sudden noise made them turn just in time to see Boris dash into the room from which Joe had entered.

  "The access ladder!" Endang shouted. "He's going to get away!"

  Joe rose to his feet. "Not if I can help it."

  ***

  The elevator was open on three sides with a rail running around the cage at about waist height. As they descended, moving closer to the bubbling crater below, Frank started to feel nervous. On the climb up the mountain Haji had told him stories about Mount Agung, calling it the abode of the gods. Right now it seemed as though the gods were angry. Agung was churning even more intensely than he had remembered.

  "From here it's very simple," Nwali said as they came to a stop. They hung about twenty feet over the crater. "We disconnect the elevator from all other controls by pressing this, then." He held his fingers poised over a button. "By pressing this we detonate explosive charges calculated to send the bomb into the lava at the correct velocity. And the rest, as the professor would have said if he were here" - Nwali smiled - "is history."