The Last Second

by Catherine Coulter

  Nicholas whispered, “Sorry. Door opened.”

  They scrambled back to the edge of the opening. As they watched, a tall red-headed woman stepped into the room. It was Kiera Byrne. She scanned the grounds and looked up, but Mike had swung back out of sight. She was looking for intruders. Not good.

  They heard a loud click, then gears started grinding and the roof began to close.

  “Crap. Nicholas, we have to go in now.”

  “Lia, advise.”

  “Guys, she’s still in there. She’s walking the periphery, she’s out of my sight now.”

  “The roof is closing, we don’t have a choice. I don’t see any other way in.”

  Lia said, “Wait, I can see her again. She’s returned to the door.”

  Mike snuck a glance over the edge. The side of the roof they were on was sliding inward, shortening their rope. “We gotta go, Nicholas. Now. Or we’ll end up jumping.”

  He nodded once, and she slung her M4 back into place, put one hand on the trigger in case she had to come in shooting, secured her other on the rope.

  “I’m right behind you,” he said, and she started in.

  Byrne was just getting through the door when Mike started down. She held her breath and prayed, sliding closer and closer, and she knew the rope was going to run out with ten feet to go, fifteen now—as the roof’s two halves slid closer together. No help for it, she had to jump.

  She tried to land quietly, and nearly managed it even with all the gear and a fifteen-foot drop onto the white tile floor, but the mud on her boots gave her away. She slipped as she landed, clanking hard to the tiles. Byrne, already aware someone had gotten inside the gates, heard her and whirled around.

  Nicholas landed next to Mike and got off three shots. Byrne was already shouting for the guards as she disappeared out the door, slamming it behind her. A wailing, high-pitched alarm sounded.

  The roof closed, and the Klaxon shriek grew louder. They were inside, yes, but they’d lost the element of surprise.

  “Nicholas, is there another way out of here?”

  “I don’t know. Blueprints, Lia? Anything?”

  Adam came across their comms. “I see only one door, but what I found is old, Nicholas, looks like a prototype.”

  Nicholas said a few choice words. Mike said, “We gotta go, she’s going to come back with an army.”

  “Keep to the walls.”

  They ran across the room to the nearest wall, then made their way to the door. Nicholas counted down from three, put his hand on the knob.

  “Here goes nothing.” He flung open the door.

  The hallway exploded in gunfire.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  T-MINUS 10 MINUTES

  Kiera ran into the control center, yelling. “We have to go, Nevaeh, we have to get you out of here. They’re inside. They want to stop you, stop the countdown. I don’t know who they are, I saw only an armed man and woman in the observatory. They’re here to kill you, I know it. We must leave.”

  Nevaeh smiled at her. “Calm yourself, Kiera. Only ten minutes now and everything will be over. They can’t do anything. Wait, you’ll see. And I have this.” Nevaeh reached into a hidden pocket of her toga and managed to pull out the Heaven Stone with both hands. “Don’t worry, with the stone, I am untouchable. I am immortal. Let them come. It won’t matter.”

  Kiera looked at the ugly dark stone now weighing down Nevaeh’s hands, clasped beneath it to hold it. Why hadn’t its weight ripped open the toga? This was supposed to be the Holy Grail? It was nothing, a stupid rock, but how could it weigh so very much? Nothing made sense. She finally faced that her mentor, her lover, the single person she’d willingly give her life for, was insane. Kiera thought of all the conversations she’d transcribed when Nevaeh was in her sensory deprivation chamber—all one-sided—but with pauses, like Nevaeh was listening to someone talk back to her. The Numen? These aliens Nevaeh believed in utterly? Believed they were coming for her once she set off the nuke? But if they were real, why couldn’t Kiera hear them? And now, Nevaeh truly believed this ridiculous hunk of rock meant something important, like immortality?

  Still, Kiera loved her, wanted to save her. She shook her shoulders. “Listen to me, there are people outside, and the man and woman who’ve managed to infiltrate through the roof. It’s my fault, my fault. I worried, and so I went back to double-check the roof was closed and they were already in. The only thing that matters now is your safety. Not the nuke, not this bloody stone. Whatever you believe it is, whatever Broussard believes it is, it can’t help you, can’t help us. The stone—it’s too heavy to take. Leave it. It doesn’t matter. Come now, you must.”

  Nevaeh looked sad as she took Kiera’s hand. “And where will we go, Kiera? The eye of the storm will pass soon and then the typhoon will be upon us again. We can’t drive down the mountain or fly out. No. There is no choice. You have to fight, you have to stop them, just long enough for the bomb to explode and the Numen to come. Trust me one last time. They will come. They promised.” She rubbed the Grail. “The Heaven Stone. I know it will come to life for me, it must. I know it will come to recognize my worthiness, recognize I’m the only one destined to guide the world with the Numen at my side.”

  Kiera paced away, then back again, trying to figure out what to say, how to convince her. “You must listen to me. Look, I appreciate that you have this—belief, this fantasy—I’m sorry, Nevaeh, but that’s all it is, a fantasy, maybe a delusion. Whatever it is, it’s not real. I’m real and you’re real, but the rest of it?” She shook her head. “We can’t waste any more time, I must get you to safety.”

  Nevaeh slapped her hard, panting, her rage was so great. “How dare you? You believe I’m insane? You, the only person I’ve trusted over the years with my love, with my life, with my secrets? You’re like that lying, jealous bitch Holloway at NASA, that miserable traitorous cow in New York. And now you’re betraying me, Kiera? You?”

  Kiera’s cheek burned, but it didn’t matter. “Nevaeh, you wanted to kill the people who hurt you, I get that. You want to clear out all the junk in space—silence the heavens for these aliens—the Numen, you said. I do get all of it. I understand. But now you have to stop this absurd belief that this stupid rock you’re holding is something special when it’s only like a rock you could pick up in your garden. It doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t have any more reality or power than these aliens, the Numen. No one from outer space is coming, believe me. But someone else is and this someone is coming to destroy us. Do you understand? We must leave, now, while we still can.”

  All Nevaeh could hear was Kiera’s contempt. How long had she only humored her? Should she kill her now and be done with it? Or let the Numen end her? Yes, she would let the Numen deal with her. She said, her voice infinitely calm, “You will lead the team to stop whoever has come. Leave me now. I will be fine.”

  “No, no, you can’t stay here, they’ll kill you.”

  Nevaeh shrugged. “Let them try. Now, if you’re nearly as capable as you claim to be, you’ll be able to stop them. Are you responsible for their being here? Did you somehow give away our location? No, don’t argue. Quit your sniveling. Get out there and deal with your mistakes.” She shoved Kiera toward the doors. “Go!”

  Kiera stared at her, unwilling to believe what she’d said. She saw no forgiveness on Nevaeh’s face, only implacable—what? Resolve? No, belief, fanatic belief, that she was going to meet up with this alien species.

  “Go!”

  She hesitated only a moment before running from the control center. She looked back once to see Nevaeh staring after her, no expression on her face. Nevaeh didn’t care. Not about her, in any case. It hit Kiera hard, and she ran.

  When Kiera was gone, Nevaeh calmly pressed a series of commands into her keyboard, and a huge steel door slid shut behind her. She checked her command module once more, pleased to see the countdown proceeding as planned. As her very own flight director, she said aloud, “Flight, all is nomin
al,” then laughed and rubbed the Heaven Stone. Why didn’t it warm at her touch? Why didn’t it seem to recognize her? Welcome her?

  It would. It would. She glanced once more at her countdown clock. Ten minutes. Ten minutes until her life changed forever, until the world changed forever. And the Numen agreed and sang to her in their sibilant single voice, The world will change forever, the world will change forever.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

  T-MINUS 8 MINUTES

  The white-tile hallways branched out in a labyrinth of corridors in every direction. Mike saw a head pull back around a corner twenty feet ahead and moved steadily forward, shooting rhythmically, smoothly, driving back the gunfire until Nicholas was at her side.

  When the firing stopped, she whispered, “Reloading.”

  “Let them. I saw a sign back in another corridor. Let’s go this way, I think it might take us to Patel’s command center.”

  They walked down the hallway, clearing it of three more of Patel’s guards, moving deeper into the facility.

  The gunfire abruptly stopped. They looked at each other. Too easy.

  She whispered, “We can’t be sure if the rest of the team made it inside. We could be alone in here, Nicholas.”

  “Yes, and we’re running out of time. We’re going to have to split up. I’m not sure now about that bloody sign, and these hallways are a maze. Who knows where they’re leading us. We need to find the control center and shut this computer system down.”

  “Yes, but we have to find our way there. Adam, can you help us? Which direction? Which way?”

  Silence.

  Mike said, “Hey, where’s Lia? Are all our comms down?”

  Nicholas tapped his, checked his satellite phone. “Everything is down. Something in here is interfering with the signal. This place is supposed to be ready to withstand a massive EMP, so there’s a good chance it’s the facility itself.”

  “I’d rather not split up. We have to keep moving. We’ll find the command center.”

  They jogged down the hallway. Mike said, “I’ve counted seven dead guards. There must be more guards than this.”

  “Agreed. Many more. They’ve taken cover someplace.”

  They came to another split. There were two directions they could take at this point. Two completely identical, unknown paths.

  Nicholas looked around for some sort of markings or directions, found nothing. He looked up at the ceiling. It was smooth white, with no breaks. But there was a slight seam in the panel above him.

  “Hold on. What’s this? Can you give me a boost?”

  Mike dropped to all fours and Nicholas stepped on her back, pushed on the ceiling with both hands. It gave a bit at the edge and he shoved harder, knocking a full section aside. It clattered to the floor, but still, even with the noise, there was still no gunfire from the guards.

  He pulled Mike to her feet and made a stirrup from his hands. “I’m going to lift you up. Look at the rafters, tell me what you see.”

  “What am I looking for?”

  “Cables. Phone lines, telecom lines, anything cable oriented. Tell me which direction they go.”

  She said, “Don’t get me shot,” and stepped into his hands. He lifted her easily and she stuck her head into the darkness. “Maglite.” He passed it to her, and she shined it all around her.

  She saw steel rafters running the length of the building and tried to orient herself. They’d come from the observatory, which was definitely behind them. She played the light until she saw familiar cables. They were running away from her at a thirty-degree angle. She called down, “I got it, let me down.”

  “Cables?”

  “Tons of them. We need to head that way.” She pointed down the left-hand hall. “It’s leading straight from the observatory toward something, and the mess of cables are thick.”

  “Good job. Let’s go.”

  They started down the hallway, weapons up. Still, there was no return fire. Mike whispered, “It’s as if the guards have laid down their weapons and aren’t trying to defend this place anymore. Something’s wrong. Where did they go?”

  “Maybe we tagged them all.”

  “No way. Look.” She pointed out a few scattered blood droplets on the floor. “See the pattern? Elliptical drops—whoever we hit was on the run. But on the run to where?”

  “I bet the guards have retreated to a certain section, probably the command center, and they’ll be setting up a final defense to keep us occupied until time runs out. Let’s keep moving.”

  Three more steps, and a door flew open in front of them. It slammed into Mike’s shoulder, and she stumbled.

  Kiera Byrne stepped into the hallway.

  Nicholas started for her but she dodged expertly, jumped up into the air, and grabbed hold of the top of the door and swung at him, kicking him as she went. The blow caught him in the chest and he spun to the ground, momentarily stunned.

  Mike was back on her feet, her M4 at the ready, but Kiera kicked out from the door and landed right on top of her. Mike stumbled but stayed on her feet. Kiera tumbled gracefully to the floor. Mike’s M4 clattered to the floor behind Kiera. How had she managed to knock the gun from her shoulder and send it spinning away? She was fast, flexible, had the moves of a gymnast. Kiera whipped around and faced her. “Hey, little girl, who are you? You think you can hurt me? Think you can stop this? Come on, let’s play.” And she waggled her fingers at Mike.

  Nicholas was back up but he couldn’t shoot, he couldn’t take the chance of hitting Mike.

  Mike shouted, “Nicholas, go! Shut it down, I’ve got this crazy bitch!”

  He was torn for a moment, but she screamed, “Go!” at him again and he took off running. Mike could handle herself. He had to stop this bomb.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY

  Mike and Kiera faced off. Kiera was taller, weighed more, and was probably as good at martial arts as Mike was at shooting. She was formidable. Still, no choice, Mike had to stop her. “You’re a hard woman to find, Kiera Byrne. Yeah, I wanna play. I’m the woman who’s going to kick your butt from here to eternity.”

  Kiera laughed in her face. “Whoever you are, you’ve got a mouth. I like that. Now I’m going to slam your teeth down your throat. Okay, come on, let’s dance.”

  Kiera launched herself at Mike with a cry, her hands a blur.

  Mike absorbed the impact of the first hit with her forearm, the second with her shoulder, leaning into the punches instead of backing away. This surprised Kiera, who was used to people running away from her berserker charge. Her momentum carried her two feet past Mike. Mike whirled and kicked her in the hip on the way by. Kiera smacked into the wall, felt a sharp hit of pain.

  Mike heard the crunch of bone, excellent. But which bone had she broken? She didn’t wait, threw another roundhouse kick, catching Kiera behind the knees.

  But now Kiera was ready. She flipped over backward instead of falling, another acrobatic move, and landed lightly on the balls of her feet. She came again, arms a blur, punching, kicking, trying to catch Mike’s forearm and twist it, which would surely break it in two. Mike was faster, Kiera was bigger, but they were well matched. They brawled down the hallway, both landing hard punches and kicks but neither delivering the killing blow.

  Mike knew time was running out. She had to end this. She pulled together everything she had, stepped into a punch, took it on the jaw, and managed to yank up with her elbow. She caught Kiera square in the nose and shoved upward. She spun and delivered a left jab with a satisfying crunch followed by spurting blood. Kiera stumbled backward. Mike grabbed her Ka-Bar from its sheath.

  Kiera swiped the blood away with her sleeve. “So you want to play with a knife now? My favorite weapon.” And Kiera grinned. The adrenaline was pumping so hard the break in her arm didn’t even hurt, at least not now, when it mattered. Kiera knew how to fight someone with a knife—either take it away or jam it inside of them. She attacked.

  Mike was ready, held the knife’s thick hilt tight inside
her fist, blade out, ready to punch and slice, a dangerous combination. The Ka-Bar dug into Kiera’s shoulder, but it didn’t seem to faze her. She slammed her fist into Mike’s head, twirled and hit her in the breastbone. Mike landed heavily on her back, and Kiera was above her, ready to jump down on her, teeth bared. Mike kicked up into Kiera’s face with both legs. She missed her face but hit her in the chest. A sharp zing went up her leg from her ankle—not again—and she knew she was in trouble. She could fight fine with two legs, but now she was going to have trouble standing.

  She made herself stand, she was ready, she had to be. She had to go for it. Mike slammed her head back into Kiera’s face, grabbed her hair, whipped her hand around her shoulder, and jerked her arm back toward herself as hard as she could. One single frozen moment—Mike plunged the knife deep into Kiera’s shoulder, shoved away from her.

  Kiera collapsed backward, blood spurting from her shoulder, hot and thick. Wait, she moved. How?

  Kiera suddenly flipped over, her weight taking Mike down. Mike landed on her back, and Kiera wrapped her hands around Mike’s throat. Squeezed, squeezed, squeezed, until Mike was seeing stars. No choice, she released her grip on the knife in Kiera’s shoulder and slammed her arms into Kiera’s once, twice, and finally, felt her grip begin to loosen. She kneed Kiera in the stomach, shoved her over her head, and managed to get out from under her and roll to her feet.

  Kiera landed facefirst and stopped moving. Blood was everywhere, on the white tile, on the walls, on Mike. She saw the tip of her Ka-Bar visible through the other woman’s ribs, sticking out of her back.

  It was over.

  Mike tried to swallow, finally managed to roll over on hands and knees. She gagged a few times before she could breathe again. Blood was dripping from her mouth. Finally, she got to her feet, staggered a little, wiped her mouth on her sleeve. She ran her fingers over her teeth, all still in place. Good. But her ankle, did she break it this time? She tested it, put her weight on it, and wanted to scream as pain shot through her. She gritted her teeth. She’d deal with it later.