Furious

37

“They’ve quit moving,” the person monitoring the nanos reported.

“Thank God,” Senor Chief Agent in Charge Foile breathed, careful to make sure his hand was off the button as he whispered his prayer.

Good. She wasn’t going up any farther. Now to talk her down. He began speaking into the mike, trying to lower the pressure on the young woman. Talk her down. After all, she had no place to go but down. Foile offered options he knew would never be allowed. Yes, he could get the Prime Minister’s daughter and her gallant team of ninja raiders out of Longknife Tower, but none of them would ever breathe free air again. Not unless someone pulled off a miracle, and while Foile might believe in prayer, his faith did not extend that far.

He talked, and the elevator stayed put. He kept talking, keeping his eye on the nano watcher’s nodding head. No movement. No movement. No movement. Well, no news might not be good news, but at least it wasn’t bad.

“They’re going up again!”

Foile almost bit his own tongue. “Kristine, you can’t go up any higher. There’s gas. Sarin gas. Trust me. I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”

He wouldn’t, but would the people in black uniforms lie? The WBI agent shot the tall man a look.

Wordlessly, the man mouthed, “It’s true. Sarin gas.”

“For God’s sake, Princess. You’re not stupid. Don’t go suicidal on us now.”

“They’ve stopped!” the nano herder shouted.

“Where?” Foile demanded.

“Floor 190, five floors below the gas,” the tall woman announced.

“What’s on the hundred and ninetieth floor?” Foile demanded.

The four of the command team stared at each other dumbly. The young woman who’d defied her betters stood. “I was following all the power users in the tower last month, familiarizing myself with anything that might cause a major fire.”

“Yes, yes, spit it out,” the tall woman demanded.

“There’s a huge electric capacitor up there.” That was greeted with more blank stares. “Think battery. Real big. Just what you’d need to power up an orbital shuttle. Make sure its matter/antimatter reactor didn’t run out of power no matter what.”

“Shuttle!” came from Foile and all four of the watch commanders.

“Good God, you can’t launch a shuttle from here,” the tall man in black said.

“By the same good God, no one should have Sarin gas in a public building, either,” Foile snapped. “Did the bozos who put a shuttle up there calculate what would happen if you launched the damn thing?”

No surprise, Foile’s question got more dumb nods. This time, even the smart young kid had nothing to say.

“Kris can’t fly the shuttle out of here.” These words came from Leslie Chu, agent and generally full-on fan of the Longknife princess. “She tried to steal Hank Peterwald’s yacht once. She had to get out of a mess she’d made and needed to do it real fast. Anyway, even with Nelly on her shoulder, she only managed to steal the thing after Hank gave her the access codes.”

Leslie looked none too happy at what she was saying. “That shuttle has to have access codes. Something to keep any kids from taking off for a joyride and getting themselves killed. Kris doesn’t have those codes.”

“Neither do I,” the tall man in black said.

Foile punched the mike. “Kristine, you can’t use the shuttle. You don’t have the access codes. You know that. I know that. You’re just fooling yourself.”

“Should we send a team up to capture her?” the tall woman asked.

“Would you want to be next to that damn thing when she lights it off?” the tall man answered.

“But I thought you said . . .”

“The young agent over there is not the only one who has been following the princess’s career,” the tall man said. “The Nelly Kris took to Turantic is not the Nelly Kris has up there. First, we give her a couple of hours to cool her heels. If she hasn’t taken off by then, yes, I’ll send you up there to haul her in.”

The tall woman didn’t look enthusiastic at the prospect.

“And if she’s taken off?” Foile asked.

“We’ll need a whole lot more than my guards and your Bureau to catch her.”

“But it’s just an orbital shuttle,” the tall woman said. “She can’t take it through a jump point.”

“I know that,” Leslie said, “and you know that. But do you think Kris Longknife will let that stop her?”

“May I suggest that you figure out how to turn your power back on and get the elevators working,” Foile said. “I, for one, would not want to be in this building when she takes that damn thing off.”

The command team began to issue orders. Repair personnel were ordered to the subbasement, but they weren’t needed. The power came on, both regular and emergency, a good fifteen minutes before the shuttle launched. The building was evacuated, and everyone was running long before the shuttle turned the night into day.