Weapons of the Gods

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“What exactly are we looking at?” Hayden asked Cambridge.

“It’s bad. The terrorists are threatening to drive the train into Dallas Union Station and explode it. They have hundreds of hostages on board, who they’ll kill if the authorities try to stop them. Double-edged sword. If you didn’t know it by now this is what we call deep shit, people.”

“Details?” Kinimaka asked, always the inquisitive agent.

“Eight hostages, all with bombs. Possible suicide vests. Our man, Joseph Berry, should be in the third car from the front. There are eight cars, so I’m guessing one terrorist per car. But that’s a guess.” He let out a ragged sigh. “I hate to think this is all Tempest’s doing.”

“It sounds like it could be,” Hayden said. “They have had a full day to prepare this terrorist cell, for starters. Enough time to make plans. They steal the dagger and let the train burn. Cover up a theft with an atrocity. It won’t be the first time.”

“Why not nab Berry at home?” Smyth asked.

“I don’t know,” Hayden admitted. “Time? Surprise? Other issues. Maybe they failed and the train is their penance. Cambridge, are they diverting the train?”

“They won’t. There’s hundreds of hostages on board and they don’t wanna risk it.”

“So they’re letting it ride straight into Dallas?”

“They’re working on it.”

“Change tracks?” Molokai suggested.

“Trains can be tracked by any cellphone,” Hayden said. “The terrorists would know.”

“Dead man’s switch?”

“Not feasible without killing the driver.”

“Kill switch?”

“Again, stopping the train would alert the terrorists. The hostages are the risk element. Cambridge, tell me, have the terrorists made any demands?”

“Just that they will in due course.”

“They’re searching for the dagger,” Hayden said. “They have to be. Pilot, how close are we to that damn train?”

“Just arriving now.”

The chopper swooped over the railway tracks, and then veered back around, trying to follow the sweeping line of rusting rails. Still flying high, but with the nose angled downward, it approached the rear of the racing train.

Gunfire came from below. Two bullets clanged off the chopper’s metalwork, making the pilot veer away. He backed off to a safer distance, but Hayden and the others could still see everything that they needed to.

“We can’t wait,” Molokai said in a soft growl.

“Oh my God.” Kinimaka gripped a portion of the bulkhead so tightly it buckled.

Hayden saw a passenger shot and pushed out of a window, then another shoved alive through a door. Others were being herded to the roof. This was not a hostage situation. It was a terrifying killing field.

“Dagger or not, we have to act,” she said. “Get us down there now and don’t fuck about. We need to get on that train.”