She didn't hesitate. She took aim with her sledgehammer and cracked the blank sandstone wall.
Tavak nodded. "Good."
They swung at the wall with their sledgehammers, and in a few minutes they had created an opening through which they could peer inside.
Tavak shined his flashlight into the opening. "It's huge," he said. "Bigger than anything up here. Keep at it."
They hit harder and more vigorously, and when a particularly large section of the wall fell, they heard a dull roar.
Tavak froze. "Stop!"
They stood motionless as the sound continued.
"What is it?" Rachel said.
Tavak shook his head. "I thought it might be a cave-in, but it's not." He pressed his ear against the wall. "I think it's sand. It's in all the walls." He turned to Nuri. "It's something we triggered."
"Like a booby trap?" Demanski said.
"The message said we'll be given a quarter of a summer hour," Rachel said. "This may be the start of it."
Tavak nodded. "Tons of sand may be being released from some kind of counterweight system."
"What happens when it runs out?" Allie said.
Tavak set the stopwatch function on his watch. "I don't know, but I don't want to be here to find out. Let's make this fast."
They crawled through the opening. Once again Rachel felt the strange sensation that had overtaken her before.
Only now did she realize what it was.
* * *
Val stared at the monitor in frustration. She had explored every adjustment she could think to make. But the readout still didn't make sense.
The usage statistics were seriously out of whack with the reports Jonesy had been generating.
Had she screwed something up?
No. Not a chance. The only way these numbers could be correct is if—
"I told you not to do that," Simon said.
Val jumped.
He was standing behind her, so close that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.
He nodded toward the screen. "What do you make of it?"
She tried to be casual. "It's a glitch. You're right, I should have known there would be problems if I reallocated Jonesy's cycles like this."
Simon smiled. "A glitch."
"We've seen our share around here, huh?" She grabbed her keys from the desk. "I think I'm going to go outside and—"
She tried to stand, but Simon pushed her back down into her chair. "You're smarter than that. You know it's not a glitch."
He leaned close, and said softly into her ear, "Tell me what you see."
She didn't answer.
He shook her chair violently. "Tell me!"
She stared straight ahead, trying not to let him know how much he was scaring her. He knew what she was thinking. He knew. "I see… some of the processing cycles from each of these projects being rerouted."
"Rerouted where?"
"I don't know. But it's happening somewhere in the chain after Jonesy takes stock of where it's going. It doesn't show up in the reports." She turned and looked up at him. "It's you. That's the only way it makes sense."
He nodded.
"Why?" she asked. "You've given just as much of yourself to this project as I have."
"I got an offer."
"It must have been a hell of an offer."
"It was. And from someone who said he could make things right for me legally if the worst happened."
"Norton? That asshole Norton?"
Simon shook his head. "Norton's boss, Pierce."
Val felt her eyes stinging hot with tears. "He tried to kill Rachel, didn't he?"
"I never wanted that to happen."
"Sure you didn't."
"It's the truth. When Tavak tapped into our system, Rachel started to take a closer look at things. My contact got scared. I told him again and again that I'd take care of it, but he didn't believe me."
"If he had killed Rachel, what next? Come after me?"
"Not if I could help it."
"She created Jonesy to do good in the world. Not for whatever the hell this is."
"It's just a bunch of third-world countries fucking each other over. Spying on each other, crippling each other's economies and defense systems. Who gives a shit?"
"Rachel would. Is that all it was?"
He shrugged. "A couple companies who are willing to pay big bucks to the NSA for information."
"Like Mills Pharmaceuticals?"
Simon didn't answer.
"My God, Simon, you've been feeding Dawson the information we've been giving Rachel."
"Rachel is smart. She can take care of herself."
"Oh, yes. Why worry about her?" Val asked. "As long as they pay you, right?"
"I can use your help, Val. You wouldn't believe the money."
Val nodded. There was only one way she was getting out of there alive. Play along, say what he wanted to hear.
"How much money?"
"It could end up in the millions."
"I want a meeting with this NSA guy. I want to talk to him."
"That can be arranged."
She stood. "Call me when you find out. In the meantime—"
He snapped his arm around her neck. "You think I'm stupid?"
She couldn't breathe.
"I know you better than that, Val. I can't let you walk out of here."
She felt a darkness rising from the back of her head.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
She was blacking out, she realized. Can't let it happen…
Her hands instinctively went for Simon's arm, but she felt something in her hand.
The keys.
One last chance. She pushed the keys between each knuckle and made the tightest fist she could. Then, in one quick motion, she swung her arm up and plunged the keys deep into Simon's right eye.
He screamed.
His grip loosened slightly, and she wrenched herself free and ran for the door. She pushed, but it wouldn't open.
"I locked it, you bitch." Simon cupped his hand over his wounded eye and staggered toward her. Blood ran down his cheek.
Val backed away. She pulled the printer table over in front of him and turned toward the server racks. If only she could make it to the back exit.
Simon leaped over the table, stumbled, and hit the floor face forward. Val tried to jump out of the way, but Simon grabbed her ankle and brought her down in front of him.
She screamed as Simon worked his way up her leg, pulling her back. She turned. His face was frozen in a horrible grimace, with blood still pouring from his wounded right eye.
He climbed on top of her, sat up, and reached for the broken printer. He lifted it over his head.
"No!"
The lab door splintered open.
Footsteps, then what sounded like a cannon being fired.
Simon froze. His arms went limp, and Val rolled out from under him as he dropped the printer onto the floor. Simon collapsed next to her.
Val turned toward the door. It was the two police detectives, she realized dazedly, and they still had their guns drawn.
Thank God.
"Are you okay?" Gonzalez holstered his revolver and rushed toward her. "Be still. Don't try to move."
She tried to catch her breath. "I can't believe it. He tried… If you hadn't been here, he would have killed me."
"Where's Rachel Kirby? Is she all right?"
Val nodded. "She's in Egypt. I talked to her a short time ago." Val glanced back at Simon's body. Blood was spreading from the bullet wounds. "He was involved in something… with somebody in the NSA."