"There is a third possibility," Bolan said.
"Like hell there is," Stevens snapped. "Look, I'm pretty damned tired of being herded around by assholes with guns. They killed a good man, a good friend, for no reason. I have a right to ask who you are. Who are those guys? Why are you all here?"
Bolan gestured to Glinkov's men. "This scum ought to be tied up first, don't you think?"
"I'd like that fine," Stevens said.
Bolan liked the guy immediately. He obviously had guts. His temper might be getting the better of him at the moment, but he sure didn't hide what was on his mind. And he and Cohen were going to need him.
Matt Stevens just might be it.
Stevens went back to the bathroom, returning with several lengths of rope. Quickly he bound Edmunds and Louis. The process was swift, and none too gentle.
"Take these bastards into the back and watch 'em," he said to his men. "And while you're at it, dig up some spare uniforms. It's too damn cold to stand around in skivvies."
Cohen interrupted. "Mack, I wasn't kidding. Glinkov wants to see me. I'd better get a move on. You'll handle things on this end?" Cohen smiled. "Sorry, I guess that was a stupid question, wasn't it?" He looked at Bolan and then added, "Yeah, it was."
"Eli, I'm going with you."
"So am I," Stevens said. "These pricks have a lot to answer for. No way I'm going to miss it."
"I guess I should have expected that, was Cohen said."
"Let's figure out what we're going to do then." The guards were busy slipping into ill-fitting uniforms and grease-stained jeans. Anything that came to hand was better than trying to fight in their underwear.
When they finished, Stevens sat down at the table and gestured for Bolan to join him.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but it's seems clear you're on our side. What can we do to help?"
"Are there weapons here?" Bolan asked.
"Some. Not many. A couple of pistols and an M-16. That's about it. We got ammo, but nothing much to use it in."
"The first thing we have to do is get you some guns. You heard what Eli said. We don't have much time. And we don't know exactly what they plan to do with the reactor. But we can't wait. There are fifteen to twenty more terrorists inside the plant. Most of them are in the main building. They've got hostages, but we don't know how many."
"About thirty, I would guess," Stevens said. "That's the usual night crew. Not much goes on here at night. I better call out for help." He walked to the phone console and punched an outside line. Angrily he punched another, then a third. In disgust, he slammed the phone back to its receiver. "There are no lines to the outside. The one thing working is the intercom."
"We don't have time to wait for help. We'll have to do this ourselves," Bolan said. "We can get you some weapons. Eli, take one of these guys in the Jeep and get the Kalashnikovs we stashed. Grab everything that shoots." When Cohen left, Bolan turned back to Stevens. "You know the inside of that place. I don't. Educate me."
Stevens walked to a wall cabinet, returning with a ring binder and a map of the installation. Quickly he and Bolan thumbed through the binder. Bolan needed some idea of the layout of the plant before entering.
Surprise was their ally, but it wouldn't last long.
And when it was gone, there would be no substitute for knowledge of the plant. Glinkov and his people had prepared well.
They had known exactly what they were doing. That meant they had access to information, and plenty of time to digest it. The rough sketch Bolan was getting was no match for that kind of planning. But it was all he had.
"Any ideas, Matt?"
"Well, not many. But my best guess is that the hostages would be kept in this building here." He placed a fingertip on the main building of Unit 1. "That's where most of the staff would be anyhow, and there's no point in herding people all over the place."
"Where in this building?"
"Well, if you're going to fuck around with the reactor, you got to be in the main control room. That's the easiest place to direct things from. Unless you just want to blow the damn thing sky-high. But that would take a lot of explosives."
"No. They want to fake an accident," Bolan said. "You're right, the control room is the best place for that."
"Hell, man, you can't mean they just waltz in here, fake an accident and waltz out. No way. Too many people know what happened. Unless..."
"That's about it, Matt. No survivors. They're going to kill everybody. They have to."
"Holy shit!"
The door banged open. Eli and the guard had returned. Each carried two Kalashnikovs.
"There's two more out in the Jeep," Eli said.
Stevens looked at the weapons. "I heard about these bastards, but I never used one. Anybody know anything about it?"
One of the other guards nodded. "I do. Let me get the others, and I'll give you a lesson." He banged through the door, returning a moment later with two more rifles and several ammo clips.
"Matt," Bolan asked, "can you scan the inside of the plant from here with the television monitors?"
"Not completely. But we can check out the lower levels and some of the corridors. What are you looking for?"
"Not what. Who. And we don't have a clue where they're keeping her."
"Let's check it out then," Stevens said.
He punched in the manual control code for the security cameras. The images on one of the four screens stopped jumping about.
"Check the lower levels first," Bolan directed. "Wherever they've got her, it's bound to be out of the way."
Stevens selected the cameras on Level 4.
One at a time, he worked his way from camera to camera. The effect on the screen was that of taking a quick walk along the halls.
In the dim light, it was difficult to see more than a few yards on either side of each camera.
Stevens was working his way along the outermost corridors. On the third side of the large rectangle marking the boundary of the plant, he stopped.
"Look at this. I think we got something." Bolan noticed two men leaning against the wall.
They were positioned between two doors, both of which were closed.
"Where is that, Matt?"
"The lowest level. It's on the west corridor. Unless they're hiding out for a smoke, I'd say they're guarding something. Or somebody."
"Is there anything important on that level of the plant?" Bolan asked.
"No. It's storage and offices. Big rooms mostly and a couple of engineering labs. But they're not being used much yet."
"That's got to be where they're keeping her." Mack Bolan got to his feet. "We're going to make plans. Then we have to get moving. As near as I can figure it, we have less than two hours. These animals have to be out of here by dawn."
Cohen paced anxiously while Bolan sketched out his plan of attack. As soon as Bolan finished, Cohen picked up his Ingram and opened the door. As he stepped through, Bolan grabbed him by the shoulder.
"We get Rachel, first thing. No matter what."
Cohen smiled grimly. "You'd better believe it." His voice was metallic, deadly flat.
"Okay, this is it," Bolan announced as he followed Cohen outside. As Stevens and the others stepped out into the open, an earsplitting hiss issued from the plant. Bolan stared up at a serpentine cloud of steam. The cloud snaked skyward, gradually torn to shreds by the cold wind.
"Holy shit," Stevens yelled.
"What's wrong, Matt?"
"The reactor's venting. There's only one reason it'll do that. The reactor core is melting down. That steam is radioactive!" Stevens didn't have to tell them what it meant.
They sprinted across the frozen snow.
Eli Cohen reached the main entrance to the Unit 1 reactor first. Bolan, Stevens and Tony Giancana, one of Stevens's men, were well behind him and to the left. While Eli approached the entrance, the others angled in toward the side of the building, keeping to the shadows. One man had been sent over the fence to find a telephone. The remaining two were to sweep the rest of the plant for strays, then join the others. Cohen nodded to the guard on the door and pushed on it. As soon as the door closed behind him, he turned. Poking his head back out, he called to the sentry. "Got a cigarette?"