Damn it! Ben concentrated again. C'mon, Nob'cobi, you saw me there for a second. You know what I want. He pressed forward again. C'mon, listen to me. Nothing. He persisted for what seemed like several wasted minutes. Minutes he didn't have.
Just before he was ready to scream in frustration and give up, Nob'cobi appeared. He seemed winded. "What do you want?" he growled at Ben. "I almost tripped and fell with that first call. You're supposed to-"
"Enough! I need Harry back here. Now!"
"Well, we're heading back that way. That crak'an must have it in for you. It gave up chasing us and turned back your way. Are you cleared out of there yet?"
"No. We've got a problem. I need Harry and you to forget about Tiny Tim and meet me back at the office. Run as fast as you can."
"You better do the same. That crak'an is coming your way fast."
"Hurry." But Nob'cobi had already vanished.
Ben pushed back out of his dream state and found Jason staring at him.
"What are you doing?"
"It's a long story," he said scrambling up. "We've got company coming." With a relieved sigh, he noticed Jason's LED readout showed a 4. Time moved oddly in the dreaming place. It seemed like he was there a lot longer than a mere moment. "Can you run?"
Jason shifted from foot to foot, obviously full of nervous energy. "Oh, yeah."
"Then come on." Ben grabbed his hand and hurried away, just as he made out the sound of Tiny Tim scrabbling toward them from the other direction. He increased the pace to a vigorous run. The office was barely a hundred yards away. He reached it with Jason in tow in less than a minute. The readout on the belt changed from 4 to 3 just as he pushed through into the trashed reception area. Now just bloody hurry, Harry.
Ben crossed to the door leading to the building's offices and knocked. "It's Ben," he called. He heard the deadbolt being released; the door swung open.
Sandy's worried face peered out. She spotted Jason and her eyes widened. "You found the boy!" She rushed out and scooped him up in a hug as if he were some sort of life preserver.
Then a voice behind him. "So what's the big rush?" Harry stumbled into the reception area. Nob'cobi stepped carefully in behind him.
Ben noticed Jason's eyes widen with surprise at his first glimpse of the mimi'swee.
Ben grabbed Harry's shoulder and pulled him forward. "Jason's rigged with explosives. We only have a couple minutes before it blows. I need you to defuse it."
"What the hell?" Harry said, crossing to Jason. "Let me see."
At Ben's words, Sandy had released Jason as if he carried the plague and backed away into the hallway.
Jason pointed to the belt, but kept looking over Harry's shoulder at Nob'cobi as Harry knelt down beside him. The number 2 glowed red. Gingerly, Harry fingered the device, having Jason spin around so he could examine the entire belt. "Hmmm," was all he said.
"Well?" Ben asked.
"I've seen this work before. All ready-made. The triggering device is housed in this little tin box. Even if we had time and tools, I can't get to it without significant risk. Without the code, this baby is gonna blow."
"Goddamn it!" Ben blurted. "Then we're screwed."
Harry shrugged and reached up for the clasp of the belt, triggering an alarmed "Don't!" from Jason. Harry ignored him and yanked it open. The belt merely parted and fell free from his waist. Harry stood up, holding the belt away from him as if it were some snake.
Jason tumbled away. "It was supposed to explode if you took it off."
"Who told you that?" Harry asked.
"Khalid."
"He was lying. There's no circuit around the belt."
Jason stood there trembling. "Then I… I could have taken that off… anytime." Ben noticed the boy seemed more disturbed by this fact than by the fact that he had been about to be blown up.
Harry nodded. "Yep. Now if you don't mind"-he pointed at the number 1 glowing on the belt-"this thing's still going to explode."
Ben snatched the belt from Harry. "Everyone to the back of the building. I'm gonna toss this baby as far as I can. Then run like hell."
Harry herded everyone into the hall as Ben headed for the door. From behind him, Harry called, "Don't throw like a girl. There's a shitload of plastic hooked to that belt."
"Just get everyone to the far side of the building!" Ben dashed out the door. He sprinted several feet away from the building to get a clear path to lob the belt. As he raised his arm, the beast pounced at him.
From a mere ten feet away, the wounded crak'an leaped in front of him, head low, hissing with cold menace. It blocked the entire way forward.
Ben scrambled for his pistol, but his hand came back empty. He had left the gun in the building. Ben backed up a few steps.
Tiny Tim opened its jaws wide and howled at him in triumph.
"Fuck you!" Ben whipped the belt toward the open maw, then spun on his heel and ran for the safety of the building. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw the beast paw at its mouth, trying to dislodge the belt.
Bastard, you just bit off more than you can chew.
Ben flew through the demolished front door and dived for the hallway. Just as he reached the threshold, the explosion ripped the world apart behind him. The force of the explosion grabbed him and threw him down the hall.
He did his best to roll when he hit, but something snapped as he collided with the hallway floor. Debris rained upon him as he lay sprawled in the hallway. A choking smoke quickly followed.
Jason appeared at his side. "Ben, are you okay?"
In answer, he just groaned.
Harry knelt down. "Let me take a look at him."
Ben pushed to his hands and knees, coughing smoke from his throat. Pain flared at the base of his neck. His shoulder felt dislocated, but he'd live.
Ben glanced up to Jason's concerned face. "When we get out of this, I'm buying you a pair of suspenders. No more belts."
When the explosion occurred, Khalid saw Linda's spirit die. It was in her eyes. She had been fumbling with the last timer, obviously trying not to look at her watch constantly as Jason's time ran low. In her hurry, she had crossed two wires wrong and almost mistakenly activated the detonator. He had been correcting her mistake when the explosion roared from across the base.
As the echo faded around them, Linda just looked at Khalid.
"There just wasn't enough time," Khalid said, though truthfully he'd never intended to rescue the boy. Khalid studied her, expecting her to rage against him, to cry and scream. But no. She just stared at him, a cold deadness in her eyes. A woman who had given up.
Good. He didn't need her to fall apart on him now. She was learning. Expediency. The desert sun burned those who moved slowly. He shook his head. "Let's finish up here."
She turned and stared across the base to the cloud of smoke from the explosion. "It didn't work," she said dully.
He put down the tiny screwdriver. "What?"
She pointed, her arm leaden. "The column… Jason was tied to. It's still intact."
He straightened up and stared. She was right. It seemed totally undamaged. How was that possible?
He studied the drifting smoke. Something was wrong. The explosion had occurred slightly west of the column. "The boy must have gotten free of the ropes. Moved away from the column."
His words seemed to ignite a moment of hope in her bearing, but then she sagged, seeming to realize that, free of the column or not, the explosion had occurred.
"Let's go," Khalid ordered.
She didn't argue as she was led away.
THIRTY-FIVE
BEN SAT ON THE LEATHER SOFA IN BLAKELY'S OFFICE, nursing his aching shoulder. He needed to keep moving. This sitting around was making his shoulder throb. Harry had painfully yanked it back in place earlier.
Jason sat next to him now, kicking the sofa with his heel, still tense. The boy had been through a hell of a lot. He had finally related the events that led to Ben's discovery of him.