“As we die off, they bring in more,” Masinga added. “Kidnapping and luring in people who have little else in the way of opportunity.”
Kurt understood. It was a whole new reason to put Thero out of business, but it ran a distant second to saving Australia. “Any new arrivals in the last few hours?”
“Are you looking for someone specific?” Devlin replied.
“I started out with some friends,” Kurt said. “Thero’s men attacked us. We got separated. I think they were probably captured.”
“That’s no good,” Masinga said. “Thero will torture them, until they give in or die.”
Kurt studied Masinga’s face. His nose had obviously been broken at some point, and a jagged scar next to his ear looked like the result of some violent blunt-force trauma. “I’m guessing you know where that would take place.”
“I do,” Masinga said.
“I need you to show me.”
“That’s back into the middle of this maze,” the third member of the trio said. “You’ll never get past Thero’s men.”
“Maybe I won’t,” Kurt corrected. “But we are going to try. You’re all coming with me.”
“Fine by me,” Devlin said. “I’ve got a bone to pick with one of them.”
“I do also,” Masinga said.
“Just tie me to the machine,” the third man said. “I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Kurt glared at him.
“What’s the difference? Three against thirty or four against thirty? Same odds, really. You don’t need me.”
In a roundabout way, the man was right. Kurt had another idea. “How many other prisoners down here?”
“Sixty or seventy,” Masinga replied.
“And how many of them might like a shot at revenge?”
“At least sixty or seventy,” the South African repeated, smiling.
“That makes the living quarters our first stop.”
Joe and Gregorovich remained in the interrogation room, sweating in what had to be hundred-degree heat. As the perspiration trickled down his face and dripped off his nose, Joe could barely believe the irony. “An hour ago, I thought I’d freeze to death.”
“Now they’re broiling us,” Gregorovich replied.
The small room had begun to feel stifling. Joe figured it was time to take drastic measures. He writhed around until he could rub the side of his wet face against the back of his hand. When the perspiration from his face and hair had coated his hand, he changed positions.
Squeezing his fingers together as tightly as he could, Joe eased his hand into the cuff. He felt like a contortionist, pulling and twisting.
“You’ll never get free like that,” Gregorovich said.
“I have large wrists and average hands,” Joe said. “And these old shackles have a lot of play in them.”
With the sweat acting as a lubricant, Joe finessed his hand deeper into the cuff. Finally, it came free.
Joe smiled victorious. “Blood, sweat, and tears,” he said. “That’s all it takes.”
Gregorovich looked down. “What about your feet? I don’t suppose you have big ankles and narrow toes.”
Joe hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“One step at a time,” he said. “One step at a time.”
FORTY-FOUR
In the island’s control room, Hayley was doing her best to act normal. She continued to speak to Thero as if addressing George, infusing her words with affection while trying not to look obvious.
As she fawned over him, Thero showed her the control panels for the great machine and led her to the viewing portal, through which she could see the great orb resting in the darkened cave.
He pressed a series of switches. Lights came on in a cave outside the window. A huge spherical construction appeared. She recognized it from a conceptual drawing Thero had shown her years ago.
“It’s incredible,” she said.
“My father was right,” he said. “This is proof. From here, we can direct vast amounts of energy through the Earth to any point on the globe. Energy we draw from the zero-point field.”
“You don’t need the generators?” she asked.
“Only to start the wave,” he replied.
That gave her an idea. If they could possibly destroy the generators she’d seen outside, perhaps they could prevent the machine from engaging.
“This is amazing,” she said, gazing through the observation window at the latticework. “How did you solve the dynamic feedback problem?”
“We’ve only partially solved it,” he admitted.
“Do you still end up with uncontrollable vibrations?”
“We use the water as a dampening field,” Thero said. “It absorbs much of the energy. Also, by creating a spherical emitter instead of an open-ended conductor, we get a much more stable wave.”
“You were always a step ahead of us, George,” she said, smiling. “That’s really quite brilliant.”
“My father did most of the theoretical work,” he replied. “But I crunched the numbers.”
As they spoke, she tried to gauge how strong a grip the George persona was exerting. Working on her own phobias, she’d learned a great deal about mental health. She’d heard of cases where subjects with multiple personality disorder had absolutely no idea what the other personalities in their minds were up to. To the point where they passed lie detector tests after committing crimes or even carried on affairs or entirely different lives when the dominant personality went dormant.
If that was the case here, perhaps she could coax George into letting them go, or surrendering, or at least giving them more time to come up with some plan to stop the lethal strike he was counting down to launch.
“It was you who sent the letters?” she asked hopefully.
A blank stare issued forth from Thero.
“To warn me,” she said, risking everything.
“Yes,” he replied finally. “I was hoping we might still bring peaceful energy to the world.”
“Your father doesn’t know,” she said. “We have to keep it that way. We can still help him, but he won’t understand.”
“I agree,” Thero said. “He might hate me for it, but it’s for our own good.”
“You helped the others to escape,” she prodded.
Thero nodded. “I gave them a chance and the information. They never knew it was me. I passed notes. Made things possible.”
Inwardly, she cringed, imagining the turmoil. As George, he’d become the informant, he helped the couriers to make it to freedom. But then, as Thero, he hunted them down and had them killed. No wonder every meeting had been blown. There was no leak in the ASIO, the leak was at the source. It meant some information was passing from George’s personality to Thero’s. It made her more nervous than ever, but she had to press on.
“I thought reason might prevail,” George volunteered.
“It still can,” she said eagerly.
“No,” he replied sadly. “They’ve come to kill us again. Only a show of unstoppable force will keep them away now.”
She had to think fast. “I can negotiate with them for you,” she pleaded, squeezing his smooth hand. “The Americans have already promised amnesty,” she lied. “All you have to do is return to the States with them.”
“Amnesty?”
“Yes,” she said. “For you and your father,” she added, doing all she could to keep George’s personality engaged and on the surface.
“Why would they offer that?”
“They’re afraid of the Russians getting their hands on it.”
“They’re working with the Russians,” George said forcefully.
“No,” she said. “The Russians kidnapped us. They want to kill you. But if you get me to a radio, I can bring help.”
George hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“I promise,” she said. “I just need a chance to prove it.”