Stratton and Rowena hurtled down the corridor. As they passed a door an engineer hurried out from it just in time for Binning and the major to slam into him. They all went sprawling except for the young soldier just behind them who jumped over the pile-up and carried on.
Binning got to his feet as Jason arrived and together the scientists ran on. The officer stood up and looked back. The gas had reached the corner. Eyes wide, he ran for his life.
The dazed engineer, unable fully to comprehend what was happening, looked in the direction of the fleeing men. He heard something behind him, a growing sizzling sound. As he turned, the gas, which filled every inch of the corridor from floor to ceiling, enveloped him, disintegrating his body inside his clothing in seconds.
Jason and Binning reached a junction and took the right turn without hesitation.
The officer arrived a second behind them and paused, looking in both directions. He made a decision, choosing the left corridor, which he ran along as fast as he could. Up ahead the young soldier reached a heavy steel door as the hydraulic arm was reducing the gap and dived through. But his rifle got caught and he fought to pull it free. The officer saw the closing gap and screamed, his arms outstretched towards it. The soldier let go of the weapon as he saw the gas and fell back into a brightly lit stairwell that spiralled up before him.
The officer lunged for the door but he couldn’t get through the dwindling gap. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and frantically tried to lever the door open. But it was useless. The hydraulics moaned as the door crushed the weapon’s wooden stock and it came to a hissing halt.
The Russian turned to look back along the corridor as the green gas rolled towards him. He reached for his holster only to find it empty, remembering that he had dropped the gun when the gas cylinder exploded. He looked at the rifle jammed in the door, placed his heart against the muzzle, reached for the trigger and pushed it. The gun fired, killing him instantly as the gas engulfed him.
The green mist seeped through the door that was now wedged slightly open by the gun. It slowly filled the bottom of the stairwell. Several spirals up, the young soldier saw the gathering green death. He hauled himself up the stairs.
Rowena and Stratton reached the laboratory door, flung it open and ran into the room, pausing only to slam the door behind them and locate the lift before racing to the far side of the lab and ripping open the sliding door of the lift cage.
The lift, like everything else in the complex, was old and basic. Large enough to fit a grand piano inside, the ceiling and floor were made of gridded metal connected by struts and wire-mesh walls.
Binning, a little ahead of Jason, reached the lab door but as he slowed to open it Jason ran into him and callously propelled his colleague further along the floor of the corridor. It had become a race for personal survival.
As Jason barged open the lab door and sprinted across the room towards the lift Binning rose to his feet. He saw the approaching gas, scrambled back to the door and threw himself inside before the gas could touch him.
Stratton and Rowena closed the door of the lift cage but not before Jason managed to jam an arm inside.
In his desperation Binning fell over chairs and tables as he tried to get to the lift, spilling the encryption tile to the floor as the green gas rolled into the room.
‘It won’t move unless the door’s closed!’ Jason shouted.
Stratton had no choice and slid aside the lift-cage door. Jason leaped into the lift and looked back at Binning pulling himself across the room, the gas right behind him. Jason slammed the cage shut, pulled the lever and the lift jerked as it began to ascend.
‘No!’ Binning yelled. He leaped for the rising lift and tugged at the cage. He grabbed the cable attached to its underside and stuck his fingers up through the grille of the floor. As he went up, the poisonous gas crept into the opening and down into the shaft.
Stratton and Rowena stood on the side of the creaking lift opposite to Jason as it rose slowly. They looked down at Binning through the floor, his life entirely dependent on the