barely absorbed by the metal and glass of the folder. “He tried to shoot me!”
“What did you expect? That sign said deadly force is authorized.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t say it’s mandatory!”
Ogleby stumbled backward, hands up in fear. “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me!”
Eddie followed him, the gun raised. “Just tell us how we get out of here.”
Before he could reply, honking klaxons sounded in the hangar outside. Red lights started flashing. “You don’t,” said Ogleby, a spark of defiance returning. “That’s a lockdown alarm.”
The Englishman shoved him hard against a cubicle wall. “How many men in the base?”
“About forty,” he gulped. “They’ll be on their way down here already—if you want to stay alive, you should surrender while you have the chance.”
“I don’t think we’ll be given the option,” Nina said grimly. She went to the door and looked out toward the great vertical shaft. The elevator on which they had descended was no longer there, Kern having ridden it back to the surface—but as she watched, another platform in the opposite corner came into view, bearing a group of uniformed men carrying rifles. “Shit! Eddie, they’re here already!”
Eddie’s glance into the hangar warned him that shooting their way out was not an option—nine M4 assault rifles against a single Beretta M9 pistol was a fight that would only end one way. Instead, he pulled Nina back into the cubicle. “Come on!”
“Where?” she demanded, confused. “There’s no way out!”
“Yes, there is.” He dived onto the exit chute of the automated delivery system, the metal rollers squealing as he juddered down the incline. “Let’s roll!”
He hit the flap with a bang and disappeared through it. She looked back through the door. The elevator was almost at the bottom of the shaft, the men preparing to leap out.
Nina threw herself onto the rollers.
She crashed through the flap—and immediately found herself in peril as a mechanical arm swung at her head. She yelped and twisted aside, a metal claw sweeping through her hair. The chute led to an oversized hopper where boxes being returned to the stacks were sorted … and the system apparently didn’t like unexpected objects.
The flickering laser beam of a barcode scanner flashed in her face, momentarily dazzling her. A section of the hopper’s side popped out like a pinball flipper and thumped painfully against her, forcing her toward what was presumably the destination for rejected items.
The rollers gave way to smooth metal. Nina slid helplessly down it—seeing machinery like a giant mangle descending to squash her at the bottom—
Hands grabbed her just before she reached it, dragging her to a stop. “Got you!” Eddie grunted as he pulled her over the chute’s side. The giant rollers thumped together, then retracted, denied their meal.
“God!” she gasped. “What is this, Satan’s amusement park?”
“Kern did say he was right below us. This way.” He ducked under another chute, heading toward the stacks. “And watch what you step on. I think the tracks are electrified.”
“As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.” Eddie hopped over the track; she waited for a shuttle to clatter past before following. “Where are we going? We’re heading away from the elevators.”
Staying clear of the rails, they hurried down an aisle. “Have to see if we can find those emergency stairs Kern mentioned,” said Eddie.
“That’s a hell of a climb!”
“You want to stay here reading ancient documents for the rest of your life? Wait, don’t answer that. But if we can get off this floor, we’ve got a chance.”
“We still have to get back to the surface—and even then, there’s only one door that goes outside.”
“Yeah, but it’s a pretty big door!”
Shouts came from behind them: The troops were spreading out in pursuit. Eddie looked back, alarmed. “Christ, we’ll be sitting ducks if they shoot at us down this aisle.”
Nina had drawn ahead, passing an intersection. “If we turn at the next—whoa!” One of the towering shuttles rounded the corner directly behind her—and kept going, forcing her onward. It was carrying a large container, not leaving enough room for her to squeeze past. “Eddie, I can’t get back to you!”
“Go on ahead!” he shouted. “Go left, I’ll catch up!”
Nina ran ahead of the advancing machine. Eddie doubled back to the intersection, cutting across to the next aisle. He looked along it. The next junction was about eighty feet away; he could catch up with her there—
“Here! Over here!”
The yell was from behind him, one of the airmen at the start of the aisle.