“What is it?” Joe asked.
“Generators.”
Kurt pulled his backpack off and wedged it into the scaffolding, taking out the last brick of C-4.
“What are you going to do?” Joe asked.
“Looks like it’s only attached at four points,” Kurt said. “One in each corner. If I wedge some explosives into the gap between the tin sheet and the wall and trigger them all at the same time, that should blast the corrugated sheet out into the room.”
“How much are you going to use?”
Kurt almost laughed. “You and Devlin must have gone to the same school of asking too many questions.”
Unlike his effort with the heavy door he’d blown earlier, Kurt wanted to use as little explosive as possible in this case. Just enough to separate the sheet of tin from the opening it covered.
He tore off small sections of the plastic explosives and wedged them into the corners the way one might caulk a drafty window. Setting the detonators, he rigged his clacker once again.
“Hold on tight,” he said.
Both Joe and Gregorovich wrapped their arms and legs around the scaffolding, and Kurt did the same.
As the next wave of energy began to vibrate the cavern, Kurt figured he had the perfect opportunity. He squeezed the clacker tight. The four little charges blew simultaneously. The tin sheet flew out into the room, trailing smoke and clattering to the floor. The drone of humming generators doubled in volume.
Kurt looked inside.
A head poked out from behind one of the generators and seconds later gunfire burst forth from behind two others.
Kurt ducked back behind the edge of the rock as bullets tore up the inside of the mineshaft.
“So much for our surprise entrance,” Joe said.
* * *
A hundred and sixty feet below, Devlin and Masinga had reached the bottom level of the shaft. A short tunnel led to the cave where the black hulk of the Voyager remained docked.
From a side tunnel, Devlin noticed a man carrying a large crate toward it.
He put a finger to his lips and then jumped out, slamming the butt of the rifle down on the man’s head. The man stumbled, dropped what he was carrying, and sprawled on the floor.
Devlin recognized him and stuck the business end of the rifle in his face. “Running away again, Janko?”
Janko froze as he realized who was speaking.
“Look at this,” Masinga said, opening the crate. “Diamonds.”
Devlin drew back and slugged Janko with the butt of the rifle once again, knocking him out.
A few minutes later, wearing Janko’s clothes, he boarded the Voyager and took over the bridge. With the command crew under the gun, he waved Masinga and the other prisoners forward.
“Come on,” he shouted as the cave began to shake yet again. This series of tremors lasted longer and ran deeper than any of the others. Small rockslides could be seen throughout the cave.
As the last of the former prisoners climbed on board, Devlin turned to the helmsman. “Fire this tub up.”
* * *
At the top of the shaft, just outside the generator room, Kurt, Joe, and Gregorovich had run into better-prepared defenses than they’d expected. Eight of Thero’s men were inside, hiding behind the generators.
“Getting through that cross fire is going to be suicide,” Joe pointed out.