“I’m fairly confident at this point,” Sebastian said. “And should your government eventually catch on, they will find that hundreds of billions of dollars have been created and disbursed to thousands of companies and straw men of my creation. They’ll discover half the trail evaporates and the other half leads to political election funds in America and other spots around the world. They’ll find billions have been routed through China, Iran, North Korea. And they’ll be faced with a terrible dilemma: admit the truth and shake the world’s confidence in the mighty dollar, in all likelihood crashing the international financial system, or let it go, fix the hole in the wall quietly, and chalk it up to experience.”
Kurt had to admit that Sebastian was probably right. “They might not announce it to the world, but they will hunt you down.”
“They will think I’m dead,” Sebastian said, dragging Sienna up the final step and pulling her toward an alcove in the far reaches of the room.
Kurt could see another steel security door hinged to the alcove wall. He could not allow Sebastian to drag Sienna through it. His posture stiffened. “Take another step and I’ll kill you,”
he said, “regardless of what else happens.”
Sebastian studied Kurt from behind Sienna. By now he’d tucked in so close that only his right eye could see past her to Kurt and his menacing glare. And yet even with that limited view, he had no doubt that Austin would fire. He’d lost this woman too many times already. He seemed unwilling to lose her again.
It left Sebastian only one choice. With Sienna held tight against him, he reached across her body and pulled a tiny remote unit from his pocket.
To Kurt it looked a lot like the one Calista had used in the tunnel beneath the DMZ. “If you’re planning on zapping me, you’re a little late, I’ve been deloused.”
“It’s not for you,” Sebastian said. “It’s for her.”
With that, Sebastian whispered to Sienna, “I’ll make you a deal. The same deal I’ve been making you all along. Your life or the lives of your children. Which will it be?”
He pressed a key on the glasslike screen of the remote and a fireball erupted in the center of the courtyard. It was so immense it shattered the windows behind Kurt and blasted splinters of glass across the room.
Kurt stood his ground as the shards pelted him.
“That was the armory,” Sebastian gloated to Sienna. “If you resist any further, or if he tries to stop me, I will obliterate the prisoners in their quarters and your children will burn.” A blind play if ever there was one, Kurt thought. Neither one of them knew if the prisoners were in the hut. It was entirely possible that they were staying put and taking cover there, as the battle raged outside. It was also possible that Joe had led them away.
“Let me go,” Sienna cried to Kurt, her eyes filled with tears.
“He’ll kill you,” Kurt replied. “He’ll kill them either way.”
“Please!” she begged.
At that moment a figure crawled through the main door, a pitiful figure, slithering on the ground. “Brother,” it cried out. “Dear brother.”
Calista’s appearance was just enough of a surprise to distract Sebastian. He began to glance her way before catching himself. The pistol in his hand came away from Sienna’s head for an instant and, in that blink of an eye, Kurt squeezed the trigger and fired.
The iron projectile from the railgun hit the nickel-plated handgun at a speed of two thousand feet per second, impacting it just ahead of the breach.
The blow shattered the pistol as its hammer fell and struck the bullet in the chamber. The gunpowder in the 9mm cartridge ignited and the lead shell began its journey forward. But the frame of the pistol had been mangled by Kurt’s shot and instead of being exhausted out through the mouth of the barrel, the bullet blew the weapon apart.
At the moment of the explosion it was already out of Sebastian’s hand, having been torn free and hurled halfway to the rear of the alcove. The impact broke Sebastian’s wrist, and shrapnel from the exploding gun flew in all directions, cutting his face and neck like claws of some enraged animal.
In a blind fury, Sebastian flung Sienna toward Kurt, grabbed the door, and tried to swing it shut.
Kurt was already tossing the railgun aside and reaching into the open pocket of his armored vest for the Colt. He pushed Sienna out of the way and drew the revolver like a gunfighter in the Old West, extending it toward Sebastian, cocking the hammer, and pulling the trigger in one swift motion.
The booming report of the old .45 caliber shell echoed across the room as fire erupted from the barrel and a cloud of smoke burst from either side of the cylinder.
The heavy shell grazed the slamming steel door and caught Sebastian just to the right of his center of mass. He was thrown backward as if he’d been kicked by a horse. He slammed against the back of the alcove and fell on his side as the door banged shut, cutting him off from Kurt’s view.
Kurt rushed forward and tried the handle. The door had latched but wasn’t locked. He swung it open, ready to fire again, but realized instantly that he didn’t need to. Sebastian lay dead against the wall.
The remote dropped from Sebastian’s grasp and Kurt relaxed for an instant only to see on the small screen what looked like a second hand sweeping in a red arc toward the twelve o’clock position.
“Run,” Kurt shouted, dashing to Sienna’s side and pulling her up to her feet.
The explosions began in the distance. First, the prisoners’ quarters, then the barracks, and then the two helicopters in the hangar.
Kurt had helped Sienna up and now did the same for Calista.