Piranha (Oregon Files 10)

Juan rushed to reattach his leg and help Trono fend off the remaining mercenaries, but as soon as he had it back on and was standing, he realized that the gunfire had ceased.

Trono cautiously emerged from behind the pillar.

“Special delivery for Juan Cabrillo!” yelled Linc’s baritone from inside the tunnel to the cement plant. “We’ve got a box of chocolates for you if you don’t shoot us.”

“Come on in!” Juan yelled back. “We’re starving.”

Linc strode forward into the light and his jaw dropped to his chest as his gaze quickly took in the spectacle of Sentinel and the giant crystals of the Oz cave.

“That must have been what we looked like when we got here,” Juan said to Trono.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him speechless before,” Trono replied.

“Is everything buttoned-up out there?” Juan asked Linc.

“Five remaining men gave up after seeing the rest of their buddies go down. It’s a mess. Bazin had sixty men digging tunnels down here. They were nearly starved to death. Linda is scrounging up what food she can find for them.” He waved behind him. “I’ve got someone you should meet.”

A disheveled but proud Haitian was escorted in by Eddie. After gawking at the cave, he shook hands with a firm grip when he was introduced to Juan.

“Jacques Duval, deputy commander of the Haitian National Police,” he said. “I understand you are the one I can thank for this rescue.”

“You’ve got a whole team to thank,” Juan said. “I’m not the Lone Ranger. Come to think of it, even the Lone Ranger wasn’t the Lone Ranger. Not with Tonto around to save his skin all the time.”

Duval cocked his head in confusion, not understanding the American allusion. “Where is Hector Bazin?”

Juan pointed to the tons of fallen rock on the other side of the cave. “Buried in there.”

Duval nodded, both rueful and satisfied. “It had to be done. Thank you again. Now I must go and take command of the police that think they are coming to save Hector.”

“Will they listen to you?”

“What choice will they have? There’s no one else left here to command them.”

He turned on his heel and strode away.

“Tough guy,” Juan said.

“Other than some water,” Eddie said, “he didn’t ask for anything for himself, just for his men.”

Juan nodded in understanding. He would have done the same. Those kinds of leaders usually win out over men like Bazin in the end.

“Get Eric in here,” he said. “We’ve got another problem.”

Two minutes later, Linc and Eddie were back outside, and Eric was sitting at the Sentinel console trying to ascertain how to deactivate the self-destruct, whose timer was already down to fifty-three minutes.

“Can you disable it?” Juan asked.

Eric shook his head. “I’d be afraid to try. Kensit could have it booby-trapped to explode if the wrong code is entered.”

“What about pulling the plug?”

“No good. The outside power is already gone, and it looks like the battery backup is integral to the machine. Any attempt to disengage electrical power might also set it off. I’m afraid there’s no way to prevent the explosion.”

Juan ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated that they were out of options.

“The techs said Kensit was going to shoot something down. We have to figure out what and how he’s going to do it.”

“Well, it looks like the self-destruct is an independent system,” Eric said. “Maybe we can see what Kensit is doing?” He moved over to where Juan had told him he’d seen Kensit’s remote workstation.