Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

“Juan says they’re in a bit of a jam.” Max’s voice reflected Eddie’s worry.

“What can we do?” Linc asked.

“Nothing. According to him, they’ve got about sixty seconds to get out of there.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Fyodor Yudin pounded on the door on the second level when he heard someone on the other side coming down the south stairwell. With all of the doors now locking them in, he was panicked about his mistake in setting the self-destruct, which he could no longer deactivate.

“Hello out there!” the warden shouted. “We’re stuck in here! Open the door!”

The other men with him were shouting as well, and he had to wave his arms to get them to be quiet so he could hear the guard on the other side.

“I can’t open it,” the guard said through the steel door. “It looks like they’ve glued it shut.”

“Then get some grenades from the shed and blow it open, you idiot!”

“Right away.”

“Hurry!”

Yudin looked at his watch and could only stew as he saw it count down to under a minute.

* * *

—

Juan used his pry bar to open the door to the disabled elevator, which was stuck just below their level.

“I hope this elevator has an emergency hatch,” Raven said.

“Me, too,” Juan replied.

He knelt down and motioned for Raven to get on his shoulders. He lifted her up, and she pounded at ceiling sections until one of the squares gave way. She flipped it open and pulled herself up.

Juan jumped and caught the edge of the opening with his fingertips. Raven hauled on his vest and helped him up.

He looked at his watch. Thirty seconds to go. This was going to be close.

The elevator doors one level up to the shed were still open from when he’d sabotaged the cable.

An explosion somewhere below them shook the elevator. Thankfully, it wasn’t big enough to bring down the whole complex.

Raven looked at him as he boosted her up to the opening. “What was that?”

“The guards found a way out,” he said, pulling himself up behind her, as they heard feet pounding up the stairs next to the elevator.

“We’re here,” Juan said to Max while running out of the shed with Raven. “We’ve got ten seconds left. Where’s the HOB?”

“Look up,” Max said.

Juan did and saw a jumbo-sized six-propellered drone descending into the clearing sounding like the buzzing of a million angry hornets. Situated atop the crossbars in the middle of the drone were a large seat, handlebars, and stirrups.

“That’s the experiment?” Raven said in amazement.

The HOB was Max’s nickname for his newest creation. It stood for Hoverbike, the first passenger drone to be based on the Oregon.

“Get on,” Juan said, stepping onto the stirrups and grabbing the handlebars. He wasn’t sure how this would go. It was only the third time he’d ridden it.