Rogue Angel - Polar Quest Part 31

"You're telling me there's a good chance she's telling the truth?"

"Would she lie?"

Thomson sputtered. "Of course she would. She's trying to protect herself and cover up the fact that she has one of my files on her laptop."

"Look, sir, if I try to do this, then it's going to have to be on my terms, okay?" Hawk said.

"What do you need?"

"Everyone out, for starters. It's too dangerous for people to stay here while I work. If I screw up, then there will be some badly injured folks here."

Thomson frowned. He waved the two armed guards out. "You're dismissed." He looked at Garin. "Major, you may leave also, if you wish."

Garin shook his head. "Actually, sir, I'd like to stay."

"Very well." Thomson stared at Annja. "And you will stay, as well. We'll see if there's any truth to your claims. When the sergeant cracks your laptop, the game will be up."

"You might get injured in the blast," Annja said. "I made sure to pack a big wallop."

Hawk looked at her. "I take it you didn't put it in the battery compartment?"

Annja smiled. "Now, what good would that do? All you'd have to do is turn it upside down, pop the cover and take it out. Not much good in that, is there?"

"Like I said before, I have to ask."

Hawk went back to looking at the laptop, specifically where the lid latched to the bottom a.s.sembly. After several minutes, he shook his head. "I can't see anything there that would trigger a detonation."

"So that means it's safe?" Thomson asked. "Good, go ahead and open it right now."

"I didn't say that, sir." Hawk stood up and stretched his back. "Fact is, she could have rigged any number of trip actions here and I wouldn't know until they detonated. It's way too risky."

"Sergeant, we're running out of time," Thomson said. "I need some results here and I need them now."

Hawk looked at him. "There's no way I can guarantee this isn't going to be messy when I pop the lid. There's plenty of metal and plastic here to turn into some nasty shrapnel. Any of us could be maimed or worse by an explosion in this confined area."

"I think that is a risk we are going to have to take, Sergeant. You see, I don't believe that she has wired this laptop to explode. I don't believe it at all. I think it's a last-ditch effort to keep us from discovering that she was behind yesterday's hacker intrusion."

Annja said nothing. She simply sat there and let the smile on her face do all the work for her.

"She knows she's out of time and is playing this one last card in the hope we fall for it," Thomson said.

Hawk chewed his lip. "If you want me to pop the lid, sir, I'll do it, but I really have to stress that I don't agree with the decision."

"Your position is noted, Sergeant. However, I am hereby ordering you to proceed with opening the computer."

He nodded. "All right. But first things first." He went back outside and returned with several flak jackets. He handed one to Thomson, one to Garin and one to Annja.

"She doesn't get one," Thomson said.

Hawk frowned. "I'm not going to watch a civilian die because she wasn't given a flak jacket."

"She's being held on the charge of espionage, Sergeant," Thomson said angrily.

"Excuse me, sir, but she hasn't been tried yet, which makes her innocent until proved guilty."

"I thought your specialty was in demolitions, Sergeant?"

"It is, sir."

"Then leave the legalities to me."

Hawk frowned. "Sir-"

"Oh, very well, give her the jacket and be done with it already. We're wasting time," Thomson shouted.

Hawk handed Annja the flak jacket and she strapped it on. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Hawk strapped his own on and then looked at Thomson. "Last time I'll ask, sir. Are you sure you want to proceed?"

"Absolutely."

Hawk nodded. "All right, then. Here we go."

Annja watched as he bent lower and reexamined the laptop from all angles. Then he eased back the lid release.

The lid sprang up a millimeter and Annja heard everyone's breath catch. She was surprised at how involved she was in the situation, even though she knew there were no explosives inside. The tension in the room was incredible.

Hawk grinned. "So far so good."

He eased the lid up. Nothing happened.

"There now, you see?" Thomson said. "I told you there was nothing inside that would explode. She's been lying the entire time and now she has to finally accept-"

"Sir?" Hawk looked at the colonel. "We're not done here yet."

"We're not?"

"No, sir. I still have to power it up. If she knows what she's doing, she could have rigged it to explode when the power is switched on."

"Can you gain access to the interior of the computer without switching it on?" Thomson asked.

Hawk shook his head. "If I had the proper tools to do so, yeah, but this is a complicated piece of machinery. If I go poking in there and happen to trip something, it's as good as just switching it on."

"Switch it on, then."

"Sir?"

"Do it, Sergeant. I'm tired of this."

Hawk took a breath and pressed the power b.u.t.ton. Annja heard the computer click and then the opening melody as the operating system booted up. Again, it seemed as if everyone was holding their breath.

But nothing happened.

"There. Now it's been powered up and still no explosion. Would you go so far as to deem this computer safe for me to poke around in, Sergeant?"

Hawk shrugged. "I don't know that I would, sir. But you seem determined to go rooting through there, so I don't know that anything I say would make a difference."

"There are bigger things at stake here, Sergeant. You're dismissed."

"Very good, sir." Hawk started to leave and then turned back around. "If you can all return the flak jackets later on, I'd appreciate it."

Thomson waved him out. Only Annja and Garin remained with him in the office. Thomson leaned across the desk and grabbed the laptop. "Now, then, I believe this is when the bell starts tolling for you, Annja."

Annja sat perfectly still, trying to quell her hammering heart. "I guess we'll see, Colonel."

She sensed that Garin had moved behind her. She frowned. "Get away from me."

Thomson started using the mouse to examine the hard drive. After a minute of searching, his face suddenly lit up. "Ah. Here it is."

"You found it?" Garin asked.

Thomson nodded. "The date stamp matches perfectly. And the t.i.tle of the file hasn't even been changed." He looked over the top of the computer at Annja. "Any last words?"

"Boom?"

Thomson chuckled. "Too late for that, my dear." He double-clicked the mouse.

The laptop exploded.

31.

The blast blew Annja backward in her chair, tumbling over onto the floor as bits of plastic and metal sprayed the air. She felt a pair of hands grab her from behind and drag her out the door into the cold darkness.

"What the h.e.l.l-"

"Shut up," Garin said. "Don't say anything and just do as I say. Is that going to be too much to ask?"

Annja shook her head. "No."

"Good." Garin looked around as soldiers came running. "There's been an explosion! Check on the colonel!" he ordered.

Hawk came running. "What the h.e.l.l happened?"

Garin shook his head. "I have no idea. The colonel clicked a file open and the d.a.m.ned thing blew itself up."

Hawk frowned. "That's some pretty sophisticated work." He glanced at Annja. "You don't strike me as the type to do such things."

Annja smiled but said nothing.

Garin pointed at the tent. "I don't know the extent of the damage in there, but it looked pretty bad."

Hawk hurried away to help with the recovery efforts. Garin kept a firm hand on Annja's shoulder. In her ear, she heard him whisper, "Just keep quiet and everything will work out fine. Trust me."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really. Right now, you look like a terrorist."

"Swell."

"Like I said, trust me and it will all work out fine. But you've got to play the part for a little while longer. Okay?"

Annja nodded.

A medical team came running out of one of the nearby shelters. They hurried into the colonel's shelter, and Annja could hear a lot of noise coming from within. Garin called two soldiers over.

"Watch her. Make sure she doesn't escape."

Garin strode toward the shelter and ducked through the blown door. Annja craned her head, trying to see what was going on inside. She could hear people moving bits of furniture and Garin shouting commands at them. Annja shook her head. How much explosive had been in her laptop?

And who had placed it there?

She smirked. Well, she thought she knew the answer to that question. Obviously Garin knew something about it. And that probably meant that he had wired her system. Annja marveled at his ability to know how to do such a thing given that he wasn't gone all that long while Thomson had interrogated her earlier.

But, she thought, he has had a long time to learn how to build explosives and use them. Probably this was a simple task for him. And with the availability of explosives in the dig sites, it wouldn't have been hard for him to fabricate something.

The medical team emerged carrying Thomson on an improvised litter. One of them was holding an intravenous bag high above him as someone else was doing chest compressions.

Hawk came out of the shelter and looked at Annja. "Jesus Christ, woman, how much explosive did you use in there? And why the h.e.l.l weren't you or Major Braden injured by the blast?"

Annja said nothing, figuring that if she kept mum, it would simply make her look all the worse. And until she knew what Garin was up to, she had to do as he said and play it the best she could.

Hawk walked away muttering something. A few seconds later, Garin emerged, pocketing something that Annja couldn't see. He waved the two guards off.

"I'll take responsibility for her now."

The guards moved away and Garin took Annja by the arm and steered her back toward his shelter.

"What the h.e.l.l is going on here?"

Garin squeezed harder. "Just wait until we get back where we can actually talk about this, all right?"