Vanishing Point Part 18

"My friend is in there. He's hurt. Please open the door," Sherry pleaded. The woman muttered something in Spanish while she fumbled in her pocket. Finally she produced a universal card key and slid it through the slot. The green light went on and Sherry pushed the door open.

"Thank you," she said. But the housekeeper was already gone.

Lee's suite had been battered by the blast, but there was no sign of occupation. The lamps were down, so Sherry tried the overhead light. The lights seemed dim, and Sherry deduced the power was low.

She searched the suite, found Lev Cohen in the bedroom. He'd been stabbed to death. The murderer had placed him on the bed, folded his arms across his chest, but had not bothered to close his dead staring eyes. Sherry stepped closer to examine the corpse, then stumbled backwards, choking back a sob. More smoke filled the hallway, and she coughed.

I have to get out of here.

Turning, Sherry fled the grisly scene, praying that the fire would engulf this suite, and obliterate any evidence of what really happened to David Palmer's Chief of Staff. Outside, panicked patrons fled the hotel, to spill out through the shattered portico, onto sidewalks littered with broken furniture and shards of gla.s.s. Those fleeing the rear doors had to climb over a huge section of the famous Hanging Garden balcony that came cras.h.i.+ng to earth in the explosion. Debris continued to rain down, along with tons of soil, trees, flowers and shrubs, as the balcony continued to crumble.

Smoke filled the air around the hotel, most of it pouring out of the underground garage. More smoke, funneled through the tower as if it were a chimney, emerge through the shattered gla.s.s walls of the rooftop ballroom.

The area jamming ended with the destruction of the transmitter in the explosions. People on the grounds around the hotel, and pa.s.sersby on Las Vegas Boulevard bombarded 911 operators. Soon sirens wailed in the distance.

Underneath the Babylon, secondary explosions rumbled as gas tanks from hundreds of cars began to cook off.

13

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 12 A.M. AND 1 A.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME.

12:00:00 a.m. PDT Babylon Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas The fire alarm wailed, a deafening sound. Jack Bauer and Nina Myers entered the Babylon's chaotic security center, stepping over the shattered remains of the gla.s.s doors. A uniformed security officer moved to stop them. Nina flashed her CTU badge and the man backed off.

Unruffled amid the room's frenzied activity, a lanky, gray-haired man in a charcoal suit approached them. "I suspect you're looking for your agent," the gray man said. "Mr. Manning is over there."

Curtis stood at a work station, phone to his ear. He nodded to Jack, then returned to his conversation. Agent Manning was bruised and battered, but alive.

"What's the situation?" Jack asked.

"The Babylon is still standing, but I don't know for how long," the man replied grimly. "The balcony has mostly collapsed. The underground garage has caved in. There's a fire down there, too. More smoke than anything else, but the fire department reports that the chance of finding survivors is... minimal."

The gray man adjusted his tie with a long-fingered hand.

"You have electricity," Jack observed.

The gray man nodded. "Emergency generators are located in an outbuilding, so they were undamaged. We've even gotten some of the computers up and running and we're hoping to restore one or more of the elevators soon. That is our top priority."

"How many people have you evacuated?" Nina asked.

"Thanks to Mr. Manning's early warning, we managed to clear the casino and all of the clubs and restaurants. Some of the lower guest floors were cleared as well. But people are still trapped in the upper suites and in the ballroom at the top of the building."

Nina pushed her hair back. "What kind of numbers are we looking at?"

"Several hundred, at least," the gray man replied. "There was an event upstairs. The guest list says three hundred, but there's also the wait staff, bartenders, support - there may be as many as four hundred people trapped up there."

Jack nodded, a tight grin on his face. "Then no one's gotten out of the ballroom?"

The gray man shook his head. "Not since ten or fifteen minutes before the blast. That's when the elevators failed. The device that jammed our phones also interfered with the computers that ran the elevators."

"How about the stairs?"

"Since the explosions, the lower portions of the stairwells - the areas closest to the blast - have been blocked. Two stairwells have collapsed entirely. A third may be intact, but it's also filled with toxic smoke, deadly enough to suffocate anyone who inhales it."

The gray man paused, his hands fluttering around his tie. "I'm told the fire department sent two men up that stairwell, but carrying oxygen and all the other bits of fireproof gear, it will take them a while to reach the ballroom."

Nina faced Jack, comprehension dawning on her face. "You think the bombers are still up there, don't you?"

Jack nodded. "Lilly Sheridan was on the phone with me, waiting for instructions from the man who held her daughter hostage, when the jamming device kicked in and ended our conversation."

Bauer faced the gray man. "Curtis, Nina and I are going to be on the first elevator to go up," Jack declared.

Grim faced, Curtis appeared at Jack's shoulder. "I just spoke with Morris...o...b..ian," he whispered. "There was an explosion at Bix Automotive. It looks like Hugo and his gang have been wiped out..."

12:39:15 a.m. PDT Hanging Garden Ballroom Babylon Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas Banquet Manager Evelyn Ankers, with help from Congressman Larry Bell and Senator Palmer, had gathered everyone trapped on the upper floors inside the main ballroom. It was a wise strategy. With most windows broken the ballroom offered plenty of fresh air, a welcome reprieve from the smoke filled lower levels. Several people were injured, and Sherry Palmer had appeared to supervise their care. Seven victims had been killed. Their bodies were covered by bloodstained table cloths.

Lilly had scanned all the faces in the room, but did not see the man she was searching for. As soon as she had the chance, Lilly ducked out of the ballroom to search for her daughter. She was sure Pamela and her kidnappers were still on this floor, even though she hadn't seen them.

Searching, she moved through the empty kitchen, to the corridor that led to the elevators. She was walking so fast she pa.s.sed by the open door. It was the sound of voices that stopped her.

"Someone must have defused one or two of the bombs," a man's voice said.

"Lucky thing, my brother. We would all be dead now if things had gone as planned," said another voice, one Lilly recognized.

She peered through the open door, nearly gasped. Stella Hawk was there, hands clutching her daughter's shoulders. Then Lilly saw the others. Two men, both armed. One was the man who'd given her the bomb.

Lilly began to tremble, uncertain what to do next. She ducked back into the kitchen, grabbed a carving knife from a steam table.

Then the cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she fumbled for the phone. "h.e.l.lo."

"It's Jaycee."

"Where are you?"

"I'm near the service elevator. It will be working soon, in ten or fifteen minutes. Then I'm coming up."

"Oh, G.o.d, Jaycee. They're here. They have Pamela..."

"Who? Where?"

"Stella and two other guys. They're real close, Jaycee, just down the hall."

"Can you reach the service elevator without being seen? If you lead me to these men, I'll get your daughter back."

"Yes," Lilly cried. "I'll go now."

As she raced for the elevator, Lilly heard two shots...

Balboa killed the firemen as they emerged from the smoky stairwell. He regretted not having a silencer on his Makarov, but reasoned there was no one around to hear the shots anyway.

He and Pizarro dragged the corpses to a maintenance room, then removed the dead men's oxygen masks and tanks, along with their fire-resistant overalls.

Stella Hawk stood watch in the corridor, her fingers bruising Pamela Sheridan's tender flesh. Silently, the girl sobbed.

"The stairs are filled with smoke, and there are only two protective suits," Pizarro said.

Balboa glanced at the woman in the hall, then back at his brother. "Take them. You and the woman. And do it quick. I am sure the authorities will be here soon."

"And the child?"

Balboa frowned. "I will keep her as a bargaining chip."

To Pizarro's surprise, his brother chuckled. "This is is Las Vegas, no?" Las Vegas, no?"

"But how will you get out, elude the policia}" policia}"

Balboa handed his brother the oxygen masks, overalls.

"I'll manage," he replied. "In any case, someone must continue on with the next part of this operation. Better that someone is you."

"But..."

Balboa silenced his brother with a gesture. "I see how you look at that woman, Pizarro. I've known you all your life and you never looked at any woman that way before. So I want you to escape, and take her with you! I will provide a diversion, then join you at the rendezvous."

14

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 1 A.M. AND 2 A.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME.

1:01:09 a.m. PDT Dormitory B, Experimental Weapons Testing Range Groom Lake Air Force Base Tony Almeida returned to his cramped quarters in Dormitory B, stripped off his sweat-stained s.h.i.+rt and lobbed it in the general direction of the overflowing hamper in the corner. He wanted nothing more than to grab a hot shower and a good night's sleep, but could do neither until he checked in with CTU.

Still in his sweatpants and sneakers, Tony powered up the laptop on the desk. Waiting for the system to boot, he stretched sore muscles.

His day should have ended hours ago, after Senator David Palmer cancelled the Malignant Wave program on the spot. But instead of dismantling the device and storing it in Hangar Six, Dr. Megan Reed ordered the crew to install the Malignant Wave engine in the Blackfoot stealth helicopter in Hangar Five, ahead of the scheduled Tuesday morning deployment test.

It was, Tony felt, an exercise in reality denial. When Dr. Reed delivered news of Palmer's cancellation to the rest of the staff, it was Dr. Phillip Bas...o...b..who reacted most strongly.

"I've dedicated my professional life, since my days at Berkeley, to develop non-lethal technology as a means to render war less odious," he'd said. "Sure, the wave causes permanent brain damage now, now, but with more time and research, I'm convinced we could improve the device, make the effects less debilitating - or even temporary." but with more time and research, I'm convinced we could improve the device, make the effects less debilitating - or even temporary."

"Sorry, Phillip," Dr. Reed replied, turning her perfectionist streak on herself. "I didn't make a cogent argument. I let you all down."

But it was Beverly Chang's reaction that surprised them all.

"No one has officially notified us that the project has been cancelled," she said. "Senator Palmer is only one member of a committee. The other members may have a different view. We should proceed with our test schedule until ordered to do otherwise."

Dr. Reed agreed, and set them all to work immediately. They lowered the device from the tower, moved it to Hangar Five and loaded it into the bay of the experimental helicopter. Then they began work on the electronics. It was close to eleven o'clock before the device was finally installed, along with a temporary weapons panel mounted in the c.o.c.kpit.

Steve Sable wanted to knock off at that point, but Dr. Chang pushed them to conduct diagnostic tests on the control panel. It was after midnight when Tony and Steve finished, and Dr. Sable headed off to bed while Tony shut down the computers and stowed the equipment.

Now Tony stifled a yawn, wearily tapped in a code that switched him over to the secret ARPANET pathways, where he could safely retrieve the intelligence Jamey sent him. Tony was shocked back to wakefulness when he read the a.n.a.lysis of the data taken from Dr. Steve Sable's phone. His suspicions had been correct. Sable was was the traitor. He'd made too many calls to Hugo Bix for him to claim innocence. the traitor. He'd made too many calls to Hugo Bix for him to claim innocence.

Tony also learned that one of Bix's henchmen had been caught with top secret Area 51 technology earlier that day. The evidence seemed incontrovertible now. It was clear he would have to move against Dr. Steve Sable in the next twenty-four hours, before the man had a chance to pa.s.s more top secret research technology to Hugo Bix.

Fingers poised over the keyboard, Tony was about to send an update to Jamey when he heard a sound behind him, saw the shadow fall across the desk. Tony looked up, saw the wrench in the intruder's upraised hand. He tried to cover his head with his arms as the first blow descended.

1:03:51 a.m. PDT Babylon Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas Lilly rushed to the man she knew as Jaycee as soon as the elevator doors opened. She ignored the woman with him, and the big man from the Cha-Cha Lounge named Curtis.

"They're gone," she cried. "I heard shots a minute ago. I went back to the corridor, and they were gone."

That's when they heard another shot, this one aimed at them. The crack of the Russian handgun echoed off the walls. The bullet missed Nina's head by an inch, punched a hole in the plaster.

"Lock the elevator so no one can use it, then fan out," Jack commanded. He stared down the barrel of his Glock as he methodically checked the corridors around him.

The woman moved to the right, Curtis to the left. Lilly led Jaycee back to the hall. They moved slowly, wary of ambush.

"There were three of them, right here," Lilly said when they reached the corridor outside the maintenance room. "Stella had my daughter. When I came back, they were gone."

Jack was about to check to see if the door was unlocked. He was interrupted by a child's scream.

"That's Pamela," Lilly cried.

Jack believed the noise came from the kitchen. The girl's voice had an echoing quality that made him think of tile walls and hard, bare floors. He searched the kitchen for five minutes and came up empty.

Of Curtis and Nina, there was no sign. Perhaps they had picked up the man's trail. Jack was about to complete a wide circle of the ballroom when he heard shouts - then another shot.

Jack burst through the kitchen's double doors, Clock clutched in his fist. The ballroom was in shambles, broken gla.s.s and shattered shards from fallen chandeliers littered the floor. The room was packed, too, though the crowd seemed to be parting, as people scattered to escape the armed man carrying a little girl slung over his shoulders.

Jack stepped into the middle of the debris strewn floor, aimed the dock. "Halt or I'll shoot!" he cried.

Lilly stumbled through the kitchen doors, saw her daughter and cried out. "Please let my daughter go!"

The man turned, squeezed a shot off in Jack's general direction. People screamed and dived for cover. Bauer didn't even flinch as the bullet ripped past his ear.

"Stop now or I will will shoot," Jack cried. Arms outstretched, he corrected his aim. shoot," Jack cried. Arms outstretched, he corrected his aim.