His fear was confirmed when he turned the key and a buzzer could be heard from the other side of the door. A minute later a voice called through a nearby loudspeaker, "Who goes there?"

"Colonel Antonio Yarayo, State Security, with an interrogation team to question the traitors."

There was a pause. Seng didn't wait for a reply.

"Open up. I have the authority and necessary documents. Lieutenant Sanchez would have accompanied us, but he said he was not allowed to leave the front gate unguarded. Sergeant Ignez Macco, is it?" Seng held up the envelope. "If you have any questions, I have your service record in my hands."

"But sir," the voice of Macco pleaded, "if the door is opened before eight o'clock in the morning, alarms will go off in the state security office at Fort Canovar."

"I ordered Lieutenant Sanchez to turn off the dungeon alarm," Seng bluffed.

"But sir, he cannot do that. The door is on a separate system that is wired to the security commandant's office in the city. It cannot be opened until eight o'clock in the morning."

It was one more obstacle to overcome, but not totally unexpected. Seng was betting that the security officers would think the alarms were malfunctioning and call the fort to check it out before sending a squad of security police.

Macco fell for it. A few seconds later, the big steel lock clacked and the bolts that extended from the door into the framework could be heard withdrawing from their slots. Then the massive door swung open silently and smoothly. Sergeant Macco stood at attention and snapped a salute.

Seng wasted no more time on niceties. He aimed the tranquilizer gun at Macco's throat and squeezed the tiny trigger. The guard's eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the stone floor like a sack of sand.

The dungeon was not a state-of-the-art prison. The rusting iron cell doors had been hung in the late nineteenth century and still required

the large antique key chained to Macco's belt. Seng ripped the key and its ring from the guard's belt and began opening the first doors. As soon as the door was swung ajar, Julia Huxley rushed into the cell to check the condition of its inhabitant. Seng's team helped by assisting the shocked prisoners, who feared the worst, into the dungeon's passageway.

"Five are in no condition to walk up the stairs and onto the street," said Julia. "They'll have to be carried out on stretchers."

"Then we'll haul them on our backs," replied Seng. "We don't have enough bodies to carry five stretchers."

"These poor devils think we're going to execute them," said a tall, ruggedly built team member with red hair in a buzz cut.