“Not here. We’ll fall back down the halls, delay them at every corner. But it won’t be long. There must be several dozen of them, and most of them have rifles.”

“Do your best. We’ll hurry. Give us two minutes, and we’ll go out the back all together.”

Eric slapped his last wad of putty against the base of one of the metal cases and turned around. “Leave the rest. Dick, wire up whatever we’ve got, and let’s get out of here.”

“No,” Rod cried. “I can be finished with them all in another thirty seconds.”

“And I’m right behind him,” Dick added.

“All right, but hurry!” Eric darted out the doorway into the Monitoring Room. Nicole was standing at the door, looking anxiously up the hallway, rifle at ready. Eric grabbed his rifle and ran to her. “You cover the side doorway that leads to the back exit just in case.”

The muffled blasts of rifle fire grew louder. Then suddenly the clatter of footsteps echoed in the corridor, and the three men dashed around the corner about thirty feet away and came pounding toward Eric. Chet whirled and fired a shot back the way they had come. In the narrow confines of the hallway, the reverberating blast was a sharp stab of pain against the eardrums.

“Come on, Chet!” Eric shouted. “I’ll cover you. Don, get inside!”

An orange-clad figure hurtled around the corner, took one startled look down the corridor at Eric, and tried to change direction in midflight. He bounced off the wall and dove back behind the corner as both Clayne and Eric fired together. They ducked instinctively as the black snout of a rifle was thrust around the corner and fired wildly back at them.

“Inside!” As they dove through the door, Eric shouted through the opening of the doorway into the room with the CPUs. “Rod! Dick! Let’s get out of here before they cut off the side exit.”

Rod Loopes came out of the computer room in three strides. “That’s it. Dick’s almost done.”

Andreason was right behind him, carrying the blue box and unreeling the spool of wire as he came. “Okay,” he called. “It’s hooked up.” He handed the box to Rod Loopes. “You take this and let me take the rifle. Just don’t bump that button!”

“All right, let’s go,” Eric commanded. “Don, check the hallway—see if we’re clear. Clayne, you and I’ll cover the rear while Rod unrolls the wire.”

Don Brownley opened the side door that led out of the Monitoring Center, peeked around the frame, then nodded. “It’s clear, let’s go!” But as he stepped out, turning back to see if the others were coming, he suddenly flew backward and upward, jerked completely off his feet. He slammed back hard against the door, staggered once, then pitched face down to the floor.

“Don!” Nicole screamed.