Clayne spoke first. “I say no. Let’s see it through. The Major will kill us, or at least turn us into vegetables like Cliff Cameron.”

Andreason chimed in even as he got the pocketknife out of his small tool box and handed it to Chet. Eric tuned out the conversation, grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil from one of the monitoring stations, and wrote for almost thirty seconds. He dropped to his knee beside Nicole and gently raised her head so she could read it.

WE ARE STALLING. CHET WILL TAKE OUT THE IMPLANT. CLAYNE WILL COVER YOUR MOUTH. YOU CAN’T MAKE ANY SOUND. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Her eyes widened as she read and then looked up at him, seeing the anguish in his eyes. Finally she nodded.

He wrote again, I WON’T GIVE YOU UP, held it for her to see, then kissed her quickly. “Turn over,” he whispered into her ear.

With an effort Nicole rolled over onto her stomach. Chet knelt down and raised the back of her blouse, exposing the red scar just above the small of her back. Eric stood up and motioned to Clayne.

“Don’t be stupid, Clayne,” Chet said loudly, as he opened the blade of the pocketknife, wiped it on his pants, then ran the blade along his finger and shook his head. “We’ve lost. We have to face that.”

“We’ve got to surrender,” Rod Loopes was saying hotly, understanding what they were up to. “Otherwise what will they do to Nicole?”

“They’ll do it anyway!” Clayne shouted as he knelt down next to Nicole. His fingers gently touched Nicole’s cheek; then he clamped his hand over her mouth.

As Andreason finished connecting the roll of wire to the second control box and handed it to Eric, the loudspeaker over their heads blared.

“Eric, your three minutes are up. What’s your decision?”

Eric looked around at the four men. “Do you trust me to make our decision for us?”

“Yes.” It was spoken as one.

He pulled Andreason next to his mouth and whispered, “Dick, take the end of the wire into the computer room. Connect it to anything; then come out and shut the door. It’s got to look authentic. Then get the real button switched over as soon as possible.”

As Andreason jumped to obey, Eric looked up at the ceiling. “Major?”

“Yes, I’m still here, Eric. What is your decision?”

“The detonator button for the explosives goes off if it’s released. I’m holding it down at the moment. I’m coming out into the hallway.”

“No, Eric!” the Major said loudly. “Your time is up.”

“If I let go of the button,” Eric continued calmly, “it’ll close the circuits, and the whole place will go. If any of your men get jumpy and shoot me, it’s all over.”

“What is your decision, Eric?” the Major snapped. “No more talk!”