Smith squeezed off a round and the man went down, rag-dolling across the ground before coming to a stop on his back.

The second man turned at the sound of the shot, returning fire accurately enough to force Smith to protect his eyes against the spray of dirt and shattered rock exploding from the wall next to him. The guard came to a full stop about sixty-five yards away and was walking his shots toward Smith as he concentrated on Takahashi’s receding back.

Again, though, the guard had put himself in a position to disrupt the line of sight to the fleeing soldier.

A round passed just over Smith’s head and he was forced to duck back into the corridor. There was no time for this. He immediately moved back into the open and raised the pistol. Its dead owner had done a meticulous job of sighting it in, and Smith’s first attempt spun the guard halfway around but didn’t knock him down.

Smith ran at him, covering the distance at a full sprint as the injured man struggled to stay on his feet. By the time the guard was able to raise his weapon, Smith was only about ten yards out and easily put a round directly center of mass.

The thud of the man’s body hitting the ground was audible as Smith continued forward, eyes locked again on Takahashi as the soldier arrived at a small door adjacent to the main blast doors.

He’d obviously taken the precaution of memorizing the override code and a moment later the door slid open. Smith began emptying his gun in the man’s direction. Takahashi turned sideways to present the smallest target profile possible and slipped through the gap into the exterior cavern.

“No!” Smith shouted, trying to will his legs to pump faster. His injuries made it impossible for him to get in a full breath, and his vision was starting to swim as the door began to close again.

He was a good two seconds too slow and instead of passing through, he hit it still running full speed. The pain in his back flared and he dropped to the ground just as a series of rounds slammed into the wall above him.

Smith rolled to his stomach and saw the men coming his way. All were armed and this time there were more than three. This time he counted nine.

They were running in a tight group, creating an easy target. He took out two in quick succession, thinking it would cause the others to scatter, but that didn’t happen. They just kept racing straight at him. He squeezed the trigger again, but the magazine was empty. Smith unzipped the front of his jumpsuit and went for the Glock. They were too close for him to stop them all but at least he could take a few with him.