He looked up with a smile spreading across his face. "I do believe I have found it..." he said slowly.

AL JORGENSEN was briefing his sec force. Down three levels from his meeting with the quorum, he was standing on a raised podium in a large, hangarlike room that was functional rather than decorative. The rock from which the redoubt had been hewn was still visible between the metal girders and struts that held the roof in place, and large neon tubing lights hung from thick-linked chains, bathing the vast hangar in a brilliant white light.

The podium on which the sec chief stood was in front of a large vid screen that, right now, showed a larger image of Jorgensen standing in front of a vid screen showing part of a larger image of Jorgensen. It was supposed to show the sec force what was going on in a potential area of combat, to acquaint and acclimatize them with their potential enemy and the territory in which they were moving. Unfortunately for the sec chief, the sharpshooting of Ryan Cawdor and his companions had rendered this option impossible, and so Jorgensen was forced to rely on words and some diagrammatic maps of the ground floor that lay above them.

He fixed his eyes on the faces in front of him. He knew almost all of the sec force by name, and he felt as if he had let every one of them down. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he began.

"People, this isn't easy for me to say. You know we've been put on emergency standby to evac if necessary. It's our job to make sure that it isn't actually necessary. They've got us on the back foot for now, but we can turn that around.

"I know that I've failed-" he raised his hands to still a murmur of dissent from those in the sec force who had served longest under him "-no, hear me out. I've failed because we've lost a lot of people we shouldn't have. I underestimated our enemy, and my tactics were a crock. The only explanation I can give to you for the deaths of your comrades-and this is no excuse, mark you, but a search for a reason why- is that the simulations and manuals are no subst.i.tute for real live experience. We haven't had that, and just maybe we should count ourselves lucky that we've been left in peace so long. But the downside to this is that we got our a.s.ses kicked out there today. The only thing we can do now is learn from it and go back to kick their a.s.ses.

"They're clever. I'll give them that. And brave. They only have primitive weapons, although some of our laser rifles are now in their possession. They shouldn't really have had the chance to train and use them, but we can't be certain. What they do have is courage and a fighting instinct. They're also adaptable. It seems that the women are solely the fighters, apart from a small group of five men who are with them. They are most likely from another tribe or group, and this may be useful to us as their methods of fighting may be different and may cause some dissent and distraction in the heat of battle.

"They have a good grasp of tactics and a knowledge of some technology. The reason I have no footage to show you of them and their current position is because they've located and shot out the cameras in the lobby of the Pentagon. As far as we know, they're resting up there right now. Any move outside of that we can pick up on existing cameras.

"We do, however, have some footage of them taken earlier. Watch and digest, people."

Jorgensen sat down while the lights snapped out and video footage of the earlier journey through the compound played on-screen. It wouldn't be particularly instructive to the security team in terms of battle strategies, but it would, Jorgensen figured, give them some idea of the number and hierarchy of the opposition.

When the footage had finished, and the screen had gone blank, Jorgensen's amplified voice rang out from the mike attached to his one-piece suit.

"So that's what they look like, and this is where they are right now with all possible avenues of pursuit covered."

A diagrammatic map appeared on the screen. It was the ground floor of the building above. The entrance elevators and shafts to the redoubt below were marked in red.

"You can see where the danger points are, and where we will cover," he said briskly. "The important thing to remember now is that although we begin from a defensive position, we have an advantage in numbers, we have a knowledge of the layout that it's doubtful they have-though I stress we must never underestimate them-and we now have an all too clear knowledge of how they make war." He paused to let this sink in, before adding, "We can't let them through. We have to wipe them out."

A COUPLE HUNDRED yards above the sec force, Gloria and Ryan were at Doc's shoulder as he hunched over the map.

"Are you sure about this, honey?" Gloria asked softly.

"As definite as it is possible to be," Doc said firmly but equally softly.

"I'm not getting at you, sweets, just remember that I can't read at all. None of us can," the Gate queen reminded him.

Doc favored her with a smile. "Of course, dear lady. I should not let my own creeping paranoias get in the way of what is, after all, a crucial point. But yes, let me reiterate for you that this is, without a shadow of a doubt, the thing I have sought. Herein lies the key to our attaining the promised land. If it is so, then indeed this is truly a sacred text."

Ryan put his hand on Doc's where the old man's lay upon the paper, obscuring part of the map.

"Time for the talking later, Doc," the one-eyed warrior said. "First of all we need to get acquainted with the layout of this place."

"Very well," Doc replied brightly, withdrawing his hand.

The map that lay beneath his hand was of the Pentagon-but not the one that had once stood in Washington and had long since been blasted to dust by the nukecaust. This was of an amended Pentagon, a "doppelganger" as the scribbled note on the edge of the yellowing paper described it, a shadow Pentagon with an altered floor plan and hidden extras, all of which were carefully marked on the diagram.

"Dark night, this is just what we need," J.B. said softly as he peered over Ryan's shoulder at the map. "It's got every shaft and elevator marked, and it even gives us sec camera positions."

"It's enough to make you believe in G.o.d-if he hadn't put us here in the first place," Mildred added.

Ryan's scarred and craggy face cracked into a grin as he looked first at Gloria, then at his people gathered around. "'Who gives a s.h.i.t? This gives us an edge over the Illuminated Ones. After all, they're going to think we're stumbling around up here like children in the dark. And an edge is what we need, 'cause they've got the secured positions and the manpower."

"Yeah, maybe, honey," Gloria added, "but we've got destiny."

Chapter Sixteen.

Gloria stood before her people, Ryan to one side of her. Despite the fact that the one-eyed warrior, muscular and broad shouldered, stood more than a head taller than the Gate queen, her authority and sense of purpose made her seem his physical equal.

"The time is near. This could be our moment of destiny, and at this moment it's vital that we keep it frosty and know exactly what we're doing." Her piercing blue eyes lit up with a zealous fire as she said, "This could be what we've waited for all these years. We could be the generation of Gate who actually reach the gateway itself. For this chance alone we should be thankful, and should not squander it lightly. It is thanks to our friends from outside that we have the little knowledge we possess of those who stand in our path, and it is also due to them that we are able to glean information from the sacred texts that may help us."

She glanced across at Doc. "Doc Tanner has deciphered the meaning of one of our old maps, and it is from this that we know the ways into the underground lair of those who guard the gateway. Together with Doc and Ryan Cawdor, I have worked out a plan of battle."

Moving forward into the throng of Gate who waited anxiously on her every word, the warrior queen began to single out some of her Amazons, tapping them on the arm or shoulder and murmuring one syllable commands in a tongue Ryan didn't recognize. The warriors thus selected split into small groups, obviously picked by the queen so that they would be able to fulfill specific tasks in the forthcoming battle. Some of the smallest and wiriest of the women were singled off into groups that would be able to traverse the smallest of s.p.a.ces, while the larger and more heavily muscled were selected for a head-on attack.

The small groups continued to divide until there were eight of them, each consisting of five or six warriors. The men of the tribe were directed to keep base camp defended and the young of the tribe safe from harm. This, as ever, was the task they were trained and best suited for, especially in such circ.u.mstances that would demand close fighting and combat skills.

The companions divided up so that they, too, would travel with each of one of the groups. As the slightest in stature and musculature, Jak and Dean were singled out for two of the groups that had the smallest of the Amazon warriors. Mildred, J.B. and Krysty each took a group. Ryan would be with Gloria, and knew already from their discussions that he and the warrior queen would lead the main a.s.sault on the elevator shaft that should-if the plans were correct- lead directly into the lair of the Illuminated Ones.

Doc would travel in a group with Margia, and already he was eying the easy way in which the blond armorer was toying with a laser blaster.

"Do you think you will really get the chance to use that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I hope so, sweetie. If not, well, I just may have to make that chance." She smiled. It was a cold smile, the eyes stone hard.

Doc bit hard on his cheek to avoid giving anything away in his expression, but made a note to keep an eye on the blonde, even in the heat of a firefight. The laser blasters were erratic enough in the hands of those who knew how to use them, let alone in those of someone like Margia, who had no practical or combat experience with the weapon.

With the groups now divided, Gloria once more took her position at the head of the camp, with Ryan and Doc close at hand.

"Now that we're in combat groups for the battle ahead, it's time to talk tactics. We're lucky enough to have discovered-via Doc Tanner-that we have a map to this building that lets us see all the entrances into the places below ground where the guardians of the gateway have based themselves. They don't know we have this, but they know we're here, so we'd have to be complete stupidworks to a.s.sume that they don't have every entrance guarded, except maybe for these..."

She beckoned to certain groups-those including Jak and Dean, and those consisting of the slightest and most pet.i.te members of the tribe-to gather closer to where she and Doc held the old map. The other groups moved in behind, but allowed those indicated to gather at the front, as that was obviously of the most concern to them.

"Right, pay heed, and pay it well," the warrior queen began. "There are pa.s.sages marked out on here that have nothing to do with the elevator shafts and emergency stairwells that the guardians will expect us to find. They're, well, what did you say they were, Doc?" she asked, turning to the old man.

With a gentle inclination of his head to acknowledge her request, Doc indicated the faded blue ink that marked some pa.s.sages on the aged map.

Tracing with his index finger, Doc began, "Every redoubt, which is what they called these places in the days before the nukecaust, was equipped with its own air conditioning and purifying plant with which to take in contaminated air and clean it up for the consumption of those living beneath the surface. Although the plant itself should obscure the way into the redoubt, this is not actually the case as the supposedly airtight seals dividing some sections of the shafts are not exactly that airtight. It is strange," he continued, looking into the distance with a wry smile, "how the greed that could cause skydark could also cause those who created it to overlook the simplest of safety precautions. One backdraft and the air purification system would be shot to s.h.i.t, as they used to say. Ah, the vagaries of the human condition never cease-"

"Big words, Doc. Stick point," Jak cut in pithily.

Doc's smile grew, and he shook his head. "Of course, dear boy, of course. My apologies, my friends. The point being, of course, that it is possible to break through the part.i.tions and gain access through from here-" he indicated one shaft on the map "-to here." His finger sharply pushed along the faded and cracked paper to a parallel shaft. "And by entering this shaft we find ourselves in the interesting position of being among the maze of service shafts and tunnels that run between the levels of the redoubts and behind walls. These will allow the selected groups to move freely along and around the forces below ground, using the service grilles as points of observation and exit, and leaving plenty of scope for surprise attack on the enemy."

"That's why I've selected those of you who are the most pet.i.te," Gloria added. "The shafts and the access to them will be pretty difficult, and no one's pretending that it's the best way to enter combat. But as you all know, there's no easy way to fight, and your size will enable you to access areas that others can't. The G.o.ds alone know that I'd join you, sweeties, if not for the fact that my position as queen makes it inc.u.mbent on me to join my fellow warrior Ryan Cawdor at the head of the firelight."

"I appreciate that," the one-eyed warrior said, "and if it's okay with you, I'll outline the rest of the plan."

"Go ahead, sweets," the warrior queen said with a smile. "It's your and Doc's plan more than mine. You guys know these places, and we don't."

Ryan nodded briefly and turned his attention to the a.s.sembled warriors, fixing them with his steely gaze.

"These are the access points," he said briefly, pointing out the shafts and stairwells. "The stairwells have heavy sec doors, and the elevators are large with sec locks. They move fairly rapidly, but the one thing we have to do is check for sec forces hiding on the roof, ready to fire on us through the access and service hatch. Hey, we know about this because we've done it to other sec forces," he added, looking across the crowd to J.B. for confirmation. The Armorer gave a brief smile in agreement.

"Number one rule-if there's a sec hatch, then check the f.u.c.ker before getting into the line of fire," he said.

"Right," the one-eyed warrior agreed, his single word drawing the attention of the a.s.sembled Amazons and his own people back to the map in front of him. "The stairs will probably be guarded at the blind spots in their curves, and the elevators open onto corridors that will have perfect cover points for the defending force. So we have to be careful. These will demonstrate," he continued, taking two pieces of paper from Doc, on which the old man had made brief maps of one stairwell and one elevator opening. "These are general, but the design of these places is such that they hardly ever differ from level to level, redoubt to redoubt. Don't take this as the absolute truth, but heed the general lesson."

He took some time to explain the different angles of defenses and attack, making sure that he was understood on each point. Finally he was ready and indicated that to Gloria.

"Right, my people," she said briskly. "It's time for us to take our destiny in both hands. Don't f.u.c.k it up. Remember what the battle plan is, but always be open to the moment. Let us prepare."

The women linked hands, so that they formed a chain that ran around the camp, leaving out the men and the companions. Then Gloria began to chant. High, wild and keening in tone, it ran over three repet.i.tive notes that rose and fell in a round that was taken up by other members of the tribe so that the notes ran over one another in rippling waves of sound. Listening to the women, and watching the expressions on their faces, rapt and caught up in a ma.s.s display of emotion that swept them up into a wave of power, Krysty felt her spine tingle, and her sentient hair begin to ripple and wave like the sounds around her. There was the intimation of the danger to come, and yet also an exultant feeling that it could be overcome.

Gloria stopped the chant, and the ripples died away as one by one the voices of the Amazons fell silent. It was as though they had counted the number of notes they had chanted, each voice stopping when it had reached the allotted number. When the Amazons were silent, Gloria spoke quietly.

"We're ready."

THE MAIN PARTY LEFT the lobby area that had been used as base camp, Ryan casting over his shoulder a terse reminder to the raiding parties headed for the service ducts and entrances to shoot out the sec cameras as they went down the corridors. It was possible that anyone watching might guess their intent, but it would be stupe move to let them actually see it through a camera left carelessly working.

Gloria and Ryan headed their party of warriors down the main corridor, as it was wider, with the remnants of plush marble fittings now dulled with age lining the route toward the sec doors at the far end. It was obvious that this was the main corridor if only from the fact that walls delineating it were bereft of any other doors, with no offices leading off as there were from the lesser corridors.

There were only three sec cameras along the 150-yard route, all s.p.a.ced at regular intervals, and all of them fairly low and visible, with little attempt to hide them.

"They want us to know that they know we're coming, a pretty stupidworks move if you already know that," Gloria remarked as she shot out the first camera with her blaster.

"And we do know it," Ryan murmured in reply as he leveled the Steyr to take out the second at a longer distance.

The third camera was claimed by Gloria's Vortak, by which time they were almost on top of the elevator.

Gloria and Ryan exchanged glances as they reached the elevator doors. The warrior queen a.s.sented with a brief nod, and Ryan tapped in the sec code that was used in all military installations to open the elevator doors within a redoubt. It was a gamble that the code would also serve for a surface elevator, but not so much of a gamble that the military codes would also be used by a group like the Illuminated Ones. From their previous encounters with the group, Ryan knew that they used old military ways because many of them were working within the military-industrial complex, as well as serving as part of the covert organization.

Once the code had been entered, the sec doors swept open with a hiss of compressed air and whirring transistor circuits strained into life.

"Up on our level-lay you odds that's not by chance," Ryan muttered with his jaw set in a grim line.

"Best leave nothing to chance, then," Gloria said softly.

As one, Ryan and Gloria stepped into the empty elevator car. It was large and had recesses to each side of the door. Gloria swiftly covered these with the Vortak, but both were empty. Ryan had meanwhile reached up and thrust hard with the Steyr at the service hatch on the roof of the car. It gave way easily at the blow and was knocked backward on its hinge so that it hit the roof of the car with a dull thud that echoed inside.

He waited a fraction of a second and there was no response. Instinct told him that any reaction to the hatch flipping back would have been instantaneous, so he took that as his cue to go up and look. The height of the elevator car was only half a foot above Ryan's head, and he could easily reach up and grip firmly on the ledge around the hatch entrance. Flexing his powerful biceps and forearm muscles, he was able to lift himself up, springing up from his toes to propel his shoulders through the hatch, taking his free arm, still gripping the Steyr before him.

Using his elbow to pivot, he swung his head and shoulders through almost 360 degrees.

The top of the car was empty. With a grim smile, he dropped back to the floor of the elevator car, where he was greeted by Gloria.

"So they missed on that chance, yeah?" she said.

Ryan nodded. "So far, so good. Let's hope they get that slack all along the line."

Gloria beckoned to the rest of the attack group waiting in the corridor. They entered the elevator car and stood uneasily.

"Better get ready now," Gloria said briefly. Ryan waited until the warriors had drawn their handblasters and had their blades in hand, then keyed in the sec code for the elevator on the keypad that was situated to the left-hand side of the inner elevator door. The doors hissed shut, and the elevator began to drop at a steady rate, registering to the a.s.sembled party as the merest pressure. But it was enough for some of the Gate warriors-not used to such tech-to exchange glances.

"It's the speed we're falling," Ryan said, catching their mute exchanges. "Don't think about it. Concentrate on what's about to happen..."

The elevator hit the first level, just as Ryan had punched in. It slowed suddenly, causing the stomach to lurch, but smoothly, too. Ryan inclined his head toward the warriors at his rear.

"This is it," he said simply, turning back to face the doors, giving Gloria a brief glance on the way. The Gate queen favored him with her lopsided grin, her eyes bright with the antic.i.p.ation of battle.

The doors hissed and began to open.

"KRYSTY, YOU TAKE the door as you know the codes. s.h.i.t. I really hate old tech!" The t.i.tian-haired beauty grinned as she pa.s.sed Tammy and punched in the sec code on the door. Both women headed an eight-strong party that had taken one of the lesser elevators to the rear of the building. Along the way, they had taken out a number of sec cameras. "s.h.i.t, the number of cameras we've shot out, they're gonna know exactly where we're headed," Tammy said at one point.

Krysty shrugged in reply. "The good thing is that we'll know they'll be waiting for sure-no doubts, just decisive action."

And now, as Krysty keyed in the sec code and the doors of the elevator slid open, Tammy murmured, "Decisive action. That's exactly what we need. This waiting is getting to me."

Krysty turned to her. "Just stay frosty with it, Tam, and we can outfight these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They don't know what they're up against."

Tammy laughed, tossing back her auburn curls. "Say that again, sugar. Now, let's get this b.a.s.t.a.r.d thing secured." She stepped into the elevator, blaster leveled for possible opposition, nerves on a razor edge.

THE PARTY INCLUDING Doc Tanner and Margia had already secured their elevator and were headed toward the first level. Doc had the LeMat loaded and the swordstick unsheathed from the cane that was both its disguise and protection. His eyes were wide, fueled by the adrenaline that pumped around his skinny frame. Doc was only too well aware of the frailties that his body could be p.r.o.ne to at the most inopportune moments. He prayed to himself that he would hold it together at the times when he most needed to, then looked across at Margia.

The blond armorer was staring at a fixed point just in front of her, and above the head of the Amazon warrior who would precede her out of the elevator. She had a Browning Hi-Power in one hand, and the other held a panga that she had taken especially from the armory. Similar in appearance to the blades carried by both Ryan and Gloria, the blonde had taken this panga and honed the edge to a point where it was razor sharp, and was almost as thin and sharp as the most finely honed scimitar. If Margia had been able to find a piece of silk, she would have tossed it in the air and swished showily at it with the blade to rip it and demonstrate the skill with which she had honed the blade.

Instead, she contented herself with matching Doc's gaze steadily. "Sweetie, anyone gets in the way of this, they're going to wish they'd run in the other direction," she told Doc, raising the blade slightly in the crowded elevator car. There was a manic gleam of blood l.u.s.t in her eyes, but it wasn't the panga that was causing Doc any worry. Rather, it was the captured laser blaster that lay across her shoulders, hanging easily on its strap. The blonde had insisted on bringing it along, despite the attempts of J.B. and Doc to dissuade her. Indeed, if anything, their imprecations had the opposite effect, making her more determined.

Margia may have been hyped up for battle, but this only made her more observant, and she noticed the direction of Doc's gaze.

"Yeah, babe, and if they get too far away for a nice piece of honed steel, then it may be a nice idea to just cook 'em up some. Yeah?" she questioned with a cackle.

Doc looked away, not wishing to answer. Margia's laughter, still tinged with the edge of madness, rang in his ears.

As the elevator hit the first level and stopped smoothly, it crossed Doc's mind that this was going to be interesting.

THE SHAFT WAS narrow and dark. There was enough room for Jak to move his elbows fairly straight and use them to help himself slither along, but not enough that he didn't, from time to time, sc.r.a.pe them on the metal walls. It was only the thickness of his camou jacket that stopped them bruising and grazing, and it flittered briefly across his mind that the Gate women behind him needed to be careful. They didn't have the protection on their arms that he had, and to dull their reflexes with stiffened muscles and tendons at this time could be disastrous.

But he said nothing. It wasn't his place. Besides which, this was a tribe of warriors whose instincts were honed and trained from birth and by experience, much like his own. He trusted that they would think the same as himself and take precautions immediately. The fact that there were no cries of suppressed pain from behind him bore mute testimony to that.

They had entered the shaft from a corridor on the ground level of the building, shooting out cameras along the way. In order to deflect attention from the point at which they actually entered, Jak had led the group through another two junctions, shooting the sec cameras along the way, before doubling back to the point where the access to the shaft lay. It was a simple matter to pull away the grille that was set low in the wall. The screws had succ.u.mbed to rust, the threads being nothing more than oxide that crumbled under the slightest pressure. Once the grille was removed, Jak took the lead and was the first to slither into the darkness.

Head and shoulders into the opening, he paused momentarily to define the best direction to take. He relied on the currents of air that still moved through the shafts to work out which direction would lead down. The air was being sucked gently into the cleansing and purifying plant that lay somewhere below and serviced the redoubt. To follow the current would take them downward to a point where they could break through to the service ducts for the redoubt.

Jak's red eyes shone in the darkness, adjusting to the slightest source of light. There was nowhere he had ever been that was totally dark. It was just a matter of adjusting to how little light there may actually be. Yes, if he went to the right, that should lead to a downward shaft, as the air would be to the rear of them, moving past. Jak slid the rest of his lithe frame through the narrow hatch.