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Clay motioned him to silence, then pressed the mike button. "Where's Tu--Colonel Tucker?"
"Last time I saw him, he was on level two, taking inventory in the gun locker. He isn't answering his radio?"
"I'll try again. Maintain your position. I'm sending backup."
Clay handed the mike to Adam, then gestured from me to Ryman.
"You want him?" he asked.
I met Ryman's eyes with a cold stare. "Not really. Go ahead and kill him."
Ryman's eyes bulged. His mouth opened but before anything came out, Clay snapped his neck. Once Adam finished disconnecting the radio and security systems, we headed for the gun locker.
Now, we didn't know exactly where to find the gun locker. The guard had said level two, which narrowed it down somewhat. From my infirmary excursions, I'd learned that the second floor was laid out much like the lower level, one large block with a single corridor looping around and joining at the elevator. That made it easier. All we had to do was start at one end and check every room until we found Tucker. Getting Ryman to divulge the exact location of the gun locker would have taken too much time.
On our search, we found and killed two kitchen workers. No, they didn't threaten us. No, we didn't perceive them as a threat. The unpleasant truth was that we had to kill everyone. No matter how harmless they might seem, even the lowliest staff member possessed the most dangerous weapon of all: knowledge. They knew we existed, and for that, they couldn't be allowed to leave the compound.
While searching for Tucker, we found Matasumi in a locked room--or I should say, I smelled him through a locked door. We listened for a moment, then Paige cast a minor spell to open it. She admitted the spell worked only on simple locks, but since it was silent, we decided to try that before employing more physical techniques. It worked and we eased the door open. I peered inside and saw Matasumi seated at a computer. He was alone. I eased the door shut, bumping Paige in the chin as she craned her neck for a look inside.
"All clear," I whispered. "He's working at a computer. Doesn't seem to even realize there's a problem."
"He knows," Paige said. "Did you see the Zip disks? The knapsack? He's backing up data and clearing the hard drive before he runs."
"And he's about to encounter a fatal error," Adam said, grinning. "Mind if I handle this one?"
"I saw a gun on the desk," Paige said. "A big one. He probably grabbed the largest one he could find."
Clay glanced at me.
"I doubt he has any idea how to use it." I nodded to Adam. "Sure, go ahead. We'll cover you. Just be--"
"Careful," Adam said. "I know."
I eased open the door. Matasumi faced the side wall. His fingers flew across the keyboard. As Adam stepped into the room, Matasumi bent to put another disk into the drive. He saw Adam and froze, then sneaked a glance at the gun on the corner of the desk. His hand darted out, but Adam snatched the rifle before Matasumi got close.
Adam brandished the gun and whistled. "This is one wicked piece of firepower. You got a license for it, Doc?"
Matasumi froze again, hand still outstretched.
"Didn't think so," Adam said. "Neither do I, so how about we get rid of this before someone gets hurt."
Adam started to toss the gun to Clay, then thought better of it, laid it on the floor, and scooted it to us with his foot.
"Adam Vasic," Matasumi murmured.
"You know my name? I'm flattered."
Adam grabbed Matasumi's hand and shook it. Matasumi yelped and yanked his hand back. He stared at the bright red splotches on his palm, then gaped at Adam, as if unable to believe he'd burned him.
"Whoops," Adam said. "Sorry about that, Doc. Haven't quite got the fiery stuff under control yet." Adam turned to the computer. "Whatcha working on? That's some piece of hardware. Paige, you see this? What is it?"
Adam bent and squinted at the tower box. He reached out and touched it. Sparks flew. Circuits popped. Matasumi jerked back.
"Damn!" Adam said. "That looks bad. Think you can fix it, Paige?"
"Sorry, I'm not a technician."
Adam shook his head. "Guess we're shit outta luck, then, Doc. Sorry about that. What were you doing anyway? Downloading files?" Adam popped the disk from the drive. It sizzled, then melted like wax between his fingers. "Oops. Hope you have backups."
