Kendra nodded. “Jessie and I will stand guard up here until we get the all-clear from you. Trust me, I’m not crazy about it, either.”
“I know. Just keep close watch so you can let me know if those guards show up.”
“Lynch, you don’t have to tell me that.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Stevie was obviously anxious to get into the bunker. She was heading for the steel rung ladder. “Come on, let’s go.”
CHAPTER
15
Lynch followed Archie down the steel rungs lining the bunker’s entrance. Stevie climbed down behind him, and they finally reached a cement floor approximately eight feet below. Lynch and Stevie stood still for a moment, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness.
“Here,” Stevie whispered as she handed Lynch her extra pair of goggles. They both put on the devices and saw Archie’s razor-sharp night-vision view. The bunker appeared to be an extended hallway, perhaps thirty feet long, with three left-facing doorways and a larger doorway at the end.
Stevie whispered in a voice that Lynch had to struggle to hear, “Archie, show us what’s in these rooms.”
Archie moved quietly down the corridor and leaned into the first doorway. His relayed view showed Lynch and Stevie a small room with military-style bunk beds lining each wall, plus a small table in the center of the room. Five of the bunks wereunmade, and the table was littered with open snack packages and drink cans. The second doorway led into a strategy room, with large framed maps of the surrounding area, style and artwork clearly from the 1940s.
“Incredible,” Lynch whispered.
Archie stopped. “Would you like to enter this room?”
“Maybe later. Keep going.”
They continued down the hallway, and Archie leaned into the third room to show them what appeared to be a break room, outfitted with an assortment of World War II–era magazines, games, and paperback novels, plus a few modern-day items including a television monitor and a Bluetooth music player.
Lynch looked at the doorway at the end of the hall. This door was different from the others, made of the same kind of iron as on the main entrance. But there was something else different about it, Lynch noticed.
There was light coming from beneath the door.
And he heard movement.
Lynch pulled out his gun and whirled back toward Stevie. “Stay back! I don’t like this.” But Stevie ignored the order, following him with her gaze fixed in fascination on the closed door and the steel lock sealing it. Muttering a low oath, Lynch stepped closer to the door and pulled on the handle of the steel lock.
It didn’t open.
“Would you like me to open it?” Archie asked softly. “It would be my pleasure.”
Lynch nodded.
Archie gripped the handle and yanked the door back. Pieces of the lock flew outward, and light flooded the dark corridor. Lynch ducked low and rolled into the room. Using Archiepartially as a shield, he jumped up with the gun extended in front of him.
The room was empty except for one man, whom Lynch immediately identified.
It was Dr. Palmer Nolan. He was bound and gagged on the floor.
“Dad!” Stevie rushed in and knelt beside him.
Nolan’s eyes bulged, and he writhed on the floor as he tried desperately to yell something through his gag. Stevie pulled it down over his chin.
“It’s a trap!” Nolan yelled. “Get out of here, Stevie! Go!”
A hidden panel slid open behind Nolan. Six men, all dressed in the now familiar tactical gear, rushed into the room with their assault rifles extended before them.
But a seventh man held another odd-looking gun aimed squarely at Archie. He pulled the trigger, and four wired leads ejected and stuck to Archie’s exposed upper chest plate. The leads sparked, and Archie shook as if suffering an epileptic seizure. Then the robot collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Stevie scrambled toward him. “Archie!” It was a cry of pure agony.
