008-72
Door 062-W opened
08:04:55
Lockdown special release command entered (terminal 3A1)
008-72
Door 100-W opened
08:18:00
WARNING: Auxiliary power capacity 35 %
Aux System
Terminal 1-A2 not responding
08:21:30
Security camera system shutdown command (terminal 1-A1)
008-93
SYSTEM ERROR: Security camera system already disabled per low power protocol
'Okay,' Herbie said. 'Well, it starts out all right. Standard system checks by a local operator. Probably one of the console operators up in the main hangar on ground level. Then comes the lockdown at 6:58, keyed in by operator number 105-02. That's someone high up. A 105 prefix indicates a colonel or above. Probably Colonel Harper.
'But then, at 7:37, something must have happened up on Level 1. At that time nearly half the complex's auxiliary power supply went up in smoke.'
'A missile hit the junction box ' Schofield said, recalling his battle with the missile-mounted Humvees up in the Level 1 hangar bay earlier. His tone made it sound like this sort of thing happened every day.
'O-kay' Herbie said. 'That would explain it. That junction box housed the auxiliary power generators. The unfortunate consequence of that, however, happened here,' he pointed at another line:
08:00:15
Main power shutdown command (terminal 3-A1)
008-72
Main power disabled
'Somebody turned off the main power supply,' Herbie said. 'That was why I couldn't disable the cameras before. See here, you can see my entry at 8:21. I'm operator 008-93.
'The problem was somebody else — operator number 008-72 — had already turned the cameras off by shutting down the main power supply. As soon as anyone shuts off the main power, the system switches over to auxiliary power — but now, because of your missile impact, this place only has half its auxiliary power remaining, which as you can see, is draining fast.
'But… when the auxiliary power supply kicks in, the system switches off all nonessential power drains — things like excess lighting and the security camera network. That's the low power protocol that keeps getting mentioned.'
'So by cutting the power, he cut the cameras…' Schofield thought aloud.
'Yes.'
'He didn't want to be seen…'
'More than that,' Herbie said. 'Look at what he did next. He keyed in three special lockdown release codes — once at 8:01 and twice at 8:04 — opening three exit doors.'
'The five-minute window period,' Schofield said.
'That's right.'
'So which doors did he open?'
'Just a second, I'll find out.' Herbie tapped some keys. 'Now, the first one was 003-V.' A schematic diagram of the Area 7 complex came up on his screen. 'There it is. The Emergency Exit Vent.'
'And the other two?'
'062-W and 100-W…' Herbie said aloud, scanning the screen. 'Door 062-W stands for door sixty-two/west. But that would mean it was part of the…'
'What?' Schofield said.
Herbie said, '62-West is the blast door that seals off the westward X-rail tunnel down on Level 6.'
'And the other one? 100-West?'
'It's where that X-rail tunnel ends, over by Lake Powell, about forty miles west of here. 100 West is the security door leading out to the lake.'
Brainiac asked, 'Why would he open those three doors?'
'You open the Emergency Exit Vent to let your companions in. To help you steal the booty,' Schofield said.
'And the other two doors?'
'You open them so all of you can get out.'
'So why cut the power?' Gant asked.
'To disable the security cameras,' Schofield said. 'Whoever did this didn't want the Air Force people to see him doing it.'
'See him doing what?' Brainiac said.
Schofield exchanged a look with Gant.
'See him taking the boy,' he said.
'Quickly,' Schofield said to Herbie, 'can you find out who operator number 008-72 is?'
'Sure.' Herbie began typing fast.
A moment later, he said, 'Got it.' A list appeared on his screen. Schofield scanned the list until he found the entry he was looking for:
008-72 BOTHA, Gunther W.
'Who's Gunther Botha?' Schofield asked.
'Son of a bitch,' a voice said from behind them. It was the President. He stepped up behind Schofield's shoulder.
'Botha,' he spat. 'I should have known.'
'South african scientist, working here on the vaccine,' the President said. 'You make a deal with the Devil, and it comes back to bite you in the ass.'
'Why would he want to take the boy?'
'The Sinovirus kills both white people and black people, Captain,' the President said. 'Only people of Asian origin are safe from it. That boy, however, has been genetically designed to be a universal vaccine, for both blacks and whites. But if only white people are given the vaccine, then only white people would survive an outbreak of the Sinovirus. And if Botha is working for who I think he's working for…'
'So what do we do now?' Herbie said.
'We go after the boy,' Schofield said instantly. 'And we…'
'No, you do not, Captain,' Hot Rod Hagerty said, appearing suddenly behind Schofield. 'You will stay here and you will guard the President.'
'But…'
'In case you haven't been paying attention, if the President dies, so does America. One little boy can wait. I think it's time you got your priorities straight, Captain Schofield.'
'But we can't just leave him…'
'Yes, we can, and yes we will,' Hagerty said, his face reddening. 'In case you have forgotten, Captain, I am your superior officer, and I am now ordering you to obey me. The United States government pays me to do the thinking for you. So this is what you will think: your country is more important than the life of one little boy.'
