'What word from the European and American governments?'
Ehrhardt asked him.
'The Germans and the Americans both asked for more time to raise the money. Nothing from the others,' Weber said. 'It's a ruse, a standard negotiator's stalling tactic; They're trying to buy more time until they know for sure that their own teams haven't found the idol first.'
'Then let's show them who has the idol! Ehrhard growled. He turned to face Anistaze. 'Make a digital image of the idol now. Time it and feed it into the computer and send it to Bonn and Washington direct. Tell the presidents that the device has left armed and set to detonate in exactly thirty minutes. It will only be disarmed when we have confirmation of the transfer of one hundred billion dollars into out account in Zurich.
'Yes, sir,' Anistaze said crossing the room to switch on digital camera
'Do it, Weber,' Ehthardt said.
'Yes, Oberstgruppenfuhrer?'
'When the Obergruppenfuhrer is finished taking the digital image, I want you to take the idol to the control booth and arm the Supernova immediately to a thirty- minute countdown and start the clock'
“Yes, Oberstgruppenfuhrer'
Race, Renee and Uli hurried back up the dirt path toward the boat-house.
Uli and Rene carried G-11s, Race the small Glock that he had taken from the dead Nazi at the refuse pit.
He now wore the dead Nazi' black kevlar breastplate over his T-shirt. He hadn't easily noticed the Nazis body armour before. But now—now that he was wearing it he looked at it more closely.
First of all it was incredibly light and easy to wear—it didn't impede his movement at all. Secondly, however, he noticed a tange A-shaped unit attached to the back of the breaia covering his shoulder-blades. The A-shaped unit was so light, and like a spoiler on a sports car, it had been smoothly corporate into the design of the kevlar breastplate so as not to run its slick aerodynamic appearance,
As always, and perhaps incongruously -with his high-tech body armour, Race was still wearing his damn Yankees cap,
Digital image is complete,' Anistaze said from over by the bank of radio and electronic equipment, 'Sending it now.' Ehrhardt turned to Weber, 'Arm the Supernova,'
Weber immediately snatched up the idol and with Ehrhardt in tow behind him quickly headed out of the office.
Over there! Renee yelled pointing at one of them carrying an object wrapped inside a cloth, the idol!
Uli ad Renee left the dirt path, plunged into a section of low foliage heading in the direction of the crater, Race followed them.
Seconds later, the three of them arrived at the rim of the gigantic mine and looked out over it.
'It's Ehrhardt and Weber, Uli said. 'They're taking the idol to the Supernova!'
'What do we do?' Race asked.
Uli said, 'The Supernova is inside the control booth hanging over the mine. There are only two bridges that lead out to it that one from the north, and the other one from the south, Somehow-we have to get to that cabin and disarm the Supernova'
'But how do we do that?
'To disarm the device,' Uli said, you have to enter a Code into the arming computer'
'What's the code?'
'I don't know,' Uli said sadly. 'No-one knows. No-one except Fritz Weber; He designed the device, so he's the only one who knows the disarming code.'
'Great;' Race said
Uli continued: 'Okay now, listen this is how I see it, I am the only one of g who can get to the control booth, If they see either of you coming down one of the cable bridges, they'll drop them immediately and isolate the booth. Then, if they don't get their money, they'll blow the Supernova.
But they're expecting me back soon believing that I have killed the two of you. When I get back, I will try to get to the control booth. Then I will try to... persuade Weber to disarm the device...'
What do we do in the meantime?' Race asked;
'For this to work,' Uli said, I must be able to deal with Weber alone. I need you two to take out Anistaze and the remaining men n the boat-house.
Exactly seven hundred feet above the floor of the mine, Dr Fritz Weber was punching buttons on a computer console.
Beside him, a laser cutting device was carefully going to work on the thyrium idol inside a vacuum-sealed chamber.
Behind Weber stood Ehrhardt. And behind Ehrhardt, standing in the exact centre of the control booth, stood a very imposing, six-foot-tall silver-and-glass device.
Two thermonuclear warheads—each approximately three feet in height and roughly conical in shape—were positioned inside a clear glass cylinder. They were arranged in what was known as an 'hourglass formation'—the upper warhead pointing downwards, the lower one pointing upwards—so that the whole device looked like an enormous egg-timer. In between the two warheads, at the throat of the hourglass, sat a skeletal frame made of titanium into which a subcritical mass of thyrium would be placed.
It was the Supernova.
