To Ehrhardt's left, Race saw the Supernova—its silver- and-glass surfaces gleaming, the cylindrical section of thyrium situated in its core, suspended inside its vacuum- sealed chamber in between the two thermonuclear warheads.
Two Cray YMP supercomputers sat against the wall to the side of the Supernova. The two warhead capsules that had been used to transport the nukes sat on the floor beside the big device, and the idol—now with a hollowed-out section in its base—sat on a nearby bench, discarded.
On the laptop computer attached to the front of the Supernova—the source of the beep—Race saw the countdown timer ticking down toward zero: 00:05:00 00:04:59 00:04:58
Underneath the countdown, he saw the words: 'ALTERNATE DETONATION SEQUENCE INITIALIZED/
Alternate detonation sequence?
'Thank you, Little Man Trying Desperately To Be Brave,'
Ehrhardt sneered. 'By entering this cabin, you have just condemned yourself to death.'
Race frowned.
Ehrhardt's eyes flicked left.
Race followed them, and saw—situated along the eastern wall of the control booth eight yellow 200-gallon drums.
The words 'CAUTION!' and 'DANGER: HYPERGOLIC FLUIDS'
screamed out from their sides.
Other words were stencilled across the front sections of the huge yellow drums:
'NITROGEN TETROXIDE.'
There were four drums of hydrazine. Four of nitrogen tetroxide. A complex web of cables and hoses connected each plastic barrel to the next.
Hypergolic fluids, Race recalled from his chemistry days, were fluids that exploded on contact with one another.
A second countdown timer sat on top of one of the hydrazine drums. This timer, however, sat motionless, frozen at five seconds.
00:00:05
And then—just then—Race saw that the eight yellow drums were connected to the Supernova's arming computer by a thick black cord that snaked its way across the floor of the cabin.
00:04:00 00:03:59 00:03:58
'How?' Race demanded, his G-11 pressed against his shoulder, trained on Ehrhardt's chest. 'How have I con demned myself to death?'
'By opening that door, you just triggered a mechanism that will, in one way or another, end your life.'
'How goddamnit!“
Ehrhardt smiled. 'There are two incendiary devices in this room, Professor: the Supernova and the hypergolic fuels. One will blow up the entire planet, the other will only blow up this cabin. I know you wish to disarm the Supernova, but if you succeed in doing that you will do so at a price.'
'What price?'
'Your life in exchange for the world's. By opening that door, Professor, you set off a mechanism that linked the Supernova's arming computer to the hypergolic fluids.
Now, if for any reason the Supernova's countdown is termi nated, the timer on the hypergolic fuels will be started. In five seconds, the fuels will mix and when they do they will detonate, destroying this cabin, destroying you.
'So now you have a choice, Professor, a singular choice, unique in the history of mankind. You can die with the rest of the planet in exactly three-and-a-half minutes—or you can save the world. But in doing so, you must sacrifice your own life.'
Race couldn't believe what he was hearing.
A singular choice…
You can save the world…
But to do so, you must sacrifice your own life…
The two men stood on either side of the control booth, Race standing in the southern doorway with his G-11 pressed against his shoulder, Ehrhardt over by the northern door, with his Glock by his side.
00:03:21 00:03:20 00:03:19
'The President has agreed to pay your ransom—' Race said quickly trying a last-ditch ploy.
'No he hasn't,' Ehrhardt snapped, snatching a sheet of paper from the bench beside him and flinging it at Race.
The sheet fluttered to the floor. It was a copy of the same fax Race had seen in the mine's office earlier. Ehrhardt must have had a fax machine in here too.
'And even if he had said that he would pay,' the Nazi spat, 'I still wouldn't be able to disarm the device. Only Weber knew the disarming code and he, my friend, is dead.
