“We’ll improve the odds as we go,” Brigid responded.
They went back into the nightmare lab area. Kane saw no use in ordering a standard deployment of personnel and firepower. He was still suffering from bouts of vertigo and reeling drunkenly from time to time, Grant’s vision was still foggy and Brigid was untrained. So they ran in a blundering rush, Kane occasionally veering from side to side, bumping into Grant, who was feeling his way along the glass-fronted wall.
When they approached the section where the bodies lay in cryonic stasis, Kane called a halt. He reached into his war bag and produced a pair of grenades.
“Incends,” he said, hefting them in either hand. “How many do you have, Grant?”
He pawed through his pouch and pulled out a metal egg. “One.”
“What do you want those for?” Brigid asked anxiously.
“I want to blow this place.”
“Why? Diversion, revenge or what?”
“A little of all three. Also mercy. If those people are still alive, at least we can make sure they won’t be used as biological material for the new humanity.”
“It might not do any good, Kane. Their cryonic canisters might be well shielded.”
“It might not do any good, it might not stop their program, but at least we can screw up their timetable a little.”
“What difference would it make?” asked Grant sourly.
“A great deal. To me.”
Using his thumbs, Kane flipped away the firing levers, tossed them behind him and started running. Grant cursed, pulled the lever of his gren, hurled it and ran after him. Brigid outdistanced them both.
Behind them, the lab disintegrated in a roaring white flash.
The glass-fronted cubicles shattered as if giant fists smashed into them. The entire passageway shuddered brutally. Shards of glass rained down on the floor behind them, and the scorching heat of the thermite charges buffeted their bodies.
Grant’s incendiary detonated, and the rolling balls of flame overlapped, instantly building to a roaring inferno. The thundering shock waves felt like a storm-driven surf.
A hurricane of superheated air converged from all sides, slapping their breaths back into their nostrils. An intolerable white glare lit their way, casting their elongated, distorted shadows on the floor ahead of them. Their eyes, adjusted to the red-tinted dimness of the installation, stung and watered. Behind them they heard the screeching rasp of ripping metal and the splintering of glass. The floors and walls shook and trembled, and a cloud of smoke billowed after them, bringing with it a faint scent, like overcooked pork.
Long before they thought to have reached them, the set of double doors came in sight. The three people slammed them aside, rushed down the aisle between the old medical machines, kicked open the adjoining door and stumbled to the foot of the stairs, tripping the photoelectric sensor in the process. Overhead, the concrete slab pivoted up on its side, and they scrambled through it before it was fully ajar.
They ran across the bare floor and empty spaces toward the metal staircase. Kane, his eyes recovering from the glare, was aware of pale, graceful shapes flashing swiftly out of the shadows, but he and his companions reached the stairs and hauled themselves up them without being molested.
When they pounded onto the walkway, they saw why. The catwalk was blocked by a clot of hybrids, making mewing, giggling sounds. Several of them swished silver wands through the air, like fencers warming up for a duel.
Brigid took a step back, cast a glance over her shoulder and swore. “Hell night!”
Clustered around the base of the stairway glittered dozens of eyes. From the cluster rose a tittering murmur, abhorrent to the ear.
From the group blocking their forward progress, the hybrid Kane recognized stepped forward, the metal rod rocking back and forth in his hand, like the needle of a metronome. A smile creased his thin mouth.
He said, “It is our practice to subdue and contain intruders. Killing is sometimes a necessity, but oftentimes useful tissues are damaged. Will you accept the inevitable?”
Kane shared a brief look with Grant and Brigid. They gave quick nods, and he turned to face the hybrid. He slid the Sin Eater back into its holster. Grant followed suit.