Richard dismissed the matter with a cavalier wave. “Ryan, or one of his people, will tell us where the hidden switch is located. Or the correct command code to type in, or whatever the secret start-up procedure is. If not, then I’ll assign our best techs to the problem.”
“Best remaining techs,” she corrected hotly.
“The experts were killed trying to get through the booby-trapped hatch in the floor. We need Ryan alive, just in case. Or else all of this might prove to be pointless. We’ll own the ultimate weapon, but won’t be able to turn it on!”
“Annoying, but true,” Richard said thoughtfully.
“However, I might have an answer to that. How long till sundown?”
She looked at the sky. “An hour or so. Why?”
“Captain of the guards!” Richard barked loudly. From out of the shadows, the robed fat man scurned over. “Yes, my lord?”
“Summon criers and have them spread the word. At the evening bell, we’ll kill a random slave every hour until Ryan and his people are turned over to us alive. Alive, mind you. If they’re dead, then every child in the whole ville will go to the twist-em!”
“At once, your highness,” the trembling man said. He bowed and scuttled inside the prison fortress.
“Brilliant, dear brother,” Amanda breathed, sitting upright from eagerness. “The slaves will have no choice but to give us the outsiders.”
“With Ryan comes the tank, and then we’ll have the Wheel, and the world beyond.”
She laughed. “Ryan might even turn himself in to save innocent lives!”
“The fool.” He chuckled. “And then, he is turned over to Eugene?”
“Of course, my sweet,” Amanda purred. “But not before we play with him for a while.”
“Excellent,” Richard said, giving a feral grin. “Excellent.”
RICHARD AND THE OTHERS were testing their supplies and strapping on weapons when J.B. and Mildred burst into the tunnel.
“Have you heard?” J.B. asked. “Mildred and I were checking on the molds for the explosives when a miner brought us the news.”
“A slave killed every hour!” Mildred explained. “They must be insane!”
“Desperate and insane,” Ryan agreed, pumping his shotgun to chamber a round. “That’s why we’re hurrying.”
“We have forty-five minutes remaining,” Krysty said. “How did the molds come out?”
J.B. and Mildred slid the bulky packs off their backs and laid the canvas satchels gently on the stone floor. “They’re okay,” the Armorer replied. “A few cracked, but, dark night, is sugar candy hard to work! Forms at 314 degrees and blows at 316. That’s why I had it made in a side tunnel far away from us. Could have ignited during the pouring. Or the cooling, or when I opened the mold.”
“Forty-five minutes to do what, exactly?” Mildred asked sternly. “Escape?”
Ryan used a strip of black cloth to tie his hair back off his face. “To attack the Citadel.”
“Now? Hours ahead of the plan?”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane,” Lisa said, as if it were a fact beyond questioning.
Leaning against the stone wall, Troy nodded his agreement.
“The sooner we hit,” Doc countered, smearing lampblack over the silver head of his cane, “then the less prepared they are.”
“And the lower the chance that a slave will crack under the strain of seeing friends and family die, and betray us to the ward.” Finished with his preparations, Ryan walked over. “How many bombs cracked?” he asked.
J.B. removed his fedora and scratched his head. “Six. Can’t use them for anything but fireworks. They won’t explode, only spray out wads of sparks.”
“A diversion?” Dean asked, loading another clip for his Browning Hi-Power and shoving it into his lumpy vest.
“Too chancy,” Ryan decided. “Better leave them behind.”
Lisa and Troy both spoke. “We’ll take them.”
Ryan waved them on.
“Six are broken, which leaves us with…” Doc prompted.
“Nineteen.” J.B. rammed his hat back on. “It’s not plastique, but when it goes, it’ll sure ruin somebody’s day.”
“Shrapnel?” Jak asked, holstering his .357 Magnum pistol and drawing the oversized bowie knife.
“Couldn’t find any nails, so I used broken glass. Rubbed the pieces with sewage, too.”
Jak stopped honing the curved blade. “Sewage?” he repeated, taken aback.
“The sewage infects the wound,” Mildred explained. “Kills the victim days later.”