EL DORADO

The firing pin clicked and Sarah flinched at the suddenness of her nondeath. Jack reacted first, Carl and Farbeaux next. The latter grabbed the failed weapon at the same time Sarah realized she was still alive and swerved away. Farbeaux dove and at the same time tossed Carl the weapon he had removed from his waistband. He fired and took Mendez in the head. The fat man fell to the floor, right on top of the master chief.

Jack had the gun before Rosolo knew what had happened. The captain took a swing at him with the side of his palm and missed, as the major ducked away, came up a foot to Rosolo’s left, and cuffed him in the side of the head.

Carl extended Farbeaux’s gun toward him and Danielle. The lieutenant commander didn’t bother to look at the struggle between Jack and Rosolo. In his opinion, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Rosolo had made a very serious mistake with Jack: he had tried to kill Sarah.

Rosolo had gone into a jujitsu stance and Jack smiled. The students who didn’t know his capabilities started hollering for Jack as the two men squared off. As Rosolo brought his palms up, Jack did just the opposite; he lowered his arms and circled the captain. As Rosolo lunged, Jack easily sidestepped the open palm and then elbowed Rosolo across the bridge of his nose, shattering the bone and sending an explosive arch of shrapnel made up of cartilage and bone fragments into the captain’s brain, dropping him to the stone floor like a rag doll.

The students were stunned. Everett tilted his head at Farbeaux and Danielle. “Doesn’t pay to piss Jack off, does it?”

Virginia was just standing and watching. Never in her life had she witnessed such a quick death as what she had just seen.

Jack turned and faced everyone. His eyes were mere slits and it took a moment for him to come out of the semitrance he was in. Then all at once his vision cleared and he saw Sarah.

“You all right?” he asked as he broke his self-induced spell and started forward toward the group of students.

Sarah didn’t move at first, she just swallowed and nodded her head, stunned at the sudden change of predicament.

“Come on, people, move, we have to get out of here. Sanchez, get Heidi into the water. Commander Everett, cut those two loose, we don’t have time right now.”

Carl lowered the weapon but was tempted to raise it again and put a bullet in Farbeaux’s brain. But he was stayed by the fact that he didn’t murder.

“Until the next time, Henri,” he said as he left the couple and ran to help get the late Mendez off the master chief.

Farbeaux pulled Danielle roughly, for some reason angry at himself for doing what he was about to do. He thought he must be insane for feeling this way.

“Come, my dear, time to leave.”

“We cannot let them live—they know about us. I could never go home again.”

“That doesn’t matter; their director knows about you anyway and, if I know Compton, he’ll hunt you down for our small deceit. Now, we must get out.”

Danielle was shocked beyond measure as she stumbled along in his hard grip. If she didn’t know any better, she could swear she saw remorse on his face. Or was it guilt?

As Farbeaux approached the spot on the staircase just below the height of the dock where Teacher lay grounded, the rising water had belched up one more surprise. There, floating against her stern where the water was starting to lap, was the aluminum case. The weapon had survived intact its journey down the canal. Farbeaux slid to a stop, losing his footing and dragging Danielle down on top of him.

“What are you doing?” she screamed.

“The weapon.”

She looked and saw the container as the rising water around Teacher bumped it again and again between its twin thrusters.

“We have to get out!” Danielle cried.

Farbeaux quickly made a decision. He reached around and removed his satchel; the strap holding it slid off his shoulder. He opened it and took out the heavy Geiger counter, which he tossed away to smash against the stone steps. He then took the satchel and crossed the strap over Danielle’s head.

“Take it and go. I’ll meet you on the river, by the rapids.” He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. “Now go.”

“What…what are you doing?”

“I can’t live with the fact that I helped kill those young people, I have to help this Collins get rid of the device.” He roughly pushed her away as he stood and ran for the rapidly disappearing Teacher.

Danielle watched him for a moment, then stood and made for the canal and the now-vanishing opening that led out of El Dorado. She took a last look at her husband, adjusted the satchel that contained the plutonium, and then turned and dove into the rushing water.

As Jack helped Sanchez with Heidi, Ellenshaw was the first to see the Frenchman as they breached the top of the dock and staircase.

“Look,” he said, pointing.

Jack saw it immediately: Farbeaux was struggling with a yellow anodized aluminum case that could only be one thing, the nuclear weapon. He was trying to bring it to the vanishing staircase but couldn’t get the momentum he needed to fight the speedy current.

“Professor, take Heidi and make for the opening,” Jack said as he handed Heidi off and ran down the stone steps. He jumped feet first into the current, splashed his way to the Frenchman, and helped get the case to the first step out of the water.

“You wanna steal this, too,” Jack quipped as they collapsed against the case.

“Do you always joke upon the moment of your imminent death, Major?”

Jack didn’t answer, as he was watching everyone dive into the water and start swimming toward the falls. He saw Robby try to help Kelly, and her slap his hands away and dive into the water. Virginia and two of the students had the master chief around the neck and were dogpaddling toward the now-submerged opening. Then he noticed a shadow fall on him.

“You two get the hell out of here,” he said, looking up into the faces of Carl and Sarah.

“Not happening, Jack. I think we’ve been through this before,” Carl said as he reached down and pulled the major up. Then he grimaced and helped Farbeaux also.

Sarah just held up a hand when Jack turned on her. “Save it, Jack, we’re wasting time.”

“The thing is, Lieutenant, I’m all out of ideas,” Jack said as he looked down at the case.

They heard shouts and looked up and toward the canal. Just before the master chief’s head went under the water they heard him.

“Did I hear right?” Farbeaux asked.

Sarah, Carl, and Jack looked at each other and said it at the same time.

“Turtle!”