Still there? Gonna strangle me yet?

Also, I had great fun having Blair and Hadji rescue themselves last chapter. Don't get me wrong – I love me some Blair-in-peril fic as much as the next fangirl, but he's extremely competent and sometimes I just need him to remind us that Blair can kick a fair amount of ass without ever having the training Jim has.

Now for our already-hairy situation to get so, so much hairier.

Enjoy!

"This would be so much easier if it was just you and me trying to get out of here," Jonny said in a low voice.

"True," Jim didn't turn back to look at him.

"But we can't do that."

"No, we can't."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jonny stared up at the ceiling of the elevator.

"Honestly? No," Jim glanced to him enough to offer a small smile. "But it's a start."

"Good enough for me," Jonny decided. He jumped for the open trapdoor above.

Jim and Jonny had swapped with a pair of guards for a few hours serving on the fifth level down, the one with the most dangerous and active of the Sentinels in the facility. Because it was just about lunchtime, the guard shifts were slightly lighter than usual, so it was fairly easy for Jim and Jonny to arrange to be alone on the floor for a few minutes, a critical few minutes to their plan because the fifth floor was unique in a way that gave them an advantage.

Because only those guards on the fifth floor were armed with tranquilizer guns and darts.

Armed with non-lethal weaponry, Jim and Jonny had decided to climb into the elevator shaft through the trapdoor in the car's ceiling. There was a camera in the shaft, but only at the very top, so in the dark it had limited visibility five floors down. They rode the elevator up one level, which put them in range of the door of the third floor above them. While keeping his balance, Jonny studied the interior of the vertical space for the thing that would make everything possible, eventually spotting it on the far wall.. It was an electrical box. Jim nodded to give him the go-ahead and in one step Jonny was perched on the edge of the elevator's roof to peer at the collection of wires and fuses. He nodded to himself before turning back to give Jim a thumbs-up.

With the fire-extinguisher Jim had brought from the fifth level, he rammed the solid part of the canister into the electrical box, breaking the outer case and causing a burst of sparks. He hit once more for good measure, then sprayed the whole thing, simultaneously preventing a fire and shorting out any wires that weren't already nonfunctional.

"That should cut at least some of the power to the floor," Jonny whispered.

"Let's go," Jim nodded, slinging the canister onto his back with his improvised sheath – a set of chains slung across his chest with the handcuffs attached to the extinguisher's neck. He moved to the door to the third level and hoisted himself up, working a hand into the gap between the doors and forcing them open.

"It's me," he called at the guards yelling to one another. "We lost power downstairs, too. Everybody okay?"

A few guards who spoke English started to answer. The lights were out, but there was a single emergency light at the far end of the corridor, near where the installation's utility room was housed. Still, it was dark and the change in lighting had been sudden, so only a Sentinel's eyes could have adjusted quickly enough. While Jim strode forward, gathering the guards together and trying out his Russian for explanations, Jonny silently pulled himself up into the doorway and levied the tranq gun. He opened his sight wide and took out each guard before they knew what was happening.

"Nice shooting, Tex," Jim approved. He stole every key from the guards, quickly chaining them together with their own handcuffs, and latching them to a pipe that carried heat throughout the building.

"Everybody!" Jim called. "It's time to get out of here. I know some of you have seen better days, but if you've got anything left in you to help yourselves, now's the time!"

"We are with you," came the strong, determined voice of Hasna.

Of the ten Sentinels on this level, three were comatose or lost in themselves, but besides the two pregnant women, the remaining five were simply old. Still, though they might not be spry, every man and the one woman had been part of the military and they were prepared to fight with whatever strength was left to them. Jonny and Jim moved along the corridor, unlocking doors as they went, the Sentinels stumbling to freedom.

"What is your plan?" Emeline asked softly.

"Jonny, hit the utility room. Kill the power to the whole base. We can use the elevator shaft to get around, though they'll be waiting for us."

"Not necessarily," said one of the old men softly. When they turned to him, he pointed. "Listen."

Jonny and Jim opened their hearing and turned to the door. Sound echoed strangely, as if there were more space than just the small closet. Jonny found the key he needed in the pile Jim had handed him and opened the room. Then he grinned.

"Perfect! There's a vertical utility corridor here that must run all the way down. There might not be doors on the levels below us, but there will be an access panel in the shaft, and it's big enough to climb in. We'll just have to break through the drywall and we'll have our own little escape tunnel straight to the surface."

"You shut down all the power. I'll find something to start breaking through the drywall," Jim said.

Jonny vanished into the closet-sized room, expertly yanking wires free and using a pilfered hunting knife to slice through those cords that ran up and down the center of the vertical corridor. The sounds of the heaters, the air pressure devices, and the lights all cut out. But the Sentinels could see well enough even by nothing more than the single emergency light on batteries near the elevator. One of the other Sentinels grabbed the flashlights from the guard station and passed them out as well.

"What about the rest of us?" Hasna asked.

"Everybody pair up, and help the people who can't help themselves," Jim ordered. He swiveled his head as he listened. The utility room wasn't shielded against sound the way the rest of the facility had been, so he finally had the chance to get his bearings without having to work to listen through electronic soundproofing and patches of white noise machines.

He smiled as he realized he could hear a great deal of confusion and yelling in the distance. It seemed that those who had been in the mess hall were still there, trapped somehow. And those who woke in the barracks were also pounding on doors. Jim knew that the people on the surface were not hampered in any way, but the bulk of the force seemed to be rather neatly contained.

Nice going, Bai Ming, he thought. The old Guide had promised to do his part and Jim had never doubted him. Locking everybody into their rooms was a familiar sort of tactic – it was the sort of thing Sandburg would do.

"The level above us is a lot bigger and has the most people on it," Jim said. "We need to get to the level just under the surface, two up from here. They'll expect us to go straight to the top, not stop one floor short. Does the shaft in here go that high?"

Jonny looked up. "Yeah. And there's a ladder, too, for maintenance."

"Somebody needs to go up first and secure the area," said the old man who had spoken before. "I volunteer."

"I'm going with you," Hasna decided.

"You okay with this?" Jim handed over one of the tranq guns.

"Yes sir," the old man said.

Jim started to turn away from Hasna who frowned deeply. "I cannot give them a chance to take my child," she said stubbornly. Jim sighed and handed over another tranq gun.

"Fine, I get it. Then get going and make us a place. There's a lot of stuff up there, so you can probably fortify your position pretty easily. We'll keep sending people up this way if we can."

"What about them?" Emeline gestured to the three Sentinels who needed to be helped along.

"Do what you can," Jim said. "Jonny and I need to go down and start getting the others free."

He turned to Jonny. "It's time. Call in the cavalry."

Jonny nodded and slammed his watch into the nearest wall, shattering it.

-==OOO==-

The regular beeping that had been their major concern for days suddenly cut off, followed by a loud alarm.

"That's Jonny's signal!" Benton said. "They need an exit and they need it now!"

"We can't be in two places at once, Doc," Race said, his voice calm in spite of his agitation. "It's your call. Do we go after Jonny and Jim? Or do we keep trying to find Blair and Hadji?"

Benton closed his eyes and forced himself to think. For six hours he and Race had been following up on the distressing information about Blair and Hadji's location in Murmansk and the deliberately-initiated system lock-out. No attempt to hack the Quest network had been made, suggesting that no one had been forcing the pair to try yet. When the digital trail had petered out, Benton and Race had made the decision to risk a trip into the city in case they would be needed. They hadn't turned up much, so they had retreated to the Dragonfly, whose equipment was much more powerful than Benton's mobile lab.

Race spoke into Benton's thoughts. "The Dragonfly can get to Jim and Jonny in two shakes of a polar bear's tail, but landing could be tricky depending on what we're walking into. On the other hand, if we'd stayed put at the research station, with the way the wind is blowing we wouldn't have done much better with that little plane they gave us for your 'research.' So we're better off now anyway. At least here we've got the 'Fly."

"A lot can happen to Jonny and Jim in an hour," Benton said tightly. "Why did I ever agree to any of this? Or to being so far away?"

"Because it was the right thing to do, Benton," Race said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now tell me what the right thing to do is this time."

"Both my sons are in danger, Race," Benton said miserably. "But I only know how to find one, so he's the one I have to help."

"I'll start her up," Race said. "We'll be wheels, or, rather, skis up in ten minutes."

Benton nodded numbly and moved to one of the seats a row back from the pilot chairs where he could focus his efforts within the Quest system. He searched in vain for any final sign of Hadji or Blair before they would have to leave.

"Tower, this is Dragonfly," Race said, opening the channel. "Requesting permission for immediate takeoff. We are ready as soon as you have clearance on the runways."

"Air traffic control to Dragonfly. You will be clear to depart as soon as we apprehend the intruders."

"Intruders?" Race looked up with alarm.

"They are on the ground and approaching you fast. Security is already on their way. Please stay inside your aircraft while we secure the area."

Benton and Race both stood to peer out the windows towards where they could now hear the faint sound of sirens. True enough, there was a truck racing ahead of a security vehicle, nimbly weaving in and out of baggage carts and the other private plane nearby.

"Whoever it is, they drive like you, Race," Benton commented.

Then the truck's horn began to blow. Two long blasts, then a short and another long. Two short and another long. One short. Three short in quick succession. Then one long blast.

"They're spelling 'quest!'" Race yelled. He dove to one of the compartments that had a pair of binoculars handy.

"What is it, Race?" Benton asked, feeling his heart pound with hope.

"Ask and ye shall receive, Doc!" Race threw the binoculars aside and grabbed the radio, grinning fiercely. "Dragonfly to Tower. Those aren't intruders. They're the last of our party. They, uh, must have gotten lost or something."

Benton turned away from where Race tried to negotiate with air traffic control to keep the pair out of jail and hit the button to open the cargo bay. He couldn't help but run through the jet to see the truck come bumping up the ramp the instant it was on the ground. Before the truck had even stopped fully, Hadji dove out the passenger-side door.

"Doctor Quest!"

"Hadji," Benton felt the cold of his terror ease at the sight of his son, whom he pulled into a sudden embrace. "What on earth are you doing here? And what happened? You must have…"

"Too long a story, Benton," Blair said, climbing out from the driver's seat. "But there's no time to lose. If you hadn't been here, we were going to have to find some way of cracking into the 'Fly ourselves. We've got to get to wherever Jim and Jonny are. Right now."

"They've already signaled for an emergency pickup," Benton said, releasing Hadji. "We're ready to go as soon as Race gets the okay." He peered down at his son. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Hadji swallowed thickly. In spite of his serenity and his usually unflappable nature, he could not help the fear that accompanied his words.

"Father, it's Doctor Zin. He's been behind it the whole time. He's going to kill them."

-==OOO==-

Jim paused just as his little fire ax had finally broken through the drywall on the fifth floor. He could clearly hear Jonny above him helping shuffle the Sentinels from the fourth through their tunnel to start climbing towards freedom. But something else…a sound…had gotten his attention.

In a moment, he recognized it. It was the distinctive click-crackle sound of a PA system turning on. Must be run by backup batteries, Jim thought. Seems like a stupid thing to waste your time making functional in an emergency when you don't care about using it to save lives.

"Greetings, Jonny Quest. It is I, Doctor Zin."

Above, Jim heard Jonny twitch so hard in surprise he actually lost his footing and slid down the utilities shaft a few feet before he caught himself.

"There's no way! It's not possible!" Jonny gasped.

"I am certain you are surprised to hear my voice, son of my enemy. How foolish are you, to attempt to hide in a facility of my own? It is only your own good fortune that none of my employees were wise enough to identify you, save one." There was a pause and Jim could hear the displeasure. "However, she will be rewarded and the rest of you imbeciles will be punished."

Oh, that's why. Can't have a megalomaniac without a bullhorn, Jim thought to himself while he slipped onto the fifth level. This one, where he and Jonny had started, was already deserted except for the Sentinels.

"For the failures of my loyal followers, and because no more useful information can be gained from any of you test subjects, I sentence all within the facility to death. Miss Yi has already received her orders to vacate. The rest of you – I hope you will enjoy your frozen tomb."

"Oh great," Jim muttered to himself. "He's one of those bad guys."

"And Jonny Quest? Farewell. I will send your father after you soon, but your Guide will belong to me!"

That stopped Jim in his tracks as his chest seized with cold. In the utility shaft behind him, he heard Jonny start yelling furiously.

"Apparently we need to move things along," Jim said to the eight Sentinels staring at him. These were the ones who were more erratic and possibly damaged than the rest by the drugs Miss Yi had been feeding them, but he still had to try to get them out. "Everybody? Just stick with me and you'll be fine."

Then something else reached Jim's senses. He just had enough time to shout a warning before an explosion ripped through the building.

-==OOO==-

Miss Yi clutched her bag on her lap as the helicopter lifted into the air. She heard the low, resonant sound of the charges being set off deep in the frozen earth, and one in the dome itself. She felt sorry for many of the people who had earned Doctor Zin's wrath – even if it was their own fault for not knowing the face of the son of their enemy, it seemed a horrible way to die. She quietly hoped most had been killed by the explosion.

Then the dome began to buckle. In moments, it sank in on itself, the heavy support beams screaming as they bent and gave.

It is too bad about you, Detective Ellison, she thought quietly to herself. You were a marvelous subject. I wish I had had more time to study you.

Miss Yi felt an odd sort of shiver run through her and she looked back at the collapsing structure. But even with her enhanced sight, she could see no movement that was not yet more destruction. Even from the air as the helicopter did a second pass over the scene, she could make out the cracks in the island's frozen earth that meant whatever of the installation was still standing would soon be flooded.

I shall simply have to locate new Sentinels for my tests, if that is what Doctor Zin wishes, she decided. A pity about Zero Four, however. An infant would certainly benefit the master's cause. Perhaps he will allow me to find him another and begin conditioning it from birth. That would truly be best.

She sat back and allowed the helicopter to carry her to whatever new assignment awaited her.

-==OOO==-

"So, that's the story," Simon sat back. The greatroom of the lodge had been left largely deserted while Simon, Joel, and Jessie talked through their explanations to the newcomers.

It had been well after midnight when they had called it quits at the site of the landslide, but that had not prevented every Sentinel in the place from trying to shower simultaneously to get rid of the copious mud and debris from their adventures. Simon had led most of his bedraggled crew to the garden and simply turned the hose on them, all but Jessie who went to her own room with Lai. Behind one of the out-buildings, the men had stripped to the skin and spent at least an hour learning all about the places dirt and rocks and grass and even sticks could get stuck. It was truly the wee hours by the time the five outsiders, wrapped in blankets and loaned sweats offered by Ivanna, had made themselves comfortable in a corner of the vast space. Luka had started up the kitchens in spite of the hour to feed the hungry, exhausted crew of Sentinels, and Jessie had brought plates for Simon's audience to give them some time while everyone else ate heartily and went back for a second attempt to get the dirt from their sensitive skin before sleeping.

"So," Daryl peered at his father through narrowed eyes, "all this time Jim was a Sentinel, and now Jonny is too, and Ngama also? And you've been keeping it from me for years?"

"Us too," Henri put in with a scowl.

"It wasn't my secret to share," Simon defended himself.

"Really," Lai spoke suddenly, "there are two levels to this. As friends, you may have a valid argument that you ought to have been told long ago about Detective Ellison and Doctor Sandburg. But as for SELF and the international situation surrounding it, believe me, you were safer not knowing." She sighed. "We all were."

"Your mom's a diplomat, right?" Eric asked.

"You can't tell her," Simon said urgently.

"I know that better than you do, sir," Lai returned. "You don't get it. Mom's a Chinese diplomat. If I told her, she'd have to tell the Chinese government. And I'm pretty sure I saw at least one person I recognize from a former security detail here tonight. These people's lives would be in real danger if the Chinese government thought they might be selling state secrets."

"But they're clearly not," Eric argued. "This isn't about spying. It's more like…rehab, I guess."

"The government won't see it that way," Lai shook her head. "Mom would agree with you, but she has her position to think of and the trust of her superiors to maintain."

"Can we trust you?" Jessie spoke softly, rising from her place in a chair and perching near her roommate. Bandit, who had been happily asleep on her lap, whined sadly and went to sit with Simon, who pretended not to see him even as he pet the dog fondly.

Lai ducked her head but nodded. "Yes. Because mom would want to help you, and it would be dangerous for her to try. But there's nothing stopping me." She looked up and met Jessie's eyes unflinchingly. "I'm in."

"Me, too," Daryl said quickly.

Eric laughed. "Well, obviously me, too. I mean, how often do you get to be a part of something like this?"

In a pair of chairs on the other side, Brown and Rafe exchanged looks. The silence from their end of the group was noticeable.

"You can't seriously be considering turning your back now, can you?" Joel asked, frowning.

"They never wanted us to know, man," Henri said with some anger. "Kept it from us for years. And Jim isn't even telling us himself. I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends, so start acting like it!" Simon snapped. "If you have a beef with Ellison, duke it out with him when he gets back. But we're trusting you with something so much bigger than our one detective here."

"They kept it from me, too," Joel pointed out softly. "It wasn't about us, guys. It was about what they needed."

Henri frowned even more at that. "What about what we needed?"

Brian reached out and put a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Tell them, Henri. Tell them what the real problem is." His voice was rough with repressed emotion.

Joel and Simon looked at one another in confusion.

"Bro, are you sure?" Henri stared at his partner.

Brian nodded tightly, his lips pressed together. "I can't."

Henri turned to the others, a strange light in his eyes. "Do you know where we spend every weekend we're not on shift?"

"Of course," Simon answered carefully. "You both volunteer at one of the state institutions for troubled youth up in Seattle. You invited me there once or twice to play basketball with some of the kids."

"You ever wonder how that got started?" Brown asked. "It wasn't really my thing, you know. The basketball part, sure. But hanging out with kids with serious mental or behavioral problems? Not my usual gig. And definitely not after a long road-trip."

Joel leaned forward, suddenly understanding. "Who is it, Brian?" he asked gently.

"My baby sister," Brian Rafe said hoarsely. "She's nineteen. She's been in there since she was eleven when she started hearing voices."

"How come I didn't know you have a sister?" Simon demanded gruffly. "I've got your file."

"She's…we were adopted by different families," Brian said, looking at the floor. "The people who wanted a perfect little girl didn't want a teenager like me. And when they found out she wasn't perfect, they threw her back into the system like she was nothing."

Simon felt like he'd been slugged. He knew Brian Rafe had been in the system – that it was part of why he cultivated such an affluent air and also why he got along so well with victims and people from many different walks of life. He'd known Rafe's name didn't match the names of his parents on his emergency contact form. He'd never thought…

"We go see her every weekend we can," Henri said fiercely. "Rafe needed a ride one time when his car was in the shop so I figured it couldn't hurt to donate a little time. And I saw the way those kids looked at him. Like he was their hero because he treated every kid like a real person and not a disease or a diagnosis or a problem. He never acted like they were broken freaks who needed fixing."

"They're not," Brian said passionately. "They're different, and some of them need extra help, but there's nothing wrong with being autistic or schizophrenic or depressed or stuck with some kind of phobia."

"Of course there isn't," Joel said staunchly.

"I don't know that I see where you're going with this, though," Simon said. "I mean, clearly you would have understood that Jim being a Sentinel wasn't something wrong with him, which I'm sure he would have appreciated…"

"Listen!" Henri snapped. "Angie hears voices, but they're not imaginary ones! And she has to have special sheets and special foods because she's got these crazy allergies."

"Oh god," Jessie whispered, covering her mouth with both hands.

"All these years, and maybe Sandburg could have been helping her!" Brian exploded from his chair and clenched his fists. "Ellison never bothered to let the rest of us in on his little secret, and all this time Angie's been dealing with doctors and nurses when she should have been here!"

"This place wasn't here until last fall," Joel said, rising to face him.

"Yeah? Well it's here now!"

Simon turned to Henri, whose face was contorted in his own anger. He had often marveled at the odd partnership between Rafe and Brown, one with the look and attitude of a country-club boy and the other from the 'hood. One with a fuse so long there were some officers who still believed it was impossible to get him angry and the other who was as quick to rage as he was with a joke or a nickname. Simon had always considered them fire and water, with Brown's short temper and bright humor nicely balanced by Rafe's calm patience and unflappable nature.

But the flip-side of that, he thought wryly, is that Henri gets worked up on his partner's behalf long before Brian would ever let that stuff out. Henri's acting like it's his sister, not his partner's. But then, Brown really doesn't have anybody else. Maybe Rafe's sister is the only family Brown's got after all.

"Listen," Simon said firmly. "Talk to Ellison when he gets back if it'll make you feel better. But we can't undo the last few years. We can only go forward. And forward sounds like bringing your sister here as soon as possible to see if Sandburg and Hadji can help her."

"I'll contact Agent Fritz first thing in the morning," Jessie offered. "He'll help arrange the transfer if we have the guardian's permission."

"I'm the only one she's got," Brian said, suddenly weary. "Yeah, I'll try anything if it will get her out of there and give her a chance at a life without that sensory agony."

"We should try to reach Blair and Hadji now," Joel offered. "They're only a couple of hours away."

There was the sound of a throat clearing. Everyone turned to where Dmitri and Ivanna stood partway across the room. When they held the group's attention, Dmitri approached.

"I could not help but overhear part of your discussion. I have already attempted to reach the monastery to summon Professor Guide Blair as well as Hadji back to us."

Simon felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. "And?"

"I spoke to one of the brothers who knows Blair well. He said Blair and Hadji never arrived at all."

-==OOO==-

Jonny came to and immediately started coughing.

"Easy, young one. Breathe carefully."

Jonny was barely conscious of the voice or the strong arms holding him. His entire world narrowed to the effort to bring air into his lungs and force water out. But before more than a few breaths, he became aware of a biting cold. He shivered.

"You must move, Sentinel, or the cold will kill you."

Jonny hacked out another cough and finally forced his eyes to open and focus. "Bai Ming?"

"Yes. It is fortunate I found you so quickly."

"What happened?"

In spite of everything, Bai Ming's face contracted into a small, knowing smile. "You tell me, Sentinel."

Jonny fought the urge to roll his eyes and extended his senses carefully. Well, first of all, he was wet with absolutely frigid water. And, for that matter, he could hear water rushing everywhere. He could hear Jim shouting above him, ordering people to calm down and trying to get the Sentinels organized. Farther up, he could hear the screaming of panicked people – and a lot fewer of them than there should have been.

"I remember an explosion," Jonny said. "I lost my grip in the utility corridor and fell."

"That would be why your knee is sprained," Bai Ming answered. "I believe you struck it quite forcefully on your way down. But the narrowness of the area likely did much to interrupt and slow your fall."

"The explosion was mostly up high," Jonny continued, though, yes, now he was aware of a screaming pain in his knee, so he turned down the pain dial with a rough burst of will. "Lots of stuff collapsed. I can still smell the dust settling. And…we sprang a leak?"

"I believe the explosion weakened the already badly torn earth, particularly at the surface. Many cracks in the ground now spread to the ocean, and it is pouring in rapidly."

"We've got to get out of here!" Jonny cried, trying to lurch to his feet.

"I agree," Bai Ming nodded. "Have you the keys for these cells?"

Only then did Jonny realize he was on the sixth level down. And, alarmingly, the entire floor was already several inches deep in water that was pouring in from the elevator shaft. Jonny looked up at the Guide.

"You weren't in the utility area with us, so that means you came down the elevator shaft instead. You came for Yuri, didn't you?"

"Could I not?" he responded with a small shrug.

Jonny decided he didn't want to think about that. Not right now. Not when his clearest memory was of the voice of Doctor Zin threatening Hadji. Instead, he dug through his uniform pockets, grateful for the weight of it against the utter chill of the water.

"Here. You get them out. I'll figure out how to get back up to the surface."

"I would not recommend the elevator," Bai Ming commented. "The only reason the torrent of water is not worse is that the elevator itself blocks much of it like a boulder in a river. Once the elevator gives way, we will be flooded."

"So, back the way I came," Jonny nodded. He hobbled back towards the end of the hall where the utility corridor was. But he stopped as he reached the wall.

"Uh…"

Neither Jim nor Jonny had gotten all the way down to the bottom level before the explosion went off. But somehow there was a neatly punched hole in the drywall right to the column of wires and pipes and the little ladder for maintenance that ran all the way up. Jonny could even smell a bit of blood from where he'd obviously landed.

"Do I even want to know how this got here?" he shouted, pointing at the hole in the wall.

"You already know," Bai Ming's voice floated to him. "And if you have failed to understand, it is much more explicitly described in the book I gave you."

Jonny patted the breast pocket of his coat, finding that the journal was not lost, thankfully. However, it was wet. I hope this thing can take some Arctic water, he prayed fervently.

"Jim!" he called.

"Jonny! You okay?" Jim yelled back.

"Could be worse," he answered honestly. "What's the situation?"

"Pretty bad," Jim answered. "The elevator shaft's flooding and it's pouring in fast. Now our little utility ladder is the only way out of here. And there's too much chaos going on up above for me to be able to tell whether or not it's a dead end."

"Well, we can't stay down here," Jonny said.

"Right. So we'll go as far as we can and hope your dad and Race aren't too far behind because I think we're going to need that alternate exit they were talking about."

Jonny looked over his shoulder. Bai Ming had released Yuri and was getting thoroughly hugged by his Sentinel, who also appeared to be lecturing him in a Chinese dialect Jonny couldn't place. There were still four more Sentinels to break out, though.

An ominous rumble sounded from the other end of the hallway.

Jonny dashed as best he could on his bad knee for Bai Ming, stealing the keys from his hand and rushing to the other cages. With his enhanced vision, he didn't have to waste time testing each – he could peer into the lock and identify the correct key on sight. Yuri was already pulling his Guide away from the elevator shaft and Jonny could hear Jim giving rapid, urgent orders as well.

Jonny had just unlocked the last cage when the elevator fell.

"Go up! Go up!" he screamed as a wave of freezing water swept in after the crushed elevator. Bai Ming was already climbing the ladder, and Yuri shoved the other Sentinels after him as quickly as he could, pushing Jonny into the shaft before himself, but they could only climb so fast, and there were many Sentinels above them on the ladder, shivering and fighting the numbness of the water.

Jonny heard the water rushing through the tiny hole below and into the narrow column.

We'll never even get the chance to freeze to death, he realized with horror. We're going to drown instead.

-==OOO==-

"No!" Blair shot up out of his chair with a shout.

"What is it?" Benton asked.

"I don't…I don't know," Blair ran a hand through his hair. "I wasn't even sleeping. I just…I saw…"

"You have had a vision," Hadji said intently. "What was it?"

"I…I was watching the jaguar. I mean Jim," he said, his heart pounding and refusing to calm. "It was with a whole bunch of other animals."

"Spirit animals?" Hadji asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Blair nodded. "I think I saw Jonny's fox, too."

"What was happening to them, Blair?" Benton pitched his voice to the soothing, patient tone he had developed as a father and used many times since on hysterical witnesses.

"They…they were drowning in a frozen river. And the bank was too steep. They couldn't get out." He gulped. "Oh man."

"How far out are we, Race?" Benton called.

"Twenty or thirty minutes," Race answered.

"Too long!" Blair exclaimed. "They're in trouble, real trouble, right now! It'll be too late in twenty minutes!"

"Then we must do something," Hadji said. He rose from his own seat and moved to Blair's side. "Come with me."

"What can we do?" Blair asked, but he obediently followed Hadji back to the middle section of the jet and sat beside him on one of the bunks. Benton trailed after them and stood to one side.

"When we were in need once before, Jonny and I were able to create a miracle by drawing together our powers and creating the spirit guardian. I intend to do so again."

"Hadji, I specifically remember you telling me that summoning that thing took a Sentinel and a Guide to do and we are definitely short the Sentinel end of the equation!" Blair protested. "Plus there's the whole mystical concoction you guys threw in the fire to make it work."

"I can do nothing else but this until we arrive, and by then, as you said yourself, it may be too late. Perhaps our efforts will not have the same result, but that is not to say they will have no result at all," Hadji shot back. "We must try."

"If I have learned anything in my years as a phenomenologist," Benton gently inserted, putting a hand on his son's shoulder and meeting Blair's eyes, "it is that there is more that can be achieved by human mind and will than we would ever imagine. Perhaps you cannot create the spirit guardian, but that does not mean that your efforts will be in vain."

"Okay, good point," Blair acknowledged. "I'll try anything if there's a chance it will make a difference." I won't let you drown, Jim. I won't ever let you drown.

"Then let us begin."