"No wonder you didn't want Leo here," said Phoebe. "He's a White Lighter, not human. When it detected him, it would have blown this place sky high."
"Exactly," said Amy. "It's a small tactical device. Only one or two megatons. But the way Marcus described it to me, it's more than enough to do the job. I don't think even our guest downstairs could survive it.
"But there are over five hundred innocents who work here. That's why they have it only as a last resort. That, and what they're afraid it might do to the surface and the surrounding countryside. "
"I guess we'd better not fail, then," said Piper.
Marcus came back into the room and took his seat next to Amy.
"Maintenance says they should have the sensors disconnect to this room in about thirty minutes," he said. "But the White Lighter can't leave this room. The second he does, he'll set off the alarm. And that could have disastrous consequences."
"I told them about the bomb," said Amy. "I felt they had a right to know."
"That's probably a good idea," said Marcus. "Now you know one of the reasons we can't let those things get to any more of the higher levels. There are only six levels to this complex below ground. And three of them are controlled by the demons. If they get to level two, I'll have no choice but to detonate the self-destruct. If even one of them gets to the first level, it could conceivably survive the blast. And make its way to the surface."
"Instant hell on earth," said Paige.
"Precisely," said Marcus. "If you three can't stop this thing, I won't have any recourse. I'll have to kill everyone here to protect the rest of the outside."
"The we'd better get started," said Piper. "Where's the kitchen? I need to get started on those potions as quickly as possible. I'd much rather stop this thing while it's still in its incubator."
"I'll show you," said Amy. "And I can help with the potions. I only hope we have enough time before that thing hatches. Considering what the lower ones are like, I wouldn't want to face their 'mother'."
"Neither would I," said Piper. "Neither would I."
Piper looked over the Dark Lighter crossbow carefully. It looked very similar to ones she had seen in books and movies. And to ones she had seen Dark Lighters use.
"How does this thing work?" she asked.
"It loads automatically," said Leo. "All you have to do it point it and pull the trigger."
"I'm kind of surprised the Elders let you have it," said Paige.
"You should have heard Piper," said Leo, smiling. "She went on and on about how they had not always given you full information and how they had even kept you in the dark on a lot of things. She even went on how they expected you to trust them without question. And she told them that after the last four years or so, they should trust you a little bit more. I think in the end they agreed out of guilt more than anything else."
"Guilt can be a great motivator," said Piper. "Paige, no matter what happens, you don't touch this. You're half White Lighter and it's as dangerous to you as it is to a full White Lighter."
"And hopefully to our friend downstairs," said Marcus.
"Don't worry about that," said Paige. "I've seen first hand what that thing can do. I have no intentions of touching it."
"Here, Phoebe," said Piper, handing the crossbow to her sister. "Paige can orb and I have my explosive power. You'll need this more than we will."
"You want to tell me what's going on?" asked Leo. "You didn't give a lot of information when you were talking to the Elders. What guest did Marcus mean? And why do you need a Dark Lighters' crossbow?"
"For a demon, sweetie," said Piper.
"A demon?" questioned Leo. "That won't work on a demon, you know that. It only works against White Lighters."
"With any luck," said Phoebe, "it will work on this demon."
"Another thing, Leo," said Piper. "Whatever you do, don't leave this room. You wouldn't like what happens if you do."
"What happens if I leave this room?" asked Leo.
"Boom," said Paige.
"Boom?" questioned Leo. "What do you mean, boom? None of this is making any sense."
"Marcus," said Amy, "I think we should tell Leo everything. He could be a lot of help to us."
"Okay," said Marcus. "Leo, have a seat. This is going to take some time."