As soon as Bradley closed the door to Goldman's office, Jack Hansen and several NSB agents appeared, guns drawn.
"That's far enough, Colonel Bradley." Bradley started to slide his hands into his pockets and Hansen said, "Keep your hands where I can see them. We haven't had a chance to meet since you took over the security at the Pentagon, but I'm Jack Hansen, Director of the NSB."
"Do you always introduce yourself this way, Hansen?"
"No. For someone like you, I usually shoot first and talk later." Hansen nodded to an aide. "Johnson, frisk him."
"You can't do this to me."
"In cases of suspected treason, I am authorized by the Secretary of State to use whatever force or action I deem necessary. Frisk him, Johnson."
Johnson moved over to Bradley and quickly relieved him of the gun under his jacket, checking to be sure he had no other weapons. The door behind Bradley opened, and Russ stepped out, removing the bullet proof vest from underneath his shirt.
"You all right, Russ?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Russ looked at Bradley. "For the head of security at the Pentagon, you aren't very thorough."
Bradley said nothing, and Hansen stepped closer, holstering his weapon.
"Cat got your tongue, Bradley?" The man remained silent, so Hansen continued, "Yeah, I guess I'd be a little quiet too if I was about to face charges of treason against my country." He looked hard at the man. "You're a disgrace to that uniform, and everything it stands for; if I have my way, you'll get the maximum punishment, Bradley."
Russ closed in on the man. "Where's Jaime Sommers? We know you have her, where is she?" Bradley ignored Russ, who in anger, then grabbed him by the lapels. "Where the hell is she?"
Hansen gently took Russ' hands away from the man. "Take it easy, Russ. That's not going to do any good with this guy."
The stress and emotion was beginning to show in Russ' voice, "We've got to find her. We've got to find her now."
The usually brusque Hansen laid a soft hand on Russ' shoulder, and leaned in to speak so that only Russ could hear. "Look, I know how sick Goldman is, and I understand what you're trying to do, but I don't think Goldman would much appreciate my letting you get yourself into trouble."
The younger man looked into his face, his eyes misting over slightly. "Hansen..." Russ had to swallow the emotion in his throat down. "It's worse than anyone's been told. Rudy isn't sure if Oscar's going to pull through this... We promised him that we'd get her back."
The older agent pat the young man's shoulder, and smiled gently. "Then I guess it's time for you to learn how you get through to guys like this one..." Hansen looked around at the NSB agents in the room. "Okay guys, wait outside. It's just me, Bradley and Russ here. Get going..."
Without a word, the agents quietly exited the room, taking up positions a little further down the hall, away from the glass window and door. Russ frowned, trying to figure out what Hansen was going to do, and to his shock, the man pulled his gun, and pointed it straight out at Bradley.
The edge in Bradley's voice was unmistakable, "Hey...what do you think you're doing?"
Hansen's timbre matched his aggressive stance. "You're a tough guy, and you're not going to talk, so I'm going to do what I deem necessary in a case of treason." Hansen lowered the gun slightly toward Bradley's knees. "I'm going to shoot one piece of you for every minute that you make us stand here and wait for you to tell us where Jaime Sommers is."
"You can't do this. I'm a U.S. Army colonel--"
"--I don't know who you are, or how you did this, but the one thing that I'm sure of now, is that you're not Colonel Howard Bradley."
The man stared at Hansen, but remained silent.
"Hansen? What are you talking about?"
Hansen's eyes remained on Bradley, but he answered Russ. "He may look like him and talk like him, but he isn't Colonel Bradley."
"But how? He had to have passed the fingerprint and corneal recognition to be in charge of security at the Pentagon."
"Yes, which is why this is incredibly impressive. But think about it, Russ, if this was Bradley, even though he might never have met me, or Oscar, he would have known what we look like. This impostor slipped up. He didn't do all of his homework." Hansen cocked the gun. "What do you say, mister? Feel like talking, or should I just shoot out one of your kneecaps?"
The man growled, "You wouldn't dare."
Hansen smiled the coldest most calculating smile Russ had ever seen, and his mouth went dry.
Jack's voice was a cold as his face, "Are you sure?"
The man's resolve began to weaken. "All right...I'm not Howard Bradley."
"Tell me something I don't already know."
The man looked hard at Hansen. "I can't tell you where she is; if I do they'll kill me."
"Mister, I'm gonna kill you if you don't."
Russ couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice, "Hansen, you can't!"
"Stay out of this, Russ." His eyes never left the man shrinking before him. "Well? Where's Jaime Sommers?"
"What kind of deal do I get if I tell you?"
"You get to stay alive for your trial."
"That's not a deal."
"It's better than the alternative."
The man looked at the gun barrel, and decided to save his own skin. "The Pentagon. Jaime Sommers is at the Pentagon."
"What?"
"There's a level beneath the bunker. Bookcase in my office opens up, there's a stairway leading all the way down to it from there."
Hansen's teeth clenched together in anger. "How clever." He holstered his weapon and stuck his head out the glass doors. "Johnson, come get this piece of garbage outta my sight."
Johnson and the rest of Hansen's men cleared the room taking the man who had called himself Bradley with them. Russ stared at Jack Hansen, not quite believing what he had seen.
"Would you have shot him?"
Hansen looked at the young man. "I've never had to shoot anybody in this game yet, Russ."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Yes, Russ, I think I did. Now come on, let's go get your missing agent."
Less than fifteen minutes later, Pentagon security, and agents of the NSB, along with Russ and Hansen stormed the level below the bunker. The few men who were there provided little resistance, and as quickly as they could, they searched room by room for Jaime. Russ was just coming from a room when he heard Hansen's agitated voice.
"Russ! Russ, in here!"
Russ took off at a run down the hallway, and in through the open door to the room at the end. He knelt next to Jaime, and tried to shake her.
"Jaime? Jaime, it's Russ. Can you hear me?"
But she was unconscious. Hansen spotted the smashed power pack on the floor.
"Hey, what's this?"
Russ looked over at the smashed pieces, spotted the sharp-edged metal slat, and grabbed Jaime's right arm, turning it over. The cut in the synthetic skin told him everything he needed to know.
"Oh my God, Hansen, her nuclear power pack..."
"What?"
"She took out her power pack and smashed it."
"I don't understand."
"We've got to get her to Rudy, and right now. I don't know how long it's been out, but I do know that she can't survive that long without it."
"Where's Rudy now?"
"With Oscar I'm sure, at Bethesda."
Hansen pulled out his radio, pressing on the button. "This is Hansen to all units. Code Delta, Beta, Alpha. I need a military helicopter on the Pentagon pad immediately. Clear all air space from the Pentagon to Bethesda." Hansen turned to the officer standing nearby. "Major, we need a stretcher to get her up to the pad."
"We've got one standing by, sir, with the men to move quickly."
"Thank you." He pat Russ on the arm. "Don't worry, we'll get her there."
"Yeah, but will it be in time?"