Michael held his gun firmly and scooted across the concrete to take a position by the back door they had identified as their way in. Marella took position on the other side, her own gun ready in her hand.

Michael tested the door. 'It's locked.'

Marella holstered her weapon. 'Cover me.' She unzipped her pocket and took out a lock-picking tool. Seconds later there was an audible click as the lock snapped open. She resumed her previous position and when Michael opened the door, she dived through her arms extended. She covered the corridor as Michael entered the building. He moved past her position and came to a halt a few feet away at an intersection. Marella moved past him and covered him as he moved forward again. They continued in the same pattern until they reached their target; the room where they had located the plutonium.

Michael motioned for Marella to look around as he remained as lookout on the door.

She kept hold of the gun as her dark eyes scanned the room. A crate in the far corner caught her attention and she hurried over to it. She swallowed hard at the sight of the slim cylindrical device. The bomb was ready to be activated with a keypad in the centre to be used to enter the code. She took out the radio Hawke had given her.

'Airwolf, this is Marella.'

Michael looked over at her briefly hearing her make the call.

'Go ahead, Marella.' Hawke responded.

'It's definitely a bomb.' She confirmed.

'Can you sabotage it?' Hawke asked.

'I need to get into the inner workings. I'll contact you again when I have an answer.'

'Acknowledged.'

Marella returned the radio to her pocket and pulled out a small screwdriver. She began to remove the outer casing around the keypad. Her fingers shook as she carefully lifted it away and revealed the mass of wires underneath. She swore and felt her heart sink. She took out the radio.

'Airwolf, come in.' Marella radioed.

'Do you have a status on the bomb?' Hawke asked.

'I do.' She sighed. 'I can't sabotage it.' Her eyes darted again to the wires. 'This is more sophisticated than anything I've seen. From what I can see there are dummy wires,' she gestured at it, 'some feedback loops and a bunch of other stuff I'm not sure about.' She licked her dry lips. 'I'm scared if I cut something I'm going to activate it.'

'Get out of there.' Hawke said. 'Radio me when you're clear of the building. I'll pick you up where I dropped you off.'

'Right. Out.' Marella hurriedly started to reattach the casing. She had just got the last screw tightened when Michael stiffened.

'Someone's coming.' He said. He pointed at a door on the opposite side of the room and they both hurried towards it. Michael opened it and looked inside. It was a small, dark and dank storage room but it would do as a hiding place. He motioned for Marella to get inside and followed her. He had just closed the door when he heard the sound of the men entering. He pressed his ear up against the door as Marella huddled beside him.

'Hurry up.' A voice growled.

'I told you, the boss wanted me to reset the code.' A younger male voice replied.

'I don't see why we have this thing anyway.'

'Worried the boss might actually blow it, Hank?'

'It's a nuke.'

'So.'

'You really don't have a conscience do ya, Lyle?'

'That's why the boss likes me.'

'You trying to take on Bridges as the boss's golden boy?' The man's harsh laughter resounded through the thin closet door. 'Good luck with that.'

'Bridges has got the easy job.' Lyle said absently his mind obviously occupied with his work. 'There, done.'

'Come on. Let's get back to Terry. I don't like leaving him with the prisoner; I think he was starting to feel sorry for the guy.'

'I don't see why we don't waste him.'

'Boss wants him alive.'

'I was talking about Terry.'

The echo of their laughter grew faint as the two men exited the building.

Michael peeked out and opened the closet door fully when he confirmed they were alone.

'That was close.' Marella said quietly.

'Let's go.' Michael gestured for her to go first.

They made their way out of the building swiftly, radioing to Hawke as soon as they were clear of the door. Both of them were relieved to be back in Airwolf and hurriedly put the heavy helmets back on as they took their seats.

Hawke ascended back to an altitude where they couldn't be detected. 'OK.' He said. 'What are our options?'

'What about getting in a bomb disposal expert?' Caitlin asked across the communications link. 'Someone like Babe?'

'Babe got redeployed with the takeover of the FIRM, I'm not even sure where he is.' Marella looked over her shoulder questioningly at Michael.

He shrugged. 'I don't know either.'

'There must be someone in the Company though.' Caitlin pointed out.

'We don't have the time to get someone.' Marella replied.

'It's not time that's the problem,' Hawke said, 'it's sneaking someone in and sabotaging the bomb without endangering everyone at the Lair.'

'We have time.' Caitlin insisted. 'So long as nobody attacks the Lair, they won't set that bomb off, correct?'

'True.' Marella radioed back.

'Maybe we've been thinking about this the wrong way.' Michael said tapping his moustache thoughtfully.

'What do you mean, Michael?' Caitlin asked.

'We've been assuming the main threat is the bomb.' Michael explained.

'Right.' Marella agreed.

'But the demand was clear that the bomb would only be set off if there was an attempt to take over the Lair.'

'I don't see where you're going with this, Michael.' Marella admitted. 'If we don't take the bomb out of the equation we can't take back the Lair and Airwolf.'

'I think Hawke was right earlier.' Michael clarified. 'I think we need to go simultaneously to both locations. We take control of the factory, secure the bomb and get Locke out at the same time as hitting the Lair. Once we have the bomb we can get an expert in to defuse it with all the time in the world.'

'That could work, Michael.' Hawke said.

'The timing would have to be perfect though.' Caitlin said. 'If one team is able to warn the other…'

'Then we'll have a problem.' Michael nodded. 'What do you think?'

'I think it's the best plan any of us have come up with yet.' Hawke turned it over in his head.

'The only risk is if they have a remote detonator.' Marella said.

'We could use the systems in Airwolf to jam any radio signals.' Hawke said reluctantly.

Michael stared at the back of Hawke's head. He knew the pilot would prefer to be at the Lair. 'We could get Zebra Squad to make the hit on the factory.' He mused. 'They can bring the jamming equipment with them.'

'That will take time to set up.' Marella pointed out.

'Let's head back to Red Star. We can start the ball rolling.' Michael said.

Hawke swung Airwolf around and hit the turbos.

'We still need a plan for getting everybody out of the Lair safely.' Caitlin said some of her weariness creeping out into her voice.

'I think,' Hawke said, 'I might have one.'