WARNING DEATH AND VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER.

Chapter 16 - The Prize

Leonard walked away from the now dead men, he had to find the bomb, so he walked to outside the first room and turned on Howard's IR heat scanner, the room was empty. Leonard went to the second, doing the same thing and found it empty too, he continued down hall checking each room and was beginning to think maybe he made a mistake on this floor, until he saw the heat signatures. There were two men, but that was not what got his attention, it was the small item that's signature was hotter than theirs sitting in the middle of the room, it had to be the bomb.

-Tin Man-

The F-15Es completed their practice run and had identified the target, the crews feeding all the attack coordinates into their aircraft computers. The planes represented a new generation of fighter, they used Multipurpose Displays, TV screens to visualize their instruments and deliver their weapons. The screen gave the Weapons Officer a detailed view of the building from 30,000 feet with the aircraft targeting pod, he was even able to see a couple terrorists on the roof, and he was able to mark it with his targeting laser to provide the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates into the aircraft computer, the plane now knowing what the target coordinates were. The GPS coordinates and the laser designating system would make sure there would be a direct hit when they circled around Los Angeles for their actual bomb run. Hammer 1 radioed the on scene commander, call sign 'Knight', letting him know everything was a go and waited for the code work to execute.

Turner took the radio microphone from the sergeant, he mentally went over if he was ready, his men were in their suits, the B Company was at position Charlie and his other men were positioned away from the target. He had covered it all, now he had only one other job to do, so he keyed the mike, "Hammer 1, this is Knight, code word is 'CHECKMATE', I repeat 'CHECKMATE'."

"Roger Knight, Hammer 1 confirms 'CHECKMATE'. Good luck down there. Hammer 1 out."

The F-15Es made a long swing around Los Angeles to come in again from the east along the route they just practiced, they were now less than 10 minutes away from weapon release.

-Tin Man-

For Leonard, now came the part of the plan that depended on timing and he suddenly felt he hadn't practiced enough, he had to surprise and overwhelm the two men inside in less than a second and his chances of succeeding were slim to none. Leonard uncovered the four light sources on his shoulders and hit the switch on his glove, one of the laser chemical packs would now fire them. They were another of Howard's additions, they were called dazzlers and one could temporary blind an auditorium of people with just one unit and one shot. Leonard had four units and they would fire three times each, his life and everyone in a mile radius of ground zero, depended upon it. This was it, he was running out of time, "Laser Energize"

"Ten…..Abort"

"Nine….Abort" Leonard positioned himself in front of the door, so he could kick it in.

"Eight…..Abort" Leonard took in a big breath.

"Seven…..Abort" Leonard tried to calm himself so he wouldn't make a mistake.

"Six…..Abort" Leonard put himself in the proper stance.

"Five….Abort" Leonard picked the spot on the door to kick it in.

"Four….Abort" Leonard pulled down the special visor for the helmet to protect against the Dazzlers.

"Three….Abort" Leonard made one last check on the heads up display that everything was working properly.

"Two….Abort" Time seemed to slow down.

"One…..Abort" Leonard kicked the door with all the force the suit could muster and it came of it's hinges and went like a projectile through the hotel room.

"Ready" He stepped through the doorway, before the door hit the floor.

Leonard yelled "Fire". The Dazzlers went off at once, blinding anyone inside, then they fired two more times for insurance. Leonard was blind too with the visor down, so he pushed the visor up, he had to work quick and he didn't know what expect.

Inside the room it had been hell, the first terrorist had been too close to the door and when it hit him, it destroyed half the bones in his body, including his skull, he was out of the picture. The second terrorist had held the firing switch, but the explosive movement of the door disoriented him and Dazzler's discharged blinded him, the second discharge causing extreme pain, making him involuntarily drop the firing switch to put his hands to his eyes, the third discharge burnt his retinas and he screamed in pain.

Leonard walked to the man standing and grabbed him, throwing him at the window and through, then he went for the second man and stopped, there was too much blood for him to be alive.

-Tin Man-

The light that came out of the curtained window was so intense that everyman, including Turner thought the bomb had gone off and they just waited to die. This horrible feeling of impending death lasted several agonizing seconds before they started to realize they were still alive. However, the surprises didn't stop as they saw something fly through the same window, drop 10 stories and land with a disgusting plop on the ground. Turner quickly grabbed his binoculars to find that object was a man, he thought, 'What the hell is happening?"

The F-15E crews also saw the light from the target area, they too thinking it was the bomb, both pilots turning off their heading and going to full afterburner to avoid the shock wave. However after the seconds passed the crews became confused too, and they wondered if anyone was alive down there. "Hammer 1 to Knight, come in Knight."

Turner looked at the microphone again thinking 'What is happening?'. "Hammer 1 this is Knight."

"Knight, we just saw a bright flash at target, please advise"

Turner, thought for a moment, 'Like I know what happened.' "Hammer 1, we are investigating, standby for orders."

"Hammer 1 standing by." The two F-15E began to circle again over Los Angeles awaiting orders.

Suddenly it was quiet and Leonard's eyes then went to the bomb, it was sitting on a coffee table in the middle of the room. It was fascinating and terrifying, at the same time, and he didn't even realize he was breathing heavily as he looked at it. "Base are you seeing this?" Leonard got as close as he dared, staring straight at the bomb, hoping Howard could see.

"Roger Tin Man, give me a moment."

Penny swallowed as she looked at the monitor screen, she couldn't believe how small it was, and Leonard now had it and they were all still alive. 'Leonard had saved her again, he had saved Los Angles, My God, he was a Super Hero', she thought, she was in awe of him.

"Okay Tin Man, I looked at the picture Colonel Turner showed us and what you are showing me, all they did was short circuit the firing circuits and added a firing switch, so pull it out."

"Base pull what out?"

"Tin Man, all of it, pull every wire you see."

Leonard took a deep breath, and put his gloved hand into the bomb, grabbing a handful of wires, then closing his eyes, he yanked. He stood there motionless for a few seconds, then looked at his hand, it was full of wires, then he looked at the bomb and realized he really was still alive. Leonard reached down and pulled more wires and kept pulling until there were no more wires in the bomb. "Okay Base, what next?"

"Tin Man, nothing else, you neutered it, its is just a bunch of radioactive material and some spare parts. It will take a lot of Government scientists to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again, Tin Man." Howard smiled and turned to Bernadette, who patted him on the back. "Howie you're amazing." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Penny just looked at Howard with doe eyes, her mind was racing, 'Was it actually all over? Was Leonard actually going to live? Would I get him back?' in her mind she expected Howard to answer all those questions, so she just stared at him waiting for him to speak. Howard smiled at Penny and nodded, thinking he saw her relax slightly, however she still looked like she could break at any moment.

"Base is it safe to move?"

"Yes, Tin Man, it is very safe now. What are you going to do?"

Leonard picked the bomb up, put it under his arm and started out the door, "Give it back to the Army where it belongs. Base."

-Tin Man-

It had been ten minutes now and nothing had happened. Turner looked at his watch and saw it was past 11 PM and he had to make a decision. He had no proof that anything had changed, the body that fell could be just one of the hostages, and the light, well he had no idea what that was at all. He had to continue the mission, his orders were to make sure it didn't go off, and right now there was nothing telling him the threat was not still there.

"Knight to Hammer 1."

"Hammer 1, go ahead Knight."

Hammer 1, this is Knight, resume mission, code word is 'CHECKMATE', I repeat 'CHECKMATE'."

"Roger Knight, Hammer 1 confirms 'CHECKMATE'." The F-15E swung out again to resume their approach from the east to begin their bomb run.

-Tin Man-

Leonard took the elevator to the first floor, stealth didn't seem necessary anymore, and he really didn't care who he ran into. The terrorists in the building lobby just stood there, in lobby, in shock as he came out of the elevator and didn't do anything, except shout in their radios, as Leonard walked out the main door. A hundred eyes watched him as he approached the Army line, spotting Colonel Turner as he scanned the troops, he walked right towards him and 50 yards short, he stopped and laid down the bomb.

It had taken Leonard over 5 minutes to get to this point, he had no idea that in that time the two F-15Es were getting close to their weapon release point.

Turner was amazed at the thing before him, like his troops, but he had also seen the object before the thing had got halfway to him. Though he couldn't believe it was laid before him and now the thing was backing away. "No one fire, pass it down the line." Turner then looked at the two Department of Energy scientists, who were staring at the bomb. "That's it, isn't it." and they both nodded, and started walking towards it while watching the machine back away. Turner now watched as the solid black, machine or creature, disappeared back into the hotel, and then looked at the smiling scientists giving him a thumbs up. "Captain Olson, send the assault squads in", and two squads of heavily armed soldiers entered the hotel. Turner then transmitted orders to Company B and told them to get back immediately.

Leonard entered the lobby but no one was there, not even the terrorists, so he stopped to figure out what to do next.

"System Power at 50 percent" The computer voice reminded him.

'Crap' he thought, but then it dawned on him, he had no escape plan, he never really expected to live, much less escape. "Base, How do I get out of here."

Howard looked at Bernadette and Penny in shock, mouthing 'I don't know' and Penny couldn't stand it anymore, she lunged and grabbed the microphone. "Come back the same way you came, Sweetie."

"Penny!"

Penny covered her mouth and looked at Howard, "Sorry."

Howard grabbed the microphone from her, "Tin Man, backtrack your original route."

"Base, what hell is happening. Is she there with you. Damm it, you wait till I get back." Leonard was pissed.

"Yes she is. It is not my fault and you need to get back, if you think you are going to do anything, Tin Man."

The anger drained from Leonard, "Roger Base, moving now." Leonard headed to the car garage.

The elevator door was just closing as the lead units of the assault squad entered, their point men seeing the thing get in the elevator. They also saw the elevator was going down to the parking garage.

"Sergeant Brown take three men, go down the stairs and follow it, but do not engage." Olson ordered. "The rest of you men, start clearing this hotel and be careful with civilians."

Sergeant Brown and his team, got to the parking garage it time to see the thing walk across the garage and into a storage room towards the end. The rushed up to the room they slowly looked in, only to see a tunnel to the next building's garage. Brown updated Olson, who updated Turner, then his team proceeded to the next garage, once through, they instinctively looked across the garage to the storage room there and saw it was opened too, so they ran flat out to it and saw another tunnel and went through it. They finally saw the thing heading to the elevator in the third garage and notified Olson, who again notified Colonel Turner, who ordered Company B to quickly reposition to cut off the machine, at the third building.

Suddenly the sergeant manning the radio rushed to Turner, "Sir Hammer 1 confirmed release." Turner's eyes went wide.