Asimov's SF, September 2010 by Dell Magazine Authors Page A

again, sliding metal components from pockets and hidden holsters beneath his jacket. “There's no time to brief you on the original plan,” he said as the pile of gadgetry in front of him grew. “Our window's almost up. We'll stick with the back-up."
    Chen-chi and Jo-jo were working in silence, Chen-chi holding elements in place while Jo-jo screwed them together. The overall shape and materials were starting to look disturbingly volatile.
    Sean had recovered his breath enough to sit up and gape at me. “You saved my life,” he said. “Why?"
    I grabbed his shirt collar and shoved him to the floor. “So I can kill you myself. How'd Clarise get mixed up in this mess? Did you bring her in?"
    "No!” Sean's voice was strangled, as if he were trying to shout but couldn't get the sound past the pressure on his neck. “Sharken introduced us. She's been working for him longer than me."
    "You're lying. Why would she do this, except out of love for a punk like you?"
    "You really don't know?” Sean's tone was incredulous. Jo-jo's angry hsst cut off whatever Sean might have been about to add. I glanced at the device in Jo-jo's hands, now nearly two feet tall and half as wide. It didn't look like we had much more time.
    "Keep your voice down,” I told Sean. “Clarise is in that room. How would you estimate her chances in a gun fight?"
    "Better than yours."
    I glared at him. Then I noticed my shaking knuckles and decided Sean was more observant than I'd supposed. The old, familiar headache fuzzed at the edge of my senses. I was dangerously close to a flashback, or a mental breakdown, or both. I wondered whether Clarise had gotten any combat training from these new friends of hers.
    Jo-jo clicked the last element of his device into place, examined the overall structure, and tested two of the circuits.
    "We're ready,” he said. He set the device on the table, half-hidden behind the microfilm readers, and activated a timer. “We have ten minutes,” he said. He glanced at Sean. “Eugene, get that kid out of here before he can start a ruckus. Chen-chi, go up to the first level and clear out as many civilians as you can. Tell them there's a plumbing problem or something, and they need to leave the building. I'll keep watch here."
    I stood, half-dragging Sean to his feet. Jo-jo's knife pressed against the fingers of my other hand. I kept it near Sean, ready to move if he tried anything. “How big will this explosion be?"
    Jo-jo looked annoyed. “Big enough to change the future."
    "My daughter's in that room."
    "I'm sorry about that. We'd planned to divert her from being here tonight, but..."
    But I didn't activate. We kept coming back to that, didn't we?
    "Wait until the meeting's over."
    Chen-chi looked pained, but Jo-jo shook his head firmly. “It's not just about destroying the machine before they begin using it for high-energy experiments. The researchers at RCIA calculate that we need to kill the group's ringleader as well. Otherwise they'll just rebuild it elsewhere."
    "Then wait for the next meeting.” My voice had grown icily calm. I hefted the knife, and realized with muted astonishment that it was no longer pointing at Sean.
    Chen-chi tugged anxiously at my arm. “We can't afford to wait, Eugene. They've already attacked us twice. It won't take them long to realize we know where they're meeting, and once that happens..."
    I shook her off without looking at her. My eyes were locked on Jo-jo's.
    "The timer's already started,” Jo-jo said softly. “It can't be deactivated. Now, you and Chen-chi can go upstairs and rescue as many civilians as possible, or you can try to jump me, and we'll all explode together.” His finger toyed with a button on the device's main cylinder.
    I'd seen such buttons before. It was a dead man's switch; once pressed, its release would trigger an immediate explosion.
    "Stop this!” Chen-chi said. “Jo-jo, go warn the civilians. I'll hold the bomb while Eugene gets Clarise out. If anything