Vatican Assassin by Mike Luoma Page B

Blow it wide open, too. Wonderful!
    The LSC is gone. She escaped through the door at the tunnel’s end, into the outbuilding. BC gets up and runs down to the door to the outbuilding. Another jammed door. She jammed the door and set the explosive bolts on this end of the tunnel, too. Not real creative, but certainly effective.
    I will get through this door... How about a little help here, big guy?
    BOOM! Then another BOOM and hissing as the UIN Bomber fires again and the explosive bolts fire at the juncture end of the tunnel, and the tunnel starts detaching from the juncture. I have to get through... through!
    The door swings inward into the outbuilding and BC dives through as the tunnel starts collapsing behind him. Another BOOM! throws him hard against the floor of the outbuilding. It’s a storage bunker, a long building with a row of windows on each of the long sides and doors on the shorter ends.
    BC struggles to get up. He leans on the door he fell through, trying to both close it and stand up at the same time. The hatch clanks into place.
    Through the windows BC can see the UIN ship hovering just outside the storage bunker. The motherfuckers are landing!? What the...
    Oh, precious. There she goes...
    The LSC is suited up, standing outside the door at the other end of the storage bunker. He sees her walk to the UIN ship. She gets in and the ship takes off, leveling blasts at the juncture, the tunnel, and the storage bunker as it heads out.
    BOOM! BA-DOOM! BOOM!
    BC hits the ground, but the bunker remains intact.
    “Air supply approaching minimal, dropping rapidly,” a computer voice informs him.
    “Damn, where are the controls...” BC is talking to himself, but the bunker’s computer answers.
    “The controls are located next to each doorway of this storage facility. Air supply is nearly exhausted.”
    BC runs down to the other door.
    It’s jammed OPEN! What a bitch!
    BC fights to breathe as he tries to shut the airlock door. He can feel the air being ripped from his lungs, the strain of trying to breathe greater and greater as he struggles to close the door. Finally he works the door closed, and the computer speaks at him again.
    “The atmosphere of this bunker is no longer being released. There is, however, only five minutes of breathable air for one person remaining in this bunker. Four minutes fifty-nine seconds, four-fifty eight, four fifty-seven, four fifty-six...”
    “Computer off! Wait, computer...”
    “Computer on. Four minutes fifty seconds...”
    “Cease countdown!”
    “Countdown has been halted. The air supply continues to run out, however.”
    “Thanks. Thank you so much. Establish communications with Edwards, Marc.”
    “Unable to comply. Communications from this location have been disabled.”
    “Damn!”
    “Air supply now at three minutes.”
    “I ordered the countdown off.”
    “The countdown continues silently for your safety. Also for your safety, you will be informed of the silent countdown at one-minute intervals.”
    “Does that make any sense?”
    No answer.
    BC stops arguing with the computer and surveys the storage bunker’s contents. Seven EVA suits. BC checks each of them. They’re all ripped and damaged beyond easy repair. Every air unit is emptied, gauges on red. The LSC planned ahead well.
BOOM!
    BC’s thrown to the floor by another blast.
    Damn UIN ship must be taking one last shot before they get out of range. Hope I live just to spite them. Uh-oh, I’m not doing so good here...
    BC tries to get up, falls back to the floor, face against the bottom of the bunker. He looks up, out the window, looking for the UIN ship. Just as he starts to black out, he sees something else. A different ship. It looks human, but not UIN or UTZ.
    Huh? What’s that? Am I hallucinating?
    “Computer, contact that ship! S.O.S.!”
    BC goes out. Out cold.
    After a time, he slowly, groggily, begins to wake up.
    Where am I? On a ship. Looks like an LSC transport. How’d I get