Half in the water, Jack recognized the hard truth.

There was no escape.

FROM THE SECURITY nest, Duncan watched the napalm charges blast along the top of the island and spiral down toward the beach, razing to ash all in their fiery path. In engineering the demolition, he had timed the charges to blow in sequence, to ensure maximum incineration.

He smiled as he watched the trio of men struggle in the sand-trapped between flames and gunfire.

They were doomed.

Bennett stood at his shoulder, but he took a step back. He’d seen enough. “Dear God…”

God had nothing to do with this.

The charges continued to explode into whirlwinds of flame, one after the other, adding to the conflagration, spreading relentlessly toward the water.

As he lorded over the destruction with a deep sense of satisfaction, he noted movement in the forest. Figures darted into view. From their naked shapes, they had to be his missing inhabitants. His smile grew harder. Apparently the forest had grown too hot even for them.

But they’d find no salvation out in the open.

Still, something about their manner jangled a warning. There were only four of them. So where were the others? He leaned closer. What were they up to?

STILL SEATED IN the water, half dazed, Jack noted movement at the edge of the smoky forest. Four figures stepped into the open. They split into pairs and headed to either side.

Each pair hauled a sling of woven palm fronds between them. The slings were weighted down with black metal canisters that looked like small pony kegs. Each pair swung their slings and tossed their cargoes high into the air.

The canisters toppled end over end.

One toward each jet boat.

As they flew, the entire bestial force burst out of the forest and onto the bridge: men and women, massively muscled cats, vicious packs of wolfish dogs. Some creatures Jack couldn’t recognize. One giant loped past him, knuckling on pairs of curved razor-sharp claws. Others followed, streaming past.

Behind the force, the last of the napalm charges reached the beach and exploded in a wall of flames. Jack rolled into the water to keep from burning. Twisting, he watched one of the flying canisters fall toward the jet boat. The nimble craft sped clear.

But accuracy wasn’t necessary.

The canister exploded in midair.

Jack heard a matching blast behind him.

Fiery napalm washed over the sea and flooded the jet boat. Men screamed as they became living torches. Jack swung around to discover the other boat burning, too.

Impressed, Jack sat up in the water. The creatures must have dug up two of the napalm charges near the beach, waited until the timed series of blasts got close enough, then flung the bombs so they’d blow on cue.

But not all of that dark army escaped unscathed.

Lagging behind the others, a tiger burst out of the blasted forest. Its body was on fire, trailing flames as it ran. Blind and enraged, it flew straight at Jack.

He dove under its claws, coming close to getting eviscerated.

The fiery cat splashed deeper into the shallows-then the water exploded under it. The cat’s bulk got tossed high, shredded apart within a column of seawater and blood.

A sting burned Jack’s left arm. A slivered blade protruded from his biceps. He recognized the shrapnel. A flechette. The bastards had mined the waters, too.

Jack yanked out the sliver and hobbled to his feet, weaving and unsteady. They had to keep moving. With an open furnace burning behind him, Jack crossed to his teammates. The back of Mack’s jacket was a charred ruin. Bruce’s left arm dripped blood.

But they were alive.

Jack pointed after the bestial pack. Gunfire erupted there, coming from the trio of assault weapons they carried. Electricity sparked from the fence-then the gate fell open.

At last the way was open.

DUNCAN WENT COLD as he watched the dark army flood across the land bridge. He could not believe what he’d just witnessed. The bastards had taken out his men with his own napalm charges.

Half awed, half horrified, Duncan watched as one of the ape-men raised an assault rifle and fired at the camera.

The monitor went black.

Duncan turned to Bennett.

The older man had gone pale as a ghost. “There’s no stopping them.”

“Makes no difference,” Duncan assured him. “They’ll find no refuge here. We stick to our plan. By the time they force their way through our lines, we’ll be long gone.”

“What do you mean?”

Duncan picked up his transmitter from the table. One button had gone dark, but another still glowed, waiting to explode the massive bombs buried here.

“I’ll set the villa to blow in half an hour,” Duncan said. “That should give you time to collect Malik and get to the helipad. I’ve already alerted the pilot. He should have the rotors spinning by the time you get to the hilltop.”

The older man still looked stunned, but he was no wilting flower. Bennett’s gaze focused again. He nodded.

“Do it.”

Duncan lifted the transmitter. He set the timer for thirty minutes, then flipped up the trigger guard. With his finger hovering over the button, he stared again at Bennett.

One last chance…

As answer, Bennett swung toward the door and headed out.

Satisfied, Duncan pressed the button.

There was no turning back now.

Bennett stopped at the door. “What about you? Are we holding the chopper for you?”

“No. I’m going to make for the seaplane.”

Duncan had one last issue to address. Through the blasted window, the firefight between the fishing charter and the beach continued-but it had devolved into furious spats. He couldn’t risk the boat escaping the coming detonation. It was time for this war to go airborne.

“What about the rest of the island’s personnel?” Bennett asked.

Duncan was glad the two were alone at the moment. He needed all his forces to remain here until the last moment, to keep the beasts at bay long enough for them to make a clean escape.

Bennett continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer.

He gave it to him. “We can always hire more men.”

Chapter 56

Lorna ushered the last of the children through the anteroom that separated the nursery from the main lab complex. It acted like an air lock, requiring three trips to get all of the children through.

Scared while separated, the children required constant consoling and reassurance. She understood their acute distress. According to Malik, the nursery area was shielded with copper wiring in the walls, to insulate the nascent intelligence from contamination. So each time she left a group outside in the hallway and went into the nursery to fetch the next set, the hive bond between them was momentarily broken, severed by the copper shielding. She could only imagine the terror if half her brain were suddenly cut away.

She eventually got them all back together.

United in the hallway, they clustered even more tightly, needing contact, both physical and mental.

Still, they dared not linger any longer than necessary. Lorna removed the pistol from the waist of her pants. She had to find her way back to the main lab, then from there to the villa.

“Hush now. Stay with me.”

She headed down the hall with the children in tow. Wary of the new surroundings, they moved as if on ice, unsure of their footing, not trusting it would support them. Some of them had probably never been outside the nursery.

Still, the group traveled in silence, as if sensing the danger.

She traced her way back as best she could recall. The nursery was buried in the deepest level of the lab complex-to further shield the children with natural rock, but also to limit access only to those with the highest clearance. She was grateful for that.

With the war going on, no one seemed to be here.