Stevens walked to a wall cabinet, returning with a ring binder and a map of the installation. Quickly he and Bolan thumbed through the binder. Bolan needed some idea of the layout of the plant before entering.

Surprise was their ally, but it wouldn't last long.

And when it was gone, there would be no substitute for knowledge of the plant. Glinkov and his people had prepared well.

They had known exactly what they were doing. That meant they had access to information, and plenty of time to digest it. The rough sketch Bolan was getting was no match for that kind of planning. But it was all he had.

"Any ideas, Matt?"

"Well, not many. But my best guess is that the hostages would be kept in this building here." He placed a fingertip on the main building of Unit 1. "That's where most of the staff would be anyhow, and there's no point in herding people all over the place."

"Where in this building?"

"Well, if you're going to fuck around with the reactor, you got to be in the main control room. That's the easiest place to direct things from. Unless you just want to blow the damn thing sky-high. But that would take a lot of explosives."

"No. They want to fake an accident," Bolan said. "You're right, the control room is the best place for that."

"Hell, man, you can't mean they just waltz in here, fake an accident and waltz out. No way. Too many people know what happened. Unless..."

"That's about it, Matt. No survivors. They're going to kill everybody. They have to."

"Holy shit!"

The door banged open. Eli and the guard had returned. Each carried two Kalashnikovs.

"There's two more out in the Jeep," Eli said.

Stevens looked at the weapons. "I heard about these bastards, but I never used one. Anybody know anything about it?"

One of the other guards nodded. "I do. Let me get the others, and I'll give you a lesson." He banged through the door, returning a moment later with two more rifles and several ammo clips.

"Matt," Bolan asked, "can you scan the inside of the plant from here with the television monitors?"

"Not completely. But we can check out the lower levels and some of the corridors. What are you looking for?"

"Not what. Who. And we don't have a clue where they're keeping her."

"Let's check it out then," Stevens said.

He punched in the manual control code for the security cameras. The images on one of the four screens stopped jumping about.

"Check the lower levels first," Bolan directed. "Wherever they've got her, it's bound to be out of the way."

Stevens selected the cameras on Level 4.

One at a time, he worked his way from camera to camera. The effect on the screen was that of taking a quick walk along the halls.

In the dim light, it was difficult to see more than a few yards on either side of each camera.

Stevens was working his way along the outermost corridors. On the third side of the large rectangle marking the boundary of the plant, he stopped.

"Look at this. I think we got something." Bolan noticed two men leaning against the wall.

They were positioned between two doors, both of which were closed.

"Where is that, Matt?"

"The lowest level. It's on the west corridor. Unless they're hiding out for a smoke, I'd say they're guarding something. Or somebody."

"Is there anything important on that level of the plant?" Bolan asked.

"No. It's storage and offices. Big rooms mostly and a couple of engineering labs. But they're not being used much yet."

"That's got to be where they're keeping her." Mack Bolan got to his feet. "We're going to make plans. Then we have to get moving. As near as I can figure it, we have less than two hours. These animals have to be out of here by dawn."

Cohen paced anxiously while Bolan sketched out his plan of attack. As soon as Bolan finished, Cohen picked up his Ingram and opened the door. As he stepped through, Bolan grabbed him by the shoulder.

"We get Rachel, first thing. No matter what."

Cohen smiled grimly. "You'd better believe it." His voice was metallic, deadly flat.

"Okay, this is it," Bolan announced as he followed Cohen outside. As Stevens and the others stepped out into the open, an earsplitting hiss issued from the plant. Bolan stared up at a serpentine cloud of steam. The cloud snaked skyward, gradually torn to shreds by the cold wind.

"Holy shit," Stevens yelled.

"What's wrong, Matt?"

"The reactor's venting. There's only one reason it'll do that. The reactor core is melting down. That steam is radioactive!" Stevens didn't have to tell them what it meant.

They sprinted across the frozen snow.

Eli Cohen reached the main entrance to the Unit 1 reactor first. Bolan, Stevens and Tony Giancana, one of Stevens's men, were well behind him and to the left. While Eli approached the entrance, the others angled in toward the side of the building, keeping to the shadows. One man had been sent over the fence to find a telephone. The remaining two were to sweep the rest of the plant for strays, then join the others. Cohen nodded to the guard on the door and pushed on it. As soon as the door closed behind him, he turned. Poking his head back out, he called to the sentry. "Got a cigarette?"

The man reached into his pocket, pulling out a pack of Camels. He tapped one free and extended it to Eli.

"Thanks," Eli said, stepping back outside. He fumbled in his coat for a lighter. The guard snapped his own lighter, and Eli bent into the flame. "I hear they got a girl locked up someplace inside."

"Yeah. Good-looking broad, too. Wish to hell I pulled guard duty on her instead of standing around in the cold."

"Who is she?"

"I don't know. They got her on Level 4 someplace. Way to hell and gone downstairs. David Lawrence is watching her. If I know David, though, he's doing more than watching her, you know?"

The guard never heard Bolan move in behind him.

The big guy locked an arm around the man's neck.

With a swift jerk, he snapped it. The dead man dangled just briefly in Bolan's grip, then Giancana dragged him into the shadows.

"Okay, Tony." Stevens said, "You wait here for Daniels and Grissom. As soon as they get here, move in. We'll be on Level 4. Once we get Rachel out, we'll need all the help we can get taking the control room."

Bolan and Stevens joined Cohen inside the building. The concrete floor echoed hollowly under their feet. Bolan was silent. Glinkov would be in the main control room, he knew. The dim lighting in the broad corridors was almost ghostly. Everything in the plant was built on such a colossal scale that he felt insignificant.

"Come on, she's on Level 4. Let's go." The three men rushed to the elevator bank.

Bolan and Cohen each pressed the down button at the same time, their thumbs colliding. The elevator took a long time to arrive. Its slow climb marked on the bank of lights gave Cohen time to think. The cameras had show at least two guards. The attack force had been spread rather thin, so he doubted there would be more. On the other hand, where the hell was everybody?

"Something's wrong."

"What?"

"I don't know. But I don't like the way it smells."

Of the remaining men, he had seen only three, one at the outside door and one at the control room door. That left more than a dozen men unaccounted for.

Before he had a satisfactory explanation, the elevator arrived. They stepped inside. Cohen pressed the button for Level 4 and walked to the rear of the large car. Then it hit him. It was a setup. Some of the others were below. Glinkov didn't trust him.

"That's it. Mack, it's a trap. I knew it was too easy. I couldn't figure out where everybody was. Now I know. They're waiting for us down there."

"No, Eli. They're waiting for you. They don't know Matt and I are here. That gives us the edge. Let's take advantage of it."