Down Read Online Free Page B

the door slid closed, the man to Sanjay’s left turned and looked at the others. When his gaze fell on Sanjay, he paused.
    “You’re not part of engineering,” he said.
    Before Sanjay could respond, Kusum blurted out, “We are with Mr. van Assen. Helping to assist Director Mahajan. My friend and I have only just arrived.”
    The man’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with coming down to engineering?”
    Realizing he had made an error, Sanjay turned his fear of being caught into a mask of anger. “Did you not hear my friend? This is our first time at this facility. We do not even get to the front door and bombs start going off! You will excuse us if we have not yet been told which floor the director is located on.”
    A tense silence filled the car, then the elevator slowed as it approached its final stop.
    Without looking at Sanjay, the man said, “One floor back up,” and then exited the car as soon as the doors parted.
    Sanjay and Kusum stood rock still until the doors closed again. Once they were alone, Sanjay punched the button for the director’s floor.
    “I thought we were done for,” Kusum said.
    “So did I.”
    “This is not going to work.”
    “We have been in worse situations. We stick to the plan and it will be fine.”
    When they arrived at the right floor, they stepped out into a corridor that ran off to either side. Clusters of base personnel were gathered here and there, talking nervously about the explosions. Others moved down the hallway in a rush, as if on urgent missions.
    Sanjay made a quick study of both directions. To the left, the hallway appeared to end about seventeen meters down, but to the right it went for a good additional ten meters before ending at an intersection with another corridor.
    “Follow me,” Sanjay whispered.
    Hoping his instincts were working again, he went right.
    No one even looked at them as they weaved through the groups of scared Project members. Here and there they’d overhear bits of conversation.
    “…can’t get down there, can they?”
    “…this would happen. I just knew…”
    “Why haven’t they told us anything?”
    “…all overreacting. It’s probably just…”
    When Sanjay and Kusum reached the new corridor, they paused for a quick scan. Like before, one direction led to a dead end, while the other linked up with yet another hallway.
    Sanjay turned toward the route that would take them deeper into the level, but Kusum grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Look,” she said, nodding in the other direction. “There is only one door.”
    She was right. The hallway was about ten meters long, but there were no other doors along the sides like they’d seen elsewhere, just the one at the very end. A sign was attached to the front but it was too far away to read.
    “We should check,” she said. “It will only take a moment.”
    She took Sanjay’s hand and pulled him toward the door before he could respond. About halfway there, the words on the sign became legible.
     
    DIRECTOR
    NB551
     
    “I was right,” she said as she reached for the handle.
    Sanjay grabbed her wrist. “Wait.”
    He stepped around her and placed his ear against the door. He could hear a few faint sounds but nothing identifiable.
    He glanced back at Kusum. “Follow my lead.”
    He took several deep, fast breaths and then jerked the door open and rushed inside.
    A young woman sat behind a desk centered along the opposite wall. Hanging behind her was a large painting, like something from a museum. Off to the side was a smaller but nearly as prominent framed photograph of a middle-aged, well-fed Indian man. Standing to the left of the desk, in front of another doorway, were two security men, one looking no older than Sanjay.
    “Stop!” the older guard said as he and his partner jerked their rifles up and aimed them at Sanjay and Kusum.
    “Please,” Sanjay said, his tone panicked. “We have a message for Director Mahajan.”
    “What do you mean?” the woman