Above the Northern No Man's Land, as "Pinch" had decided to call it, the sky was coloured in a gentle orange, and it began to brighten up significantly. Quincy galloped through the landscape, stepped safely upon uneven terrain, and at no time "Pinch" gained the feeling that she would be thrown off any second. Plus they made good pace. Strike Squad's camp was far from the area she had been before, but as the sun began to rise she could make out the crash site somewhere in the distance and use it to orientate. The mountains with the children's hideout lay dead ahead. It wouldn't take her much longer to reach them. She hoped with all her heart that she would make it in time.

Soon she arrived at the surrounding forest. From here "Pinch" had to be careful. If these criminals were still around, it could be very dangerous. In the shadows of the trees she had Quincy stop and dismounted. On her guard she looked around and listened. It was quiet. The first birds of the morning chirped up in the trees, and the wind whooshed gently. Quincy gave a reluctant snicker, looking at her from his big horse eyes. She let out a regretful sigh. It was too dangerous to keep him around. "Go home, Quincy!" she ordered him and put a slap on his rear end. "Come on now, go!" The horse obeyed, but "Pinch" had the feeling that it didn't like to leave her on her own. With one last snicker it went home, and "Pinch" was alone.

The forest reached right up to the metal sheet hiding the entrance to the hideout. But a great deal to the left the forest ended, and a flat flank of hill leaned towards the mountain. Suddenly "Pinch" heard voices coming from there. She pulled her gun out and took cover behind a rock. Those voices were more than familiar to her.

"I'm surprised he changed his mind about it" The voice of Sykes was scratching in "Pinch's" ears. "Not that I'm complaining..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Johnson seemed to have lost some of his calmness. At least he didn't sound so controlled and firm this time. "That's what you've been waiting for all this time, and now you get it. The important thing is that we finally have what we came for."

"I could look after it, boss" Whitmore offered. It was apparent that he was very happy - he could have even been heard back in Coock City. But Johnson wouldn't take this kind of offer.

"The stones remain with me, Whitmore. Go back to the camp with your nephew and prepare for our departure!" It was followed by some whispered words that "Pinch" couldn't make out. She took a careful glimpse around the corner and saw the three of them standing there. Jesper was there, too. He was already turning away from them to leave, so he couldn't see Johnson making gestures towards him and Whitmore nodding silently on it. "It's not going to be a problem, is it?" Johnson then asked loudly enough for "Pinch" to hear him.

Whitmore shook his head and gave his reply with a tone that gave "Pinch" an ice-cold shiver. "No problem. It's about time anyway."

"Then go! See you at the camp." Johnson turned around to Sykes. Quickly "Pinch" went back behind her cover before he could see her. "Now what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to celebrate a bit" Sykes stated, and she also sounded as pleased as a cat that just had pillaged a nest full of birds. "Just waiting for the big bang to happen. Afterwards I'll be coming after."

Johnson mumbled. "It's a bit early for celebrations, but whatever. Be there in time, or we'll depart without you." He turned to leave as well. His controlled steps vanished out of "Pinch's" hearing range. "Pinch" kept her head down when she left her cover, keeping the rock between herself and the criminals. The big bang? She had an idea what it was supposed to mean. If she was right, then this couldn't mean anything good.

When she had the feeling that she had put enough distance between her and the criminals, she accelerated her steps, heading for the big metal sheet. There was no time to push it to the side, but it was leaning towards the rock wall, leaving enough space for "Pinch" to squeeze through. She took off the backpack and stuffed it in a corner under the sheet where no one would find it by accident. Then she crawled into the tunnel.

The cave was a terrible mess. After she had fled the place Vera couldn't have pictured what exactly had happened here, but that was the opportunity for "Pinch" to do so. The entire back wall of the cave had been blown open. Rock and soil were spread all over the floor. The table had broken down, the seats around them scattered. This wasn't only the result of the explosion, but also the outcome of the desperate, but pathetic attempt of the children to defend themselves. "Pinch" worriedly looked around, but she couldn't find a trace of the children or Butter. But their supplies were still stacked on the shelf. Her stomach growled, and she took one of the ration packs and quickly took a bite while she went further in. Behind the destroyed wall she found tunnels leading in several directions. Those had to be the tunnels Johnson was talking about.

With her laser in her right hand and a strong lamp in her left, "Pinch" went into the tunnel up straight and turned left - that was the most probable direction the children would have been taken, and she had to start somewhere. Cautiously she sneaked on, ready for an attack or an ambush to happen anytime. Until she realized how improbable that was - Johnson and Whitmore had returned to the camp, and Sykes was waiting outside. No one would jump her in these tunnels. She put the laser back into her holster and moved faster.

The deeper she went into the tunnels, the worse her feeling got. Igor's words came into her mind: What if you are too late? "Pinch" swallowed. If she turned around the next corner to find out that the children had already been... No, she didn't want to consider it. And Johnson didn't sound like it had already been done. She had to think positively. As long as she didn't know otherwise, there still was a way.

She noticed something in the corner of her eye. A faint red light was blinking on one of the tunnel walls. The almost unheaable beeping sound she didn't notice until she was standing right before the source, although she had been hearing it for a while. She pointed her lamp at it. She gasped. Her heart seemed to stop for a beat. Why do I have to be right? she thought. The light shone on something unmistakable dangerous. Lots of wires, the blinking light and the package in a metallic shine reminded her of the training missions. She took a closer look at the package. Whatever it contained, it was not a flash grenade.

Without even thinking her right hand felt for the survival knife in her back pocket, but when she noticed what she was doing, she called herself back to order. Don't fiddle around with the bomb! she reprimanded herself. She told me a thousand times already. She couldn't even tell how much time was left. Them having the bomb triggered remotely was improbable since Sykes was waiting for the big bang. After all it was a good sign for "Pinch": The children were probably still alive. And maybe not far away when the bomb was placed here.

"Hello?" she exclaimed. "Can anyone hear me?"

She looked around, pointing her lamp in any and all directions. A few yards from her another silvery package attached to the wall was flashing in the light. "Pinch" swallowed a big lump hanging in her throat when she saw it. Having just one bomb here would have been way too easy anyway. She had no choice but to continue on her way.

After several meters stumbling around in darkness she had found four of these charges. The fourth one finally had what she had been looking for: A tiny display and an antenna, both attached to the package.  The numbers on the display were decreasing in a terrifying fashion, and "Pinch" knew she had no time to lose. Six minutes, fifteen seconds... If she didn't find the children fast, there would be hardly enough time to get out of here. Again she tried to get someone's attention: "Vanna? Thor? Jenny? Taylor? Can you hear me?"

The annoying beeping of the explosive charge next to her was the only answer. She reached inside one of her pockets. Somewhere she had stored the little timer she had taken from the armory. It was a small device on an armband that she buckled around her left wrist. By pressing a few keys she scanned the countdown of the bomb, so it appeared on her timer as well. That would give her an overview on how much time she had left before the bomb went off. Again she thought about disarming that thing. But since it were several charges, if this wasn't triggering them all, she would only lose precious time on the attempt. Besides, she wouldn't even know where to start.

Eventually she went on. The timer showing less than six minutes. "Can anyone hear me?" she yelled with all her power through the tunnels. "Can anyone hear me and answer me?"

And there she heard it: a faint bark like from far away, echoing from the tunnel walls. It was there, and she could hear it. It could only be Butter! "Here, friend!" she shouted with all her might. "Here, Butter, come to me!" She ran in the direction she heard the barking from, and it grew louder. It moved towards her.

And suddenly Butter was there, like a shaggy shadow, jumping up on her and shaking his tail. "Good dog!" "Pinch" exclaimed in relief. "Good dog! Take me to the others, will you? You know where they are?"

The dog didn't need any further invitation. With excited barking and wild hopping he let go off her and ran back into the tunnels. "Pinch" stayed close to him and tried to memorize the way they were taking as well as possible. At first she had the impression that Butter was running and turning wildly through the tunnel system, but it only took a few turns until he stopped and waited for her again. As "Pinch" joined him and pointed her lamp at the cave she could already here muffled moaning and wailing. She had found the children!

The four of them were sitting on the ground, trussed up in pairs, back to back. Their hands were tightly tied up with rope between them, their mouths sealed shut with duct tape. "Pinch" pointed the lamp towards each one of them, saw Jenny's red tear-stained face, Thor's sullen expression, Taylor's big-eyed astonishment, and Vanna blinking scared against the light, making fearsome noises. As far as "Pinch" was relieved to see, none of them were harmed. She turned the light towards her own face. "It's me. Vera!"

Even through their gags the children were able to express their joy and relief. "Pinch" stormed towards Vanna and freed her from the tape on her mouth first. "Ow... what..." Vanna started and took a closer look at her savior. "Vera? What happened to you? You suddenly grew up a few years?"

"I'll take that as a compliment" "Pinch" said with a grin and pulled out the survival knife to cut the children loose from the ropes. "But we have no time. We need to get out of here before the whole tunnel blows."

"They told us about the bombs" Taylor said grimly. "Did even place one here with us. How much time is left?"

"Pinch" looked at the timer, and she felt freezing cold. They had barely three minutes! That wasn't enough time to reach the cave and the escape tunnel. But she didn't say that loud. They had to try! "Not much. We have to run. Are you up for that?"

"Do we have a choice?" Thor asked sarcastically.

So they started running. Butter took the lead at first, but since he had reunited "Pinch" with the other children, there was no more way for him to show them. "Pinch" passed by him quickly, running back the way she had memorized. She tried to ignore those blinking red lights to both sides of the tunnel. But she couldn't help but look at the timer attached to her arm again and again, and at the time that remained. Two minutes.

At the next crossing she stopped and looked around. "Is everybody still with us?" The children behind her were exhausted, trying to catch their breath. Jenny had it worst - huffing so badly that it looked like she would collapse. Quickly "Pinch" ran towards her. "You need to hang on, Jenny! We're almost out."

Thor took a look around himself. "We need to go this way" he exclaimed, pointing at a tunnel to the right.

"Pinch" followed his look. "But that is not the right way."

"It's the way out" Thor explained impatiently. "I've been here before."

"We don't have time for..." "Pinch" flared at him, but he cut her off.

"Then trust me!"

This time it wasn't bragging or his attempt to play the boss. He stared into her eyes, and she felt that he was serious about it. She only nodded, put her lamp into his hand, and he took the lead. The other children ran after him, with Butter following. "Pinch" brought up the rear to see that no one got left behind. Again she looked at the timer. One minute, twenty seconds... Damn! Time was running faster than she could ever run.

Another fork in the tunnel followed, then another turn. "Pinch" took a worried glance at Jenny who had more and more difficulty to keep up with the other children. Taylor had taken her hand and dragged her along with him, but he was weakening, too. Without hesitation "Pinch" grabbed the little girl and put her on her shoulders - the tunnel's ceiling was high enough for Jenny not to bump her head on. Meanwhile she kept running without slowing down.

As Thor disappeared behind another turn "Pinch" had second thoughts about him really knowing the right way. But she followed him and saw it. Daylight was glowing at the end of this tunnel. It turned a little upwards, making the run even more straining, and she felt that with the additional weight of Jenny on her shoulders even her strength was fading slowly. But one look at the timer, and she accelerated her steps once more. Thirty seconds! Stopping and being blown into her own grave was not an option for "Pinch".

Thor reached the outside, closely followed by Vanna. A few agonizing seconds later Taylor arrived at the exit of the long tunnel and came to an exhausted halt. "No, go on!" "Pinch" shouted at him. "Get out of here!" She let Jenny off her shoulders, and the little girl went on herself, away from this terrible place to safety. Taylor fortunately reacted to "Pinch's" shout and got moving again.

Ten seconds left... "Pinch" was outside. But it didn't mean that she was out of the danger zone. The children were already storming the hillside to take cover behind the rocks.

Five...

Four...

"Pinch" ran up the hill, closely behind Jenny "Take cover!" she yelled, full of worries about anyone being careless enough to leave their head in the open.

Three...

Two...

Jenny had reached the rocks and looked around, insecure and confused of what she should do. With all the courage she could gather "Pinch" dived forward, tackling the kid to the ground and covering her head to protect her. The others went down to the ground, their heads between their hands, the ears covered, the eyes closed.

One...

Zero!

It cracked. But significantly tamer than "Pinch" had expected. She had counted on some dramatic, earshattering noise that had the place she had been seconds ago light up in a big fireball...

One heartbeat later she was no more disappointed.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

The ground was quaking. The bang was inconceivably loud. Even at this distance between "Pinch" and the tunnel exit she could feel the heat, and she feared for one moment that she would catch fire. The shock wave brushed over the children, made "Pinch's" combat jacket flap, made the children scream in terror, completely unheard in the bang of the explosion. When she thought it save enough to move again, "Pinch" raised her head slightly and looked to the sky. She alsmost expected the mountain that she had been beneath so shortly before to have disappeared. And for a moment it had - it was concealed by the giant fireball expanding upwards in a bright flaming mixture of red and yellow which had some beauty to it, despite the terrifying destruction. Also, despite the fact that she had escaped a very violent death by a hairbreadth, she grinned.

She had been right. It was her doing that the children were still alive. Strike Squad would have never arrived on time. She had proven it to them. She had proven it to her father who had not believed in the possibility. She had proven that she was made for being a good mercenary.

Her triumph got interrupted shortly when a hail of soil and little rocks started coming down on the children. "Ow!" she heard of Vanna who apparently had been hit by a rock.

"Keep your heads down!" she shouted at the others, still holding her hands over Jenny in a protective way who herself held onto "Pinch" under her. She felt a rock hitting her and bounce off the hardened backside of her combat suit. But the hail soon stopped. The explosion dissolved into the air, the bang echoed somewhere in the mountains. It was over. They had made it!