Emerald Sky Read Free

coals, before passing through a door marked for the use of
staff only. This led past a kitchen area and onto another corridor, which
connected with the building’s second auditorium. Thanks to the earlier furore,
it was deserted. It was also where he found the final terrorist.
    ‘Don’t come any closer!’ the man screamed
in heavily accented English, his hand holding a small box that was connected to
his deadly vest by a short black wire.
    Jimmy did not need to be a psychic to
know this was the detonator. At least the man spoke the same language and could
maybe be reasoned with. Reason was always Jimmy’s favoured method of
persuasion.
    ‘It’s okay,’ Jimmy shouted back, for
there was at least twenty feet separating them. ‘I don’t care if you get away.
Just take off the vest and I’ll let you walk out of here unharmed. You have my
word.’
    ‘What worth has the word of an infidel?’
the terrorist replied, standing at the centre of the stage. Elevated. Superior.
    Before he was able to respond, Jimmy’s
foresight revealed that the stakes were no longer quite so high. Lying at the
terrorist’s feet was an exact, though slightly translucent, copy of the man.
This thug was going nowhere and the bomb would not be detonated. Jimmy was free
to leave with the knowledge that when the S.W.A.T. team arrived they would
complete the job for him. For all he knew, a sniper was already within range,
so he would do well to make his escape quickly.
    ‘You win,’ Jimmy called out. ‘I’m going.
You’re free to do whatever you want.’
    He backed away; ever vigilant for the
forewarnings should they come. It was then that he saw the other person in the
room.
    It was a man with a masked face, clad in
black body armour, carrying an assault rifle, and most definitely in the here
and now. The gun was pointed at the terrorist rather than Jimmy, indicating
which side this newcomer was on.
    The terrorist sensed the change in
Jimmy’s demeanour and in altering his gaze to match Jimmy’s, he made the worst
possible mistake.
    The marksman did not hesitate.
    The shot was greatly magnified by the
flawless acoustics of the room and was followed instantaneously by the impact
of the bullet into the terrorist’s wrist.
    It took its target’s hand clean off and
the detonator along with it. Then without pausing to show mercy or remorse, the
gunmen threw down his rifle and replaced it with a smaller, more compact
weapon. This too was fired before the terrorist could even process what was
happening to him.
    A small dart impacted into his neck
causing him to collapse into a limp heap on the floor. His moment of triumph,
if ever he had one, was well and truly over.
    ‘Not so fast,’ the gunman called out as
Jimmy turned toward the exit.
    ‘It’s okay,’ Jimmy replied, attempting to
buy time. ‘He was the last one.’
    The man did not flinch.
    ‘This isn’t over,’ the gunman said. ‘My
intel informs me the vest is likely to be fitted with a failsafe device. If so,
the bomb will be programmed to revert to a timer should its host be killed.
That tranquiliser has lowered our friend’s heart rate to a whimper. The sensors
will not be sensitive enough to distinguish between forced unconsciousness and
death. I’d say we have less than thirty seconds before it goes off.’
    Thirty seconds was well within Jimmy’s
psychic threshold. If that bomb was going to blow, he would have known about it
by now.
    ‘Well, you better do something about it,’
he told the gunman. ‘All you have to do is pull the blue wire’
    ‘Not me, Jimmy – you.’
    Jimmy was still unconcerned. So the man
knew his name. Probably knew his secret too, but it mattered not. If it came to
apprehending Jimmy or defusing a bomb; there was only one logical choice to make.
The guy had to be bluffing.
    Jimmy decided to go for the door.
    ‘Twenty seconds,’ the man said.
    ‘In that case, you better hurry,’ Jimmy
replied.
    He sensed no danger coming from the exit
and