Temple of Fire by Christopher Forrest Page A

if a laser beam inside the thermonuclear device is aimed at the crystal, its lattice structure would become highly unstable.  It would begin to generate enormous power.  If we connect it to the nuke, we’ll have our detonator.”
    Caine’s voice interrupted the discussion.
    “Proceed with Quiz’s plan,” she said.  “I told Quiz to prepare for such an eventuality before the team left the Alamiranta .  But there’s one problem.  More Chinese have infiltrated the crater.  I don’t see how we can pull off such a delicate maneuver with a thermonuclear device without their cooperation.  We simply don’t have enough firepower on the ground to take them all out.”
    “I can take you to Aiko ,” Will Langhorne volunteered.
    “That’s all well and good,” said Touchdown, “but twenty Dragons are advancing on the EFV.  I don’t think you can just stand on top of the vehicle and explain the crisis in a calm, rationale voice.”
    “Obviously not,” said Hawkeye.  “But I can buy us some time.”
     

Aft Cargo Hold 6
Aboard the Alamiranta
     
    Pyro stood up and stepped back from the Chinese torpedo as he spoke simultaneously to the Bridge and Ops Center .
    “It’s good news-bad news time,” he said.
    “Let’s have it,” said Caine .
    “I’m listening,” Captain Papagantis said.
    Pyro took a deep breath and began.
    “The torpedo has three separate explosive charges in it.  The redundancy is built in to ensure that at least one of the charges will detonate on impact.  Best-case scenario for an attacker using such a weapon is that all three detonate and do that much more damage.  I’ve managed to disarm two of the charges.”
    “Well done,” said Caine .
    “Now for the bad news,” Pyro resumed.  “The first two charges were deactivated by applying ten-digit alphanumeric codes to the appropriate circuits.  There were millions of combinations of numbers and Chinese characters, but I hooked a computer to the torpedo.  It was able to find the correct combinations in a few minutes.  The last charge must be deactivated with a key, however.  As you can guess, the only key for this torpedo exists on board Chinese submarines and in Chinese factories.”
    “Can we duplicate the key?” asked Papagantis .
    “Maybe,” said Pyro .  “I could try a laser scan of the slot where the key should be inserted and then attempt to fabricate a metal facsimile once we have a template.  But I’m hesitant to aim a laser inside the guts of this thing.  The option is to let the last charge explode and allow the ship to employ damage control.”
    “We may or may not be back in the typhoon again when it happens,” Papagantis pointed out.  “Even in calm waters, damage control is a challenge.  I’m not sure we can handle it if we reenter Beatrice’s storms.”
    “ Do the laser scan,” Caine ordered.  “It’s our best chance.  Titan Six is out there, and we can’t risk having a detonation compromise our communications more than they already are.”
    “Understood,” said Pyro .  “We’ll get to work on it.”
     

Titan Six
Ruins of Raj Kithune
     
    Bullets bounced off the heavy steel plating of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.
    Hawkeye engaged the EFV’s stealth mode and began driving on a sand and limestone path bordering the row of pyramids.
    “The bullets pose no threat,” he said, “but — ”
    The rear of the EFV was lifted ten feet in the air by the blast from a concussion grenade.  As if moving in slow motion, the vehicle hung above the sand for several seconds and then crashed to the ground.
    “ — but grenades are another matter,” Hawkeye said, finishing his sentence.
    The EFV began to fade from view as it turned left beyond the observatory and headed for the Royal Palace .
    Checking the monitors that displayed pictures from the external camera array, Hawkeye saw a dozen Dragons assembled in the street.  They were looking in all directions and seemed to be talking in