"Kristen," Van de Vliet was saying, "please. There's still time. I'm going to do everything I can for you."
He was gasping for air and now more vials of flammable liquid were exploding from the heat and igniting. He turned and stumbled toward the air lock. There were sounds of yelling on the other side.
The people outside can't get through, Ally realized. The security lock has no override.
We 're going to die.
Van de Vliet pounded on the button controls of the air lock, but there was no response. Smoke was billowing around him and he choked, coughing and dropping to one knee.
Then Kristen walked up behind him. She appeared not to notice the flames and smoke swirling around her.
"This is where you get what's coming, you bastard. I warned you you'd better do something for me. But you never really intended to help me. I was just an experiment. That's all I ever was. For both of you. You fuckers." And she lashed out with a powerful fist, sending him to the floor.
Outside there was now the wail of a siren, the sound faintly filtering through. And the pounding on the other side of the air lock continued, though now it had the force of authority.
At last, Ally thought, somebody finally got serious and called the fire department.
Now Kristen had bent over the prostrate Van de Vliet and was doing something, though Ally couldn't tell what.