The agent extended a finger and reformed it into the shape of a skeleton key. He unlocked the door and waved the Blackhawk to follow him. “We have to disable this thing while the crew is distracted. I can rig the ammunition magazine to blow, but that would be a little hard on us. You have any less lethal ideas?”

“It's not stable,” Chuck said. “The only thing that keeps it upright is the gyroscopes. We stop those and the Wheel will fall over. Once it's down and immobile, bombers can finish it off.”

“Copacetic,” Kilroy said. They climbed down through the maze of ladders and catwalks. Two German soldiers manned a large control panel beneath the spinning gyros. Kilroy stretched out to take one of them from behind. Chuck's attack was less spectacular. He charged across the steel mesh floor and slammed into the other soldier. They smashed into the control panel and rebounded in a flurry of flying fists. The German was big and tough and he didn't go down easily. Chuck staggered from a hard right cross that rang in his ears. He punched back with a lightning fast series of jabs to the Nazis face and stomach. Chuck landed a solid blow in the gut and the soldier folded over, bringing his chin into violent contact with Chuck's knee. The Nazi collapsed in a heap.

Chuck turned to see the other soldier wrapped in coils of Kilroy's elastic arms, choking off his air. Kilroy released the unconscious German and dropped him next to his fellow. “Okay, now what?”

Chuck studied the big board. He didn't read German very well, but enough to find the switched that controlled power to the gyros. He turned the dials to the “off” position and instantly heard the giant discs start to spin down. “They're shut off,” he said, “but to make sure they don't get turned back on, we need to cut the power cables. There ought to be a fire axe around or something we can use.”

There was a fire axe nearby and Kilroy had it in seconds. Chuck pointed to the point where he wanted the cables cut and the agent swung the axe. Sparks flew when the steel edge bit into the copper strands and the explosion of metal vaporized by the powerful current threw the axe across the platform. But the job was done. Just to make sure, Kilroy retrieved the axe and applied it to the rest of the control board. Gauges shattered and knobs flew. The gyroscopes would take long minutes to give up their inertia to the friction of their massive bearings, but the end was inevitable now. “Time to get out of here,” Chuck said.

“Just a second,” Kilroy said. He pulled a piece of chalk from a pocket and drew a familiar cartoon character on the control panel, a large-nosed guy peering over a fence. Below the sketch, he wrote “Kilroy Was Here”. “My calling card,” he said, seeing Chuck's puzzled expression. “I operate far behind the lines so I draw this whenever I get a chance. It drives the Nazis crazy.”

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