The Spoilers / Juggernaut (20 page)

‘Speering is going to die,’ said Bryan. ‘The last I saw of him he was heading in the other direction. If he doesn’t get killed in the explosion the roof of the
qanat
will cave in and he’ll be trapped. So he’ll die.’

‘He can climb a shaft,’ said Follet.

‘With his hands tied behind his back?’

‘He’s going to die,’ said Tozier flatly. ‘So?’

‘But to die like that!’ said Bryan desperately. ‘Tied up and stumbling around in the dark.’

‘Don’t you think he deserves it?’

‘I wouldn’t want anyone to die like that. I’m going back.’

‘For Christ’s sake!’ said Tozier. ‘We haven’t time. We have to get back to the vehicles and be on our way before the big bang. That settlement is going to swarm like an ant heap when that underground room goes off pop, and I want to be on the other side when it happens.’

‘You go ahead,’ said Bryan. ‘I’ll catch you up.’

‘Hold it, Ben,’ said Warren. ‘What are you going to do?’

‘Untie his hands and turn him round,’ said Bryan. ‘It gives him a chance.’

‘It gives him a chance to raise a goddam squawk,’ said Follet sourly.

‘To hell with it, I’m going back,’ said Bryan, and broke away suddenly. Warren flicked on his light and saw him retreating rapidly into the darkness of the
qanat.

‘The damned fool,’ said Tozier in a gravelly voice.

Warren hesitated uncertainly. ‘What do we do?’

‘I’m getting out of here,’ said Follet. ‘I’m not risking my life for a guy like Speering.’

‘Johnny’s right,’ said Tozier. ‘There’s no point in waiting here. We’ll bring the trucks down the pass and stand by to pick up Ben. Let’s move.’

It seemed the best thing to do. After an initial pause Warren followed, splashing on the heels of Follet. Tozier imposed a back-breaking pace, secure in the knowledge of free passage ahead and spurred by the imminence of the impending explosion behind. They passed shaft after shaft with monotonous regularity and Warren checked each one off in his mind.

Tozier finally stopped. ‘This is it.’

‘Can’t be,’ gasped Warren. ‘I only make it thirty-one.’

‘You’re wrong,’ said Tozier with certainty. ‘I have hold of the rope. The sooner we’re all on the surface, the better I’ll be pleased.’

He went up the shaft and was followed by Warren, who collapsed gasping for breath on the raised rim. Tozier helped
Follet up, then said, ‘Johnny and I will go for the trucks. You stay here and give us a flash when you hear the engines.’ He and Follet disappeared into the darkness and there was just the rattle of loose stones to indicate their passage.

Warren looked up at the sky. The moon was setting behind the mountains but still shed a bright and even light over the rocky landscape so that he could see the roofs of the settlement in the distance. He waited for a while in the profound silence then leaned over the shaft and called, ‘Ben—Ben, where are you?’

His voice echoed hollowly in the shaft, but there was no reply. He bit his lip. Undoubtedly Ben had acted stupidly—but was he wrong? Warren felt a turmoil within himself, an unaccustomed battle between idealism and self-interest which was something he had not felt before. Hesitantly he grasped the rope and prepared to let himself down the shaft, and then he paused, wondering if this was the right thing to do, after all. What about the others? Would he not be endangering the lives of them all if he went down after Bryan?

He dropped the rope and disconsolately sat on the edge of the shaft, fighting it out within himself. Presently he heard the low rumble of an engine and cautiously flashed his light in that direction, being careful to shield it with his hand so that no glimmer could be seen from the settlement in the distance. A Land-Rover loomed up suddenly and stopped, its engine dropping to the thrum of idling speed. Tozier got out and walked over. ‘Any sign of him?’

‘Nothing,’ said Warren despondently.

‘Bloody idealists!’ said Tozier. ‘They get on my wick.’

‘He’s in the profession of life-saving,’ said Warren. ‘It’s hard to change suddenly. So what do we do now?’

Tozier peered at the illuminated fingers of his watch which he carried face inward on his wrist. ‘She’ll blow in
thirty minutes. I was hoping to be on the other side of the settlement by then.’ He sighed in exasperation. ‘That bloody young idiot has cocked everything up.’

‘You push off,’ said Warren. ‘I’ll wait for Ben.’

‘No,’ said Tozier. ‘I’ll wait. You and Johnny head for the settlement. When the bang goes off make a break for it—you should be able to get through in the excitement. Wait for me on the other side. If you hear any shooting be prepared to come back in and bail us out.’

‘I don’t know if that’s a…’ began Warren.

‘For Christ’s sake, move,’ said Tozier forcefully. ‘I know what I’m doing and I’ve had more experience. Get going.’

Warren ran for the second Land-Rover and told Follet what was happening. Follet said, ‘You’d better drive then.’ He lifted his machine-pistol. ‘It’ll leave me free to shoot.’

Warren got in and drove off, trying to make as little noise as possible. They bumped across the valley floor towards the settlement, making a speed of less than ten miles an hour, while Follet kept glancing at his watch with a worried eye. At last Warren braked gently; ahead he could see the first low, flat-roofed buildings but there was no movement in the moonlight. The only sound was the gentle throb as the engine ticked over.

‘Less than a minute to go,’ whispered Follet.

Even as he spoke there was a deep thump as though a giant had coughed explosively, and the ground quivered under them. A plume of dust shot into the air from the shaft of the
qanat
nearest the settlement—the shaft which had formed the secret entrance to the underground laboratory. It rose higher and higher in the form of a ring, coiling and guttering in the moonlight as though the giant had blown a smoke ring. There was a brief change in the skyline of roofs, but it was so imperceptible that Warren could not pin it down.

Follet smote him on the shoulder. ‘Go, man—go! Lights!’

The Land-Rover bucked ahead under fierce acceleration, its headlamps glaring at the settlement, and the engine roared and roared again as he slammed through the gears. He felt the wheels spin as he accelerated too fast and then they were off in a jolting ride he would never forget.

All was speed and motion and suddenly-seen vignettes caught in the brightness of the lights—a flutter of hens in the road rudely awakened and alarmed by the explosion, a brown face at a window, eyes squinting as they were dazzled, a man flattened against a wall with arms outspread where he sheltered from their mad rush.

Suddenly Follet yelled, ‘Watch it !’ and Warren slammed on the brakes. Ahead of them a crack in a wall widened slowly and the wall toppled into the road in what appeared to Warren’s heightened senses to be slow motion. There was a crash and a billowing cloud of dust into which the Land—Rover lurched and crunched to a halt. The dust swirled into the cab and Warren coughed convulsively as his mouth was filled.

‘Goddam jerry-built houses,’ grumbled Follet.

Warren rammed the gear lever into reverse and backed out fast. As the dust settled he saw that the road ahead was completely blocked. Somewhere there was the flat report of a gun being fired. ‘Better get out of here,’ said Follet. ‘See if we can find a way around.’

Warren kept going in reverse because there was no room to turn. At the first clear space he swung around and looked for an exit roughly in the direction he wanted to go. More shots were fired but no bullets seemed to come close. Follet pointed. ‘Try down there. Move it, for Christ’s sake!’

As Warren headed the Land-Rover at the narrow street something thumped against the side. Follet swung his machine-pistol out of the side window and pressed the trigger. There was a sound as of cloth ripping as he emptied half a magazine. ‘Just to keep their heads down,’ he shouted.

The Land-Rover plunged down the street which seemed to become even narrower and there was a clang as it scraped a wall. Ahead a man ran out and stood pointing a gun at them. Warren ducked involuntarily and stamped harder with his foot. The Land-Rover bucked and drove ahead; there was a soft thump and a last vision of two hands thrown up despairingly and a rifle thrown into the darkness.

Then they were out of the street and on the other side of the settlement with blackness in front of them as far as they could see. Follet tugged at Warren’s arm. ‘Switch off the lights so they’ll lose us.’ He looked back. ‘I wonder how Andy’s doing?’

Tozier was looking towards the settlement when the explosion happened. He saw the dust cloud climb into the air and presently the ground shivered beneath his feet under the transmitted shock and he heard the sound. A sudden breeze drove upward from the mouth of the shaft against his face and then was gone and there was a noise which he could not interpret.

He bent down and shouted, ‘Ben!’ There was no answer.

He hesitated, biting his lip, and then seized the rope and lowered himself into the shaft. At the bottom he flashed his light around. Everything appeared to be normal so he shouted again. A piece of earth broke from the roof and splashed into the water.

He pointed his lamp downwards and frowned as he estimated the depth of water. Surely it had not been as deep as that before. He pulled out his knife and stuck it into the
qanat
wall just above the water level and his frown deepened as he saw the water level slowly rise to cover the haft of the knife.

His light, pointing down the
qanat,
showed nothing as he went forward. By the time he had gone a hundred yards and passed two shafts the water was swirling about his
thighs, and then he saw the roof fall that blocked the
qanat
completely. This primitive tunnel with an unsupported roof had not been able to withstand the hammer blow of the explosion even at this distance, and he wondered how much of the
qanat
had collapsed.

There was nothing he could do, so he turned away and by the time he reached the rope the water was chest high, fed from the underground spring upstream in the mountains.

When he reached the surface he was soaked and shivering in the cold night air, but he ran without a backward glance at the deadly trap that had entombed Bryan and Speering. In his profession death was a commonplace to be accepted. Nothing he could do would now help Bryan and he would be hard put to it to save his own skin.

He drove to the edge of the settlement carefully and stopped, switching off the engine so he could hear better. There was much to hear—shouting and a babble of voices—and there were lights now as Ahmed and his men tried to find the extent of the damage. Tozier grinned coldly as he heard the centre of activity move over to the left towards the
qanat.

He removed the shoulder-rest from the machine-pistol, cocked it and laid it on the seat next to him, ready to hand. Then he restarted the engine and crept forward in the darkness without switching on his lights—this was a time for cunning, not bravado; Ahmed’s men were now roused and he could not tear through the settlement as he had advised Warren to do.

He moved forward steadily past the first buildings, and as he came into an open space he was spotted. There was a shout and somebody fired a gun, and there was a faint response of other and fainter shouts from further away. Even as he manipulated the gear lever there was another shot; he saw the muzzle discharge as a flicker in the darkness ahead so he switched on his lights to see what he was up against.

The Land-Rover gained momentum and he saw three men ahead of him, their hands upflung to shade their eyes against the sudden dazzle. He groped for the gun on the seat and was just in time to raise it as one of the men jumped on to the running-board, wrenching the door open and reaching for him. He lifted the gun and fired twice and there was a choked cry. When he had time to take his eyes from the road he risked a glance sideways and saw that the man was gone.

He looked up to the rear view mirror and saw the flicker of rifle fire in the darkness behind him which disappeared with shocking suddenness as a bullet whipped past his head to shiver the mirror to fragments. He swung the wheel to turn a corner and pawed at his brow to wipe a sticky wetness from his eyes where the blood dripped from a deep cut.

Then he skidded to a halt as he faced the same fallen wall that had confronted Follet and Warren. He cursed as he put the Land-Rover into reverse and ducked as a bullet hit the side of the body. The quick, sharp report of several rifles shooting simultaneously made him grab his machine-pistol, thumb it on to rapid fire and squirt a magazine full of bullets in a deadly spray towards the indistinct figures behind him.

Follet had been listening intently to the rising crescendo of gunfire in the settlement. When he heard the rip of the machine-pistol he said, ‘They’ve cornered Andy. Let’s go get him out.’

Warren, who had already turned the vehicle around in preparation for this moment, moved into action, and they started on their way back. Follet said, ‘I think they’ve trapped him in the same place where they nearly got us. You know where to go.’

Warren drove down the narrow street and past the crumpled body of the man he had run down. At the corner, sheltering from the threat of Tozier’s gun, was a crowd of Kurds who were taken by surprise by this newlylaunched attack in their rear. Follet leaned from the window
and pressed the trigger and they ran for cover. One did not make it—he lurched as though he had tripped over something invisible and went head over heels and lay still.

‘Straight on,’ yelled Follet. ‘Then turn round.’

The tyres squealed as Warren pulled the Land-Rover in a too tight turn at too high a speed. His lights illuminated the other vehicle, and Follet leaned out and yelled, ‘Come on, Andy, what the hell are you waiting for?’

Tozier’s Land-Rover jerked backwards into the clear space and shot up the narrow street with Warren close behind, while Follet squeezed off regular bursts to the rear to discourage pursuit. They broke from the settlement with Warren close on Tozier’s tail, and drove a full three miles before pulling to a halt at the top of the high ground above the valley.