Part 30 (1/2)

As he went under the second bus, he hit a b.u.t.ton on his Maghook, causing it to reel in quickly.

Freesliding under the second bus, he could see the speeding wheels of the Freelander only a few yards away and, beyond them, the larger tires of the Humvee-so as he slid, Jack extended his gun hand sideways and firedthrough the wheels of the Freelander, hitting the tires of the Humvee, puncturing them.

The Humvee instantly lost control and skidded away-but not before two of the Egyptian troops on it had leaped aboard the Freelander, attacking Pooh Bear.

Despite the fact that he was wrestling with two men, Pooh Bear pulled the Freelander away from the bus and once again aimed it at the rear loading ramp of theHalicarna.s.sus, now with a clear shot at it.

Zoe leaned forward to help Pooh with his two attackers, but as she did the Freelander swayed wildly: if they gunned it now, they'd hit one of the loading ramp's struts and crash terribly.

Pooh Bear seemed to realize this, too. And he grabbed hold of the two men a.s.sailing him and in a fleeting moment locked eyes with Alby and Zoe.

”Get away from here,” he growled.

And then, before they could stop him, Pooh Bear leaped from the speeding Freelander,taking the two stunned Egyptian troopers with him!

They landed on the roadway together, rolling and tumbling-although Pooh had made sure that his attackers took the brunt of the fall.

Alby spun to watch them recede back down the highway, tears in his eyes, while Zoe climbed into the driver's seat and took the wheel-now with a clear run at the loading ramp.

Zoe floored it.

The Freelander hit the ramp at phenomenal speed, leaping up into the hold and skid smas.h.i.+ng into the white Suburban already parked there, but at last safe and inside.

From his position underneath the second Egyptian coach, still sliding on the riot s.h.i.+eld, Jack had seen Pooh Bear whip back down the roadway with his two attackers he'd also just seen the Freelander shoom up into the hold of theHali.

Abruptly something cut across his view: the side of a bus, with its forward door open, traveling right alongside him.

Jack whipped up his gun-only to see Astro appear in the open door of this new bus, lying on its steps on his belly. ”Jack! Give me your hand!”

Thirty seconds later, Astro was hauling Jack out from under the Egyptian coach and up into his stolen bus, where Stretch was still at the wheel.

After he hefted Jack up, Astro deftly attached a magnetic explosive charge to the Egyptian bus and yelled, ”Clear!”

Stretch pulled them a safe distance away as the charge detonated and the entire side of the Egyptian bus just blew off it.

Suddenly Sky Monster's voice came through Jack's earpiece:”Huntsman! Where the h.e.l.l are you! In about ten seconds I have to power up or else we're not going to be able to take off!”

Jack looked forward at the plane, and the realization hit him:it was too far away. He, Stretch, and Astro could never get to it in time.

Then a dull echoingboom caught his attention, and he spun to look back behind him-and saw another h.e.l.lfire missile heading down the highway, chasing the fleeing plane.

”Monster,” he said. ”We can't catch you.”

”What?”

Both Stretch and Astro heard this, too, and they exchanged a look.

Then Lily's voice came over the line:”No, Daddy! We'll wait for you-”

”No, honey. You have to get away. I'll find you, Lily. I promise. But trust me,you have to get away from here. We're not as important as you are.You have to survive. You, Zoe, Wizard, and Alby-you have to continue this mission and find the Second Pillar and place it in the Second Vertex. Call the twins, use their help. This is your mission now. I love you. Now Sky Monster, go.”

He clicked off the radio and turned to Stretch: ”Stop the bus.”

Having heard everything Jack had said, Stretch just glanced questioningly at him.

”Sideways. Across the road. Now,” Jack said.

Stretch did so, bringing the bus to a skidding squealing halt across the center of the highway, blocking the road completely.

TheHalicarna.s.sus powered off down the blacktop, disappearing into the heat haze, speeding up.

”And now, gentlemen,” Jack said,”run.”

Jack, Stretch, and Astro abandoned the bus, racing across the road and diving into the sand just as it was. .h.i.t by the incoming missile intended for theHalicarna.s.sus.

The bus exploded-a billowing fireball that mushroomed into the sky, raining twisted metal everywhere.

Covered in sand, blood, and sweat, Jack looked up to see theHalicarna.s.sus rus.h.i.+ng away to the south, getting smaller and smaller, until eventually, slowly and painfully, it lifted off into the sky, carried by its three remaining engines.

Within a minute, a half dozen Americanmanned Humvees skidded to simultaneous halts around him. The six Apaches patrolled the air overhead, kicking up a sandstorm of their own.

Jack stood, dropping his weapons and raising his hands behind his head as the first soldier-an American trooper-strode up to him and wordlessly smashed him in the face with the b.u.t.t of his gun and instantly Jack saw nothing but black.

K10 SUBMARINE BASE.

MORTIMER ISLAND.

BRISTOL CHANNEL, ENGLAND.

DECEMBER 10, 2007, 2200 HOURS.

AT THE K10 BASE on Mortimer Island, six SAS troopers stood guard outside a small building at the edge of the complex, grim sentries standing in the pouring rain.

Inside the outbuilding, the Terrible Twins, Lachlan and Julius Adamson, were working away at adjoining computers.

Lachlan talked as he typed. ”You know that 5:12:13 rightangle triangle that connects Stonehenge to the Great Pyramid at Giza? Its rightangle corner actually touches an island not far from here, Lundy Island-”

Suddenly Julius leaped back from his computer and punched the air. ”I've got it! I've got the Second Vertex!”

He kicked back his chair to allow his brother and Tank Tanaka to see his monitor. On the screen was a digital photo of one of the trilithons at Stonehenge, taken during the light show: Surrounding this image was a collage of satellite images of southern Africa, maps of the Cape of Good Hope, and even one window opened onto Google Earth.

Julius smiled, pointing at the number ”2” at the bottom of the trilithon. ”It's near Table Mountain.”

”In Cape Town?” Lachlan said.

”Are you sure?” Tank said.

”Positive. It's about three miles to the south of Table Mountain,” Julius said. ”In the hills and mountains there. The whole area is densely forested, uninhabited, and very difficult to get to. Iam the master!”

He grinned triumphantly just as Tank's cell phone rang. He stepped aside to answer it, saying a m.u.f.fled, ”h.e.l.lo? Ah,konichiwa ...”