Part 30 (2/2)
Lachlan said to Julius, ”You do realize this doesn't mean you're in any waysuperior to me. No. 2 was an easy one. The outline of Africa was obvious. I'm still just trying to figure out where the coastline for No. 3 actually is. It doesn't match any known coastline on the Earth today.”
In the corner, Tank frowned at his phone. ”Oh?”
Julius clasped his hands behind his head mocksmugly. ”Maybe I can give you some tutoring in topographical a.n.a.lysis sometime, dear brother. Hey, you know, that could be my call sign:a.n.a.lyzer.”
”Sure. And we can shorten it toa.n.a.l. You better send that location to Jack and Wizard, a.n.a.l. They'll be pleased. Oh, and while you're at it, tell Lily that I found her backpack in the observation room. She must've left it behind in the rush to leave.”
”Righteo.” Julius tapped some keys, then cheerily hitSEND.
As he did so, Tank ended his call with a curt,”Yoros.h.i.+, ima hairinasai,” and hung up.
He walked back over to the twins.
”Hey, Tank,” Julius said. ”What do you think about the call signa.n.a.lyzer for me?”
Tank smiled sadly. ”That would seem most appropriate, young Julius.”
”So who's coming in?” Lachlan asked Tank.
”What?”
”You said it on the phone just now,'Yoros.h.i.+, ima hairinasai.' It means, 'OK, you may come in now.'”
Tank frowned. ”You speak j.a.panese, Lachlan?”
”A little. I once dated a j.a.panese science major-”
Julius scowled. ”You didn't date her! You corresponded with her in a chat room!”
Lachlan blushed. ”There was a connection there, a.n.a.l. Which means it qualifies as dating-”
Abruptly, the door to their study slammed open and one of their British SAS guards was hurled into the room by a wave of silenced gunfire:phwatphwatphwatphwatphwat phwat!
Blood sprayed the walls and all over Lachlan's gla.s.ses. The corpse of the SAS guard hit the floor with a loud thud.
Then the study was stormed by six blackclad men, all moving low, with perfect balance and posture, and all holding MP5SN silenced submachine guns pressed to their shoulders in the special forces way, their gogglecovered eyes looking straight down the barrels.
As five of the intruders covered the twins, the leader of the team went straight over to Tank and removed his goggles, to reveal a young j.a.panese face.
”Professor Tanaka, we have a chopper outside. What about these two?”
Two guns c.o.c.ked next to the twins' heads.
Lachlan and Julius froze, holding their breath.
For a long moment Tank eyed the two brilliant young men, as if he was deciding their fate: whether they lived or died.
At last he said, ”They can still be of much use. We take them with us.”
And with that, Tank swept out of the study, walking with purpose, leading the way. The twins were shoved from the building after him at gunpoint and as they stepped out into the pouring rain, they pa.s.sed the bodies of their SAS guards, all dead, all shot in the head.
AIRs.p.a.cE OVER AFRICA.
DECEMBER 10, 2007, 0930 HOURS.
BELCHING SMOKE from its wounded starboard engine, theHalicarna.s.sus limped through the African sky. The landscape below it was an undulating carpet of lush green hills.
They had been flying for nearly two hours since their dramatic escape from Abu Simbel and were now flying over Uganda in eastern Africa.
Their current plan was to head for their old station in Kenya and regroup.
Zoe and Wizard entered the c.o.c.kpit, where Sky Monster sat alone, flying the plane. Lily and Alby were downstairs, sleeping after their exciting morning.
”You rang?” Zoe said.
”Got good news and bad news,” Sky Monster said. ”Which do you want first?”
”The good news,” Wizard said.
”OK. A message just came in from England, from the twins. Something about the Second Vertex.”
Wizard leaped to a nearby computer and scanned the message. ”Cape Town. Table Mountain. Oh, those boys are talented. Good work, boys.
Goodwork !”
Zoe turned to Sky Monster. ”And the bad news?”
”We're almost out of fuel and Kenya just became a nogo zone.”
”What!”
”How so?”
”About ten minutes ago I started picking up aerial signals running northsouth grid patterns up and down the KenyanUgandan border.Perfect northsouth runs, which means computerdriven planes, which means unmanned aerial drones. Predators.”
”But only the US and the Saudis have Predator drones-” Wizard began.
”The fuel situation,” Zoe said. ”How much longer can we stay in the air?”
Sky Monster grimaced. ”I had to dump a lot back on that highway when our engine got hit. I figure we got enough fuel to reach Rwanda. Another hour at the absolute most. Then we'll be on fumes.”
”We're going to have to land in Rwanda?” Zoe said.
”We can land or we can crash,” Sky Monster said. ”Either way, we're going to be on the ground somewhere in Africa within the hour.”
Zoe exchanged a look with Wizard.
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