Part 39 (1/2)
”I know who you are. You are Akula, the Shark. What have you done with the device?”
”I tell you, I have no device.”
”Don't f.u.c.king lie to me!” I shouted.
”Or I'll blow your b.l.o.o.d.y head off' That seemed to change his mind.
”You are too late,” he said.
”The device is not here.”
”I know. I'm asking where you've sent it.”
”You are American, yes?” There was a hint of mockery in his voice, of condescension.
”It doesn't matter what I am.
”Well you should send message to British Government.”
”Yes?”
”Tell them, release the Chechen men they have arrested.”
”What Chechen men?”
”Twelve persons.
”What have they done?”
”Nothing. But the police arrested them. Unless they are free, London will be sorry.
”What are you saying?”
”Only that. London will regret.”
”You mean you've sent the bomb to London?”
I was so hyped up by the thought that Orange was going to be used against us that, without any conscious decision, I fired a burst into the floor beside the Shark's right leg, then another that hit him in the thigh. As the rounds struck, he gave a convulsive jerk, then began to writhe around on his side, blood flowing out fast over the birch floor.
All at once there was a commotion at the far end of the room.
A door flew open. As I looked in that direction, Akula tried to take advantage of the diversion and began dragging himself away along the edge of the pool. In a split-second I took in the fact that the newcomer was Sasha, who dashed in with his Gepard levelled. Before I could move or speak he'd opened up with three short bursts. The first missed, but the second caught the Shark full in the flank. As he rocked on his hands and knees, the third raked him again and toppled him sideways into the pool.
Behind me, from the changing cubicle he'd been in, came a sudden noise and movement and the door flew open. Out burst a young blonde woman, stark naked, holding a pistol in her right hand.
Before she could pull the trigger, Sasha cut her down with a burst into her back from point-blank range.
He was on a total high, uncontrollably violent, half mad. He fired two more bursts into the ceiling, splintering the planks, and rushed up to me with a triumphant roar of ”ZHEORDIE! WE KEELL THEM ALL!”.
With a couple of bounds he reached the edge of the pool. The man's body was half-floating, face-down in the water, feet on the bottom. Blood had flooded out all round it, staining the water, dark red close in, paler farther out.
”Akula in the water!” Sasha shouted.
”Breelliant! We make him kneel! We make him swim!” Again he let drive a burst into the body, causing it to bob violently up and down.
Men came pounding into the room. Our guys. One, two, three.
”Out!” yelled one of them.
”The place is on fire. Gotta go downwards.”
”Here!” I pointed towards the door.
All five of us flew down the concrete stairs and through the wooden door. The inner store-room was empty. The hostages had gone.
Outside, the impact of frosty air cooled all of us down. I realised I'd been on just as vicious a high as Sasha.
As we drew away from the building and up the hill, we could see flames raging inside the ground-floor windows. Then a great tongue of fire burst out of the roof. Out of breath, I got down -on one knee, jabbed my press el and called, ”Pat?”
”Yes?”
”Geordie here. I'm east of the building. Where are you?”
”Straight above the villa. The Chinooks are coming in.”
”Great. Is there a medic on board?”
”Should be. I asked for one.”
”The hostages are in a bad way.
”OK. RV on the helipad, soonest.”
”Roger.”
We started through the trees, but we'd only gone a few yards when another explosion burst out above us. I heard later that the guys in Party C saw somebody sneak up into the c.o.c.kpit of the Alouette, so they put a 66 rocket into its fuel tank.
The fireball lit up the trees all around. By the time we reached the scene the chopper was blazing from end to end. There was no chance of s.h.i.+fting the wreck quickly.
Over the radio I heard Pat call the Chinook captain and redirect him to the LZ in the forest.
By now some of our guys had wrapped Pay and Toad in s.p.a.ce blankets and sleeping bags and lashed them into nylon stretchers. There followed a desperate struggle, as relays of us carried them along the rough mountainside, bundled them over the wire and lugged them away through the forest.
Towards the end we could hear the Chinooks circling. Then rounds began to go down behind us and bullets came cracking through the trees.
By the time we reached the edge of the field we were sweating like pigs. One man, in the lead, ran out and shone a torch to bring the first Chinook in. At the same moment I heard Pat calling the second to put down an air strike ”Into the trees!” he was shouting.
”One hundred metres west of the LZ. One hundred metres and farther.”