KENYA
18 MARCH, 2006, 11:45 P.M.
2 DAYS BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF TARTARUS
West and his sub-team returned to Kenya.
On the way, they'd stopped in Spain to refuel, at which point Lily had had another breakthrough with the Callimachus Text. She was suddenly able to read the next entry.
'What's it say?' West asked.
'It's about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,' she said. 'It says:
West tousled her hair. 'Nice work, kiddo. Nice work. Wizard's going to be thrilled.'
The
moon illuminated the grassy plains like a floodlight, while the low hills loomed, dark teeth against the moonlit sky.
About a kilometre from the runway stood the farmhouse, its windows glowing orange. The emergency signal—the lights on the juniper bush in the front garden—was not on.
Sky Monster swung the plane toward the hangar dug into the hill at the end of the runway. As it taxied slowly, everyone grabbed their gear, preparing to disembark.
None of them could know that as they did so, two hundred pairs of eyes watched them closely.
Turbines whirring, the
A flight of airstairs waited for it there, just outside the open doors. And beyond the airstairs, maybe forty yards away, stood a welcoming party of one: Doris, standing by the hangar doors themselves.
It was impossible for those on the plane to know that she was standing there at gunpoint.
The plane stopped alongside the airstairs at the entry to the hangar, its nose section poking into the actual hangar (it had to cool down outside for a few hours before it could be brought fully inside for storage).
As soon as it had stopped, its forward side door was flung open from within and Big Ears and Lily—eager to see Doris and show her the Zeus Piece—dashed out of the plane and scampered down the airstairs. Big Ears wore his backpack, containing the Piece.
Not far behind them came Pooh Bear and Stretch, escorting Zaeed—now flex-cuffed again. They emerged from the plane into the fresh night air, began stepping down the stairs.
Sky Monster and West lingered in the plane—Sky Monster to
do a post-flight check; West just to collect all his things: notes, parchments, Hessler's Nazi diary.
It was noisy outside—the
Big Ears and Lily were halfway to Doris.
'Hey, Doris! We did it!' Lily called over the din, but Doris's usually warm face was stony, cold—as though she knew something that she couldn't disclose.
Then she seemed to regather herself, smiled kindly, and called back: 'Well done, little Eowyn! What a triumphant return. This is all a bit like Gimli returning to Moria, isn't it!'
At Doris's words, Lily slowed her stride.
Then she stopped completely.
Big Ears paused, turned to her. 'What is it?'
Worried, Lily peered fearfully at the dark grassy fields that surrounded the hangar's entrance. Apart from Doris, the area was completely deserted.
'Big Ears, we're in trouble,' she said evenly. 'We have to get back to the plane. This is a trap.'
'How do you know—?'
'Just go! Now!' she said with an authority that belied her age.
And abruptly, she spun, grabbing Big Ears's hand, and together— still twenty yards from the plane—they bolted back towards the
No sooner had they moved than all hell broke loose in the hangar.
Every door on every side of the hangar burst open and disgorged dozens of black-clad American troops.
A maintenance door behind Doris was also thrown open and Marshall Judah rushed out of it, accompanied by a CIEF team led by Cal Kallis.
Kallis pushed roughly past Doris and opened fire on the fleeing pair with a god-almighty fury.
When the gunfire started, different people did different things:
West.
He raced to the forward door of the
Sky Monster.
He peered out the cockpit windows—to see Lily and Big Ears running together back towards the airstairs, chased by an oncoming swarm of enemy troops.
Zaeed.
He was at the bottom of the airstairs when the gunfire began, flanked by Pooh Bear and Stretch, his hands still flex-cuffed. But his eyes, far from being wild and crazed, were watchful and focused now.
He'd actually just managed to extract a blade hidden in his pants and saw halfway through his flex-cuffs, and was three seconds away from stabbing Stretch between the ribs and commencing his escape when the gunfire had started. At that point, he'd slid the blade back into his pocket and clambered back up the airstairs as they were hammered with bullet impacts.
And Judah.
While his men hurried past Doris, he stopped right in front of her and said, 'I told you, no warnings.'
And then, without the slightest hesitation, he drew a Glock pistol, placed its barrel against her head and fired.
West arrived at the forward door just in time to see Doris fall. 'Oh, God, no . . .' he breathed. 'No . . .'
He beheld the rest of the scene in the hangar.
Pandemonium reigned.
A massive American force had emerged from every corner of the hangar. Most of them were on foot, but then West saw three Humvees come blasting out of the grassy fields outside.
The American troops were converging on the big black 747 like an army of ants, their collective movement focused on the two fleeing figures of Big Ears and Lily.
West zeroed in on the running pair.
One thing was clear: they weren't going to make it to the airstairs.
The Americans' angle of fire would cut them off before they got there. And he noted that the Yanks weren't aiming to
But Big Ears and Lily did make it to a portable electricity generator wagon just short of the airstairs. The generator wagon was the size of a small trailer. Normally, once the
Lily and Big Ears dived behind the generator wagon, and Big Ears immediately opened fire on his closest pursuers, causing them to halt and duck for cover.
So now West stood at the top of the airstairs, while Stretch and Pooh Bear were huddled at the base of those same stairs, ducking gunfire. Zaeed was in the middle, halfway up the steps, getting away from the action.
And Lily and Big Ears lay crouched—cut off, pinned down by enemy fire—a tantalising five yards from the
