automatic fire, the distinctive sound of a Soviet RPD.
He threw himself down over the top of Royan, covering her with his own
body, and heard Mek bellowing from the boat behind them.
'411111%awOv .AL.
'Return fire! Keep their heads down.'
His men threw down their paddles and seized their weapons. They blazed
away towards the inner curve of the bank from where the attack was
coming.
The attackers were completely concealed amongst the rocks and scrub, and
there was no definite target to shoot at. However, in an ambush like
this it was essential to lay down as heavy a covering fire as possible,
to keep the attackers' heads down and to upset their aim.
A bullet tore through the nylon skin of the Avon close to Royan's head
and went on to lam into one of the metal offered ammunition crates. The
sides of their craft 0 protection at all from the heavy fusillade that
lashed them.
One of their crew was hit in the head. The bullet cut the top off his
skull like the shell of a soft'boiled egg, and he was flung over the
side. Royan screamed more with horro.
than with fear, while Nicholas snatched up the assault rifle that the
dead man had dropped and emptied the magazine towards the bank, firing
short taps of three and raking the scrub that concealed their attackers.
The Avon still raced downstream on the current, spiralling aimlessly as
she lost direction without the steering oar. It took them less than' a
minute to be carried past the ambush and around the next bend of the
river.
Nicholas dropped the empty rifle and shouted across at Mek, 'Are you all
right?'
'One man hit here,' Mek yelled back. 'Not too bad.' Each of the boats
reported their casualties: a total of one dead and three wounded. None
of the wounded was in a serious condition, and although three of the
boats had been holed, the hulls were made up of watertight compartments
and were all still floating high.
Mek steered his Avon alongside Nicholas's and called across. 'I was
beginning to think we had given Nogo the slip.'
'We got off lightly that time,' Nicholas called back.
'We probably took them by surprise. They weren't expecting us to be on
the water.'
'Well, no more surprises for him now. You can bet they are on the radio
already. Nogo knows exactly where we are and where we are headed.' He
looked up at the cloud. 'We can only hope the cloud stays thick and
low.'
'How much further to the Sudanese border?'
'Not sure, but it can't be more than another couple of hours.'
'Is the crossing guarded?' Nicholas asked.
'No. Nothing there. Just empty bush on both sides.'
'Let's hope it stays empty,' Nicholas muttered.
Within thirty minutes of the fire-fight, they heard the helicopter
again. It was flying above the clouds, and as they listened it passed
