undercarriage like a flame-thrower. The car came up off its wheels, riding that cushion of fire, and the screamer lost it all in a final high-pitched gurgle.
That took care of the rear.
If you wanta play, guys, it's best to bring your own ball.
Bolan was already running along the treeline in a reverse course toward the houseboat.
As he passed the van he shouted, 'Okay, hit the drink!' — and again he turned the burper loose, desiring only to attract all eyes to that flaming muzzle and away from the girls.
It was a successful diversion. He was drawing plenty of fire.
Something tore through the fabric of his coat and another sizzling chunk practically parted his hair.
Bolan dived in behind a rock, about midway between the warwagon and the boat, and he reloaded the heated burper while he ran a spot on the enemy.
Some clown was on the roof of the houseboat with a lever-action rifle. That boat had a flat, square roof, absolutely flat, with nothing more than a couple of 3-inch stovepipes and a TV antenna to serve as cover.
Another guy was kneeling just off the gangway, taking cover behind a trash barrel, and plinking at Bolan with a small caliber pistol.
The woods in front of the boat, now, were another matter altogether. Most of their firepower seemed to have been concentrated out there. Muzzle flashes were visible from about five widely scattered points, grouped in multiples, and they were laying a withering fire on him, keeping him pinned behind the rock.
Bolan risked a craning inspection of the bay, and he was partially satisfied to note two girlish heads bobbing around out there just offshore.
It was the two kids.
Mary Ching was nowhere in evidence.
Cynthey seemed to be stroking for the houseboat. As Bolan watched, she paused to tread water and cup her hands for a shout toward her goal. 'Everybody out!' she screamed in a high falsetto. 'Alla you kids get out of there!'
Somebody was thinking.
The guy on the roof levered a shot at Cynthey.
Bolan splattered him with a single burst from the burper, then he yelled, 'Cynthey, stay under!'
It was an unnecessary direction. A glistening bare bottom rose to the surface as she went for depth, and she was gone in a flash. Panda, too, knew where safety was, and she immediately followed suit.
San Francisco Bay had cold, cold water — and Bolan felt a bit bad about that — but it was still the best place for them, especially since both seemed in pretty good control of their environment. There was no control over that other environment — not for the non-combatant — and Bolan had not wanted them in that fire zone.
He cast about for a glimpse of Mary Ching and came up with zero.
Behind him the plug vehicle was now in roaring flames and sending a dense cloud of black smoke soaring skyward.
It was a bad situation. He could have gone on out through that dissolved rear plug, sure, and left everybody to pick up their own marbles. But Bolan just did not play the game that way.
So here he was — pinned down. Probably 15 or 20 guns out there somewhere. Several more on the boat.
A Mexican stand-off could work no way but against Bolan. The heart of the village was less than a half-mile away; there would be an official reaction to that smoke and rattling firefight, and it could come damn quick.
On the other hand, no one man could successfully rush those woods, nor could he remain content for long with merely good cover, cops or not. Someone was probably already circling around to get behind him.
So...
Bolan put the burpgun aside and hauled out the big silver blaster. A sniping mission... with a handgun? Why not? The Auto Mag was certainly no ordinary handgun.
He showed himself and waited for a muzzle flash, and it wasn't much of a wait. Several came immediately. He tracked onto the most likely target and sent 240 grains right back at him, targeting right on the flash.
The guy behind that muzzle came immediately into full view, pitching sideways and down and out of the picture.
Bolan bobbed up again, and another exchange of fire produced a like result.
It was a hell of a grim way to play Russian roulette.
Somebody else out there was getting the same idea, and they were losing. There was movement out there — a shifting about.
Then a rattling burst sounded to Bolan's rear. He was swinging about to give the shortarm sniper a sniff of the situation when a guy fell away from the side of a rock, up on his flank, and the China doll stepped out from behind the van to sweep that entire side with a blazing machine-pistol.
It was too late to do anything but try to cover her.
Bolan rose to full height and extended the Auto Mag in a firing-range stance. The big piece boomed and belched fire in a rapid unload — and when the clip was empty Mary was up in the rocks on his exposed flank, in good cover now and firing selectively at specific targets.
She was good, she was damned good, and Bolan knew that the tide of battle had turned.
There was considerable movement out there now, quick movements in the direction of the boat.
Many heads were now visible in the water, Bolan reckoned about a dozen in the quick scan, and it seemed that Cynthey's buddies had joined her for the swim.
He called up to Mary, 'Okay! Hold it!'
She called back, 'Okay!'
The woodchucks were bailing out, and Bolan counted them as they scampered out of the woods and scurried across the gangway onto the houseboat. Eight left. Great. He let them go, giving them the boat, his mind already drawing upon a certain way to cut short the stalemate.
'Stay alert!' he warned Mary Ching.
She waved at him.
He thrust the Auto Mag into his belt and scooped up the burper, then moved into the trees and worked his way downrange toward the boat.
It wasn't really a boat, at all. It was just a big square raft with walls and a roof, a small porch which overhung the water in the gangway area, and a narrow walkway around the sides.
The idea was firmly crystallized now and, from a range of about ten yards, Bolan opened fire on the nearest mooring tree.
The big hawser popped dust and fuzz, then threads and strands; finally the cable parted with a groan.
One end of the houseboat immediately swung away from the shore and stretched itself toward the open bay, dragging the gangway with it.
Mary Ching, the China gunner, let out a whoop of delighted encouragement.
Concerned faces appeared at the windows of the boat, and someone in there yelled, 'What the hell is this?'
Bolan was already circling toward the other mooring tree. He let it have another clip from the burpgun. This time the rope cable parted with a twang and an explosive pop, and BAYSAVERS quickly drifted away in an idle exploration of that which it would save.
A youthful voice from the water yelled, 'Our boat, our boat!'
Another shouted, 'Let it go! Bon voyage, freaks!'
Bolan didn't feel too badly about the kids' boat. The Coast Guard would drag it back to them... if something more disastrous didn't occur before they made the scene.
And there were more immediate problems.
A distant siren was wailing down on them, descending from the direction of Sausalito.
The crew of BAYSAVERS, now at a relatively safe distance from the fire zone, were manning the rail and staring back at the receding shoreline.
Bolan met his lady gunner at the van, and they quickly stowed their weapons with a stony silence.
Bolan moved to the driver's side while Mary crawled in through the rear gate and secured that end, then she slid in beside him as he cranked the engine.
