‚Wolf!' Alex said.
‚I heard you got busted up.' Wolf shrugged. ‚I’m sorry. I forgot the flowers and the fruit basket.'
‚What are you doing here?' Alex asked.
‚They called me in to clear up the mess you left behind.'
‚So where were you when I was being chased down the mountain?'
‚It seems you were doing fine on your own.'
Mrs. Jones took over. ‚Alex has done a very good job up to now,' she said. ‚But the fact is that there are fifteen young prisoners up at Point Blanc and our first priority must be to save them. From what Alex has told us, we know there are about thirty guards in and around the school. The only chance those boys have is for an SAS unit to break in. It’s happening tonight.'
She turned to Alex. ‚The unit will be commanded by Wolf.'
The SAS never uses rank when it is on active service. Mrs. Jones was careful only to use Wolf’s code name.
‚Where does the boy come into this?' Wolf demanded.
‚He knows the school. He knows the position of the guards and the location of the prison cells. He can lead you to the elevator.'
‚He can tell us everything we need to know here and now,' Wolf interrupted. He turned to Mrs. Jones. ‚We don’t need a kid,' he said. ‚He’s just going to be baggage. We’re going in on skis. There’ll be blood. I can’t waste one of my men holding his hand.'
‚I don’t need to have my hand held,' Alex retorted angrily. ‚She’s right. I know more about Point Blanc than any of you. I’ve been there—and I got out of there, no thanks to you. Also, I’ve met some of those boys. One of them is a friend of mine. I promised I’d help him, and I will.'
‚Not if you get killed.'
‚I can look after myself!'
‚Then it’s agreed,' Mrs. Jones said. ‚Alex will lead you in there, but then will take no further part in the operation. And as for his safety, Wolf, I will hold you personally responsible.'
‚Personally responsible. Right,' Wolf growled.
Alex couldn’t resist a smile. He’d held his ground, and he’d be going back in with the SAS.
Then he realized what had happened. A few moments ago, he’d been arguing violently against doing just that. He glanced at the head of Special Operations. She’d manipulated him, of course, bringing Wolf into the room. And she knew it.
Wolf nodded. ‚All right, Cub,' he said. ‚Looks like you’re in. Let’s go and play.'
‚Sure, Wolf,' Alex sighed. ‚Let’s go and play.'
NIGHT RAID
THEY CAME SKIING DOWN from the mountain. There were seven of them, Wolf in front, Alex at his side. The other five men followed behind. They had changed into white trousers, jackets, and hoods—camouflage that would help them blend into the snow. A helicopter had dropped them two miles north and two hundred yards above Point Blanc, and equipped with night-vision goggles, they had quickly made their way down. The weather had settled again.
The moon was out. Despite himself, Alex enjoyed the journey, the whisper of the skis cutting through the ice, the empty mountainside bathed in white light. And he was part of a crack SAS
unit. He felt safe.
But then the academy loomed up below him, and once again he shivered. Before they had left, he had asked for a gun, but Wolf had shaken his head.
‚I’m sorry, Cub. It’s orders. You get us in, then you get out of sight.'
It was the same old story. When they needed him, he was a man. When he asked to protect himself, he was just a kid.
There were no lights showing in the building. The helicopter had arrived back from Paris, crouching on the helipad like a glittering insect. The ski jump stood to one side, dark and forgotten. There was nobody in sight. Wolf held up a hand and they sliced to a halt.
‚Guards?' he whispered.
‚Two patrolling. One on the roof.'
‚Let’s take him out first.'
Mrs. Jones had made her instructions absolutely clear. There was to be no bloodshed unless absolutely necessary. The mission was to get the boys out. The SAS could take care of Dr. Grief, Mrs. Stellenbosch, and the guards at a later date.
Now Wolf held out a hand and one of the other men passed him something. It was a crossbow—not the medieval sort but a sophisticated, high-tech weapon with a microflite aluminium barrel and laser scope. He loaded it with an anesthetic dart, lifted it up, and took aim. Alex saw him smile to himself. Then his finger curled and the dart flashed across the night, traveling at three hundred feet per second. There was a faint sound from the roof of the academy. It was as if someone had coughed. Wolf lowered the crossbow.
‚One down,' he said.
‚Sure,' Alex muttered. ‚And about twenty-nine to go.'
Wolf signaled and they continued down, more slowly now. They were about twenty yards from the school when they saw the main door open. Two men walked out, machine guns hanging from their shoulders. As one, the SAS men veered to the right, disappearing around the side of the school. They stopped within reach of the wall, dropping down to lie flat on their stomachs. Two of the men had moved slightly ahead. Alex noticed that they had kicked off their skis at the very same moment they had come to a halt.
The two guards approached. One of them was talking quietly in German. Alex’s face was half buried in the snow. He knew the combat clothes would make him invisible. He half lifted his head just in time to see two figures rise out of the ground like ghosts from the grave. Two blackjacks swung in the moonlight. The guards crumpled. In seconds they were tied up and gagged. They wouldn’t be going anywhere that night.
Wolf signaled again. The men got up and ran forward, making for the main door. Alex hastily pulled his own skis off and followed. They reached the door in a line, their backs against the wall. Wolf looked inside to make sure it was safe. He nodded. They went in.
They were back in the hall with the stone dragons and the animal heads. Alex found himself next to Wolf and quickly gave him his bearings, pointing out the different rooms.
‚The library?' Wolf whispered. He was totally serious now. Alex could see the tension in his eyes.
‚Through here.'
Wolf took a step forward, then crouched down, his hand whipping into one of the pouches of his jacket. Another guard had appeared, patrolling the lower corridor. Dr. Grief was taking no more chances. Wolf waited until the man had gone past and then nodded. One of the other SAS men went after him. Alex heard a thud and the soft clatter of a gun dropping.
‚So far so good,' Wolf whispered.
They went into the library. Alex showed Wolf how to summon the elevator, and Wolf whistled softly as the suit of armor smoothly divided into two parts. ‚This is quite a place,' he muttered.
‚Are you going up or down?'
‚Down. Let’s make sure the kids are all right.'
There was just room for all seven of them in the elevator. Alex had warned Wolf about the guard at the table, in sight of the elevator, and Wolf took no chances: he came out firing. In fact, two guards were there. One of them was holding a mug of coffee while the other lit a cigarette.
Wolf fired twice. Two more anesthetic darts traveled the short distance along the corridor and found their targets. Again, it had all happened in almost total silence. The two guards collapsed and lay still. The SAS men stepped out into the corridor.
