Now that he saw them together, Banks saw that one was smaller, by about a foot, than the other, and lighter in color, more reddish brown.
“One of each,” Galloway said. “The mad bastard was hoping to mate them.”
Banks didn’t have to ask which mad bastard was being referred to. He watched as the beasts tore meat off the deer carcass and fed it into mouths that looked too full of teeth. At that moment, they looked less human, more ape, but that impression changed in an instant as the lion, crouched down low, crept forward, looking to retake the carcass. The bigger of the Alma moved in one smooth action, like a fielder retrieving a ball, bending, picking up a rock, and throwing it, hard and fast underarm. The rock flew flat and true and hit the lion on the right shoulder.
The big cat fled without a sound—but not quickly, and with a noticeable limp.
The Alma watched it go until they were sure all fight had gone from the lion, then resumed their feeding.
Over to Banks’ right, the mammoths stood, still in their defensive circle, still watchful. Way over to the left, under the distant cliffs, he could just make out a dozen darker, barrel-shaped beasts where the wooly rhino had taken themselves away from conflict. There was no sign of any other elk than the dead one the Alma stood over.
A movement caught his eye and he looked up. The six huge thunderbirds circled in a thermal, hundreds of yards above the tundra, spiraling around what they hoped would be easy pickings once the Alma were done with their feast.
“The gang’s all here. Red in tooth and claw,” he muttered.
“And beak and talon,” Galloway added, following Banks’ gaze. “The mad Russian got his spectacle after all, although he didn’t live to see it.”
*
“I can take the big one, right now,” McCally said. He had his weapon raised, sighting on where the beasts fed.
“Leave it,” Banks replied. “It’s too far, and if you just wounded it, you’d only make it angry. Let them feed. It might slow them down.”
He patted McCally on the arm.
“And talking of feeding, it’s time we had something. I’ll spell you here—go and rustle up what you can from the kitchen. We forgot about it in the excitement earlier. There must still be bread, cheese, and meat around here somewhere. Just no caviar—and definitely no vodka.”
Galloway and Waterston stayed at Banks’ side, all three of them watching the Alma feed out on the tundra.
“You know, it could have been magnificent,” Waterston said. “If only he’d kept his ego in check.”
“Aye. It seems that his ego, dodgy use of materials, overuse of hormones, cloning big hairy orange fuckers and pish-poor security were all that stopped it from being a great success,” Banks said laconically. “That, and getting himself eaten, of course.”
Galloway almost spit out a mouthful of coffee in an attempt not to laugh.
“I do believe I’ll quote you on that in my report.”
“Go right ahead,” Banks replied. “It’s only what I’ll be telling my colonel anyway.”
“Our transport?” Waterston asked. “Will it be big enough for us to take Smithson with us?”
“We don’t leave a man behind if we can help it,” Banks said. “Your man is our man. We’ll get him home.”
Being reminded of the fact made him realize it was time to be thinking about logistics. Their kit was still out in the fuselage of the Lear Jet, and they had a dead man to get down onto the tarmac. At the same time, they’d have to protect themselves from attack, whether it was from thrown rocks or a pack of wolves. He was still milling over that when McCally returned with a tray of bread and cold meats. He let the others eat while he kept watch at the window. At first, he was preoccupied with the logistics of getting everyone down onto the tarmac in safety, so it took him several seconds to notice there was something missing from the scene below.
The Alma still sat on their haunches around the carcass of the deer, the mammoths still stood in their circle, and the rhino were still gathered far off across the plain below the gray cliffs. The lion sulked near a dark pool a hundred yards to the west, licking its wounds; the wolves were nowhere to be seen.
- 14 -
“Sarge,” he shouted. “You all clear out there? I’ve not got eyes on the wolf pack.”
“All clear, Cap,” Hynd called back. “I can walk through the dining area to the big window and have a shufti if you’d like?”
“Do that. Have Wiggo watch your back, and no heroics. I’ll make sure the big orange fuckers don’t fling any rocks at you.”
“Appreciated,” Hynd shouted back, then all went quiet.
Banks did as he’d promised and kept a close eye on the Alma, but they were intent on their feasting. The lion was on the move again, but heading away rather than toward the complex; and not far enough for the mammoths to relax their vigilant circle.
McCally came over with a plate of bread and meat. Banks smelled the strongly cured meat before he turned.
And if I can smell it, then so can the pack.
“Sarge? Any joy out there?” he shouted.
“No sight of the big dogs if that’s what you mean?” Hynd shouted back.
“Okay. Get back into the corridor. If my hunch is right, we’re going to have visitors any minute now.”
McCally raised an eyebrow as Banks made up a basic sandwich. Banks chewed on the dry bread, and swallowed it down before speaking.
“The one thing I know about dogs—any dogs—is that they can smell food from a mile off. They’ll think there’s an easier meal to be had here rather than trying to steal the deer back from the bigger beasties out in the open. They’ll be here somewhere, sniffing around. I’d bet my pension on it.”
“The whole fiver?” McCally said with a smile. “I’d better pay attention then.”
“Watch the window,” Banks said to the corporal. “I’ll be out in the corridor with the sarge and Wiggo. Shout if the hairy orange buggers make a move, or if you see the wolf pack. But if the shooting starts, come and join in—we’re going to need plenty of firepower to take down all four if they come at once.”
*
He was still chewing on stale bread and too-dry meat as he went out into the corridor. Hynd and Wiggins stood immediately outside the room door watching the access points. Hynd faced the open area out to the dining room, while Wiggins watched the door at the opposite end of the corridor.
“Where does that go?” Banks asked.
“Back stairs, down to a big freezer and larder area for the kitchen,” Wiggins replied. “And unless the fuckers can work door handles, there’s nowt coming up that way.”
“I wouldn’t put it past the big hairy buggers though, so keep your eyes peeled.”
He turned to Hynd. The sarge looked out over the empty dining room to the window beyond, where once again thin fog drifted across the view.
“Maybe we should fetch all the kit from the plane?” he said, but Banks shook his head.
“I don’t want to be out in the open any longer than we have to. We’ll pick it up on the way when backup gets here.”
“What do you think? Transport plane or chopper?”
“Depends what’s available, I guess. And we won’t know until we hear it coming. So listen out, and listen good.”
Something shifted, downstairs in the main reception area, and the two men looked at each other.
“Remind me never to bet against your hunches, Cap,” Hynd said, as the noise came again; Banks thought he knew what it was—the legs of a chair being nudged across a polished floor.
“No shooting unless we have to,” Banks said in a whisper. “I don’t want to remind those big orange wankers that we’re still here.”
He motioned that Hynd should follow and they padded quickly across the floor space to the stairwell leading down to reception. Banks got to the top landing first, and looked down.
Twenty steps below, the big male wolf sat on its haunches at the foot of the stairway, staring back up
at him.
*
Without the benefit of a cage between them, Banks felt even more like prey caught in the gaze of a predator, and had to force down a sudden urge for flight.
“Nice doggie,” Hynd said at his side, and Banks forced away a laugh. The wolf’s stare was too focused to ignore, although at the same time, the beast gave the impression of being completely relaxed, poised and waiting to see what was going to happen.
Banks raised his weapon, pointing it at the wolf’s face, but that didn’t get any reaction.
It doesn’t know what a rifle is for.
He was tempted—more than tempted—to shoot, but remembered his warning to Hynd of minutes before. Any gain from killing this beast would have to be offset against the knowledge that it would alert the Alma, and they might be a lot harder to put down.
He took a step forward, down onto the staircase.
“Cap?” Hynd said.
“Just cover me,” Banks replied. “I’ve got another hunch.”
He took another step. The wolf yawned, showing its teeth and a meaty, wet tongue. Somewhere down in reception, there was another scrape of chair on floor.
The pack is there too, waiting to see what happens.
Banks didn’t take his gaze off the wolf’s stare, and took a third step. The wolf stood up, and walked away out of sight. He stood on the third step down, listening, but there was no more sounds from down in reception, and his hunch, which appeared to be in full working order today, told him that they were once again alone in the building,
I called its bluff.
“Jesus Christ, Cap,” Hynd said at his back. “Don’t do that to me again. I nearly pished myself here.”
Banks looked down at the foot of the stairs. The wolf had left them a statement, a pool of yellow fluid.
“I think he did it for you,” Banks replied.
*
Wiggins was waiting for them in the corridor by the rooms.
“Any joy?” he said.
“Aye,” Hynd replied. “It was the dog’s bollocks. Big, huge, hairy ones.”
“Just like your wife likes it,” Wiggins replied, and all three of them laughed. But there was tension here still that couldn’t be denied, and the humor, though welcome, felt slightly forced and unnatural. It seemed Wiggins had noticed too, for he fell quiet and serious.
“The two boffins are getting squirrelly, Cap,” he said. “It shook them up seeing their pal killed. They’ll need close watching if we get into a tight spot.”
“I’ll spell Cally at the window, and keep an eye on them myself. Smoke them if you’ve got them, lads. All we need to do is hang tight here for a couple of hours, keep our wits about us, and avoid the big ginger fuckers. We’ll be back in Lossiemouth for breakfast in the morning if it goes to plan.”
“We have a plan?” Wiggins said, smiling. “I thought we just made this shit up as we went along.”
*
Banks went back to the room and relieved McCally at the window.
“Any action?” he asked.
The corporal shook his head.
“Last I saw before the fog rolled in again was the two hairy folk still chowing down on the deer. Since then, I’ve only been able to see as far as the end of the runway. The mammoths are still about the area; you can hear the big one trumpeting clear enough. But apart from that, it’s been all quiet.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way, eh?”
The corporal was already taking a pack of smokes from his breast pocket as he headed out to the corridor. Banks stood at the window, but the corporal had been right—there was nothing to see but a slowly shifting wall of gray.
Galloway came over to join him at the window. The man was holding the bone flute they’d found in the cave earlier.
“Captain Banks? Can I run something past you? There is something that doesn’t add up here.”
“Something else, you mean?”
The man nodded, and held out the flute.
“I’ve been wondering. How did newly cloned beasts learn to do work like this?”
Banks took the bone and had a close look at it for the first time. The slit for blowing in was finely carved, and the finger holes smoothed down for ease of use.
“The holes are spaced exactly right for maximum musicality,” Galloway said. “Again, I’ve seen this before; the method is passed down from elders to youths in cultures where flutes are common. But what doesn’t happen—what never happens—is that newborns are born with the facility to craft them. It’s learned, not innate.”
Banks started to see what the man was getting at.
“And I take it that applies to the wall painting too?”
Galloway nodded.
“So there’s that. Then there’s the fact that the beasts are older than they should be.”
“You said something earlier about growth hormones?”
“That makes them bigger. I mean, they’re older in years than they should be. We know Volkov’s only been working here this past decade. But I’m guessing the pair of Alma we’re seeing are at least teenagers, maybe older.”
“What are you telling me?”
“I saying—guessing—that Volkov didn’t grow these Alma. He found them.”
“They were already here?”
Galloway nodded.
“Yes. And that’s got me wondering how many more there might be. And where they are.”
“How does this new information help us?” Banks asked.
“I’m not sure, yet,” Galloway said. “But it’s another variable in an equation with too many of them already.”
“That I can agree with,” Banks said. “Do you agree with this line of thinking, Prof?”
The older scientist had been sitting, head bowed, on the edge of the bed while the discussion went on, and when he looked up, Banks saw that the man had been crying.
“I just want to go home,” Waterston said. “But Galloway’s theory is sound and fits the facts—fits Volkov’s overweening ambition too. But like you, I cannot see how it changes anything.”
“We’ll just add it to the big list of things that’ll need to be sorted out by the clean-up squad,” Banks replied. “That’s one job I won’t be volunteering for.”
*
McCally came back from his smoke break with fresh coffee, and stood with Banks at the window as they both drank.
“Will they be able to land in this fog?” the corporal asked.
“The jet managed it just fine yesterday,” Banks replied. “And you’ve seen how it comes and goes. I’m more worried about the beasties than the fog.”
“It all seems quiet now, Cap.”
“Aye. That’s what worries me.”
He was thinking about the cold hard stare of the wolf again, and how it felt to be seen as prey. It wasn’t a feeling he intended to revisit. To take his mind off it, he told McCally about Galloway’s theory.
“The hairy ginger lad’s a local?”
“That’s what the man says. And there’s probably more of them around, given that the two we’ve seen are just kids.”
“Bloody hell. If they’re the kids, I wouldna want to meet their mammie.”
“Aye. Let’s hope we’re off and away before she comes to call them for their dinner.”
As if in answer, a high wail cut through the fog. At first, Banks thought it might be the mammoths again, but this was definitely higher pitched and almost a scream. It was taken up by a second voice and he knew then it was the Alma, calling out across the tundra. Their voices rose to a high tone that seemed to go on endlessly. From somewhere off to the right, toward the far end of the runway, the big wolf joined in, alone at first then joined by the rest of the pack. Banks had heard wolves call before, under the aurora borealis and arctic night skies in Canada. There it had seemed magical and otherworldly, but here it sent a chill up his spine as the chorus rose and rose until the sharpest tones seemed to lance into his skull.
He felt like prey again.
- 15 -
Despite Banks’ misgivings, the next few hours passed quietly. The bull mammoth trumpeted every five minutes, so regular you could have set your watch by it, and the fog came and went. The mammoths stayed in their protective circle, the hairy rhino remained way across the tundra under the tall cliffs, and there was no sign of lion, wolf, Alma, or any of the elk herd. Banks hoped there was a wild hunt going on, somewhere far enough away to keep them all busy for a while longer yet.
He let his squad spend most of the time smoking in the corridor outside; he trusted Hynd to keep the two younger men in check and ensure their constant vigilance. Banks stayed at the window overlooking the tundra, mainly watching the big birds that had now taken control of the deer carcass and were in the process of picking it clean. The mammoths, meanwhile, had loosened their defense slightly to allow grazing further afield, but the big male kept his head up and his eyes open—Banks wasn’t the only one maintaining vigilance.
He knew the backup was incoming before he heard it, for the bull mammoth’s head rose up quickly, as if alerted by a sudden sound. Seconds later, Banks heard it for himself, the welcome drone of an approaching plane. And it appeared their luck was holding, for there was currently no sign of any fog that might complicate a landing.
“Okay, lads, we’re leaving,” he shouted.
The scientists looked up at the sound of the approaching plane. Galloway spoke first.
“Just get us aboard safely,” he said. “And we’ll be in your debt forever.”
McCally and Wiggins had the thankless task of hefting the dead scientist with them on their way downstairs, with Banks and Hynd leading the way. Banks half-expected to see the wolf at the foot of the stairwell waiting for them, but the reception area was empty, and by the time they walked across to the main doors, the sound of the approaching plane roared down the runway.
Banks looked west to see the heavy-bellied transporter come in for its landing. At the same time, he caught a fluttering movement in the corner of his vision; the thunderbirds, disturbed from their feast by this new arrival, were taking to the air. And they had no thought of fleeing. They were clumsy getting into the air, but within seconds were soaring above the complex, then immediately launching into controlled dives, all six in a wedge formation with the largest of them at the front, heading straight for the approaching plane.
Operation Siberia Page 7
