They’re trying to scare it off. They think it’s a bigger bird.
“Pull up. Pull up,” Galloway shouted, and Banks hoped to hell that the pilots had the sense to take notice. At first, he thought they intended to plough on regardless, then, slowly, the nose of the plane came up, and they started to climb.
But it was too late; the thunderbirds matched the climb, and the large one in the lead of their attack met the pilot’s window full on. Everything seemed to slow down. Banks knew with a sinking feeling in his gut that it was all over, even before the plane took a hard bank left. It dived off the runway and plunged, nose down, into the tundra, coming apart in three pieces before the fuel went up with a whump that echoed around the whole valley and brought an answering trumpet from the bull mammoth.
*
Wiggins stepped out onto the runway, as if intending to run toward the burning wreckage, looking for survivors. Banks called him back.
“It’s too late for them, Wiggo. You know that. They’re as dead as this one here.”
The body of the dead scientist lay at their feet where Wiggins and McCally had left him.
“What do we do now?” Waterston asked.
“We take off and nuke the site from orbit,” Wiggins replied. “It’s the only way to be sure.”
“You’re not helping, Wiggo,” Hynd said, then turned to Banks.
“It’s going to be dark soon, Cap,” he said.
“Aye. And it’ll be a while before anybody misses us. We need to find a secure spot to lay low.”
“The Lear? We could hole up in there?”
“No. Yon door wouldn’t hold against a determined attack for long. I’m thinking more of getting some rock between us and any big beasties.”
“The caves out back?”
“Aye. The smell’s rank. But it’s solid, only one point of entry, and defensible.”
“And the Alma know it well,” Galloway said quietly, still watching the smoke rise from the wreckage of the crashed plane. “I’m not sure it’s a great plan.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got,” Banks replied.
A black plume rose from the crash site. Four Thunderbirds circled in the artificial thermal, screeching their victory across the valley as they rose from their kill.
*
Wiggins and McCally bent to the dead man, but Banks stopped them.
“The sarge and I will take him. You two are on scavenger duty back upstairs. Water first, then you know the drill; anything else you can carry without worrying about losing it. And make it fast. We’ll cover you from down in reception, then we’ll move as one through the complex. Back here in three minutes. Don’t get dead.”
The two younger men left at a run. As Banks was about to bend to the body, Galloway and Waterston surprised him.
“We’ll need you watching out for us,” Galloway said. “And he’s our man. We’ll look after him if you look after us.”
Waterston looked like he might struggle with the weight, but between them, they managed to get the dead man hefted in a fireman’s lift across Galloway’s shoulders.
“Lead on,” the man said. Strain showed on his features, but when Banks led them back into the complex, Galloway followed, keeping pace, with Waterston at his back holding as much of the dead weight as he could.
“Sarge, watch the doors. And once Cally and Wiggo get back, we’ll be moving fast. Anything tries to stop us, put it down fast.”
He stood at the foot of the stairs, taking care not to stand where the wolf had marked his territory, and watched. He heard McCally and Wiggins clatter around somewhere above, then heavy footsteps as they made their way back. He breathed a lot easier when the corporal and the private arrived at the top of the stairwell. Wiggins carried two, full, ten-liter water containers, while McCally’s flak jacket bulged where he had packed food into pockets and pouches, making it look like he’d fallen pregnant in the past three minutes.
Once they were all gathered at the foot of the stairs, Banks moved them out. He led, Hynd watched their back, and the rest moved as fast as they could manage with their respective loads.
*
When they reached the main door through to the domed area, Banks didn’t hesitate; he pushed the door open, and stepped through, holding it for the rest to follow before letting it close with a loud clunk at his back.
The ‘zoo’ area lay quiet and still. There was still no sign of the snow hares, and the lion’s enclosure looked empty.
But it had looked empty the first time we were here too.
His memory of the lion’s leap out of hiding was far too strong to let him get sloppy this close to the cage. He eyed it warily as he led the group past it, looking for any sign that the big cat might once again be crouched in the foliage, biding its time.
He was so busy watching the cage he almost leapt in the air in surprise when something brushed past his legs. One of the pale snow hares sat at his feet, looking up at him. They were each as surprised as the other, and neither of them moved for the space of two breaths before the hare slapped a foot against the concrete floor as if in indignation, and bounded away, deeper into the facility. Banks watched it go, then the implication hit him; if the hares could get out of their enclosure and into the domed area, then it was probable that the larger predators would be able to do the same.
“I see your boyish charm is still working, Cap,” Wiggins said as the hare bounded around the side of the aviary and out of sight, then he went quiet when Banks put a finger to his lips.
“Quiet, and double time,” Banks replied. “We could be in trouble.”
He led them into the dome that housed the aviary, and into the covered walkway that ran around the inside of the large dome. The Russian, Volkov, still lay on the trestle in the aviary, splayed open for the world to see. It didn’t appear that anything had been feasting on him since their last walk past that morning; the birds had bigger, tender pickings out on the plain. But something had been here, in the walkway; more than one thing by the look of it. Banks had seen more than enough dog tracks in mud and snow to know what he was looking at, but these were done in red, bloody smears across the concrete, and each print was as big as a man’s hand.
The culprits were easily enough found. Banks walked ‘round the curve of the aviary to where the door led through toward the labs. Three wolves almost filled the doorway and they too had found tender pickings. They were busy chewing down on the dead scientists, their snouts red and dripping, their feet soaked with blood and gore from the bloody feast.
The largest of the three looked up from where it had its jaws deep in the belly of one of the young scientists. Drool ran from its lower lip, and its gaze locked on Banks. It wasn’t the large male; he guessed this was mama wolf. He raised his rifle, at the same time taking slow steps backward the way they had come.
He walked into Galloway. The scientist had dropped his dead companion at his feet, and was staring, not toward the lab doorway, but back toward the aviary. Hynd and McCally were bringing up the rear, but Banks saw enough in the gap between them.
The big male wolf sat on its haunches in the center of the walkway, and it too locked its gaze on Banks, and rolled its lips back in a smile.
- 16 -
“Let me take him, Cap,” McCally said. “I can put two between his eyes from here and wipe that smile off his face.”
“Stand down,” Banks said. “But keep an eye on him, and take him if he moves. We’re not going that way anyway; we need to get through that lab. And we need to do it now.”
He was keenly aware that the light was fading fast now, and fog swirled above the does, making the gloom darker still.
“Wiggo, you’re with me.”
“Lovely,” the private said. “You and me and three dogs; it’ll be like that bar in Dublin all over again.”
Galloway and Waterston stood over their dead friend, as if determined to protect the body. Banks stopped as they were passing.
“We might have to run,” he sai
d.
Galloway understood immediately.
“I’m not leaving him.”
“That’s up to you, but we might be a tad too busy to help.”
“I’ll manage.”
“We’ll manage,” Waterston added.
Banks nodded, and turned his full attention to the task at hand. The three wolves had barely slowed in their feasting in the doorway, seeming to be unconcerned at the presence of the men.
“How do we play this, Cap?” Wiggins whispered.
“Just follow me. The big lad buggered off quickly enough when I got close the last time. I’m hoping these three share his skittishness.”
“That makes two of us,” Wiggins said.
They took three steps toward the doorway.
The big female looked up again, as if to ask ‘Are you still here?’
Banks kept moving, although every part of him felt like jelly, and his hindbrain was yelling at him to run. He showed the wolf his rifle, and took another step forward. He was only ten feet from her now, and the two smaller ones looked up from their feeding, curious.
He’d hoped that they would have turned and run by now, but the promise of easy food had emboldened them, and they were not about to relinquish the meal easily. He pointed his weapon to the roof of the dome and let off two shots, the roar echoing for seconds afterward around them. Glass tinkled where it fell.
The wolves had seen enough. But his shots had the opposite effect from that he had intended. Instead of scaring them off, they leapt into an attack, all three coming directly for him.
*
He couldn’t get his weapon up in time. The female flew into him, knocked him aside like a rag doll, then kept on going. He fired a shot that went wild into the corridor ahead and then had to push back against the wall as the two smaller beasts followed their mother. More shots echoed around the complex, more glass shattered, and one of the younger wolves howled in pain, but kept running.
Banks smelled blood and piss and shite and wet dog, all at the same time, then the beasts were off and away past them, leaving a startled band of men in their wake. Galloway nursed an ankle that was bleeding badly from a bite, but if that was the only casualty, Banks considered they’d got off easily from a bad mistake.
I underestimated them. They weren’t in our way; we were in their way.
He bent to Galloway’s side, and helped put pressure on the wound while McCally applied a tourniquet.
“We need to get that seen to, Cap,” the corporal said.
“Aye. And we’ll do it, once we get to cover. Move it out. Right now.”
His squad moved to comply. Galloway stood, tried to put his weight on his leg, and almost crumpled. Waterston held him up.
“I’ve got you,” the older man said.
Galloway looked down at the body at their feet.
“We can’t leave him,” he said.
Waterston started to drag Galloway away.
“Yes, we can. Better him than us if those bastards get hungry.”
Galloway looked like he might argue, then put his foot down on the floor and had to stifle a cry of pain. This time, when Waterston took another step, he went along with it. Neither of them looked back.
Banks let Hynd and McCally take the lead. Hynd took the water bottles off Wiggins before turning away. Banks stood looking back over the aviary. There was no sign of the wolves.
“They won’t go far,” Wiggins said. “Not with this fresh meat around.”
Banks nodded, and kicked the body at their feet.
“Aye. And if this poor bastard keeps them from bothering us, then he’ll be doing us a favor.”
They waited until the others were deep into the corridor making for the lab before turning to follow them. Wiggins stopped after two steps.
“We cannae leave him, Cap. It’s not right, favor or no favor, he’s one of us, and not dog food.”
“I was hoping you might say that,” Banks replied. “Get an end each, we’ll see if we can get him somewhere safer in the lab.”
By the time they dragged the dead scientist to the lab, the others had gone on ahead toward the exterior door and the cave in the hill. Banks looked around, looking for somewhere, anywhere, to stash a body where it might be safe from predators. His gaze landed on a tall refrigeration unit. It only took a matter of seconds to empty it of its contents and strip out the shelves. They stood the man upright, leaning him against the far wall, and closed the door tight on his dead stare.
“He’s safe in there,” Banks said.
“Safer than us anyway, Cap,” Wiggins said with a whisper. “We’ve got company.”
*
The wolves were back, having followed them along the corridor from the aviary doorway. Now they stood between the two men and their exit to the rear of the lab. The big male was the closest, his mate just behind him. One of the two younger beasts hung farther back; this one breathed hard and heavy, its haunches trembling. Blood ran from a wound in its side; it had definitely caught a bullet in the earlier exchange, but Banks didn’t hold out that much hope of it having slowed the animal down much. The big male’s gaze was once again locked like a laser on Banks’ face.
And now it’s not smiling.
Banks moved, carefully and slowly, to fetch his rifle from over his shoulder. The wolf growled deep in its chest, rumbling like distant thunder. It crouched low, and sidled forward, its gaze never wavering. The others of his small pack came on behind him.
Banks took a step forward toward them, having to tell his legs twice before they agreed to move. He hoped to stop the beast’s advance, but the big male kept inching ahead; two more steps and it would be within range of a single leap, and Banks couldn’t allow that. The momentum of a beast that size would keep it coming, no matter how many bullets he put in it.
I have to put it down. And I have to do it now.
He knew Wiggins was right beside him, but couldn’t afford to take his stare away from the big male; this stand-off wasn’t going to last more than a few seconds, and maybe not even that long. The rifle felt like a natural extension of his hand as he swung it up, already firing before he’d got it aimed straight. Even then, the big male was too fast; it darted, sideward instead of forward, but Banks got lucky in another way, as three shots took the female full in the chest. The thunder of the shots rang in the confines of the lab. Wiggins joined in, spraying a volley into the two younger wolves. They went down in a heap beside their mother.
Banks turned quickly, looking for the big one.
It was already off and away; he only got a glimpse of a bushy tail as it fled, out of sight, back down the corridor toward the aviary.
Banks’ ears rang, and he felt the vibration hum in his wrist, smelled the burn from the barrel as he walked over to where the female wolf lay. She was still alive, barely, and attempting to crawl, not toward him, but heading for the place where her cubs lay, both clearly dead. She whimpered with every movement, leaving a trail of blood and mucus on the lab floor, inching painfully slowly. She let out a howling wail that was so full of pain and misery that Banks could only take it for a second before he stepped quickly over and put a single shot in her brain.
Out on the corridor, somewhere in the aviary, the big male responded with a howl of his own. The high wail of loss followed Banks and Wiggins all the way through the lab and outside to the cave in the hill.
- 17 -
McCally and Hynd stood at the external door, weapons raised. Hynd raised an eyebrow when he saw the three dead wolves.
“You didn’t get the big guy?”
Wiggins answered first.
“Naw, he’s a smart fucker that one, and legged it. But I think he’s got a hard-on for the cap, so he’ll be back.”
Banks looked to McCally.
“How’s Galloway’s ankle?”
“The prof’s helping him clean it. I don’t think it’s as bad as it looked—a lot of blood, but not too deep. I’ll see to the bandaging right now, now that I ken you’
re both okay.”
Banks nodded, then turned to Hynd.
“Our job is to secure yon cave for a while, maybe all night. Let’s see if we can get the door back on its hinges and able to be shut?”
“We’re hunkering down?”
“Unless you’ve got a smarter idea? It’s going to be hours—at least—before they can get anybody else here, and there’ll be some debate about whether they should even bother, you know that.”
Hynd nodded, but Wiggins was not happy.
“What do you mean by that?”
“We’re Special Forces, lad, or had you forgotten? We’re supposed to get ourselves out of tight spots, not shout for the cavalry when things get a wee bit ropey. The colonel might decide to leave us to our own devices for a while and see how we get on.”
“How will we know?”
“We won’t. That’s the fun bit.”
“I’ve had more fun with the sarge’s wife,” Wiggins muttered, but none of them laughed this time.
Banks had a last look around the lab before turning away. A wind had got up, whistling through the broken glass of the dome. Discarded paperwork tumbled in the draft, and glassware rattled, but nothing else stirred. The big female wolf lay with her muzzle against the body of her cubs, blood pooled in a wide circle around them, and it was not satisfaction that Banks felt as he turned toward the cave in the hill.
It was disgust.
*
The metal door was so large and cumbersome that it took all three of them to heave it upright into the frame, and Banks and Wiggins had to put their backs to it to hold it in place while Hynd worked on the hinges and lock.
“Will it hold?” Banks asked when Hynd announced the job was done.
“Put it this way, Cap,” the sarge said. “It’ll shut. But if one of yon big orange buggers has a good heave on it, I can’t promise it’ll stay that way.”
Operation Siberia Page 8
