The Seventh Scroll tes-2

by Wilbur Smith

  make himself heard above the din of mortar bursts and rapid small'arms

  fire.

  "Just enough time for a cup of tea," he said. He pushed a few twigs into

  the embers of the previous night's fire, then rummaged in his small

  emergency pack for the last of his tea bags while Sapper placed the

  smoke-blackened billycan back on the burgeoning flames.

  They only had one mug between them. "Girls first," said Nicholas,

  passing it to Royan. She took a swallow and scalded her lips.

  Good!, she sighed, and then cocked her head. "This time it is definitely

  Big Dolly I can hear."

  Nicholas listened and then nodded. "I think you are right." He stood up

  and went to the radio. "Big Dolly. You are audible."

  "Five minutes to landing, Pharaoh."

  From where he stood, Nicholas looked down the long strip. Mek's men were

  retreating, flitting like smoke through the thorn scrub and firing back

  in the direction of the river. Nogo was pushing them hard now.

  "Hurry along, Jannie he murmured, and then adjusted his expression as

  he turned back to the two women. "Plenty of time to finish your tea.

  Don't waste it."

  The rumble of Big Dolly's engines was louder than the sound of gunfire

  now. Then suddenly she was in sight, coming in so low that she seemed to

  brush the tops of the thorn trees. She was enormous, Her wingspan

  reached from one side of the narrow overgrown strip to the other. Jannie

  touched her down short, and she blew out a long rolling cloud of brown

  dust behind her as he put the engines into reverse thrust.

  Big Dolly went barrelling past the clump of acacia, and Jannie waved to

  them from the high cockpit. The moment he had bled off enough speed, he

  stood on his footbrakes and rudder bar. Big Dolly spun around in her own

  length and came roaring back down the strip towards them, her loading

  ramp beginning to drop open even before she reached them.

  Fred was waiting in the open hatchway, and he ran down to'help Sapper

  and Nicholas with the wounded men on the litters. It took only a few

  minutes to carry them up the ramp, and then they started loading the

  ammunition crates. Even Royan gave a hand, staggering up the ramp with

  one of the lighter crates clutched to her chest.

  A mortar shell exploded a hundred and fifty yards beyond the parked

  Hercules, and then half a minute later a second shell fell a hundred

  yards short.

  "Ranging shots," Nicholas grunted, picking up a crate under each arm and

  running up the ramp.

  "They have us in their sights now," Fred shouted. "We have to get out of

  here. Leave the rest of the cargo. Let's go, GoV

  There were only four crates still lying under the NMI-, MOrJL

  spreading branches of the acacia, and both Nicholas and Sapper ignored

  the order and ran back down the ramp.

  and raced back.

  They snatched up a crate under each arm "Me ramp was starting to rise

  and Big Dolly's engines roared as she began to taxi out. They hurled the

  crates over the tailboard of the rising ramp and then jumped up to grab

  a handhold and pull themselves aboard. Nicholas was the first up and

  reached down to haul Sapper in.

  When he looked back, Tessay was a small, lonely figure under the

  acacias.

  "Give Mek my love and thanks," he bellowed at her.

  CY

  ou know how to contact us," she screamed back.

  "Goodbye, Tessay' Royan's voice was lost in the blast of the great

  engines, and the dust blew back in a sheet over Tessay so that she was

  forced to cover her face and turn away. The ramp hissed closed on its

  hydraulic. rams, and cut out their last glimpse of her.

  Nicholas put an arm around Royan's shoulders and hustled her down the

  length of the cavernous cargo hold and into one of the jum seats at the

  entrance to the cockpit.

  "Strap yourself in!" he ordered, and ran up the steps to the cockpit.

  "Thought you had decided to stay behind," Jannie greeted him mildly,

  without looking up from his controls.

  "Hold tight! Here we go."

  Nicholas clung on to the back of the pilot's seat as bank of Jannie and

  Fred between them pushed forward the throttle levers to full power, and

  Big Dolly built up speed until she was careering down the strip.

  Looking over Jannie's shoulder" Nicholas saw the vague shapes of men in

  camouflage battledre.ss amongst . Some of them the thorn scrub at the

  end of the runwa raced tow huge aircraft as it ards were firing at the

  them.

  "Those popguns aren't going to hurt her much," Jannie . "Big Dolly is a

  tough old lady." And - lifted her grunted into the air.

  They flashed over the heads of the enemy troops on the ground, and

  Jannie set her nose high in the climb attitude.

  "Welcome aboard! folks, thank you for flying Africair.

  Next stop Malta," Jannie drawled, and then his voice rose sharply, "Oh,

  oh! Where did this little piss-cat come from?"

  Directly ahead of them the Jet Ranger rose out of the thick scrub on the

  banks of the Nile. The angle of the helicopter's climb meant that the

  approaching Hercules was hidden from the pilot's view, and he continued

  to rise directly into their path.

  "Only five hundred feet and a hundred and ten knots on the clock," Fred

  shouted a warning at his father from the right'hand seat. "Too low to

  turn."

  The jet Ranger was so close that Nicholas could clearly see Tuma Nogo in

  the front seat, his spectacles reflecting the sunlight like the eyes of

  a blind man, and his face freezing into a rictus of terror as he

  suddenly saw the great machine bearing down on them. At the last

  possible moment the pilot put his aircraft over in a wild dive to try to

  ear It nose of the approaching Hercules. It seemed impossible to avoid

  the collision, but he managed to bank, the lighter, more manoeuvrable

  machine over until it rolled almost on to its back. It slipped under the

  belly of the Hercules, and the men in the cockpit of Jannie's plane

  barely felt the light kiss of the two fuselages.

  However, the helicopter was flung over on to its nose by the impact,

  until it was pointing straight down at the earth only four hundred feet

  below, While Big Dolly flew on, climbing away steadily on an even keel,

  the pilot of the et Ranger struggled to control his crazily plummeting

  machine. Two hundred feet above the earth the turbulence thrown out

  astern by the massive T56,A-15 turbo-prop engines of the Hercules, each

  rated at 4900 horsepower, struck the helicopter with the force of an

  avalanche.

  Like a dead leaf in an autumn gale she was swept away, spinning end over

  end, and when she struck the ground her own engines were still squealing

  at full power. On impact the fuselage crumpled like a sheet of aluminium

  cooking foil, and Nogo was dead even before the fuel tanks exploded and

  a fireball engulfed the jet Ranger.

  As soon as Jannie reached safe manoeuvring altitude he brought Big Dolly

  around on her northerly heading, and they could look back over the wing

  at the Roseires airstrip falling away behind them. The column of black

/>   smoke from the burning helicopter was tar-thick as it drifted away on

  the light westerly wind.

  "You did say they were the uglies?" Jannie asked. "So rather them than

  us, then?"

  nce Jannie had settled Big Dolly on her sailing low northerly heading,

  and they were over the open deserted Sudanese plains, Nicholas went back

  into the main hold.

  "Let's get the wounded settled down comfortably , he an unbuckled their

  safety belts suggested. Sapper and Roy and went back with him to attend

  to the men lying where haste of the their litters had been dumped during

  the getaway from Roseires.

  After a while Nicholas left them to it and went forward flight deck. He

  to the small, well-stocked galley behind the soup and sliced hunks of

  fresh bread opened some canned from the loaves he found in the

  refrigerator. While the tea water boiled, he found his small emergency

  pack, and took from it.the nylon wallet which contained his medicines

  and drugs. From one of the vials he shook five white tablets into the

  palm of his hand.

  In the galley he crushed the tablets to powder, and when he poured tea

  into two of the mugs he stiffed the powder in with it. Royan had enough

  English blood in her veins never to be able to refuse a mug of hot tea.

  After they had served soup and buttered toast to the wounded men, Royan

  accepted her mug from Nicholas gratefully. While she and Sapper sipped

  their tea, Nicholas went back to the flight deck and leaned over the

  back of Jannie's seat.

  "What is our flying time to the Egyptian border?" he asked.

  "Four hours twenty minutes,'Jannic told him.

  "Is there any way that we can avoid flying into Egyptian air

  space?"Nicholas wanted to know.

  Jannie swivelled around in his seat and stared at him with astonishment.

  "I suppose we could make a turn out to the west, through Gadaffi-land.

  Of course, it would mean an extra seven hours' flying time, and we would

  probably run out of fuel and end up making a forced landing somewhere

  out there in the Sahara." He lifted an eyebrow at Nicholas. "Tell me, my

  boy, what inspired that stupid question?"

  "It was just a rare thought,'Nicholas said.

  "Let it be not merely rare, but extinct," Jannie advised.

  "I don't want to hear it asked again, ever."

  Nicholas slapped his shoulder. "Put it out of your mind." When he went

  back into the main hold, Sapper and Royan were sitting on two of the

  fold-down bunks that were bolted to the main bulkhead. Royan's empty tea

  mug stood on the deck at her feet. Nicholas sat down beside her, and she

  reached up and touched the bloodstained dressing that covered his chin.

  "You had better let me see to that." Her fingers were deft and cool on

  his hot inflamed skin as she cleaned the T

  stitches with an alcohol swab and then placed a fresh plaster over them.

  Nicholas felt a strong twinge of guilt as he submitted to her

  ministrations.

  However, it was Sapper who was the first to show the effects of the

  doped tea. He lay back gently and closed his eyes, then a soft snore

  vibrated his lips. Minutes later Royan sagged drowsily against

  Nicholas's shoulder. When she was fast asleep, he let her down gently

  and lifted her feet up on to the bunk. He spread a rug over her. She did

  not even stir, and he had a moment's doubt about the strength of the

  tablets.

  Then he kissed her forehead softly. "How could I ever hate you?" he

  asked her softly. "Whatever you did."

  He went into the lavatory and locked the door. He had plenty of time.

  Sapper and Royan wouldn ot wake for hours yet, and Jannie and Fred were

  happily ensconced on the flight'deck, listening to Dolly Parton tapes on

  the audio system.

  When at last he had finished, Nicholas glanced at his wrist-watch and

  realized that it had taken him almost two hours, He closed the toilet

  seat and washed his hands carefully. Then he took one last careful took

  around the tiny cabin and unlocked the door.

  Sapper and Royan were still fast asleep on the folddown bunks. He went

  forward to the flight-deck, and Fred pulled his earphones down around

  his neck and grinned at him.

  "Nile water. It's poisonous. You have been locked in the loo for the

  last couple of hours. Surprised that there is anything left of you."

  Nicholas ignored the jibe and leaned over Jannie's seat back. "Where are

  we?"

  With a thick forefinger Jannie stabbed the chart that he was balancing

  on his protruding belly. "Almost in the clear," he said complacently.

  "Egyptian border in one hour twelve minutes."

  Nicholas remained standing behind his seat until Jannie grunted and

  lifted the microphone. "Time to go into my act."

  "Hallo, Abu Simbel Approach!" he said in a Gulf States accent. "This is

  Zulu Whiskey Uniform Five Zero Zero."

  There was a long silence from the Egyptian controller.

  Jannie grunted. "He probably has'a hint in the tower with him. Got to

  give him time to get his pants back on."

  Abu Simbel Control answered on his fifth call. Jannie launched into his

  tried and tested routine, feigning ignorance in fluent colloquial

  Arabic.

  After five minutes, Abu Simbel cleared him to continue on northwards,

  with an instruction to "call again abeam Aswan'.

  They flew on serenely for another hour, but Nicholas nerves were

  screwing up tighter every minute.

  Suddenly, without the least warning, there was a silvery flash ahead of

  them as a fighter interceptor, coming from below them, pulled up steeply

  across their bows.

  Jannie shouted with surprise and an eras another two 9 warplanes

  rocketed up from under them, so close that they were buffeted by the

  turbulence of their jet trails.

  They all recognized the type. They were MiG21 "fishheads' sporting the

  Egyptian air force livery, and with air-to-air missiles hanging in

  menacing pods under their swept-back wings.

  "Unidentified aircraft! Jannie yelled into his mouthpiece. "You are on

  collision course. State your call sign!" They all craned their necks and

  stared up through -he Perspex canopy over the flight-deck. High above

  them they could see the three MiG fighters in formation circling against

  the blue of the African sky.

  "ZVVU 500. This is Red Leader of the Egyptian people's air force. You

  will conform to my orders."

  Jannie looked back at Nicholas, his expression forlorn.

  low, A

  something has gone wrong here. How the hell did they tumble to us?"

  "You' better do what the man says, Dad," Fred advised miserably,

  'otherwise he is going to blow us all over the sky."

  Jarnie shrugged helplessly, and then spoke into his microphone

  mournfully. "Red Leader, This is ZVVU 500.

  We will cooperate. Please state your intentions."

  "Your new heading is 053. Execute immediately!" Jannie brought Big Dolly

  around into the east and then glanced at his chart.

  "Aswan!" he said dolefully. "The Gyppos are taking us to Aswan. What the

  hell, I might as well warn Aswan tower that we have wounded on board."r />
  Nicholas went back to Royans bunk and shook her awake. She was groggy

  and unsteady on her feet from the effects of the drug as she staggered

  to the lavatory. However, when she emerged again ten minutes later her

  hair was combed and she seemed alert and recovered from the mild draught

  that she had drunk in her tea. - here was the Nile ahead of them once

  more, 6.. and the town of Aswan on both banks, nestling below the first

  cataract and the impounded waters of the High Dam. Kitchener's Island

  swam like a green fish in the middle of the stream.

  As the voice of the military controller at the Aswan irfield gave Jannie

  his orders, Big Dolly settled with unruffled dignity and lined up for

  the straight-in approach to the tarmac runway. The MiG fighters which

  had shepherded them in from the desert were no longer visible, but their

  presence high above was betrayed by their terse radio transmissions as

  they handed over their captive to the ground control.

  Big Dolly sailed in over the perimeter fence and touched down, and the

  voice of the controller ordered them, "Turn first taxi-way right."

  Jannie obeyed, and as he turned off the main runway there was a small

  vehicle with a sign on its roof which read, in both English and Arabic,

  "FOLLOW ME'.

  The vehicle led them to a row of camouflaged concrete hangars in front

  of which a ground crew in khaki overalls signalled them with paddles

  into a parking stand. As soon as Jannie applied his brakes and brought

  Big Dolly to a halt, a file of four armoured half-tracks raced out and

  surrounded the huge aircraft, training their turret weapons upon her.

  Obedient to the instructions radioed7by control, Jannie shut down his

  engines and lowered the tail ramp of the aircraft. No one on the

  flight-deck had spoken since they had landed. They stood crowded

  together, looking unhappy, peering out of the cockpit windows.

  Suddenly a white Cadillac with an escort of armed motorcyclists,

  followed by a military ambulance and a three-ton transport truck, drove

  through the gate of the perimeter fence and came directly to the foot of

  the cargo ramp of the Hercules. The chauffeur jumped out and opened the

  door, and his passenger stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine. He

  was clearly a person of authority, dignified and composed. He wore a

  light tropical suit and white shoes, a panama hat and dark glasses. As