Perhaps Cain was waiting for applause. Perhaps he saw himself as the lead actor in a Hollywood film. But what he had said was greeted only by a respectful silence and when he continued, his voice was quieter, his words more considered.
“We cannot wait any longer. Food supplies are already running low and you all know we can’t spend very much more time out on the ice. The Old Ones are waiting for us to make our move but there’s always a chance that they will take the initiative and launch a surprise attack. That would be disastrous. They have superior manpower. They have … creatures. I wasn’t brought up or trained to face anything like this. I’ll be honest. To me, frankly, they’re like comic-book nightmares. But the fact is that they have us with our backs to the sea. That’s not a good position to be in and I will not wait for them to come out of their hidey-hole and drive us back. We must hit them before they hit us. We must do it now.
“And so I am putting Operation First Strike into action, the details of which we have discussed in this room. Starting at twelve hundred hours today, our six Super Hornet aircraft will launch an attack on the fortress, firing infrared, homing surface-to-air missiles. Their aim is to breach the outer walls and to cause major casualties within. They will be supported by cruise missiles from the British and the Argentinians and Sea Darts from the French.
“This will be followed by an armed assault by our ground forces. We will move across the ice shelf in five groups. I will be leading the group code-named Hawk. Captain Allenby will lead Bear. Colonel General Shubniakov will be in charge of Lynx. General Sabato will lead Panther. And Lieutenant Greyson will head up Wolf. Field hospitals will be in place at Sectors Nine and Seventeen. We had earlier agreed that no children under the age of eighteen would be allowed to participate, but in view of the presence of two Gatekeepers among us, I intend to amend that rule. Scarlett Adams has told me that she can produce weather cover in the form of a blizzard commencing immediately after the initial bombardment. My guess is that smoke and snow disruption caused by the Super Hornets will provide much the same, but in any event, our troops have every chance of crossing Oblivion unseen.
“Just so that we are quite clear about this, let me say with the very greatest regret that a nuclear strike is still not an option today. Our friends in the British Royal Navy carry Trident missiles on board the submarine HMS Percival, each of which has twelve independently targetable nuclear warheads. That’s more than enough to vaporize the fortress and everything inside it. But the computers have crashed and they’re unable to implement launch procedures. I don’t have to tell you that this situation is unprecedented and we can only assume that somehow, impossibly, the enemy have managed to hack into the system. Our people are still looking into it but we have to accept that the missiles are not operational and we can no longer wait for that situation to change. We have to fight with what we have. And that fight will begin just under six hours from now. Any questions?”
The commander’s bright blue eyes swept across the assembly, almost challenging them. Richard waited for someone to speak. As far as he could see, the plan was suicidal whichever way he looked at it. But nobody said anything. Maybe they had spent too long sitting on the ice. They just wanted it to be over. They didn’t care how.
“All right,” Cain said. “Go and prepare your people. I want everyone in position by eleven hundred hours. Captain Johnson, you will be executive officer on board the Pole Star in my absence. In the event of my death, command passes to Captain Allenby. Good luck, everyone, and may God be with you.”
The tent began to empty but Richard saw that Matt hadn’t moved. Just looking at him, he guessed that Matt had decided to challenge the commander but hadn’t wanted to do so in front of the crowd. Eventually, only Cain and a couple of his personal staff were left. Matt moved forward. Richard, Scarlett and Lohan went with him.
Cain was studying a map full of arrows and troop formations. He looked up as Matt approached. “Yes?”
“Your plan won’t work, Commander,” Matt said. The other members of Cain’s staff stared at him, shocked. He went on quickly, before they could interrupt. “If you launch this attack, a lot of people are going to be killed – for no good reason. I’m not sure that planes and missiles will do any damage at all to the fortress. The same goes for nuclear bombs. With respect, sir, I don’t think you know what you’re dealing with. You don’t know how powerful the Old Ones are.”
“And you do?”
“Yes, sir. I saw them in the Nazca Desert. That was when they came back into the world. I tried to stop them.”
“You failed.”
Matt shrugged. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You can’t stop them. Even this briefing this morning … that was probably a mistake. They could have been listening in. They could have heard every word.”
“I know every single person who came into this tent. There wasn’t a single man or woman here I don’t trust with my life.”
“They have shape-changers. I could be one of them. So could you. So could any of your advisors. But it doesn’t matter anyway.” Matt sighed. “Why do you think they’re here in Antarctica, Commander? And why haven’t they come out and attacked you? Why aren’t they attacking you right now?”
“You tell me.”
“It’s because they’re toying with you. They’re waiting for you to come to them. You’re doing exactly what they want.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I know them. I’ve fought them before.”
Cain considered what Matt had said. His advisors stood around him, doing their best to avoid his eye. His face was as grave and as composed as ever, but Richard noticed that two red spots of anger had appeared on his forehead. At last he spoke. “Do you have a better idea?”
“You should wait for the Gatekeepers,” Matt said. “All five of us have to be here. Then we’ll have the strength to defeat them. The power of Five. That’s how it works.”
“There are only two of you here now. Where are the other three?”
“On their way.”
“And how long do you think we’ll have to wait? A week? A month?”
“I can’t answer that, Commander.”
Once again, Cain fell silent. Matt was standing next to Scarlett, looking very small in comparison to the military personnel who were so much older, smarter and physically larger than them. And yet there was something impressive about him. Richard had already noticed the change. The Matt he had met in Antarctica was very different from the one he had left in Hong Kong. He had been here for less than twenty-four hours and yet he had somehow taken command of the situation and was holding his own. The true authority in the tent belonged to him, and all of them knew it.
“We can’t wait a week or a month,” the commander said. He had made up his mind. He spoke very deliberately. “You weren’t listening to what I said, Matthew. We can’t survive out here on the ice. We have to take action while we can.” He paused as if expecting Matt to interrupt but Matt said nothing. “And let me tell you something else,” he went on. “You may be special. You may be one of these Gatekeepers that seem to mean so much. I don’t know. But you’re only fifteen years old. I have a son as young as you. I wouldn’t take orders from him and I won’t take them from you either. Do I make myself clear?”
“I’m not giving orders,” Matt said. “It’s just advice.”
“I don’t think you quite understand the situation here. You only got in yesterday. And as for these powers of yours, I haven’t actually seen anything yet. This young lady says she can control the weather. Well, it’s been pretty cold these last few days. I can’t say I’ve been too impressed. What’s your party trick?”
Matt didn’t reply. He looked quickly around him and saw a bottle of water on the table where the commander had been sitting. Matt barely moved. He flicked a hand in its direction and the bottle exploded instantly, spraying glass and water over the surface. The commander blinked. His officers glanced uncomfortably at each other.
“All right,” he drawled. “I’ll admit that’s quite impressive.” Cain nodded slowly. “But it’s just a bottle. It’s just a magic trick. Could you do the same to the fortress? How about those walls? Could you blow them apart?”
“No, sir. I’m not strong enough. That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make. I need Pedro, Jamie and Scott. Once they’re with me, I can do anything.”
“And I’ve already told you. We can’t wait.”
“You’re not changing your plans,” Scarlett said.
“That’s right.” Cain drew a hand across his brow and for just a second Scarlett saw the strain he was under. “There may be something in what you’ve said,” he continued. “But I can’t be sure, and anyway, it’s too late. I’ve made my decision. I’ve given the command. And now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
He marched out of the tent, followed by the other officers. Once again, Matt and the others were alone.
“The man is an idiot,” Lohan snarled. His face was full of contempt.
“No,” Matt said. “He’s scared – and he doesn’t want to show it. And he has no idea what he’s up against. Six months ago he wouldn’t have believed in any of this. Now he’s looking across the ice and seeing giant creatures and soldiers made out of flies. He’s only doing what he thinks best.”
“So what do we do?” Richard asked. “Do we join the battle?”
Matt glanced at the pages left on the table, the folded maps, the white board with its scribbled lines and arrows. For a moment his eyes were far away, as if he were searching through his memory for something that had been lost. Finally, he turned to Richard.
“Yes,” he said. “We fight.”
FORTY-NINE
The Super Hornets streaked low across the ice shelf in arrow formation, moving so fast that by the time they were seen they had already gone, flashing past with their payload delivered and already gaining altitude, climbing up into the clouds. They had fired Sidewinder and Harpoon missiles, which had been guided into their targets, hitting the fortress with pinpoint accuracy.
The explosions were spectacular, huge plumes of orange and red leaping up directly out of the snow. The flames looked all the more intense as they were reflected against the brilliant white, and it seemed incredible that they could burn so long when they were only able to feed on stone and ice. Again and again the fortress was hit, the mountain shaking, the black rock disintegrating, sheets of ice cascading down. The barbican, with its huge gate, took the first strike and was blown into a thousand pieces, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. The west tower, hit three times, trembled and then collapsed. The wall itself was smashed in half in a dozen places, exploding the courtyard and the other buildings behind.
Nearly two kilometres away, watching from the other side of Oblivion, Matt and Richard could feel the heat against their cheeks. It was extraordinary to be so cold and yet to feel warmth at the same time. Three of the four towers were wrapped in flames that seemed to be spreading over the stonework, as if searching hungrily for anything that would burn. The very ice seemed to be on fire.
The planes returned a second time, wheeling out of the sky and slanting down for another attack, this time with their own twenty-two-millimetre nose-mounted Gatling guns firing thousands of rounds a minute. Lohan was watching from beside the commander’s tent. He hadn’t volunteered to take part in the fight and certainly he wasn’t going to run across the ice as part of any ragtag army. He had persuaded himself that it was his job to protect Scarlett, who was standing next to him. Besides, he was no foot soldier. Was he not an Incense Master, a commander in his own right?
He watched the bombardment continue and tried to imagine what it must be like to be inside the fortress, trying to find somewhere to hide. It didn’t matter what they were – men or monsters – they would be deafened by the scream of the jet engines, shaken by the endless blasts, blinded by the spinning, whirling mass of debris. If they hadn’t managed to burrow deep down, they would have simply been ripped apart, and even those that survived the assault would never forget it. He wondered if there would be any need for a land attack. The Old Ones had relied on the tactics of medieval warfare, which might have worked for them ten thousand years ago, but now they were facing a twenty-first-century air force. They had underrated their enemy and this time their powers had failed to protect them.
The planes were strafing the courtyard, tearing it apart. Lohan saw tiny figures attempting to run over the humpback bridge that connected the two towers. Suddenly, without warning, it shattered beneath them, sending them plunging down. More missiles exploded. If the planes returned a third time, they might smash through the very ice shelf itself. And why not? Somewhere deep beneath the ice was the sea. Another couple of attacks and the fortress might sink into it and disappear, carried down by its own weight.
But the Super Hornets had finished their work. There had been no air defences, no counter-attack. Not a single one of them had been hit. The pilots would have been happy to continue the bombardment but, obeying orders, they peeled away, heading back to the US Polar Star. Moments later, a bombardment from the various destroyers had followed, missiles streaking down with ferocious accuracy. When the smoke finally cleared, it seemed to be all over. The walls were breached, the fortress in ruins. There were dead bodies everywhere, lying on the ice, surrounded by fragments of stone and broken bricks. Nobody was moving. Any soldiers who had been guarding the fortress on the battlements or standing outside, when the onslaught began, would have been killed at once. Many of the corpses were on fire, the flames tugging at their clothes. Others were so smashed up that they were hardly more than red smears on the ice. It really did look as if the battle had already been won.
Standing on the platform that had been raised outside his tent, waiting to make his next move, Commander David Cain lowered his binoculars and resisted the urge to smile. Less than half the fortress remained standing. Casualties must have been enormous. And this was just the work of six aircraft! For all the talk of creatures from another world, of strange gates and children with special powers, he had relied on old-fashioned American firepower – and he had been right in his judgement. He wondered now if he had been unwise to commit land troops but he was interested to see what he would find inside the fortress and the clean-up operation would end this once and for all. At least his troops would be in no danger. He could see for himself. All resistance had been shattered. The air attack simply couldn’t have gone better.
He was holding a radio transmitter. He raised it to his face, pressed a button and spoke a single word.
“Amber.”
It was the agreed signal. At once, the entire World Army, divided into five squadrons, began to move across the two kilometres of ice that separated them from the fortress. Cain knew that they weren’t much to look at. The great majority of them were on foot, already picking up speed. Few of them were in uniform and some of them didn’t even have guns. But he had done what he could for them. Every man and woman had received some training in hand-to-hand combat. And, he reminded himself, this was their choice. They wanted to be here. He was proud of every last one of them.
The advancing troops were accompanied by around forty armoured vehicles and jeeps, American, French and Argentinian, offloaded from the boats. These were being driven by professional marines equipped with rocket and grenade launchers, heavy-duty artillery and automatic machine guns. They were moving at a steady sixteen kilometres per hour. It would take them just six minutes to reach what was left of the walls. As he watched them dwindle into the distance, moving in the exact formation that he had prescribed for them, David Cain decided that command could be a pretty lonely place. With all his heart, he wished that he could be with them too.
Scarlett was just a few metres away from him but her thoughts were very different. She had been watching the devastation with a mixture of horror and excitement. The fireballs and great columns of flame that had erupted one after another certainly had
a degree of majesty. It had been like watching the most spectacular firework show on earth. And she didn’t care how many of the Old Ones died. In fact, she hoped every shape-changer and fly-soldier in the fortress had been torn apart by the bombardment.
But at the same time, she couldn’t forget that there were men and women inside there too, even if they had chosen to fight for the other side. Scott was one of them. She remembered seeing images of war on television, the smooth commentary of the newscasters telling of allied victories and heavy casualties among the insurgents. It was all too easy to forget that “insurgents” was another name for human beings and right now, she was actually watching hundreds of them die. Was that really something to be pleased about?
She also had a part to play and had been preparing herself before the first plane had begun its attack. Despite her misgivings, she was confident she would not fail. Sure enough, she felt the power flowing through her and saw with relief that the snow had begun not just to fall but to swirl around with such intensity that it formed a perfect barrier between the World Army and the fortress. Of course, Commander Cain would say it was just a coincidence. He would persuade himself that the blizzard had been caused by the bombardment. But Scarlett knew differently. She was actually moving it, keeping it a few steps ahead of the advancing army so that it would remain hidden all the way to the walls.
There were more than two thousand people out on the ice. Only the children had been left behind, along with the doctors and nurses, who were preparing for casualties. Some of the tents had been turned into field hospitals complete with fully functioning theatres. Scarlett had seen the operating tables being wheeled into place. A skeleton crew had also remained behind on the warships – just in case there was the need for an emergency evacuation. But that looked unlikely now. The World Army had advanced more than halfway across Oblivion and nobody had so much as taken a shot at them. There wasn’t a sound or any sign of movement from the fortress.
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