Sheba. Part 26

'What about the prisoners?' Selim interrupted.

Kane could almost see the indifferent smile on Skiros's fat face. Til leave you to take care of the men. The women will go with us in the Catalina.'

'But you promised the Cunningham woman to me,' Selim said angrily.

'I've changed my mind since then,' Skiros said and his voice was cold. 'Don't let us forget who is running things here. You can find yourself another woman.'

'What will happen to them?' Muller said.

'I really couldn't say,' Skiros told him. 'I look upon the Ferret woman as a personal challenge. Making her see reason will be a pleasure.'

Somewhere in the distance a faint humming sounded on the night air and Skiros got to his feet. 'There is the plane, gentlemen. Right on time. Take the women down to the truck, Selim. Muller and I will join you there.'

Cunningham moved suddenly, but Kane grabbed him by the shoulder, pulled him back to the ground. 'Don't be a d.a.m.ned fool,' he whispered into his ear.

They crawled out through the encampment and melted into the shadows. As Kane led the way up the steep slope to the base of the cliff, Cunninham said, 'What the h.e.l.l are we going to do now?'

'There's only one thing we can do,' Kane told him. 'Stop that plane, but we've got to move fast.'

They walked quietly along the stone ramp and cautiously approached the mouth of the cave which contained the arms. A lone Arab lounged against the rock, rifle carelessly slung over his back. He was singing a sad, monotonous herding song, his eyes staring up at the stars.

Kane pressed Jamal on the shoulder and the huge Somali moved silently. The song ended abruptly on a high note. There was a sudden cracking sound as if a dry branch had been snapped and Jamal lowered the dead man to the ground.

The cave was in darkness and Kane struck a match as he led the way in. There was a large spot lamp standing on top of the radio and he quickly switched it on and turned to the cases of arms.

There were only a few left. The first two he examined were packed with rifles, but the third contained submachine guns. A further search disclosed a box filled with circular, hundred-round clips. Kane handed Cunningham and the Somali two clips each.

'What about the radio?' Cunningham said.

Kane shook his head as he loaded his weapon. 'No time for that now.'

As they went outside, there was the sound of an engine, and a truck moved away towards the temple and the outlet to the desert. Kane cursed and started to run down the slope.

Most of the Bedouins were still gathered around the fire and he moved quickly through the shadows towards the other end of the encampment.

The truck in which they had arrived that morning was standing on the edge of the tents in brilliant moonlight. He said quietly to Cunningham, 'She's ours. You take the wheel and drive like you've never driven before.'

They moved out of the shadows and scrambled in. As Cunningham pressed the starter, there was a sudden shrill cry from behind. Kane turned as several Bedouins ran forward. He raised his sub-machine gun and fired a quick burst and they scattered into the darkness. At the same moment, Cunningham took the truck away on a burst of speed.

As they topped the rise in front of the temple and hurtled towards the entrance to the gorge, the Catalina roared overhead, undercarriage and flaps down as it pointed for a landing on the flat plain outside.

'Give it everything you've got,' Kane cried, and Cunningham pressed his foot flat on the boards. The truck bounced over the rock-strewn surface of the valley and he fought for control, and then they were out in the open and chasing the plane.

Over on their right and clearly visible in the moonlight was the other truck. As they approached, Kane could clearly see Selim sitting in the rear, Skiros and Muller in front.

Skiros's face was contorted with anger and he shouted something over his shoulder to the Arab. As they drew abreast, Selim raised a rifle and fired. Skiros swung the other truck towards them and Selim fired again. Kane ducked as the windscreen shattered, and Cunningham jerked the wheel desperately to one side and they skidded round in a complete circle.

For the moment they were safe and able to concentrate on the plane which was starting to touch down. As Romero applied his brakes, dust and sand rose into the night in a great cloud.

Sitting in the second pilot's seat Noval turned and grabbed Romero's shoulder. 'There's a firefight going on out there. Let's get out of here.'

'Give me a chance, for G.o.d's sake,' Romero said and boosted power.

Kane glanced back and saw that the other truck was overtaking them fast, and Cunningham swung the wheel in a half-circle that took them into the centre of the great dust cloud that was the plane's wake.

For several moments they drove^jblind, choking and coughing, heads lowered against the stinging particles, and then the Englishman swung the wheel again and they shot out into the moonlight.

The Catalina was now taxi-ing towards the valley entrance at twenty or thirty miles an hour. Cunningham jerked the wheel, spinning the truck and a moment later they were driving on a parallel course.

Cunningham moved closer and Kane and Jamal stood up and started to pour a concentrated fire into the plane at point-blank range. Kane could see Romero high up in the nose of the aircraft, the dim light from the instrument panel illuminating his face. He raised his sub-machine gun and fired several times into the cabin. Romero ducked out of sight and the tail of the plane slewed round in a great arc, throwing a cloud of sand into the air.

Cunningham spun the wheel in a reflex action that took them out of harm's way as the plane turned completely round and started to move out into the desert again, the engine note deepening as Romero prepared to take off.

And then the entire aircraft seemed to shake from side to side and slewed violently to the left. A moment later, it lurched forward on to its nose and ploughed into the sand for about a hundred yards before coming to rest in a ma.s.s of twisted metal, orange tongues of flame leaping upwards into the night.

There was an explosion, followed by another, as the tanks went up. Cunningham turned the wheel quickly, turning away as fingers of flame reached out to touch them and pieces of twisted metal hummed through the air.

The other truck was moving fast towards the gorge and they gave chase, bounding over the ground like some living thing. Kane stood with one foot on the running board, his eyes never leaving the tail-light of the other vehicle, sub-machine gun ready.

As they pa.s.sed into the gorge, the truck bounced high into the air as it lifted over a slight rise in the ground, and he was swung violently sideways. The sub-machine gun went flying into the night, as he crashed into the soft sand and rolled over and over.

As the truck braked to a halt thirty or forty yards away, it came under heavy fire, and Kane saw several Bedouins appear from behind the jumbled boulders which, at this point, fringed the bottom of the cliffs.

He could hear the bullets thudding into the body of the truck and he scrambled to his feet and cried, 'Get to h.e.l.l out of here, Cunningham! Get the women!'

The truck moved away at once and Kane crouched low, searching desperately for his sub-machine gun. He saw it lying in a patch of moonlight and ran forward to retrieve it. There was a complete silence for a moment or two and then a stone rattled. He fired into the night. He threw himself behind a boulder as several shots replied, whining through the air above his head and ricocheting from the cliffs. As they finished, he slipped behind the boulder and, keeping to the shadows, ran along the valley.

Behind him, they still fired blindly, but for the moment, he was alone. He ran along the great avenue which led to the temple, crossed in front of it and continued towards the oasis.

When he reached the rim of the hollow, he paused and looked down into the encampment. Cunningham had halted the truck some twenty or thirty yards away from the tents and he and Jamal were sheltering behind it.

Several Bedouins were moving higher up the slope on their right with the obvious intent of being able to shoot down on them. As Kane was about to shout a warning, Cunningham looked up and saw the danger. He tapped Jamal on the shoulder and they turned and scrambled up the slope towards the cave where the arms were, keeping in the shadows.

For the moment, they had not been seen and Skiros was not aware of their departure. There was a short period of silence and Kane started to work his way diagonally up the slope.

He paused behind a boulder and looked up. As Cunningham and the Somali reached the ledge, several Yemenis breasted the slope, cutting them off. Cunningham fired a long burst to keep their heads down, and he and Jamal turned and ran for the shelter of the other cave. Kane slipped from behind the boulder and scrambled up the slope to join them, praying the shadows would hide him.

From the valley below he heard a cry of anger from Selim, and immediately afterwards, heavy firing commenced. He was gasping for breath and he hugged the sub-machine gun tightly to his chest with one hand and clawed at the loose soil with the other. He could hear the roars of men behind him as they started to follow and then there was a long, continuous roll of thunder above his head. He looked up to see Cunningham crouched on the ledge, sub-machine gun to his shoulder.

Kane fell forward on to his face and Jamal's strong hands lifted him and dragged him towards the cave. They stumbled inside and Cunningham crouched at the entrance, his face clearly illuminated by a broad tracer of moonlight which streamed through, touching the entrance to the pa.s.sage.

'That was a pretty close-run thing,' Kane said after a while.

Cunningham nodded. 'We couldn't pour it in hot and strong down there. I was frightened we might hit the women.'

Kane nodded. 'That's his trump card and Skiros knows it.'

Several bullets whined through the entrance and spattered against the cave wall and he looked out cautiously. The floor of the valley was dappled with moonlight, and the enemy were clearly visible as they advanced from boulder to boulder.