He watched as the children turned and headed for the snails. He knew their patience would be short and so he gathered his friends behind Brett again and they headed towards level one and escape. The smell of the sulphur fumes had increased. It was hard to breathe in the acrid smoke but it wasn’t because of the bombs and missiles. The volcano had hidden away its true nature. It wasn’t extinct as all the scientists thought, it had been dormant and now seams of activity had been activated by the force of the explosions. As they climbed the stairs they could see two brand new magma flows. Fast moving, red molten rock with a hard crust like apple crumble.
Now they knew they were in trouble.
* * *
A rumble rent the air as they stood next to the ramp leading into the crater in MM’s palace. They could feel the rocks heating up around them and started to sweat. Timmo was passed from Mrs Hines to Jack who quickly tied them together as he cradled his brother in his arms. Then he steadily walked backwards down the ramp into the bowels of the earth, trailing a safety rope behind him. Brett held the rope taut and Jack used his abseil skills to maintain a steady descent.
Jack touched his earlobe and Roger heard him clearly on the minrad. ‘Hold it there, we’re on a flat bit.’ Jack unleashed Timmo and carefully laid him out of the way of the others who were starting down. There was no sign of MM nor Twip Twop but on the floor to his right he could see the crumpled body of Techno. Carefully Jack unfolded a blanket taken from MM’s bedroom whilst on route and laid it over the twisted and bloody body. He didn’t want Marshall and Mrs Hines to see the mess. Brett and Mrs Hines were the last to land at the foot of the long ramp. He had doubled up on the abseil to help her down. She immediately went over to Marshall and hugged him close as he poured tears. The volcano shuddered under their feet, the heat was intensifying and fumes seeped from numerous cracks in the walls around.
Jack looked around. ‘Where’s Kate?’
The minrad sounded in his ear. ‘I’m not coming down Jack. over’
‘What? Why ever not?’ He forget to say over.
‘Because I have a feeling and I need to follow it through, over.’
He was exasperated as the others heard half a conversation. ‘I know you and your psychic rubbish but you need to come down so we can all escape.’
‘No, you’re wrong. I’m going to take a gyroscope. Sorry Jack, I just have a feeling ok?’
‘No it’s not flipping okay. Wait one, over.’ He turned to Brett. ‘She wants to take a gyroscope flight so I’m going with her.’
Brett looked at the remarkable young man. ‘Just do it. See you outside.’ As Jack started to climb the rope with his feet scrabbling up the rock wall, Brett turned to the others to lead them down the dark passageway yawing in front of them. ‘Come on you lot and don’t ask, just do.’ After a fifty metres, Brett spoke quietly. ‘Listen up everyone, we need to beat it real fast okay?’ They all nodded or mumbled yes. ‘I’m sorry Marshall, Mrs Hines, we have to leave Techno here and let someone else come and collect him.’ They understood. Time was of the essence.
It took Brett and the rest an hour to reach the Savannah and they immediately collapsed in the fresh air whilst Brett jogged away to fetch the Hummer. Behind them the mountain rumbled and a bright red patch appeared to their right. They could see very little as the sun dropped below the horizon and left a red-yellow streak of sky that silhouetted the dark trees.
* * *
Jack was exhausted by the time he reached Kate. She helped him over the ledge and he lay gasping on the floor.
‘I’m sorry Jack, I have to follow my feelings. You know that don’t you?’
His voice was weaker now they were alone together. ‘I trust you implicitly Kit Kat. Help me up.’ She pulled him to his feet and they set off at a jog towards sector two, level three and the gyroscopes.
* * *
The Hummer’s lights came closer and Brett arrived back at the group. All of them were so exhausted that they could barely climb in. Timmo was now in a coma, the pain was too much for his tiny body to cope with.
Brett spoke quietly. ‘Steady down guys, your bodies are full of adrenaline. Inside the packs on the rear shelf, you’ll find some emergency rations and water. If you eat and drink it will help you settle your bodies down.’
‘How far to Outspan Brett?’ It was Marshall, he had been in a stupor for nearly two hours since his brother’s death. Now the chance of some reality had brought him around.
‘Not far, maybe an hour at the most.’ Brett lurched forward and turned on the stealth devices. The W12, 10 litre engine was super quiet and super efficient thanks to the hydrogen stored under their armour plated seats.
Roger was sat next to the yank and watched the gauges. ‘I think I’m dreaming. I’m sat in a stealth Hummer doing 100 kilometres per hour across a dark savannah and just know that we are safe. How is that?’
Brett let the auto-drive do most of the work as they careered along. ‘It’s so easy boy. Expansion and cooling is the clever bit, not the fuel itself and that needs computer power, which we have in abundance.’
‘But hydrogen powered...how on earth does that happen?’ Roger was totally gob-smacked. The yank continued, ‘we do have hydrogen gas stations to serve BMW’s in California now. Have you not read about it Ponsonby-Smythe?’ They all knew he was joking, taking the Mick. When Roger couldn’t reply he assumed not. ‘In that case, that’s a first!’ They all laughed and that was when the heavy machine gun opened up from the hillock to the south of them. Bullets bounced across the armour plating and cracked the windscreen but the Hummer kept moving. Brett flicked the auto-drive to manual and turned hard left and away from the ambush.
They hadn’t banked on MM and Twip Twop reaching their Maasai friends and they didn’t know about the sonic radar on top of the volcano that had pinpointed their position. Madam Musseine sat in the Maasai chief’s hut. It was full of electronic gear that was being fine-tuned by Twip Twop. He radioed to the tribesmen and gave them a new bearing for their fire. The heavy machine gun ripped out again and two small rockets headed through the night sky.
Marshall saw the tell-tale glow first. ‘Hit the brakes!’ Brett slammed his foot onto the brake pedal and lifted off the accelerator. The computer took over and stopped the heavyweight truck in less than 20 metres and that saved their lives as the rockets hurtled across the bonnet.
‘Do you need a little help yank?’ Wolf’s voice came over as warm and friendly from 10000 kilometres away. The signal was pure, as if he was sat in the Hummer with them.
‘Hey Limey! “Bout” time you showed up. I guess you could join in now having missed the party!’ Brett could always rely on Wolf.
‘In that case I suggest you hit it and head direct for Outspan as the attackers have about five seconds to live.’ The Predator drone high above them had sent a sidewinder earthwards a minute before. The explosion lit the night sky and the RPG and bazooka fell silent. A second explosion took out half a village nearby.
‘What the hell was the second hit?’ Brett glanced at the horizon where the huts were ablaze.
‘The control centre. We traced the radio waves from the hit team to the control centre. If we are lucky, some big wigs are now barbecued.’ No one answered, they hoped she was gone but one never knew with such a cunning enemy.
The Hummer had slowed to 30 kilometres per hour, its run flat tyres weren’t designed to go faster and three out of four tyres had been hit by bullets. However, the auto repair rubber compound had got them out of trouble and they were heading home.
* * *
Jack and Kate reached level three and slowed to a walk. There was debris everywhere and no people. The reason was obvious. A huge tongue of molten lava was creeping across the floor. Half the AICs were on fire as the lava licked its way around them, slowly crushing them in its midst and carrying the burning debris forwards. Sector two was being devoured by another lava flow which had consumed half the gyroscopes already. But they saw the hangar door was
open, probably because the technicians were escaping down the mountainside. They ran to the nearest gyroscope and strapped themselves in.
‘Are you ready?’ He turned to look her in the face. She was terrified. ‘Don’t answer, we’re going now.’ Jack gunned the engine and altered the flight lever, he wouldn’t make the same mistake. He kicked the brake off and they sped towards the door but they could see there was only a few metres of runway free from the lava. The thirty seconds for take-off felt like minutes. They were both choking on the sulphurous fumes and pouring sweat in the heat.
‘Jack,’ she screamed into his ear and clung to his strong shoulders, ‘look, the lava!’
He had seen the problem, there was no concrete left by the door, only hot lava that would fry the tyres and make them crash to their deaths.
‘Hold tight!’ He looked at the speed dial, it was too slow to take off, or was it? There was no choice, he left his pull back on the joystick until a metre before the running red rocks and felt the gyroscope judder as it clipped the lava. They were a metre off the floor but not safe, in another 20 metres the rotor would smash into the top of the hangar door.
‘Jesus wept, hail Mary mother of God.’ Kit Kat wasn’t Catholic but it helped to pray, the only other alternative was to close her eyes and not see their end. So she did and then jerked them open in fear as Jack thrust the joystick down and literally bounced the machine under the door and over the ledge to freedom.
Kit Kat was quiet behind him. ‘See Kate, I trusted your instincts and we made it.’ She was pouring tears and leaned forward to hug him tight and give him a giant kiss on the side of his face. They laughed together as he gunned the engine to its maximum rpm and started a slow dive to try and find their friends.
Jack pressed his earlobe. He imitated a US rapper as he chanted across the airways. ‘We is Jack and Kate and we is doing great!’ There was a peal of laughter from the gang in the Hummer.
Marshall rapped back. ‘Good on you, did you have pooh, cos we am sure you need the loo.’
‘Too true Marshall, we certainly did more than wet ourselves.’ Jack was laughing as he replied but his pants were damp.
Brett called urgently. ‘It’s not over yet you guys, stay alert, over.’ Jack and Kate scanned the ground below, they couldn’t see the Hummer as it was shielded but the tell-tale dust cloud behind it was a dead give-away. Now even the CIA couldn’t stop that.
‘We are behind and above you guys, stay cool and we will search ahead to see if there are any enemies lurking, over.’ Jack surged forward and started to sweep in a large circle around the invisible Hummer. ‘All clear Brett.’
The aerial attack was totally unexpected. Twip Twop closed from the left and MM from the right. It was Kate who felt their presence and she shouted to Jack to climb a few seconds before the machine gun bullets would have ripped into them.
‘Oh my god...’ she screamed as he did the impossible and looped the loop. Then she vomited over the back of his head. But in front of them were two gyroscopes who had overshot their quarry. Jack flicked the red switch to arm his own guns and pressed the trigger to give a long burst aimed at Twip Twop. His reasoning was that without Twip Twop she might flee. The bullets ripped through the enemy’s machine and stitched a line up his back. Neither Kate or Jack spoke as they watched Twip Twop spiral downwards and hit the ground in a ball of flame. Death wasn’t funny, it wasn’t to be gloated over. When they looked up there was no sign of MM. She had flown away, scared of the two children.
As Jack lurched downwards again he was pleased to see the gyroscope quickly lift and settle into level flight behind the Hummer. As they circled their friends, they saw the gaping hole yawn out of the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. There was a gigantic explosion as years of gas trapped in the rocks caught fire and soared 1000 metres skywards. Thousands of tonnes of rock were ripped out of the earth and the shock waves buffeted the machine making it twist on its side and plummet towards the earth. Jack struggled to hold onto the joystick, the gyroscope seemed unflyable.
‘Flip, flip, flip’ Kit Kat was shouting in his ear. He was closer to the ground and they were about to crash. A last yank on the joystick took all his remaining strength, it was do or die. The gyroscope swooped upwards just missing the ground and clipped the top of a baobab tree, leaving a pile of twigs and leaves in his lap. He laughed like a maniac but they were safe. The Reason had helped them, or something else. That was for Kate to think about, he just wanted to land and sit somewhere safe and comfortable, away from the madness of the last three months.
* * *
The Hummer skidded to a halt and Timmo woke up to see the others staring at him.
‘What time is dinner, I’m starving?’ He was back with them. They knew he would be alright because he wiped Mrs Hines slobbery kisses off his wet cheek.
Brett spoke gently to them all. ‘It’s over everyone. You are under my protection here and about 100 US Marines by the look of things. Indeed, as they stared around they saw the hotel had been made secure.
* * *
Kit Kat leaned across to Jack as he commenced his landing on the strip by the river.
‘You really messed up my hair today Jack George!’
As they slowed to a halt, Jack wiped his sleeve across the sick on his hair. ‘And you didn’t, I suppose?’ He helped her out of the gyroscope and put his arm around her to escort her into the hotel. The watching marines kept away. It was nice to see young, innocent love between the best of friends.
* * *
Brett prompted everyone to leave the Hummer. ‘Come on. I also have a dozen agents inside the hotel and quite frankly, based on the stink, it’s time for showers and then bed.’ The sorry crowd collapsed out of the doors and walked slowly through the hotel lobby as the sun started to set. Only the night manager saw them arrive. A dishevelled gang. A mum, her three boys and her eldest son. He turned away, it wasn’t any of his business.
* * *
Kit Kat’s dreams were vivid that night. She was in the Hummer, bouncing across a dirt track, through a river, submerged for a minute and then safe on the road to Nairobi. Brett used his CIA stun gun on a giant Rhino and a lion that she thought was pretty with its pink fur.
Brett turned to her and said. ‘We do have feelings in the CIA Kate.
Kate replied. ‘Think of the lion like my little Wispy, a pretty soft-hearted cat...’ it leapt for the half open window, a giant paw reached in within a fraction of a second and two claws ripped across her face.
Jack admonished her. ‘I don’t think Wispy would do that Kate! Flip me, she wouldn’t even manage the jump up to the window as she is so fat.’ And then she jerked awake. She was in a cold sweat and thought it was real, until she heard the others breathing nearby. They were all in one room for safety and outside were a ring of guards. That made her feel safe for the first time since starting the mission and she snuggled under her blanket and went back to sleep.
* * *
The following afternoon, the team all felt much better. The nightmare was over as they sat in the dappled shade of a mimosa tree drinking tea and eating yummy cream cakes. The Outspan Hotel in Nyere was luxurious and welcoming. Best of all it was private and confidential as the other guests had been moved out by the CIA.
Roger was chatty again. ‘Did you know Lord Baden Powell used to live here?’
‘Who?’ Jack queried.
‘Baden Powell. He started the scouting movement, which is really inspiring as I loved my time in the scouts.’ No one was listening but they were all happy for him to talk about everything and nothing as they stared into the distance and thought of their parents back in England. ‘Did you know our Queen, learned she had become Queen at Treetops, which is the sister hotel nearby?’
The sounds of Africa lulled their senses but the sound of a low flying jet jerked them back to reality. It was coming in from the east. A black jet that pulled into a vertical and totally impossible climb unless designed by a genius.
Timmo thought about his friend Techno and hoped he was at peace. They stared at the jet as it left black smoke trails in the shape of a four-fingered hand before zooming seawards.
Kit Kat gently touched Brett’s arm. ‘What about the slave workers, the technicians?’
Brett placated her worries. ‘It will be okay Kate. International help is there already. All the children were escorted out of the mountain a few hours after we left, apart from those trapped on level four. They were transferred by French helicopters to an aircraft carrier off the coast and then debriefed before flying out of Zanzibar to their homes.’ Jack turned away from the others as he cried. He had given the children the wrong advice and now he had to live with that bad decision and the death of all those children including Irish.
Brett saw the tears. ‘No one knew the volcano was going to erupt. Things happen in wars that no one can plan for...it’s part of growing up, living with your decisions.’ But it didn’t make it any easier and Jack shuddered as he sobbed.
Timmo stirred himself. He had been quiet because of the Tramadol, a painkiller that worked brilliantly but dulled the brain. ‘Can MM control the world now?’
Roger answered him. ‘She can try Timmo but we inserted a virus into the “world domination” game. It was easy once I had downloaded the codes from the SD card.’
Jack turned and dried his eyes on his cuff. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, ‘and what else did I see you doing before you left the AIC?’
‘I kind of uploaded my own little virus.’ Roger giggled. They listened expectantly. ‘Well not earth shattering like MM’s. Every former player is offered a free book from Amazon entitled ‘The Black Hand Gang’ by Roger Ponsonby-Smythe.’
‘Free?’ Kate asked.
‘Well, not quite free. All charges are made on Madam Musseine’s bank accounts that were also detailed on the SD card.’
Timmo was delighted. ‘That’s cool. What happens when she finds out?’
‘She won’t until all her money has been spent as each transaction is mirrored in each account and therefore magnified a million times in a single day. So that means she’ll know tomorrow!’