DropZone

‘Check out the castle, Eth. Tell us what’s up there.’

Ethan trained the binos on the ruins. ‘There’s one tower still standing,’ he said after a moment, keen to make his description as clear as possible. ‘The wall is nothing more than a pile of stones, but there’s a large section completely missing, creating a huge hole. Through the hole, inside the ruins, I can see a large tent and some lights.’

‘I’m guessing the tent is where the meeting is taking place and probably where the disk is being looked at,’ said Kat.

‘Security?’ asked Luke.

‘Nothing obvious,’ Ethan replied.

‘This is probably a makeshift rendezvous,’ said Luke. ‘They won’t have done much prep of the site because they won’t be expecting anyone to know they’re here.’

‘Gate-crashing,’ said Joh

Ethan was about to lower the binos when he saw movement. ‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘I can see two guards. They’re standing at the large hole in the wall.’

‘Let me have a look,’ said Kat, and he handed over the binos.

‘The x-rays look more like doormen than anything to worry about,’ she said. ‘They’re carrying, though. Both have M4 carbines.’

‘Hardly surprising,’ said Joh

‘The M4 is a variant of the better-known M16,’ Luke told Ethan. ‘It’s been used in Afghanistan and Iraq.’ He looked at the rest of the team. ‘If those two are anything to go by, we can expect anyone else we spot to be carrying as well. The one advantage we have is that, as Joh

‘Unless they happened to drop from the sky,’ said Joh

‘All the same, we’ll need to get rid of those two guards before we do anything else,’ said Luke. ‘If they spot us, the mission is screwed, and so are we. Kat, Natalya – you OK for that?’

Ethan saw the girls nod. Kat was still staring through the binos.

‘See anything else?’ asked Joh

‘No,’ said Kat. ‘Nothing. Hang on…’

Everyone heard the hesitation in her voice.

‘What is it, Kat?’ asked Luke. ‘What you got?’

‘Birds,’ she replied. ‘Helicopters. Over to the right, just in front of some more woodland.’

Luke took the binos from Kat, had a look, then passed them on.

Ethan could just make out some oddly shaped silhouettes far off to the right and away from the castle. If Kat hadn’t said anything, he’d never have known they were helicopters; in the dark, they simply looked like strange bits of the shadowy landscape.

‘Three of them,’ said Kat, taking the binos back. ‘Gabe told us Sam said there were more people here than they’d originally thought. That’s why he called for backup. That’s why we’re here. Seems they turned up in style.’

‘What’s the problem?’ asked Ethan. ‘Why would a few more people make any difference to Sam?’

‘Stealing a disk from under the noses of three or four people is one thing,’ said Luke. ‘Doing it in a crowd is something else entirely. Chances of getting pinged are pretty high.’

‘But there was no mention of the birds,’ said Natalya. ‘Gabe would have told us.’

‘I know,’ said Luke, ‘and that’s what’s worrying me.’

‘You think this is more serious than we thought?’ asked Ethan.

‘Exactly,’ said Luke. ‘I’m guessing there’s more people at this party than either Gabe or Sam realized. And that’s going to make our job even harder. We’re going to have to be damned careful just to avoid being slotted.’

Slotted, Ethan knew, meant shot. For a few seconds everyone was quiet.

Joh

Everyone nodded.

‘Good,’ he went on. ‘So let’s focus on what’s really important, shall we?’

‘What’s that then?’ asked Ethan.

Joh

28

Ethan couldn’t help but notice that Luke was the natural leader. OK, so he had perhaps three or four years on most of the others, but there was also something else about him – a quiet confidence they all trusted utterly.

‘Right,’ he told them, ‘this is what we’re going to do. First we deal with those two x-rays up there. Then Ethan and Joh

Luke turned to Natalya and Kat. ‘You two will lay the diversionary explosives, draw attention away from what Sam’s got to do.’

‘Just a minute,’ said Joh

‘No,’ said Luke, and ignored Joh

‘But the explosives,’ said Joh

‘Oh, you’ll still see them, I’m sure,’ said Kat. ‘Isn’t that right, Natalya?’

Natalya nodded, and Ethan saw a grin on her face.

‘Anyway,’ said Luke, ‘Natalya’s the queen of explosives. I trust her not to blow us all up in the process, whereas you might just get a little carried away.’

Joh

‘What about you?’ asked Ethan, looking at Luke. He wanted to know what everyone was doing, get all the details straight in his mind and understand his place in all of it.

‘Once Kat and Natalya have set everything off, I’ll turn my attention to the tent. I’ve enough flash bangs and smoke grenades to have them wandering around in a daze for hours.’

Ethan didn’t want to ask if that was a joke.

‘That way,’ Luke continued, ‘Sam – wherever he is right now – will have plenty of cover and confusion to find the disk and get out.’

‘Then we’re out of here, right?’ said Joh

‘Absolutely,’ agreed Luke. ‘We’ll paddle out from the beach and the sub will be waiting. Nice and simple. Questions?’

There was silence.

Then Joh

And Ethan saw a glimmer of excitement on the face of the unshakable Luke. ‘Yes,’ he said, and turned to Natalya and Kat. ‘We need those x-rays out of the way. And it needs to be done silently. Let’s rock and roll.’

Natalya and Kat disappeared into the darkness between them and the castle, two black shapes slipping away through the long grass.

Luke turned to Ethan and handed him the binos. ‘Watch,’ he said.

Ethan focused the binoculars and brought the shadowy image of the castle ruins up nice and clear.

Nothing.

Then something: a faint blur of dark against more dark. He had them – the girls edging forward. He lifted the binos a little; spotted the two doormen outside the tent. He could see them quite clearly in the faint glow of light coming from inside. They were smoking, talking. One laughed, the other joined in.

Then they were gone.

Ethan sca

‘Ask the girls yourself,’ said Luke. ‘Here they come now.’

Kat appeared at Ethan’s side. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘What’s next?’

Ethan looked at her and Natalya. Neither of them were out of breath. ‘What did you do – with the guards? Where are they?’

Natalya looked at him, cocked her head to one side. ‘They are asleep, Ethan,’ she said. ‘Like big babies. And how the fat one snores!’