DropZone

Ethan nodded and they crawled forward towards the path. He was soon able to make it out, carved into the cliff face. He willed himself on; forced himself not to think about the bullets flying above him or of the hidden mines somewhere on the beach.

Then more rounds came in. Joh

Ethan chanced a look and saw two men ru

‘Get your head down,’ shouted Joh

As Ethan ducked, he heard one of the Claymore mines explode off to their left between them and the approaching x-rays. For a second it was like sheet lightning and the beach blasted into light; then the blaze was gone and they were back in moonlit darkness.

The sound was deafening, and Ethan looked up to see the bodies of their attackers falling through the air. He knew they were dead before they hit the ground. They hadn’t even had a chance to scream.

They pushed on. The path was only metres away now. Then came more shooting, this time from the right, and Ethan could see another two men charging towards them, yelling, firing.

He looked at Joh

Ethan did exactly as he was told, and they both lobbed the canisters over.

There were two explosions, and the two men disappeared in a cloud of thick white smoke.

‘Move it!’ yelled Joh

They reached the bottom of the path and just kept on ru

The cliff exploded around them as bullets ricocheted above their heads, sending out sharp splinters of rock. But Ethan didn’t feel a thing – he was focused on getting to the top of the path. He’d never run so fast in his life.

As they emerged at the clifftop, another explosion sounded from behind them on the beach. Ethan guessed what it was. ‘Another Claymore?’

Joh

Ethan heard the voices of Luke, Kat and Natalya reply with a simple ‘Yes’.

‘Beach is shagged,’ said Joh

Ethan looked at him. ‘We’re BASE jumping?’

Joh

31

Ethan wasn’t given a chance to argue: Joh

They followed a wide arc around the ruins to the watchtower behind. Another explosion tore the air, and the light from it brought the castle into sharp focus. Ethan could see that the diversion was having the desired effect. Whoever had stolen the disk was now convinced they were under attack. Ethan could see that the way the explosions had been laid gave the impression that someone was firing explosive rounds at the ruins from the other side of the island – and getting progressively closer as they homed in on their target. X-rays were milling about, firing wildly in the direction they believed the explosions were coming from. They had no idea that they were just charges going off at set intervals.

The air was filled with the smell of burning and cordite and the sound of weapons’ fire and shouting. Ethan hoped the diversion had given Sam enough time to do what he had to do.

Then, as the flat ground disappeared and the ruins loomed up on their left, a man wearing an expensive leather jacket and carrying a weapon ran out through a gap in the walls and barged straight into Joh

Ethan watched them tumble to the ground, rolling away from the ruins and towards the bushes that led to the cliffs. He heard the man’s gun clatter on some rocks and hoped that he’d dropped it, but then saw that he’d managed to keep hold of it despite the fall. The man scrambled to his feet, raised the weapon and took aim at Joh

Instinct kicked in and Ethan launched himself, feet first, at the man’s hand. Whether it was the sensible thing to do or not, he didn’t care; if he didn’t do something, he knew Joh

He heard bones smash as his foot co

Ethan stared down at him, ready for another attack, but he wasn’t moving; blood was pooling beneath his head, leaking into the grass.

Joh

‘What happened?’ asked Ethan.

‘Stray bullet,’ said Joh

‘It wasn’t a stray,’ said a voice from the ruins, and both Ethan and Joh

‘Sam,’ said Joh

Ethan spotted the machine gun in Sam’s hands. He even recognized what it was: an MP5 – as used by the SAS. Sam looked terrifying. Like the rest of the team, he was head to toe in black, his face streaked with grey and white camouflage, like bits of the night had snagged on him. His knuckles were bloodied. He was also wearing a small backpack that Ethan recognized as a BASE rig. He’d come prepared for every eventuality.

‘No time for pleasantries,’ he said. ‘We need to get to the watchtower now. Move it!’

Ethan felt Sam grab his shoulder and drag him away from the body. ‘Come on, Eth,’ he said. ‘Nothing you can do for him. Let’s go.’

Ethan forced his legs to move and fell into step behind Joh

‘What happened?’ asked Luke.

‘Must be another way to the beach,’ said Joh

Luke made to speak, but then another explosion slammed across the island. Ethan was stu

‘What the hell was that?’ asked Kat.

‘Wasn’t one of mine,’ Luke told her.

‘It wouldn’t be,’ said Joh

Everyone turned.

‘Let’s just say that they won’t be able to leave the island in a hurry,’ Joh

‘The helicopters!’ said Ethan. ‘ That’s where you went!’

Joh

The explosions continued to rattle on as the helicopters slowly disintegrated, ribbons of fire leaping into the air like dancers at a night-time rave.

‘Right,’ said Sam. ‘Time to go. Joh

Ethan watched as Joh