"That"s it," said Guy grimly, holding out his trembling mobile for Fitz"s scrutiny. "Panic b.u.t.ton. She"s pressed send, made the call."
Fitz swore. "She shouldn"t have gone alone."
"Her idea. And she was was in disguise," Guy reminded him. in disguise," Guy reminded him.
"Guess the place is guarded after all." He sighed. "Fab. Guy, you ever heard of the Dambusters?"
Guy nodded. "Daaa, da, da, da, da-da-da, da, daaa..."
"That"s the one," said Fitz, and joined in with the jaunty theme as he revved the throaty engine of Anji"s car, put it in gear and floored the accelerator. The wheels screeched as they bit into the dirt track that led up to the warehouse.
What the h.e.l.l are we going to do? thought Guy madly, and in the absence of anything more constructive he kept on singing. thought Guy madly, and in the absence of anything more constructive he kept on singing.
Twenty-six Shooting apes Basalt shoved the old lady away from him. She fell to the ground, still twitching and shaking.
"Where did she come from?" Kalic.u.m spoke to the ape like he expected an answer. "Why did you allow her so close?"
The chimp pointed out of the doorway.
Sabbath seemed unruffled. "I imagine that since the old woman appeared non-hostile, and in the absence of specific instructions, my guard simply observed and acted when she became a threat to our security."
"Wilful animal!" howled Kalic.u.m, pulling restlessly at his net like he was about to tear it in two. "You take orders! You do not think for yourself!"
"Get rid of her," snapped Sabbath, with a brief glare at his skinny companion.
The pressure of the gun barrel at Basalt"s temple lessened a little. Then suddenly the chimp gave a low growl of warning.
"Out of sight," hissed Sabbath.
The chimpanzee guard looked around, uncertain, for somewhere to hide.
The old lady"s wrinkled-stockinged leg went into spasm and she jabbed her heel into the ape"s ankle. At the same time, Basalt elbowed it in the ribs.
The animal staggered backwards with a squeal of annoyance. At the same time, Basalt s.n.a.t.c.hed the gun from its hairy hand and shot it right in the face. The chimp was knocked backwards through the doorway and fell lifelessly outside.
There was a sharp shriek. Chloe.
"Get out of here, Erasmus!" Basalt bellowed, and threw himself through the doorway.
A rifle shot echoed after him, then another, but Sabbath"s voice carried clearly above the din: "No! The girl and her creature must not be harmed! Capture them!"
Basalt was up on his feet in moments, the chittering and screeching of the apes behind him building to a crescendo. Erasmus was staring at him in surprise, and Jamais was barking fiercely, hobbling about and snapping at Basalt"s legs. He kicked the beast away. Then he heard the sound of a powerful motor getting nearer, and distant gunfire.
"It"s a trap, Erasmus," snapped Basalt. "Come on, my car"s just here. But if I get you out of this, you"ve got to disappear me now, understand?" He thrust the gun in Erasmus"s face. "Understand?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Erasmus, his face uncomprehending. "Who"s that lying on Chloe?"
Basalt glanced down. "Jesus, give me strength," he muttered.
The chimp"s b.l.o.o.d.y corpse had collapsed right slap bang on top of his ticket out of here. It was pinning Chloe helplessly to the ground.
Guy felt like a human pinball as Fitz razzed the car in fifth gear over the potholed lane towards the grey, flat slab of the warehouse. They"d given up on Dambusters and moved on to the James Bond theme, only somewhere in Guy"s head he could hear the Funeral March.
"Reckon this thing"s the only weapon we"ve got," shouted Fitz over the engine roar and Guy"s bra.s.s section impersonation.
"Yeah, but it can kill us just as easily!" Guy yelled back. "Shouldn"t you slow down?"
Fitz hit the brakes. Guy"s seat belt bit into him as he lurched forwards. Then two apes in dark blue jackets rose up from a nearby hillock and opened fire.
"Whoah!" Fitz and Guy screamed as one.
Unlike in the movies, the bullets found their marks immediately. The windscreen splintered like cracked ice.
"Punch it out!" said Fitz reasonably, like this was the sort of thing he dealt with every day.
"You crazy? It"s gla.s.s!" Guy shouted back. But he smashed his fist against it just the same. It exploded outwards and they could see again. He whooped in surprise and delight, and sucked his raw knuckles.
Fitz was mounting the hillock in third gear, still doing about fifty miles an hour, heading for the improbable apes. The beasts leaped too late and the car struck them. Thankfully they vanished from view as the car flew over the top of the little rise of land. There was an awful second of freefall then they hit the ground, pitched up on two wheels.
"Lean my way!" bellowed Guy over Fitz"s wild screaming.
They threw themselves to the left and the car righted itself, thundering over the uneven ground. Fitz struggled to control their flight, yanking up on the handbrake and sending them careening in a tight arc. Another ape popped up from hiding with its gun at the ready. The MG spun round as if of its own accord and whumped his legs away from him.
This was like a PG Tips commercial as filmed by Quentin Tarrantino. "What the h.e.l.l is going on? Chimps with guns?"
Fitz shrugged. "Looks like Sabbath"s in town. He"s got a thing for apes."
"I don"t want to know," said Guy, feeling suddenly nauseous as the car finally rattled to a halt. "I think I"m going to be sick."
"Can you project?" Fitz gestured to the windscreen. "Back in two shakes." He threw open the car door and ran over to where the fallen chimp lay.
Unable to find the b.u.t.ton for the electric windows, Guy had no choice but to lean forwards and heave his hastily eaten breakfast back up through the shattered windscreen.
A moment later Fitz came back, waving the ape"s rifle in triumph. He frowned at the mess dribbling off the bonnet.
"Blimey, Guy," he said. "Don"t you think this poor car"s been abused enough?"
"I"m feeling pretty strange," said Guy, wiping his claggy lips.
"The mist again?"
"No... the opposite, really." He rubbed his eyes. "Everything seems too bright..."
"Shock, Gunner Adams," said Fitz in a clipped, upper cla.s.s military manner. "That"s all." He handed Guy the rifle. "Now, I"ll drive, you provide covering fire against those d.a.m.ned filthy apes. If you shoot the same way you spew then we"re laughing."
Guy gritted his teeth and gripped the rifle. "Here we go, then. The A-Team The A-Team meets meets Animal Hospital Animal Hospital."
"Huh?"
"Forget it, sucker," growled Guy, but he winced as a stabbing pain behind his eyes kicked in. He said nothing, not wishing to distract Fitz who was already swinging round the car, and soon they were thundering back towards the warehouse. Guy let off a test shot, felt the kickback of the stock into his shoulder. "Just letting them know we"re coming."
Suddenly a door was kicked opened in the back of the warehouse and half a dozen more armed apes came bouncing out.
"Do they ever know we"re coming!" Fitz yelled.
"Try and get round the front," said Guy, firing a wild shot, hoping to intimidate them. No chance. Bullets whizzed and pranged into the side of the car as Fitz raced for the shelter of the warehouse wall.
He was about to take the corner when a tyre blew. The car shook violently, rattled from side to side as Fitz lost control. Seconds later they smacked into the side of a rusty white van. The impact shook them like rag dolls against the seat belts.
"Fitz," gasped Guy, his neck stiff and stinging, "you all right?"
"Yeah, I"m terrific." He was already fumbling in a panic for his seat belt. "Come on, we"ve got to get out of here. They"ll be on us any second."
But as Guy opened his mouth to answer he found he couldn"t move.
Just then his head seemed to erupt in a violent fountain of noise. He could see Fitz staring at him, feel pressure round his cramped waist and his shoulder release as the seat belt slithered clear. But he couldn"t hear what Fitz was saying any more.
And it didn"t matter.
Only one thing mattered now.
"Get this thing off me!" shrieked Chloe, as she struggled to push the chimp"s floppy dead weight clear. Cursing loudly, Basalt stooped quickly to help her but another guard had emerged behind him, gun raised.
Jamais reared up in front of the ape, his neck snaking away from his shoulders till his sleek black head was towering above its own. Then he opened his jaws and bit at the chimp"s head.
In the blink of an eye the chimp was a skeleton in a raged tunic and its dusty skull was cracking in Jamais"s jaws like an oversized nut.
Basalt didn"t have time to freak out. He managed to heave the dead animal from Chloe"s wriggling body, but as he did so three more apes burst through the doorway.
One of the new guards swiped at Jamais"s neck with his rifle b.u.t.t, landed a heavy blow. Jamais whined and fell backwards over Chloe and the corpse. She cried out in fear and crouched over his p.r.o.ne body.
Basalt brought up his gun and fired again. Another guard went down, clutching with hairy hands at the blood pouring from its big bald ear.
Just as the other two performing chimps were about to blow out Basalt"s brains, a green MG swerved noisily around the corner and smashed into Chong"s ramshackle van. The guards turned on instinct to see what was happening.
Basalt gunned them both down before they could react.
But then Sabbath"s ma.s.sive frame loomed up in the doorway, affording only a glimpse of the spindly Kalic.u.m following close behind. With a speed Basalt didn"t expect the big man kicked the gun out of his hand and angrily lunged for his throat.
Basalt threw himself backwards, rolling over and landing on his feet. He started to run for his car. "With me, Erasmus! Come on!"
But the idiot just stood there in utter confusion. "Chloe!" he called. "Are you all right?"
Basalt heard Chloe scream. He glanced behind and saw Kalic.u.m had thrown his metal net over her. But with a clicking, clacking, grinding noise the net was growing larger, its links glowing a deep azure as it spread swiftly to smother Jamais as well.
"Stop this!" Erasmus"s voice rose in anger. "Let them go!"
Basalt reached his car and squeezed inside. As he started up the Porsche he realised that Sabbath was paying him no more heed, all his gloating attention on his new captives. Some apes were running and jumping towards the battered wreck of the MG, but it was empty now. Some guy with his back to Basalt was making his way over towards Sabbath. The guards were ready to fire but Kalic.u.m was holding up his hands, warning them off.
A few of the guards turned to fire at Basalt as he swept past in the Porsche, but he was soon out of range, careening along the lane that led to the main road and safety.
Safety, thought Basalt bitterly. With Timeless broken up, all his hopes of escaping this d.a.m.ned world were gone. Why should Sabbath bother with him now the fat creep had what he wanted? What was Basalt going to do come back with the cops? Lead some kind of counterstrike? With Chong dead and Erasmus captured he was completely isolated.
Daniel Basalt was washed up, finished.
Vulnerable.
He remembered Sabbath"s talk of the girl"s book, of what was written and would come to pa.s.s. Basalt had trapped Chloe for Sabbath quite unwittingly by trying to escape. Had Sabbath known all along that was going to happen? Was that why he"d kept Basalt alive, as a plaything to unknowingly do his bidding?
Basalt started screaming at the top of his lungs, hit the stereo and cranked up the volume as loud as it would go. The ba.s.s blasted out with the sibilant ticks of the drum samples, the stuttering rhythm almost drowning out the pounding in his head. He swung out on to the main road and headed drunkenly back to London.
Jesus Christ, he wasn"t going out like this.
Trix looked up warily from the cold, hard floor of the deserted warehouse. She"d lain here as quiet and still as possible while everyone rushed about playing cowboys and Indians. And now the shooting had stopped, she found she was even more scared. What had happened to Fitz and Guy?
Stealthily, she"d spun herself round and crawled to the door to peep outside.
There was Sabbath, looking even meaner and still heavier than the last time their paths had crossed (successful scheming was clearly deleterious to his waistline), together with the human Twiglet with the squeaky voice. His magic net was pulsing over a kid and some weird doglike thing, both lying very still. Another big bloke nearby was looking understandably baffled as a couple of gorillas pointed guns at his head.
And stalking towards them all, a fierce look on his chalk-white face, was Guy.
"Get back, you idiot," muttered Trix in disbelief. Was this some kind of mad distraction technique? Was Fitz sneaking in the back way to...
But no one moved against Guy. He marched right past Sabbath and crouched over the girl in the net. He reached through, pulled something from the pocket of her pale blue jacket. A black pouch.
Skinny Man squealed with delight as Guy emptied the pouch into Sabbath"s outstretched palm.
Diamonds.
Sabbath gave a dry chuckle. "Really, Adams, gifts for your old master? A generous gesture. But a foolhardy one."
He signalled to one of his ape stooges, who clubbed Guy down with a blow to the neck.
Kalic.u.m cackled. "The thirteenth generation, and the impulse to please his master still just as strong." He dropped to his knees and caressed Guy"s cheek with his long fingernails.
"Yes, he has come to me," said Sabbath. "All my poor p.a.w.ns have come to me. And now the time has come at last." He turned briskly to his handful of hench-apes. "Our business here is done. Clear up and we"ll clear out."