Ethan realized they were going to continue on down to the beach, and the only way for them to do that was past him – in which case he’d be discovered for sure. He remembered how important it was for the team to remain unseen on this mission. Now was not the time to pick a fight with two armed men on a narrow cliff path. He had to do something else.
One of the men started off towards him, but the other stopped him, handed him another cigarette and a small hipflask. They both laughed.
Ethan knew this was his last chance – either he made a move now, or he waited to be discovered. He glanced around. The path disappeared into darkness, and he wondered about slipping on towards the beach himself, but then he remembered Johnny. OK, so the idiotic, egotistical bastard had left him in the lurch, but that was no reason for him to go and do the same. He had to get out of here, make his way past the x-rays, and warn Johnny they were there – before he came running back down the path and got them both killed.
Ethan sized up the situation. There was no way he could slip past the men. The track was barely wide enough for two people, never mind another trying to hide in the shadows. So what the hell was he going to do?
He let his head fall back as he tried to think – and saw the cliff face rising above him. It was jagged and rough. It was
climbable
!
He had to climb; it was the only way.
Ethan slipped further down the path, further into the darkness, so that the men wouldn’t hear him. Eventually he could no longer see them, so he turned to face the rock, found some hand-holds, and started up.
The rock was cold and cut into his hands, but at least the holds were large and easy. It wasn’t long before he was well off the path, but a glance upwards made him realize just how dangerous a position he was now in. The cliff stretched on up into the dark and he had no idea if the climbing got harder. Still, he had little choice but to press on. He kept climbing, trying to ignore the heavy bergen on his back, which threatened to drag him backwards off the cliff-face.
Adrenaline was surging through him, but so was fear. The HAHO jump had been fine, but this? It felt mildly insane. Ethan had never done much climbing before – having to do it soundlessly, in case he got shot at, sure focused the mind. At the same time, he was aware of the minutes slipping by: surely Johnny would be back any minute. He had to move faster, reach the clifftop and get back round to the start of the path so that he could head Johnny off and stop everything from going tits up.
But then he heard the voices of the two x-rays directly below him. He stopped, hugged the cliff, didn’t move. If he dislodged a stone onto the men below, he knew he was dead. They wouldn’t wait for him to climb down; they’d just shoot him off the cliff.
Then his left foot slipped.
Ethan caught himself before he fell, but the sound of his foot scraping against the rock seemed loud enough to wake the dead.
For a few moments he stayed where he was, a shadow on the rock, hoping to God that the two men below had moved on far enough not to have noticed the noise. He strained his ears to hear their voices, and was relieved that they sounded more distant now.
Ethan knew there was no more time to lose. He started climbing again, powering upwards as fast as he could go – foot . . . hand . . . foot . . . hand . . .
He felt no fear now, only determination. Just because the men had headed down to the beach didn’t mean they wouldn’t be coming back up again in a few minutes’ time.
At last Ethan could see the top of the cliff. A little further and then he was pulling himself up over the edge and onto the flat ground. He didn’t give himself a moment to think about what he’d just done or get his breath back; instead he jumped up and ran as quickly and quietly as possible to the top of the path.
He was only a few metres from it when he saw movement up ahead. It was just a blur, a shadow moving quickly through other shadows, but he instantly recognized Johnny. Ethan knew that unless he stopped him now, Johnny would be racing down the path, totally unaware of the two x-rays below. So he did the only thing he could.
He jumped, the weight of the bergen on his back adding momentum.
For the split second that he was in the air, Ethan felt like every sense was heightened. He could hear the waves crashing on the beach below. He could taste the tang of the sea in the air around him, even smell the damp rock he’d been climbing.
Then he crashed into Johnny – hard, tumbling him backwards into a hellishly prickly bush. Before Johnny had a chance to struggle or shout, Ethan wrapped himself round him, slapped his hand over his mouth and pulled him deeper into the bush.
Johnny struggled, but Ethan had him fast.
‘It’s me,’ he hissed. ‘Where the hell have you been?’
He felt Johnny relax and immediately let his friend go.
‘I had something to do,’ said Johnny. ‘What’s up?’
‘Two x-rays on the path,’ replied Ethan, and he knew he sounded pissed off. ‘I had to do something to stop you running into them and getting us both killed. You shouldn’t have left me.’
Johnny looked at Ethan, surprise in his eyes. ‘You were OK, weren’t you? You’re alive!’
‘Not the point,’ said Ethan. ‘We work as a team, remember? This isn’t the goddamn Johnny Show.’
Johnny nodded. ‘Point taken. So what were you doing on top of the cliff?’
‘The x-rays came after you went,’ said Ethan. ‘I had to climb over them to reach you.’
‘So they’re still down there now?’
Ethan nodded.
Johnny looked thoughtful. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘You’ve seen them. You’ve got a better idea of the situation than I have. What are our options?’
‘They’re armed,’ said Ethan, the images as clear as day in his mind, ‘so we don’t want to take them on. I think we need a diversion – something to draw them away so that we can get down to the beach.’
‘Like what?’ asked Johnny.
As if in answer to his question, an explosion ripped through the air, lighting up the night around them as flames and shockwaves blasted across the island.
‘That’ll do,’ said Ethan, and he could feel himself smiling.
30
A second shockwave hit them as another explosion followed the first. Ethan had never heard anything like it in his life. He could smell burning in the air, his ears were ringing, and he could feel his teeth tingling, as if the shockwaves were jarring every last part of him.
‘What the hell are they using?’ he hissed. ‘Are the explosions supposed to be that big?’
‘Sam wants a diversion, that’s what he gets,’ said Johnny.
Ethan heard the sound of running feet. ‘Down!’ he hissed, and pulled Johnny further into the bush.
The two x-rays shot up from the cliff path, racing towards the explosion.
‘You really have to stop hugging me,’ said Johnny as Ethan let go of him again. ‘I’ve told you before, you’re not my type.’
‘And you’ve really got to start taking this seriously,’ Ethan replied. ‘I can’t be arsed with getting killed tonight.’ He looked around. ‘The path’s clear. Let’s go!’
Without giving Johnny a chance to argue, he bolted from the bush, dragging his friend with him. He gave a quick glance up towards where the explosions had come from. He could hear people running around in panic, screaming at each other.
Another explosion lit up the night, followed by the sound of gunfire.
‘Come on!’ shouted Ethan.
They took off down the path.
‘You climbed up that?’ said Johnny, glancing up at the cliff face rising above them. ‘You’re more of an idiot than I thought!’
‘You didn’t give me much choice,’ said Ethan as they raced onto the beach. The crunching of the pebbles and sand underfoot sounded like they were running over Rice Krispies.
Ethan took off his bergen, dropped it to the ground and opened it. He pulled out two large square packages and handed them to Johnny. Then he glanced at the sea. It was dark and oily and he could see the white crests of waves falling into each other. The sky was a thick canvas of black, speckled with stars and flecked with cloud, the moon high.
Out there
, he thought,
is a submarine coming to lift me off this island. Is any of this really happening?
But there was no time to think about that now. Ethan turned to see Johnny opening one of the packages.
‘These are the canoes,’ he said. ‘Rip that one open, will you?’
Ethan knelt down and tore open the other package. He pulled out what looked like a bundle of tightly packed, rubberized canvas. ‘Please don’t tell me we have to blow these up ourselves,’ said Ethan.
Johnny laughed. ‘Automatic inflation,’ he said. ‘Like a life raft. They’re up in seconds. Pull that tab there.’
Ethan looked where Johnny pointed and saw a yellow strap. He pulled it hard and the canoe ballooned in front of him as air rippled through it.
‘Cool, eh?’ said Johnny. ‘Now put these together.’
He handed Ethan a pouch and opened another himself.
‘Paddles,’ he said. ‘They clip together like tent poles. See?’ He held up a finished paddle.
‘You look so proud.’ Ethan watched his friend clip together the remaining poles from the pouch to form a second paddle.
‘It’s the little things that keep me happy,’ said Johnny; then he stood up and pulled something from his own bergen. ‘I’m going to secure the area,’ he said.
‘Are they the Claymores?’ Ethan asked, having clipped together the poles in his own pouch to make two further paddles.
‘Yes. Nasty mix of explosive and ball bearings. If anyone comes in as we’re escaping, they’ll trigger them. Just be sure to look the other way if they go off. It’s not a pretty sight.’
‘Thanks for the advice,’ said Ethan, hoping he wouldn’t get to see one of the things in action.
Johnny ran off across the beach, keeping as low as he could. He set the Claymores and was back in a couple of minutes. Ethan wondered how he made everything look so easy, but as he came back, pebbles and sand exploded in a line across the canoes.
‘Down!’ Johnny screamed, and jumped on Ethan, throwing him to the ground.
Only then did Ethan hear the gunfire. ‘Someone’s shooting at us!’ he yelled.
‘Just keep your head down!’ Johnny shouted back.
Another strafe of bullets zipped past, and Johnny rolled Ethan and himself out of the way just in time.
Ethan could smell the tang of the bullets smashing pebbles as the crack of gunfire ripped the air apart. He could hear the rounds thumping into the sand – and feel them too, the shockwaves from the impact making the ground ripple like it was alive underneath him.
‘Too bloody close,’ screamed Johnny. ‘Less than a metre away to feel it like that. Keep fucking moving! We need to get back up that path. This exit is totally screwed!’
Ethan saw him glance up and down the beach to see where the shooting was coming from. The sea was behind them, the path somewhere in front.
‘Follow me,’ said Johnny. ‘Go where I go. I know where the Claymores are; you don’t. Got it?’
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. Johnny looked at Ethan and pointed left down the beach. ‘Two x-rays coming from over there,’ he yelled.
Ethan chanced a look and saw two men running towards them. One of them fired again, this time missing by a mile, thankfully.
‘Get your head down,’ shouted Johnny, grabbing Ethan and pushing him face-down in the sand, ‘or there’ll be nothing left of it but pink mist!’
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 Johnny, who reached into his pack and pulled out two grey canisters. He gave one to Ethan. ‘Pull the pin and throw it towards them!’ he shouted.
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 Johnny, and Ethan chased after him as he heard more firing from behind.
They reached the bottom of the path and just kept on running. Somehow Ethan’s legs kept pumping hard – he didn’t know where the energy was coming from.
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?’
Johnny nodded. ‘Horribly effective, I’m afraid.’ Then he squeezed the communicator round his neck. ‘Guys! Can you hear me?’
Ethan heard the voices of Luke, Kat and Natalya reply with a simple ‘Yes’.
‘Beach is shagged,’ said Johnny. ‘Meet at the watchtower in five.’
Ethan looked at him. ‘We’re BASE jumping?’
Johnny grinned. ‘Fun, this, isn’t it?’
31
Ethan wasn’t given a chance to argue: Johnny simply sprinted off, and he had to try and keep up.
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.