They had timed it so that the Red Guards would not have time to bring in too many reinforcements but they could never be sure, so Alice felt her hands shake a bit as she got out of the van. She felt totally exposed as Satish and his men walked her into the open. They had all put on their Zeus uniforms and were fully armed while she had her hands loosely bound behind her. She could just about make out the Red Guards base, which had been set up inside what had once been a large temple. She could see the two round turrets on top of the walls and she struggled to control her panic as she saw a black helicopter rise from within the complex and fly towards them. The helicopter came to a hover some distance away and she could see the large red star painted on its side. The door slid open and she saw several Red Guards inside with their rifles pointed downwards. A voice called out over a loudspeaker.
'Send the girl forward alone and lay down your weapons. Other Red Guards are on their way to take you to our base. You have nothing to fear.'
Alice was pushed forward and she walked, her face downcast, towards the waiting helicopter, wondering if the bullet that would kill her was on the way.
TWELVE
Alice saw the helicopter come lower till it was only a few dozen feet above the ground. The rotor wash was so strong it felt like it would blow her away and she had to keep her eyes half closed since she could not bring her hands up to shield them against the swirling wind and dust. She heard a dull roar in the distance and looked to her right to see two armored personnel carriers emerge from the Red Guards base and speed towards her location. The helicopter came even lower and landed on the road only a few meters away from Alice. She watched three Red Guards disembark, their rifles pointed at the Zeus troopers behind her. As she turned, she saw that Satish and the others had put their hands behind their heads and their rifles were on the ground in front of them. Apparently satisfied that they posed no immediate threat, a Red Guard officer emerged from the helicopter and pointed towards Alice.
'Come here!'
Alice walked slowly towards the helicopter, wondering if she would survive long enough to get a shot at the revenge she so badly wanted. As she saw the smirk on the Chinese officer's face, she had to struggle to contain the fury she felt inside. So many thousands of innocent men, women and children had been killed so that men like this could retain the power they so craved. The officer turned to Satish and shouted.
'We'll take her with us. My men are on the way in the APCs to take you in.'
Alice was sure that if the APCs did get close enough, their orders were to slaughter the Zeus deserters, but her whole plan hinged on them never getting close enough in the first place. They had not really planned on there being a helicopter at the scene, but now as Alice walked closer, she smiled. It was unplanned, but it could be a bonus. They had planned on bloodying the nose of the Red Guards enough to provoke them to try and enter the Ruins. But if they managed to take a helicopter and an officer, it would certainly add more insult to the injury. Of course, to do any of that, Alice had to improvise a bit and hope that she stayed alive long enough to cause any damage.
She was now just five feet or so away from the helicopter and she stopped, as if weighing her decision. The Red Guard officer was now cajoling her to come closer, an absurd gesture since Alice wondered why he'd think anyone would willingly step towards torture and near certain death. When she did not budge, he began to lose his patience and asked one of his men to go get her. The Red Guard started walking towards her and Alice looked right, hoping that Arjun and his Rats would not let her down. She watched the two APCs now barely five hundred meters away and closing in fast when the first APC was obscured by a giant cloud of smoke. A split second later, she heard the blast of the IED. She knew Arjun had triggered it prematurely since he wanted to create a distraction and give her a chance at getting away. He and his Rats were in tunnels around the road and even before the smoke from the explosion had cleared, she heard the sound of rifles firing as they attacked the APCs.
The Red Guard was now just a couple of feet from her and he had stopped to look at the explosion. He jerked his head around to look at Alice, but he was too late. Alice had slipped her hands out of the loose ropes binding them behind her, and now had a knife in her right hand and a pistol in her left. She jumped high and brought her knife down on the Red Guard's neck. As he went down, she didn't try and dislodge her knife, but left it there, rolling on the ground and coming up in a crouch, the handgun in both hands. She fired four or five rounds at the two Red Guards outside the helicopter and saw at least one fall, before she saw the officer bring up his own sidearm. She rolled under the helicopter as one of the Red Guards fired, the bullets kicking up the dust around her. She felt something hit her shoulder but kept going as the officer screamed.
'Stop, you idiot! You'll hit the helicopter.'
She came up on the other side of the helicopter and saw the officer turn to face her. He was way too late. She fired through the open helicopter cabin and put two rounds in his chest and clambered into the helicopter as she saw Satish and his men firing and the Red Guard outside fall to the ground. She peered into the cockpit and saw the pilot reaching for a pistol at his side.
'Not a good idea.'
He put his hands up, and she dragged him outside where his hands were tied by Satish's men. Alice saw that a fierce firefight was still raging on the road. The first APC was in flames, but the second one seemed undamaged and was backing away towards the base as rifle rounds pinged off it.
'Let's get out of here as soon as we can!'
Alice knew that when news spread that a helicopter had been lost, the Red Guards would be back in force. She looked at Satish.
'Any of you guys know how to fly this thing?'
Satish shook his head and smiled. It was a tempting thought, but even if none of them could fly the helicopter, it still was a treasure trove for them. Within fifteen minutes, they crawled back through the tunnels, bringing with them the Red Guard pilot, weapons and communication equipment taken from the fallen Red Guards and most exciting for all of them, two RPG launchers they found in the helicopter, together with eight rockets.
Not only had they dealt a serious blow to the Red Guards' pride, but they had in one stroke, suddenly exponentially increased the firepower of their arsenal.
That night was one of open celebration, and one of slightly more hidden anxiety. Many of the men and women were drinking and singing, and Alice wondered where all the alcohol had materialized from. Arjun was sitting next to her, looking quite grim.