Now!
A long living shadow in fast motion, Reguiba darted out of the grotto, his men at his heels. Leaping from rock to rock, showing themselves briefly, using their heads instead of running into the fire or the meat grinder of Nefrazi fire — why, they just might get out of this alive!
The Killmaster told Stanton, "Give it the go."
Stanton pressed the kill switch. There was a horrible instant when nothing happened, and Stanton felt as if he was going to vomit.
Then suddenly all the explosive charges shaped around the boulders and overhangs of the ridge went off at once. Nasser's Rock bowed its hundred-ton head and dropped off the edge, an inexorable juggernaut pulping Crime Police by the score. Other charges loosened huge slabs of rock and dirt, a man-made avalanche that showed no mercy.
It was all over but the shouting, and the triumphant Nefrazi did plenty of that. As did Major Namid and the AXE agents.
Awed, Andy said, "What a way to go! Buried under a mountain of rock!"
Carter just grinned.
The dust hadn't quite settled when a shadow flitted over Nick Carter. He looked up to see what had cast it.
High up.
It was a falcon, a swift bird with a huge wingspan. It flapped between two mountain peaks and out of his sight.
An icy tingle touched his spine.
As abruptly as the mood had come, it went. Why, falcons were the least of his worries. His main concern was a hawk — David Hawk.
The head of AXE was going to hit the ceiling when Carter showed up late for debriefing, ten days from now. Ten days, during which he'd be enjoying a luxurious cruise down the Nile with the lovely Professor Khamsina Assaf.
And he was going to stick the tab for the trip on his expense account too.