The floodlights snapped on.
I raised the Sten to my shoulder, switched it to single action, and pulled the trigger twice.
There were two faint cracks as the glass went, then a sputtering crackle, and darkness again.
When the silhouetted figures of the guards appeared they paused, shining flashlights toward the floodlights which had just so inexplicably gone on, then off.
Again, I squeezed the trigger of the Sten.
The left guard fell, shot through the head. And, because I had used single rather than continuous fire, he pitched forward, onto the fence. Almost — in the lack of any sound from my weapon — as if he had suddenly bent over to inspect it. But the guard on the right knew better, and his rifle was already rising to his shoulder, swiveling to pinpoint the source of the bullet, when Li Chin's sharp whisper came out of the darkness at him.
"Hold it!" she snapped in French. "Don't move! I'm in back of you and there's a man in front of you. We both have automatic weapons. If you want to live, do what I say."
Even in the dim light, I could see the terror on the man's face. He lowered his rifle and stood waiting, visibly trembling.
"Call out to the man in the control unit," said Li Chin. "Tell him your partner has fallen onto the fence. Tell him to shut off the current. And sound convincingly upset!"
The man complied immediately.
"Armand!" he cried, turning and shouting down into the crater. "For the love of God, shut off the current on the fence! Marcel has fallen!"
His tone of terror was convincing even to me, probably because he was genuinely terrified. Within seconds, the faint hum which had arisen from the electrified wire ceased. The night was silent except for the trilling of insects, and then, a distant shout from within the crater.
"The current is off," said the guard. He was still trembling.
"For your sake, T hope it is," I heard Li Chin whisper. "Because you're now going to touch it. The bottom strand first. Hold it with your whole hand, right next to the pole."
"No!" the man said. "Please! There could be a mistake…"
"Do it!" snapped Li Chin.
Trembling uncontrollably, his breathing so labored I could hear it plainly, the man advanced to the fence. I kept my gun trained on him, but even though he was now only feet away he hardly noticed as, slowly, his face contorted into a twisted agony of fear, he reached his hand down toward the lowest strand of wire.
"Take it!" came Li Chin's threatening command.
The man hesitated another instant, then, like a swimmer diving into cold water, grabbed the wire.
Nothing happened. The guard's face relaxed slightly. I could see sweat dripping from his chin!
"Keep on holding it until I tell you to stop," I commanded him.
He nodded, his expression that of numbness. I snaked another few feet, until I could reach the wire, and withdrew a pair of wire cutters from my back pocket. Then, a few inches further along from the guard's hand, so that if the current were turned back on while I was working, he would ground it with his body — and with his life — I cut the bottom strand.
"Now put your hand around the next strand," I ordered him.
He obeyed. I cut the next strand, and told him to move his hand to the next. I repeated the procedure until all the strands were cut, then told the guard to stand back, and stepped through onto the other side of the fence, using the guard's body to shield me from the sight of anyone looking up from tie crater.
"No one in sight down there," I heard Li Chin say softly.
I peered cautiously over the guard's shoulder, down into the crater. It was, to put it mildly, a fortress. A labyrinth of cement-block buildings, whose walls looked to be at least four feet thick, and without windows anywhere. As strong as the notorious Furhrerbunker, in which Adolf Hitler had spent the last days before his much unlamented suicide. At two points the buildings were set into the crater of the volcano itself. There were three exits, two of them man-sized doors leading to opposite sides of the outside crater, one of them a door large enough for a truck. To this door ran a large road, coming from over the rim of the crater.
Li Chin was right. There was no one in sight.
I poked the guard in his belly with my gun.
"Where are the rest of the guards?" I demanded harshly.
"Inside," he said, pointing to the two wings with man-sized exits. "Closed circuit television scans the whole crater."
"How could it reach the rim, where we are?" I demanded.
"Up here, it's a different circuit," he said, convincing me he was telling the truth by the terror in his eyes. "The scanners are m the floodlights, and are activated when the floodlights go on."
So for the moment, we were out of sight. But once we started to descend into the crater we would be very much in sight. I thought for a moment, then turned and whispered a few curt words to Li Chin, who was lying on her belly nearby. A few minutes later I had stripped the dead guard of his cap and jacket, and put them on myself.
"Call out to the man in the control house," T told the guard. "Tell him your partner's hurt and you're bringing him in."
The guard turned and shouted down into the crater. Now I could see one of the exit doors open and a figure appear, framed by the light from within. He waved, and shouted something in assent.
"All right, buddy," I told the guard. "You are now going to carry me down to that control room. And slowly. There'll be a gun trained at your back from a few feet away the entire trip."
I could hear the guard swallow. Then, wiping the sweat from his eyes, he dropped his rifle, bent down, and picked me up in his arms. I twisted so that my Israeli silent Sten was gripped at the ready, finger still on the trigger. But this time, I flicked it to automatic fire.
"All right, lifesaver," I told the guard. "Let's go. And when I tell you to drop me, do it fast."
Slowly, he started down the incline inside the crater. I could hear Li Chin snaking along on her belly behind us. Below, through the open door, I could see figures moving about in the control room. I counted at least a dozen. I also saw something else interesting. There appeared to be only one door leading from the control room to the interior of the building complex.
"Carter! Look! The road!"
I glanced in the direction Li Chin was indicating. Over the rim of the volcano, on the road leading to the massive steel garage doors, came a heavy truck, gears grinding as it downshifted on the incline. It rolled to a stop at the doors. An instant later the doors swung soundlessly back, and the truck entered. As it did, I caught a glimpse of the open back. Two armed guards, both white, both carrying automatic weapons, and two native laborers, undoubtedly recruited to carry machinery.
No. One native laborer.
And one Sweets Hunter, dressed in what were probably the shabbiest clothes he'd ever worn in his life. Talking and laughing in fluent patois with the Martiniquais next to him, looking for all the world like a man delighted to have just landed a good-paying job.
Plan proceeding according to schedule.
Next step.
We were now less than a hundred yards from the open door of the control room. The guard carrying me was panting heavily, starting to stumble with fatigue. Good.
"Ready, Li Chin?" I asked, my hands tightening on the Sten.
"Ready," came her curt whisper.
"Guard, call out to your friends for help in carrying me," I told him. "Then get ready to drop me. And no tricks. Remember the gun aimed at your back."
He nodded imperceptibly and swallowed hard again.
"Hey, pals, how about a little help here?" he bellowed impressively. "Marcel's been hurt!"