‘And in the middle of the night. I mean, that’s what you call service.’
Bannion glanced sideways at him.
‘You didn’t have nothing to do with it being nighttime. Did you?’
The Wanderer’s grin broadened.
‘That’s something you’ll never know, Commander Bannion.’
Bannion scowled.
‘You just watch yourself, old man. I don’t have to take your attitudes. Your usefulness is finished now you’ve got us here.’
The Wanderer put on a fake innocent expression.
‘You mean you ain’t thinking you’ll ever get away from here?’
Bannion avoided the old man’s eyes.
‘You just shut your mouth. That’s all.’
Kronski tipped back his hat and looked tersely at both of them.
‘When you two have finished bitching at each other, where do you want to be put down?’
Bannion peered out of the control room windows. In the distance the ziggurat was bathed in the glare of floodlights. It was obvious that the last thing the enemy expected was a sneak attack. Behind the ziggurat the black mass of a mountain was just visible against the night sky. Bannion took a deep breath.
‘I guess we might as well go in as close as we can.’
Kronski sighed.
‘I was afraid you were going to say that.’
With its motors partly cut, the airship dropped to almost ground level. Kronski gave it a little more power and it started to drift quietly towards the ziggurat. As they came closer, Kronski cut back the motors again. Bannion showed no signs of ordering him to stop, and Kronski looked at him anxiously.
‘You want me to land on top of that fucking pyramid or whatever it is?’
Bannion’s face was set.
‘Just put us down as close to the lights as you can get without being seen.’
Kronski’s lip curled.
‘Thanks.’
Bannion didn’t reply. He climbed out of his seat and tugged open the door that separated the control room from the main passenger cabin. Bannion leaned against the door frame and regarded the nineteen ex-police troopers turned commandos in their dirty olive green battle dress. He didn’t speak straight away. He looked slowly from one strained face to the next. An intense flash of doubt hit him. He wondered how many, if any, of them would come back from this mission. His voice, however, betrayed none of his anxiety. It came out tough and self assured.
‘Okay. Hear this. We’ll be going in a couple of minutes. Directly we touch down, get the doors open and get out as quickly as possible. I don’t want any foul-ups. Understand?’
Nobody answered. Bannion raised his voice.
‘Understand?’
A single voice came back.
‘We got you, chief.’
‘Is that you, Ramirez?’
‘That’s me, chief.’
‘When we get outside you stick close to me, you hear?’
‘Loud and clear, chief.’
‘Okay, the rest of you, as soon as you’re on the ground, get away from the ship. Find yourselves some cover and wait for instructions, only make sure you don’t get separated in the dark. Got it?’
This time a chorus came back.
‘We got it, chief.’
Bannion swung back into the control room. Kronski glanced up at him.
‘What am I supposed to do while you’re all making heroes of yourselves?’
Bannion dropped into his seat.
‘Once we’re all clear of the ship, take her up, pull back a way and wait. Watch for us coming back. We might need to be picked up in a hurry’.
Kronski nodded silently.
The Wanderer yawned.
‘What am I supposed to do, stay in the ship?’
Bannion shook his head.
‘I want you where I can keep an eye on you. You’re coming out with the rest of us.’
‘Don’t expect me to do any fighting. I don’t hold with it.’
‘Just don’t go trying to run off. That’s all.’
The Wanderer was about to reply when Kronski interrupted.
‘This is it. I’m putting her down.’
Bannion sprang from his seat,
‘Okay, old man, let’s go.’
He ducked into the passenger cabin. There was a slight bump. Kronski yelled.
‘We’re down.’
The door swung open. Troopers boiled out through it, relieved to be moving after being cooped up in the cramped cabin for so long.
When they were all out, the Wanderer followed at a more leisurely pace. He closed the cabin door behind him, and the airship almost immediately lifted away. The Wanderer moved to a clump of long grass and crouched down. Around him, he could see the dim shapes of other crouching figures.
Bannion’s attempt to get his men on the ground, undetected, seemed to have been a complete success. It only remained for the airship to get away to safety without anyone hearing the sound of the motors.
A comparatively small number of guards patrolled within the area of the lights. They all appeared to move quite normally, as though they were unaware of the attackers waiting in the darkness.
Bannion’s optimism took a decided dip when one of the guards suddenly halted. He seemed to be listening intently. Bannion cursed under his breath. The guard had started scanning the sky. He had obviously heard the airship. Bannion prayed he wouldn’t be able to spot the black ship.
Bannion’s luck seemed to have run out. The guard pointed to the sky and shouted. He started to raise his fuse tube. Bannion leaped to his feet.
‘Move up! Open fire!’
The crash of gunfire cut through the night. Bannion glanced at Ramirez.
‘Aim for the banks of lights. We could do with a little darkness.’
More black suited guards streamed out of the base of the ziggurat. Bannion’s men found their fire returned by the brilliant flash of fuse tubes. To Bannion’s dismay, one small squad of guards were crouching down, determinedly firing upwards. Despite the attack, they were trying to bring down the airship. Bannion turned and yelled.
‘Ramirez! Pass the word! Get those guys kneeling down! They’re firing on the ship!’
The troopers concentrated their fire on the small group. Two of them dropped, but the others went on shooting at the sky.
Suddenly there was an explosion. A bright glare lit up the sky behind Bannion. The airship had been hit. One of the motors had blown up and, by the way the ship plunged downwards, it seemed the gas bag had been ruptured.
The machine hit the ground and burst into flames. Bannion’s men dived for cover as they found themselves silhouetted against the fire, making easy targets for the defenders.
The Wanderer flattened in the long grass. If he could have buried himself in the earth, he would have done so. He could hear Bannion urging his men forward. The Wanderer had no intention of going with them. He was determined to hide where he was until the battle was quite over.
Bannion was too busy to even think of the Wanderer. The first attack had developed into a major fire fight. The defenders were holding their own despite nearly all the lights having been taken out. The defenders’ casualties were far higher than Bannion’s but, fighting on their own ground, they could afford them.
Bannion looked down the line of attackers. As far as he could see, at least half his men were completely pinned down. He crawled over to where Ramirez was reloading his carbine. He grabbed him by the arm.
‘Find three good men who can move, and bring them back here.’
Ramirez nodded curtly and crawled away. Bannion waited impatiently. The defenders were grouping for some kind of move. After about five minutes Ramirez came crawling back. There were three other men with him. He grinned at Bannion. His teeth flashed in the darkness.
‘I’ve got the men, chief. What happens now?’
‘Most of the boys are pinned down. The opposition seems to be moving all its strength into one spot. I figure if we work our way round to the other side of the ziggurat, we should be able to get inside without too much difficulty.’