Billy turned and watched the plane make a high banking turn. It began to look as though it was going to make another run down the road. The thought suddenly struck Billy that if it was a pirate he would quite likely shoot up the road for the fun of it. Particularly if he too was unable to find his way out of this particular section of the nothings.
The Minstrel Boy was still striding purposefully along. Billy hesitated for a moment. Then he sprinted after the Minstrel Boy, He grabbed hold of the Minstrel Boy and pushed him bodily to the side of the road. Together they rolled down the slope that fell away into the nothings, just as the first fragmentation shells erupted in a straight line of uniform explosions that ran down the entire length of the road, slightly to the left of centre.
Billy and the Minstrel Boy were showered with debris, but neither of them was hurt. Billy raised his head. The plane was turning, coming round for another run. Billy wondered desperately what to do. He looked at the plane. He looked at the nothings. Suddenly it fell into place.
The Minstrel Boy would survive at all costs.
The plane was starting to make its run. Billy grabbed the Minstrel Boy and, before he could resist, dragged him into the nothings.
***
The sound of gunfire and explosions filtered faintly through the thick steel doors of the war room. A.A. Catto spun round and slammed her whip down on the console in front of her. She showed all the signs of being about to fly into one of her regular uncontrolled rages.
‘Is it impossible to maintain discipline in this place?’
The circle of aides began cautiously to back away from her. A.A. Catto had been berating them for failing to come up with a workable scenario for continuing the war without the benefit of supplies from Stuff Central.
Since the breakdown of Stuff Central and the death of Nancy, A.A. Catto had been getting visibly nearer to cracking. Her temper had become totally unpredictable. The number of executions had, in fact, decreased, but this was only a result of the virtual depopulation of the bunker headquarters.
More explosions came from beyond the steel doors. A.A. Catto glared menacingly at her aides.
‘Is nobody going to stop that disturbance? What do the guards think they’re doing?’
One of the aides found the courage to speak.
‘You dispatched most of the guards to the surface to investigate the reports of an outside attack.’
‘The FABRICATED reports of an outside attack.’
The aide stood corrected.
‘I meant the fabricated reports of an outside attack, my leader. The majority of guards are still on the surface. The only guards in the bunker are a handful stationed at key positions, and those who are here with you in the war room.’
A.A. Catto’s stare cut into the aide like a knife. Sweat appeared on his pale face. He could feel it soaking into the armpits of his red suit. When A.A. Catto finally spoke, her voice was dangerously quiet.
‘Are you suggesting that we should maybe deal with this disturbance ourselves?’
The aide felt himself start to tremble.
‘No, my leader. I was simply giving you an outline of the deployment of guards.’
A.A. Catto slowly walked round the terrified aide.
‘We are quite aware of the deployment of our own guards,’
The aide nodded vigorously.
‘Yes, my leader.’
‘And furthermore, we are quite capable of dealing with this disturbance.’
More gunfire came from beyond the double doors. A.A. Catto stepped quickly down from the rostrum. She snapped her fingers at her private guards. They fell into step behind her. She marched towards the doors.
‘You had all better recognize that Catto the Great will face any problems in her own headquarters herself.’
The first set of doors slid open. A.A. Catto walked up to the second set. They too opened. A.A. Catto could scarcely believe the spectacle that presented itself. She stopped dead in amazement.
The main corridor that led to the war room was littered with dead guards. Large chunks were gouged out of the walls and floor where frag bombs had exploded. Dust and smoke hung thickly in the air.
Directly the second set of war room doors slid open, three guards swiftly took cover in the doorway. They started firing their needle guns down the corridor. Heavy calibre bullets thudded into the wall above A.A. Catto’s head. She looked at the guards. Her eyes were wide with surprise and horror.
‘What the hell is going on?’
One of the guards looked up breathlessly. His face was streaked with blood and grime.
‘There are intruders at the end of the corridor, my leader.’
‘Intruders? From outside?’
‘From outside, my leader.’
‘How did they get in?’
‘They came down one of the auxiliary lifts, my leader. They were on us before we knew what was happening. They used frag bombs.’
‘Why didn’t you use fuse tubes on them?’
‘We cannot use fuse tubes in the bunker, my leader. They would cause it to cave in.’
A.A. Catto peered down the corridor.
‘How many of these intruders are there?’
‘Four, my leader.’
A.A. Catto’s eyebrows shot up.
‘Four? Only four?’
‘They are in a very strong position, my leader.’
‘We don’t care if they’re encased in steel! We won’t have our guards allow themselves to be defeated by four men. Get them! Kill them!’
‘We are doing our best, my leader.’
A.A. Catto gripped the guard by the front of his uniform.
‘Rush them, damn you! Get out there and rush them!’
She pushed him roughly towards the corridor, and turned to her own guards.
‘You too! I want these intruders dead.’
The guards hesitated for a moment, looked at A.A. Catto, and then sprang into the line of fire. They charged as a single group, firing as they went. The rush covered half the distance between where A.A. Catto crouched in the doorway, and the intruders’ vantage point. It looked for a moment as though it was going to succeed. Then the front runners were cut down. The ones who came after fell over them. Some went on, one pair tried to make it back to the shelter of the doorway. They were shot down, right in front of A.A. Catto. In less than a minute she had lost all the guards in the bunker.
Four men in dirty green combat suits were slowly advancing down the corridor. A.A. Catto scrambled to her feet and fled back into the war room. Neglecting to close the doors behind her, she made straight for where the aides were clustered together in a terrified group. She pushed through them until the whole group were between her and the door.
For a few moments nothing happened. Then the four intruders came into the war room. When they saw the aides, they halted and pointed their guns at them.
‘Okay, you guys stay right where you are. Put your hands on your heads and don’t move.’
The aides did what they were told immediately. A.A. Catto was a little slower, but she too clasped her hands on top of her head.
Two of the intruders kept the aides covered while the other two walked slowly round the war room looking at the big board and the complex equipment. They seemed to be in awe of it.
Anger began to burn inside A.A. Catto. It was ludicrous that just four men could do this to her. The guns pointed at her, however, gave her cause to keep her resentment to herself.
The two intruders circumnavigated the war room in silence. Finally one of them spoke.
‘It looks like this is where it all happens. What do we do with it, chief?’
The one addressed as chief slowly pointed his gun towards the big board.
‘Take it apart. Smash everything. That ought to stop them.’
His voice was weary. He pulled the trigger of his carbine and sprayed an entire clip into the big board. It exploded in a spectacular shower of sparks and billowing smoke.