He stalked back down the aisle, getting in Nina’s face to snarclass="underline" ‘After Babylon falls, so will you, Dr Wilde.’ His gaze flicked towards the cabin door. ‘Right on to its ruins from five thousand feet up!’
‘Look, just get everyone out of there!’ Eddie yelled into the phone at Seretse. ‘The airship’ll be there in a few minutes!’
‘A full evacuation in such a short time will be impossible,’ the alarmed diplomat protested. ‘There are thousands of people here; even if we get the leaders out first—’
‘Just do what you can,’ Eddie snapped before ending the call. He stared helplessly at the receding Airlander, which was still gaining height, then had an idea. He found another number in his contacts and hurriedly dialled it.
Infuriating seconds passed. He watched the airship retreat — then a shrill of engine noise told him that he was through. ‘Harvey! Harvey, it’s Eddie Chase — can you hear me?’
‘Eddie? Yeah, sure,’ Harvey Zampelli replied, sounding puzzled. ‘Where you been? I phoned you a coupla days ago, but—’
‘Harvey, we’ve got trouble,’ the Yorkshireman interrupted. ‘Where are you?’
‘Right now? Just comin’ back from a tour of Liberty Island.’
‘I need you to pick me up. I’m at Brooklyn Navy Yard, the airship landing field.’
‘Pick you up?’ the helicopter pilot exclaimed. ‘Eddie, I got passengers, I can’t—’
‘Can you see the airship?’
A moment’s pause. ‘Yeah. Hey, I thought it was supposed to be grounded ’cause of that thing at the United Nations.’
‘It was, but someone’s stolen it to attack the UN. Harvey, they’ve got Nina, my wife, aboard. I’ve got to get after them!’ When there was no immediate reply, he went on: ‘You said you owed me a favour. Forget flying lessons — this is it. A lot of people will die if I can’t stop this!’
‘You’re not kiddin’, are you?’ said Harvey, worried. ‘Okay, I’ll come find you. Not sure how I’m gonna break it to my passengers, though.’
‘Just get here,’ Eddie said. He stared upriver once more. The airship was still heading relentlessly towards its destination — but had now been noticed by the forces guarding it, helicopters changing course to intercept.
Paxton listened to a message through his headphones, then turned to Cross. ‘They’re ordering us to turn back to the Navy Yard and set down.’
‘Of course they are,’ Cross replied, surveying his target through binoculars. The United Nations was now only two miles away, and the Airlander had reached its cruising speed: two minutes’ flight time. ‘There’s a lot of activity on the ground. They know we’re coming.’
‘They’re evacuating,’ Nina told him. ‘The VIPs’ll be out of there before you can drop the angel.’
‘In two minutes? No, they won’t. There are one hundred and sixty-five world leaders attending the General Assembly, and they’ll all be fighting over who gets to escape first. I know how these things work. The Secret Service won’t let anyone else leave until President Cole’s been secured, and they haven’t even gotten a police helicopter on the ground, never mind Marine One.’ He raised the binoculars to check the sky ahead. ‘Paxton, NYPD choppers coming in.’ He indicated a white-and-blue Jet Ranger heading towards them.
‘I see them,’ Paxton replied. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘Stay on course. I’ll deal with them.’
‘I’ll have to slow down,’ the pilot warned. ‘The wind at this speed’ll throw your aim off.’
‘I can handle it. Just hold us steady.’ Cross went to the port-side door and opened it. Wind rushed into the cabin, the rasp of the propellers rising to ear-splitting volume. He squinted into the slipstream. ‘Come right five degrees so I can get a clear shot!’
Paxton obeyed, turning the Airlander slightly to starboard. Cross leaned against the door frame as he aimed the rifle through the opening at the nearer of the approaching helicopters. ‘Steady, hold it steady,’ he called, fixing the cross hairs in the telescopic sight on his target. ‘Steady, and… now!’
He fired. Even over the roaring engines, the retort made Nina jump. For a moment, it seemed that he had missed — then the leading helicopter slewed around, dropping into a corkscrewing descent.
Cross hurried to the front of the cabin to watch as its fall picked up speed, spinning like a sycamore leaf until it smacked down on the river. The rotors sliced into the water’s surface and kicked up a great swathe of spray before the downed aircraft rolled over and began to sink. ‘You got it!’ Paxton crowed.
‘There’s still another one.’
The second helicopter started a sharp climb, taking a course that would pass directly over the airship. Paxton leaned forward to follow it, then turned in alarm to Cross. ‘He’s going to use his rotor downwash to force us down!’
‘Will that work?’
‘Against a ship this big? Probably not, but it’ll throw us around and make it almost impossible to steer.’
Cross returned to the door with his rifle, but the Jet Ranger was now out of sight above the airship’s bulbous twin prows. The cabin shook, forcing its occupants to brace themselves. Nina held on tightly to the seat in front as the Airlander rocked despite Paxton’s best efforts to stay level—
She felt something protruding from the aluminium frame. A latch. The lightweight seats were designed to be easily disassembled and removed…
The idea that formed was quashed as the Airlander wallowed, pitching sickeningly like a ship on stormy seas as the chopper’s downdraught pounded it. Cross grabbed a ceiling strap. ‘Up, take us up!’ he roared.
Eddie shielded his eyes from flying dust as the red, white and blue tour helicopter swept in to land. He scurried beneath the whirling rotor blades. ‘Come on, everyone out!’ he yelled to the passengers. Even after Harvey had explained the situation, they were still bewildered and frightened. ‘You’ll be a lot safer on the ground, trust me!’ He helped them down. ‘Sorry about this, but I’m sure Harvey’ll give you a refund.’
‘Refund?’ said the pilot as Eddie clambered into the front seat and donned a headset. ‘They got a longer flight than they booked — they should be payin’ me!’ He checked the passengers were clear, then applied throttle and raised the collective control. The LongRanger left the ground and turned up the East River.
‘There’s the airship!’ said Eddie.
‘It’s kinda hard to miss,’ Harvey replied sarcastically. Even from almost two miles away, the Airlander still loomed like a floating football stadium. He frowned, spotting something above it. ‘The hell’s that guy doing?’
Eddie saw an NYPD helicopter flying directly over the enormous airship. ‘Must be trying to force them down.’
The pilot grimaced. ‘Hell of a chance he’s taking. If the airship comes up underneath him, the displaced air’ll maybe cause a vortex ring!’ The Yorkshireman gave him a blank look. ‘That’s a bad thing.’
‘What about the airship? Can he make it crash?’
‘Only if he completely wipes out on it, and hopefully he ain’t that stupid. Probably the most he’ll do is slow it down.’
‘Good enough for me. The longer it takes it to get to the UN, the more chance there is of evacuating everyone.’ The LongRanger cleared the Williamsburg Bridge, rapidly closing the gap to the airship as the huge craft veered right, its nose tilting upwards — towards the buzzing fly above it. ‘Oh shit! They’re going to hit each other!’
Harvey stared at the police helicopter in horror. ‘Move, you asshole, move!’