He needs all four turbofans operating at full power to get this thing off the deck in time. He holds his breath, pulls up the Galaxy’s nose and keeps throttling.
The cattle are just there. The hesitation clears and the turbofans sing, drag the huge jet off the desert runway.
‘Come on!’ Kelvin waits for the clunk of bovine on undercarriage. It doesn’t come. He breathes out, points the jet on a northward track, and reviews his decision. He has no regrets. He’s heard Fiji is lovely this time of year. He’ll retire to Fiji, or Tahiti. Either way he’ll die somewhere in the Pacific.
The Galaxy’s rear wheels miss the cattle by less than a metre. Stricken, Judd watches the jet lumber into the sky. He has failed Rhonda and the hollow pain in his heart is worse than anything he can remember, including that terrible February day in 2003.
Rotor blades echo behind him. He turns, takes in the black chopper as it skims the desert towards him, 500 metres away and closing fast.
He doesn’t know if killing Tango in Berlin will make him feel better but he’s willing to give it a try. He raises the pistol, aims it at the dark shape and the German he knows is inside. ‘Come on, motherfucker. Come and get me.’
That’s exactly what Dirk is doing. He focuses on the astronaut, astonished he’s alive. Big Bird’s equally surprised. His voice buzzes in Dirk’s headset: ‘Didn’t you kill this prick already?’
‘He must have been wearing a bulletproof vest or. .’ Dirk doesn’t bother finishing the sentence. He just aims the Top Hawk helmet at the astronaut. ‘Let’s put a ribbon on this thing and go home.’
Dust swirls and a shadow falls over Judd. He looks up as the Loach drops from the sky, thumps onto the desert beside him.
Corey furiously waves him in. Stunned, Judd doesn’t have to be asked twice. Three steps and he’s in the cockpit. He turns, sees a missile blast away from the black chopper, fly straight for the Loach.
44
Corey watches the missile as he kicks the Loach off the desert. ‘Grab something!’ He tips the chopper hard left.
‘Christ!’ Judd hasn’t strapped in yet. He grasps the doorframe to stop himself being ejected from the cockpit, then is jolted back inside as the Loach breaks right and ascends quickly. The missile follows.
Corey sees it in the side-view mirror. ‘We got Tango in Berlin to thank for that?’
Judd nods. ‘Who else?’
‘This bloke’s making a career out of pissing me off.’
The missile closes fast. ‘Hold on!’ Corey tips the Loach into a dizzyingly steep dive. The missile follows.
A metre off the deck the Loach pulls up sharply — and the missile doesn’t. It slams into the desert and the explosion is massive. A wall of red dust billows into the sky. The Australian swings the Loach in a tight arc back towards it.
Judd buckles up, pulls on the headset. Corey glances at him. ‘You okay?’
Judd nods though it’s clear he isn’t. He glances across at the Galaxy as it lifts Atlantis into the dawn sky. ‘Didn’t get to Rhonda.’
‘Sorry, mate. Wish the cattle had worked better.’
‘No, that was great.’
‘Least I could do after leaving. Feel terrible about that.’
‘Forget it.’ Judd sees they’re approaching the wall of dust. ‘What are we doing?’
Corey has his eyes locked on the black chopper in the side-view mirror. ‘Dealing with this guy once and for all.’
‘How?’
‘I got a plan.’ Corey reaches behind him, grabs something from the back seat, drops it in Judd’s lap.
Judd stares at it, dumbfounded. ‘That’s the plan?’
Corey grins his crooked grin. ‘I’m always thinking.’
Big Bird angles the Tiger around the edge of the dust cloud, searches for the Loach. ‘Where is it?’
Dirk can’t see it, then he can. ‘Up there!’ He points at the yellow chopper 100 metres above, 200 metres away and flying towards them — upside down.
The Loach passes over the apex of a loop. Everything that was on the floor hits the ceiling. Corey and Judd hang in their harnesses.
‘Jesus!’ Judd holds on for dear life.
‘Told you I could pull a loop!’ Corey locks eyes on the black chopper directly below. ‘Now!’
On his command Judd throws the lucky bucket, chunks of jagged rock wedged inside, out the open doorway. It drops towards the black chopper in a graceful arc.
The bucket doesn’t hit the Tiger’s rotor blades but strikes its windscreen and jars it from its frame. The air pressure jams it into the cabin and it slams Big Bird in the head. He’s wearing a helmet but the impact is significant.
Dazed, he fights to keep control of the chopper as it spirals to the desert below. Behind him Dirk says: ‘Are you —?’
The Tiger lands hard and he doesn’t finish the sentence.
Corey tips the Loach into a steep bank. ‘Did it hit?’
Judd looks back, scans the dispersing dust cloud, waits for the black chopper to emerge, cannons blazing.
It doesn’t. The dust clears and he sees it. ‘It’s on the ground!’ Judd can’t believe such a poorly considered quick fix actually worked.
‘Ha ha! Told you it was lucky!’ Corey taps his temple, thrilled. ‘I’m always thinking!’
‘You’re always thinking!’ Judd is swept up in the moment, any feelings of despair momentarily forgotten. Then he turns and catches sight of the Galaxy as it lifts above the sunrise.
A bright flash, then flames shoot from its inner portside engine, thick black smoke trailing behind. It brings his moment of euphoria to a screeching halt.
An alarm shrieks. Kelvin scans the Galaxy’s instrument panel, Nico’s face a portrait of concern. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Engine fire.’ Kelvin silences the alarm then activates the extinguisher system, shuts down the engine he knew had a problem.
Nico’s on edge. ‘Are we okay? Can we still make it?’
‘Fire’s out.’ Kelvin scans the gauges. ‘We’ll be slow but we should be okay, as long as we don’t lose another one.’
Corey stares at Judd, unbelieving. ‘Why would you shoot the engine?’
‘I was trying to stop it taking off. It seemed like a good idea at the time.’
The black smoke that streams from the engine thins out.
‘Fire’s out.’ Judd blinks long and hard, relieved. He turns, studies the winch between the seats, focuses on the thick blue Dynamica rope wound around it.
Corey follows his gaze and eyes him suspiciously. ‘What?’
‘How much weight can this rope hold?’
Corey shrugs. ‘A lot. A hundred and forty thousand kilos. Why?’
‘I need you to get me to the Galaxy.’ His hands go Rubik. ‘I’ve got a plan.’
‘I can’t catch that thing.’
‘You can. It’s heavy, and one engine is out.’
‘Sorry, I meant I don’t want to catch that thing.’
‘Come on.’
‘You come on. It’ll be at 30000 feet in a minute.’
‘That’s why we need to get to it now.’
‘And what happens when we arrive?’
‘I gotta plan.’
‘You said that already.’
‘Just do this one last thing.’
Corey stares at Judd for a moment.
‘Please.’