Exocet - Jack Higgins [73]
'You realise they'll know we're coming?' Leclerc said. 'No way of avoiding that.'
'I know,' Villiers said. 'It can't be helped, so you might as well cut right in across the island and let us see the state of the game. A little panic and confusion always helps.'
The Chieftain went in across the cliffs, the mist parting before it, roaring across a desolate rain-soaked moonscape, a nightmare world of deep gullies fissured into grey rock, relieved by the occasional green of bog or moorland. Leclerc pulled back on the column; they lifted over a ridge and found the missile pens and the concrete buildings of the camp complex no more than a hundred feet below.
Donner and Raul Montera were walking up the street towards the missile pens. Donner glanced up in alarm, then pushed Montera into a stumbling run towards the shelter of the tunnel entrance leading to the pens as Leclerc banked, came in again at fifty feet this time, then turned and moved out to sea.
Stavrou had observed the incident from the shelter of the tunnel entrance. As Donner and Montera ran in beside him, he said, 'I don't understand. That was our plane. What in the hell is going on?'
'Villiers, you imbecile,' Donner said. 'Who else could it be. God knows what's gone wrong back there at the house.'
He looked out from the tunnel entrance to where the Chieftain banked over the sea and came in again, heading for the cliffs and disappearing from view.
'What the hell are they doing?' Stavrou exclaimed. 'There's nowhere to land on this rock.'
'Oh, yes there is,' Donner said. 'If the tide's right, there's plenty of beach at the base of those cliffs. The French Air Force proved it could be done last year. It just wasn't a practical proposition on a long term basis, that's all.'
'So what do we do? If that is Villiers, then he must have contacted the French authorities. We could have paratroopers round our necks before we know it.'
'Let's see how things are inside,' said Donner calmly.
He pushed Montera ahead of him. They moved along the tunnel and entered a large concrete cave brightly lit by floodhghts. Four of the special trucks built to carry the missile were lined up at a loading ramp, where the civilian personnel in Aerospatiale overalls toiled to load the Exocets with the assistance of special hydraulic hoists, closely supervised by armed mercenaries.
Jarrot was in charge. 'What stage are you at?' Donner asked.
'Difficult to say. With luck, another twenty minutes and we can move down to the harbour.'
Donner turned to Stavrou. 'I'll stay here. You take some men and get up on those cliffs. If anyone is trying to get through, stop them. You must give us the time we need.'
Stavrou grinned savagely. 'My personal guarantee on it.' He nodded to Jarrot. 'Come on, Claude. We've got work to do.'
They ran back along the tunnel. Donner took out a cigarette and lit it. 'Villiers,' he said. 'How incredible.' He laughed, totally without malice. 'God damn him, he must be nearly as good as me.'
'What was it you said?' Montera asked. 'Nothing like a little organisation?'
'One of those days,' Donner said amiably. 'Everyone has them.'
'So now what happens?'
'We wait and see, old sport, but preferably back in Espinet's office in comfort. I left that bottle of Krug on his desk and it's too good to waste, chilled or not.'
'You're finished,' Montera said, 'and you know it.'
'We'll see, old sport, we'll see.' Donner grinned and pushed him along the tunnel.
* * *
Leclerc took the Chieftain in on a trial run, feeling for the wind. A cross current from the island caught them so that they rocked violently in the turbulence. He brought the Chieftain round in a tight circle and came in low over the waves, throttling back and dropping flaps.
The wheels seemed to touch the surface of the water and then they were down, biting into the hard wet sand and running forward through the shallows, spray flying up in great clouds on either side. Leclerc taxied to the far end of the beach, turned into the wind and switched off the