Ice Station - Matthew Reilly [108]
‘Mother . . .’
‘Scarecrow, the SAS, they aren’t regular troops like we are. They are killers, trained killers. They are trained to go into a hostile zone and kill everyone in sight. They don’t take prisoners. They don’t ask questions. They kill.’ Mother paused. ‘You have to evacuate the station.’
‘I know.’
‘And you can’t do that with a one-legged old hag like me weighing you down. If you’re gonna run that blockade, you’re gonna need people who can move, people who can move fast.’
‘I’m not going to leave you here –’
‘Scarecrow. You have to get to McMurdo. You have to get reinforcements.’
‘And then what?’
‘And then what? And then you can come back here with a fucking battalion of swordsmen, you nuke these British sons-of-bitches, you rescue the girl and you save the fucking day. That’s what.’
Schofield just stared at Mother. Mother returned his gaze, looked him squarely in the eye.
‘Go,’ she said softly. ‘Go now. I’ll be all right.’
Schofield didn’t say anything, he just continued to stare at her.
Mother shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I mean, hey, like I’ve said before, it’s nothing one good kiss from a fine-looking man like you wouldn’t –’
At that moment, without warning, Schofield leaned forward and kissed Mother quickly on the lips. It was only a short kiss – an innocent peck – but Mother’s eyes went as wide as saucers.
Schofield stood up. Mother took a deep breath.
‘Whoa, mama,’ she said.
‘Find a place to hide and stay there,’ Schofield said. ‘I’ll be back. I promise.’
And then Schofield left the room.
The hovercraft’s engine roared to life.
In the driver’s seat, Rebound floored the accelerator. The needle on the tachometer bounced up to 6000 rpm’s.
At that moment, the second Marine hovercraft came gliding across the hard-packed snow. Its engine revved loudly as it slid to a halt alongside Rebound’s hovercraft.
Buck Riley’s voice came over Rebound’s radio. ‘Fifteen minutes to go, Rebound. Let’s get ’em over to the main building and load ’em up.’
Schofield looked at his watch as he strode quickly round the outer tunnel of B-deck.
Fifteen minutes to go.
‘Fox. Can you hear me?’ he said into his helmet mike as he walked. While he waited for a reply, Schofield quickly put his hand over the microphone.
‘Let’s go, people!’ he yelled.
The remaining residents of Wilkes – Abby and the three male scientists, Llewellyn, Harris and Robinson – were hurrying in and out of their respective rooms.
Llewellyn and Robinson ran past Schofield. They were dressed in thick black windbreakers. They hurried off toward the central shaft of the station.
Suddenly Gant’s voice came over Schofield’s earpiece. ‘Scarecrow, this is Fox, I read you. You’re not gonna believe what’s down here.’
‘Yeah, well, you’re not gonna believe what’s up here,’ Schofield said. ‘Sorry, Fox, but you’re gonna have to tell me about it later. We’re in big trouble up here. We’ve got a whole platoon of SAS commandos heading toward this station and they’re gonna be here in about fourteen minutes.’
‘Jesus. What are you going to do?’
‘We’re gonna pull out. We have to. There’s just too many of them. Our only chance is to get back to McMurdo and bring back the cavalry.’
‘What should we do down here?’
‘Just stay where you are. Point your guns at that pool and shoot the first thing that pokes its head out of the water.’
Schofield looked around himself as he spoke. He couldn’t see Kirsty anywhere.
‘Listen, Fox, I have to go,’ he said.
‘Be careful, Scarecrow.’
‘You, too. Scarecrow, out.’
Schofield spun instantly. ‘Where’s the girl!’ he yelled.
He received no reply. Abby Sinclair and the scientist named Harris were busy grabbing their parkas and other valuable items from their rooms. Just then, Harris emerged from his room and ran past Schofield with a bundle of papers in his arms.
Schofield saw Abby emerge from her room. She was hurriedly putting on a heavy