Midnight Runner - Jack Higgins [81]
There was the usual scattering of Bedu--women, children, and a number of the trainees--curious as to what was happening, and Colum McGee came forward to greet them. He grasped Keenan's hands.
"It's good to see you, Barry."
"And you, you old bastard."
McGee nodded to Casey and Kelly. "Christ, but he must be hard up if you two are the best he can do."
"Get stuffed," Casey said.
McGee turned to Kate. "Supper's waiting."
"You go ahead. I want a word with Ben."
The Irishmen went off together and she turned to Carver. "Go back now. We're staying here. Be back here tomorrow evening. I want you to take our Irish friends to Al Mukalli. How long will it take?"
"An hour and a quarter."
"Good. You'll return here tomorrow evening, leave at one-thirty in the morning, drop them at the goods yard at Al Mukalli, and return here again. Later that morning, you'll take me, the Major, and three men to the Bacu Bridge, where we'll pick up Mr. Keenan and his friends. How long is that?"
"About the same as the other trip. It's just in a different direction."
"Good. We'll leave at six-thirty."
"Will fuel be a problem?"
"No, we've stacks of it here in jerry cans."
Carver was sweating a lot and he was worried. He'd looked the other way regarding the activities at Fuad, but Keenan and his men made him uneasy.
"Look, am I getting into something here I shouldn't?" he said awkwardly.
"Yes," she said calmly. "You're into piloting my helicopter when I want you to, for which you are considerably rewarded. Of course, if this gives you a problem, I can have Carver Air Transport's license to operate in Hazar transferred to someone else."
Rupert said gently, "I think she's got a point, my friend, don't you?"
"No problem. I was only asking."
She said, "On your way, then, Ben," turned away, and walked toward the tents, Dauncey at her side.
Carver wiped sweat from his face with a handkerchief. "I'm getting too old for this," he said softly, climbing into the Scorpion, and took off.
Kate Rashid and her cousin joined the others, who were already sitting cross-legged in the great tent, the evening meal spread before them. On this occasion there were just the six of them, and women brought goat stew to augment the fruit, dates, and unleavened bread.
Casey and Kelly eyed the stew dubiously and Casey said, "What is it?"
"It's food," Keenan said. "Just get on with it."
"But where are the knives and forks?"
"You just use your hands," Colum McGee told them, and dipped in using a piece of the bread.
Kate Rashid said, "Is everything Mr. Keenan wanted ready?"
"Sure. Plenty of Semtex, timers, both clockwork and pencil. Lots of det cord. Put that together with the forty tons of high explosives that train is carrying, and it's goodnight, Vienna."
"Excellent," Kate Rashid said. "What do you think, Rupert?"
"The great virtue is the simplicity of it."
She smiled. "Yes, well, I always did like things simple."
"There is one thing, Countess," Keenan said. "What happens afterwards? How do you explain it?"
"Well, it's hardly my fault if Arab terrorists decided to blow up the Bacu Bridge, is it?"
"Of course." Keenan smiled. "Now why didn't I think of that?"
W hen the RAF Gulfstream was halfway to Hazar, Ferguson spoke to Villiers on his Codex and explained the situation. "So, Harry and I decided to come along for the ride, so that makes four of us. Will that be a problem?"
"Not to me. Kate Rashid arrived with Dauncey and the three Irishmen, by the way. I had one of my Scouts at the airport looking out for them. They transferred to her Scorpion, with Ben Carver piloting, and went up-country."
"Shabwa?"
"I would say Fuad, so Keenan can pick up his supplies."
"So we could stay at the Excelsior?"
"I wouldn't recommend it. Even the barman and the hotel manager are on her payroll.