Scarecrow Returns

DRAGON ISLAND 4 APRIL, 1135 HOURS

THE LORD of Anarchy—a man known in other circles as Marius Calderon—arrived at the end of the runway, where he was met by Typhon and Big Jesus.

Surrounded by the men of the Army of Thieves, the three of them looked down at the spot where the Antonov had disappeared under the ocean’s surface.

“Schofield took four of the spheres over the waterfall with him,” Typhon reported. “But before the plane went over the waterfall, three of his people were spotted leaving the plane with a case containing two spheres—they landed on the southern side of the river, but one of our Strelas blocked them from reaching the cliffs.”

“They’re on foot?”

“They are now, yes.”

“And they still have the spheres?”

“So far as we can tell. I just sent Bad Willy and his team across the river in a couple of Strelas to pursue them.”

The Lord of Anarchy gazed at the river: it snaked back up into the mountainous southern half of Dragon. There was a small quarry-mine in there, some dirt roads, but otherwise few places where someone could hide.

“Hunt them down, kill them, and bring me those spheres,” he said. “We have time but not an endless amount of it.”

“We also found this,” Big Jesus said, stepping aside as two of his men threw a limp figure to the ground at the Lord of Anarchy’s feet.

The big, bearded and soaking wet form of Baba lay before the Lord of Anarchy.

His captors couldn’t know it, but when the cement-mixing truck had been hurled across the hold toward him, Baba had thrown himself out the side door of the Antonov an instant before the cement mixer had slammed against the wall.

“He washed up on the shore a few minutes ago,” Big Jesus said. “A French commando, in league with the others.”

The Lord of Anarchy stared at the slumped figure of Baba.

“This is most fortuitous,” he said. “He will be of use to us in our hunt for his companions. We will torture him and broadcast his cries to his companions on the island. Few can tolerate the wails of a friend being tortured and as you are well aware, Big Jesus, I have forgotten more about torture than most men will ever know. Take him to the gasworks.”