The Darkest Day

SIXTY-ONE

Raven said, ‘We need higher ground.’

They left the room and found metal stairs thick with dust and grime that led upwards. A metal railing bolted to the wall offered support, but only for half the ascent. The rest had been bent and snapped away at some point long ago. The walls were rough and painted white, as dirty as the stairs, and a short, narrow corridor led on to more stairs through a door-less doorway. The door itself lay on its side in the corridor.

Victor passed a window comprised of semi-opaque glass blocks and climbed up again, Raven following. These stairs were wooden, warped and cracked through wear and rot.

The control room at the top was painted in utilitarian grey paint — the walls, the pillars, the floor, even the folding metal chairs and sink. The only thing that had escaped the grey was a desk fan, once white but stained to an unpleasant yellow. A door led out to a walkway that ran around the control room. A ladder led further up.

There was no air traffic control equipment in the room. The only evidence the room had ever been used as such were the holes for cables and dials that were cut into the boxing protruding from the walls.

To the west, over the neighbouring building’s roof, he could see the road and the harbour beyond it. East and north lay hangars and runways.

But to the south, visible at last because of its aviation lights, flew the helicopter, growing larger and more distinct with every passing second. It was a big commercial model, painted graphite grey.

‘That’s a Eurocopter Dauphin. I’ve been in one just like it. Maybe even the same one,’ Raven said. ‘We should get out of here.’

‘We’re in a defensive position. We can take them here.’

She shook her head. ‘They’ll outnumber us. It can carry eight passengers. There are several points of entry. We can’t cover them all. They’ll box us in. We can take the truck and get the hell out of here.’

‘We stay here and deal with whoever gets off that helicopter.’

‘You mean you want to wait and get Halleck?’

Victor said, ‘If they see the truck moving, they’re going to go after it. We can’t outrun a helicopter. They’ll fly over us and land to block off our escape from the airfield, whichever route we try and take.’

’Good,’ she said. ‘The instant the chopper is directly overhead we’re going to jump out — and they won’t see us do it.’

‘Let me guess: we’ll have set the bomb to blow shortly after we do.’

‘How fast can you cover a football field?’ Raven asked.

‘Because the lethal radius of two tons of high explosives is going to be about one hundred metres.’

She nodded. ‘Give or take.’

‘I’m fast,’ he said. ‘But that’s no kind of plan. We can’t assume they’ll fall for it.’

She relented. ‘Okay. We do it your way.’

‘I’ll stay here,’ he said. ‘I’ll take shots at them as they approach. They’re bound to split up — some putting down covering fire at me while the others close the distance and enter. Go to the first floor and ambush those guys when they come within range.’

She nodded again. ‘Good luck.’

The thrum of rotor blades grew louder and the shape of a helicopter came into view, silhouetted against the night sky.

‘Go,’ Victor said.

She descended the stairs, and Victor watched her go. He then waited in the control tower, watching the Eurocopter grow nearer. It was flying in fast; and the pilot was bringing the bird in for a hard landing and rapid deployment of the men on board.

He thumbed the selector switch on the UMP to full automatic and opened fire on the helicopter.

The sub-machine gun roared, spitting bullets skyward from his spot in the control tower. He aimed in front of the chopper to account for its speed and the distance the bullets had to travel to reach their target.

A one-in-a-million shot might hit the pilot and bring the chopper crashing to the ground, but Victor’s intent was to persuade those inside to deal with him in the control tower, making them easy targets for Raven downstairs.

The helicopter hit the ground outside the terminal building with force, rotor wash flattening grass, about one hundred metres out, and eight figures leapt out. He saw Halleck among them, ordering his men to split up and move forward. He was carrying a large aluminium case. It was heavy, no doubt lined with lead.

The seven men and Halleck began their approach.