Читать книгу Redback - Lindy Cameron - Страница 9

Laui Island, Pacific Ocean

Tuesday 6.50 pm

Jana surrendered to the inevitable, but only because the other soldier had already rounded up her liberated colleagues and disappeared into the dark with them.

'How come your friend gets a crowd and you only get me?' Jana asked her rescuer.

'Because I'm in charge.'

'Oh,' Jana said.

'See that shed over there?' Gideon scoped the area as she spoke. 'Run and wait. Go.'

Jana cut straight across the lawn to the sun shelter and crouched by a low cane table. 'So how many of you are there?' she asked when the woman-in-charge joined her.

'We're a squad of nine.'

'I gather the rest of your men, or women, are blowing the island to smithereens then.'

'No. The Americans are doing that. And please don't ask me why,' Gideon said, pushing through the thick garden barrier to get to the edge of the path. The way appeared to be clear.

'Is that because you can't tell me, or you don't know?'

'Yes,' Gideon acknowledged, wondering if there was any kind of situation in which this woman would shut up. With a swift hand movement she indicated that Dr Rossi should stay behind her as they headed down the sandy path.

The confusing din of gunfire, which was now coming from directions other than just the docks and rec area, made it almost impossible to hear anything else - like approaching soldiers. Anything, that is, except Dr Rossi.

'You know,' Jana said, 'it's nice that you're the main man here, but it doesn't explain why I…'

Gideon stopped dead and put her hand on her charge's shoulder to stop her progress. Gideon looked down at the woman who, without the advantage of a night-lens, had no idea she was being glared at. 'You are the reason we're here, Dr Rossi,' Gideon explained.

'Me? Why?' Jana, all but speechless with surprise, assumed she was being teased until she felt the taken-aback twitch in her rescuer's hand.

'You're asking me?' Gideon asked.

'Well yeah. There's no one else here,' Jana said, waving at the dark.

That's what you think. Gideon caught a movement to their right, down the other path.

'Well, I don't know anything. I'm just your escort for the night,' Gideon whispered, keeping her night-eye on the two men who were looking in every direction except their six.

'Oh,' Jana said. 'Well do you at least have a name?'

'Yes.' Gideon noted that the bare backs and sheer variety of dangling weapons meant the men were easily tagged, even in this distance, as PRA fighters not Americans and certainly not her Redbacks.

'Well what is it?'

'Gideon. Commander,' she replied quietly. Ah good, they're moving out. No they're not. Yes. No. Oh come on boys, which way? Make up your alleged minds.

'Commander what? I didn't catch…' Jana was silenced by a hand clamping over her mouth. She allowed herself to be pushed down to her knees. Again.

Concentrating on the now departing enemy, Gideon became aware of an impatient tapping on her leg. The Doc probably can't breathe; but three more seconds and the rebs would be out of sight. Two, one - gone. Hmm, just a few more secs and she won't be able to talk at all.

The attention-seeking tap had become a full-on whack on her thigh, so Gideon let go of her package and turned to peer in the direction of Dr Rossi's pointing finger.

Breaking cover from the foliage behind them - but moving diagonally across the path not directly down it towards them - was trouble. The rebel, who was still about 12 metres distant, vanished back into the garden, only to repeat the crisscross manoeuvre a couple of seconds later.

Jana, who'd only seen a hulking shape doing a slow zigzag, nodded to indicate she understood from the Commander's light touch on her shoulder and lips, that she should stay low and silent.

A moment later - as the entire island began exploding around her - she found herself alone on the path.

A thunderous series of detonations accompanied Gideon's crash into the vegetation. While grateful for the cover provided by the superfluous destruction of Laui resort, she also registered the curious but distinctive click-bang-reverberation of the explosions. As every explosive device owned a particular sound and a unique blast wave, or 'atmosphere-smack' as the Redbacks called it, Gideon wondered who the hell was using time-coded C4. She knew it wasn't her team, which meant either the PRA had booby-trapped the island, or the Americans were redefining overkill.

She crouched and waited a little behind the spot where the stray rebel should cross in another two moves, if her timing was right and assuming he hadn't dug a hole in the sand to hide from the chaos.

Seven seconds later he passed within a breath of her position.

Gideon tackled him around the thighs, rammed her shoulder into his lower back and sent him face-first to the ground. She sprang to her feet then dropped again, driving one knee heavily between his shoulder blades. A quick jab to the left side of the rebel's head, and the guy was both down and out.

'Commander!' It was Dr Rossi. 'Help!'

Gideon crashed back onto the path to discover belatedly that trouble comes in pairs. A second man had already found Dr Rossi.

Jana had been dragged to her feet by the very large man who'd materialised out of the dark much closer than the rebel the Commander had gone after.

'I'm not armed,' she'd said, holding her empty hands out. 'I'm a hostage.'

'You escape,' he shouted right in her face, twisting her collar till it choked her, 'you pay'.

Jana tried to kick him but the man held her at arm's length, while his right hand searched his belt for something. He clamped a large knife between his teeth. His pants were also suddenly around his ankles.

Oh crap. Jana struggled even harder.

The rebel released his chokehold to grab her arm instead. He dragged her close, ripped at her collar and forced her to the ground and onto her back.

'Commander!' Jana screamed, as the rebel straddled her legs. She could feel his naked arse and worse on her thighs.

'Help!' she yelled, as he opened his mouth to let the knife drop. He caught the hilt in his hand as Jana continued to squirm and kick. 'Get off me, you bastard!'

Jana screwed her eyes shut as the bastard thrust his hips forward to lurch over her body. She flexed every muscle in her torso to withstand the force and weight of his body. But it never came.

It started raining instead: a quick passing shower.

Jana opened one eye. The rebel and what was left of his head lay sprawled on the path.

The Commander loomed over her instead. 'Dr Rossi, you okay?'

'Yes. Thank you,' she said, accepting the hand up. 'Your timing, though impeccable, could have been fa…faster.' Jana started shaking, with rage - or something.

She looked down and noticed her T-shirt was completely ripped apart and covered in wet stuff, as was her now bare chest and stomach.

'Here,' Gideon said, unbuckling and handing over her flak-vest. 'Give me your shirt.'

Jana just stood there frowning, the vest dangling in her hand, so Gideon took charge and removed the ruined shirt. 'Help me out here, Doc,' she urged. 'You can freak out later.'

'I'm not freaking out,' Jana declared.

'You would if you could see yourself,' Gideon said, re-buckling her vest on Dr Rossi. It was way too big but better than nothing. Gideon used the back of the now useless T-shirt to wipe the rebel's blood and brains off the good doctor's face.

'Okay. Running now,' Gideon said. She clasped her charge by the wrist and all but dragged her down the path. After about ten paces, Dr Rossi got into the swing of things and they ran flat out for the beach.

Gideon flicked her throat mike. 'Redbacks, report.'

'Team Two on the beach. Boats ready,' Triko said. 'There's a lot of someones heading our way.'

'It's me, Marco; plus nine hostages.'

'Coop and Pete; ditto, plus sixteen.'

'Finch; en route with ten.'

Gideon, making the most of the last of the vegetation, skidded to her knees in the cold sand at the end of the path. Jana followed suit.

'The PO and I will be right with you. We're 20 west of your possie,' Gideon said, spotting the gathering at the water's edge to their left. She then checked the coast further west, to her right.

'What on earth is a PO?' Jana asked. 'And what did you say your name was?'

'You: Prime Objective. Me: Bryn Gideon.'

The lagoon swelled languidly to the dark horizon. It was, like the beach, oddly unoccupied by either rebel foe or friendly squad of lunatics. Thirty-five metres along the sand to her right a small promontory obscured the view of the dock area, though not the telltale smoky evidence of the damage that was still being wrought there. While it was logical that the bulk of the action was concentrated inland, it wasn't right that the beachfront was so deserted.

Gideon turned to her charge, 'Get ready, Doc. When I say run, make like Cathy Freeman for those boats.' She pulled a second pistol from the holster at her back, said 'Run, now' and leapt dramatically out onto the beach, guns up, facing west. 'Redbacks! Cover,' she requested, as Dr Rossi did exactly as she was told, this time without a word.

Gideon backed up the beach after her, all the while expecting a surprise attack. It never came.

'Stop mucking around Bryn,' Wade said, popping up beside her, 'and get in the boat.'

'All present and accounted for,' Cooper confirmed.

Gideon shrugged and let herself fall back into the inflatable. 'Let's get the hell out of here then.'

Four Zodiacs towing four inflatables pulled away from shore and headed southeast, across the lagoon and out to sea, to a rendezvous with the Australian submarine that Jana Rossi hadn't seen earlier.

Commander Bryn Gideon and her Redbacks left Laui Island as quietly as they'd arrived, but with 36 extra people and no casualties on their side.