Mitchell held up Alexandra’s phone. “Daddy dearest sent a text message while you were gone.”
“What’s it say?” asked Jackson.
“Damned if I know,” said Mitchell, putting the iPhone away in his shirt pocket. “But one thing is for sure, I’m fairly certain that this one was Daddy’s favorite and I doubt that he intended to bring billions of tons of rocks down on his own flesh and blood. Come on, we need to get out of here and stop this bomb from being detonated.”
“How are we going to do that, pray tell?” asked Jackson as he followed Mitchell towards his still-idling ATV.
Mitchell jumped on behind Jackson. “With this,” said Mitchell, holding up Alexandra’s iPhone, “along with Fahimah, Yuri, and the support of the navy. First, though, I think Sam and Cardinal may need some help.”
Jackson nodded, turned the ATV around, and jammed his foot down on the accelerator. In an instant, they sped off down the tunnel, leaving Alexandra and Teplov on the cold, lonely ground.
45
Dark gray smoke filled the air, blocking out the sun. The sound of automatic weapons firing combined with the smell of cordite filled Chang’s senses while he edged forward, calmly ignoring the sound of bullets whipping past him. They had one chance and one chance only to take the tower. If the fight kept going the way it was for much longer, he would be out of men. The sound of heavy machinery starting up made him look back over his shoulder at the large yellow earthmover as it made its way down towards the camp. Chang smiled. His men had seen the terrible precision from the sniper perched atop the tower and had placed a row of 45-gallon drums inside the earthmover’s large shovel, hoping to absorb some of the impact from the deadly .50 cal rounds.
Calling his surviving men over, he quickly outlined his plan of attack. They would wait until the large earthmover passed them, then they would fall in behind and use its mass for cover as it made its way towards the tower. With a quick nod from his men, Chang ejected the magazine from his rifle and slapped home a new one. He knew that when they got to the tower, the fight would be short but deadly, and his men would come out on top, of that he had no doubt.
Rolling on his side, Cardinal dug through his breast pockets until he found what he was looking for, his last full magazine of ammunition. Quickly placing it on his rifle, Cardinal pulled his weapon tight into his shoulder as he scanned the ground below him for targets. Smoke from burning vehicles and buildings obscured his view. All he could see were those mercenaries he had already killed. It may have been a cold winter’s day, but Cardinal’s throat was parched. He thought it felt worse than some of the hottest days he had spent lying in wait in Afghanistan. Reaching back, he was fumbling for his canteen when he heard the sound of a heavy machine’s engine rumbling somewhere in the burning camp. Forgetting his thirst, Cardinal peered through his sight and sought out the source of the noise. Barely a second later, the massive earthmover emerged from the smoke with its shovel held high, protecting the driver.
“Clever bastards,” muttered Cardinal to himself when he saw the row of drums inside the long shovel.
Sam’s head popped up from below. “Do you see what they’ve got?” she said excitedly.
“Yeah,” replied Cardinal, as he took aim where he figured the driver would be and pulled the trigger.
A loud metallic clang split the air as the .50 cal round sailed through the 45-gallon drum but came to an abrupt stop against the extra plates of steel the driver had placed behind the drums. With a satisfied grin on his face, the driver slowed down slightly, allowing Chang and his men to dash over behind the tracked vehicle as it clawed its way towards the tower.
“It didn’t stop,” observed Sam dryly.
Taking a deep breath, Cardinal took aim and then pulled back on the trigger. A loud bang filled the air as the rifle fired. Looking through his sights, Cardinal cursed. He didn’t have any armor piercing rounds with him, and that was what it would take to stop the vehicle. Rolling over on his side, he looked over at Sam.
“You and Miss March better make a run for it while you can. I’ll try to hold them as long as I can,” said Cardinal, knowing that they had at best a couple of minutes before the tractor made its way to the base of the tower.
“Like hell,” was all Sam said before disappearing from sight.
Shaking his head in frustration, Cardinal looked back at the tractor as it ground its way towards them like some kind of unstoppable mechanical beast coming to finish them all off.
Dropping down onto the stone second floor, Sam immediately dashed over to the open gun port and peered outside. She could see that the tractor was still a few hundred meters away, but soon it would turn onto the road leading up to the tower. Spinning about, she looked around the room, desperate to find something to stop the tractor. Seeing Jackson’s bag lying on the floor, she picked it up and began to rummage through it.
“What’s going on?” asked Jen, seeing the look of desperation in Sam’s eyes.
“Unwanted company’s coming,” replied Sam without looking up.
Turning her head, Jen looked out the window and saw as the large yellow earthmover came into view. Stepping over beside the old cannon, Jen shook her head. They had come so far; there had to be a way to stop them.
“Do you think we could use this cannon?” Jen asked Sam.
Sam pulled out a block of C4 and several detonators from Jackson’s bag. “Sure, I don’t see why not. I can use this as the propellant, but I don’t see any cannon balls lying around.”
“Not cannon balls…rocks,” said Jen as she tore past Sam, taking three steps at a time as she ran to the bottom floor and straight out the open door of the tower. Looking about, Jen could feel her heart racing as she tried to find a rock that would fit down the barrel of the old cannon. Dropping to her knees, Jen dug through the snow, growing desperate to find a projectile when she heard the sound of automatic gunfire erupt from above. She didn’t know it, but Cardinal was out of sniper ammunition and was now using his M4 to try to slow down their enemy. Jen’s hands were becoming raw and stinging from the bitter cold as she clawed at the snow and ice, when suddenly her hands felt something hard. Digging as fast as she could, Jen found a couple of rocks frozen to the ground. Pulling at them with all of her strength, Jen let out a cry as they came free. Instantly she stood. Cradling them in her arms, she sprinted back inside the tower.
Sam heard Cardinal open up with his M4. She knew that was not a good sign. Turning to look out towards the tractor, Sam realized that the mercenaries were no longer firing at the tower, which could only mean that they were all jammed behind the massive vehicle. Seeing her chance, she threw herself on top of the cannon and crawled forward until she was half in and half out of the tower. Grabbing her expedient charge, she rammed it as far as she could inside the barrel of the cannon. Her arms were too short to jam it all the way home. Swearing, Sam crawled back inside, sprinted over to the nearest old wooden table, and in one swift kick, knocked one of its legs off. Dashing back, she took the wooden leg and then stuck it inside the barrel, ramming home the charge. She was about to crawl back inside when she heard Jen bounding up the stairs. Turning her head, Sam called out for whatever Jen had in her hands.
Jen, her hands numb from the bitter cold, looked down at the three rocks in her hands. Quickly deciding that the middle one was the best, she handed the rock to Sam, who jammed it into the barrel and rammed it home.
“Move,” cried out Sam as she crawled back inside the tower. Looking down at the cannon’s mount, Sam saw that there was no way to elevate or depress the cannon. She would have to wait until the tractor was almost upon them to fire it.