‘My sergeant saw it happen. The man was wounded, but he thinks not fatally. But what can your man tell them – just what have you got here?’
‘It would be more quick to show you while my men’ show yours where fresh clothes and boots are to be found. Of course they are not mine to give, but the provost sergeant and the last of the stores clerks were evacuated by helicopter last night, and you can see,’ he indicated his own impeccable turnout, ‘I am not in a position to tell on you.’
They turned a corner and with a sweeping wave of his arms Voke announced the huge subterranean hangar they’d entered.
For a battle-weary commander like Revell, who for a long time now had almost given up hoping for, let alone trying to get hold of replacement equipment, it was an Aladdin’s cave.
In the great cavern beneath the floor of the valley were row upon row of factory-fresh wheeled and tracked armoured personnel carriers, armoured cars and armoured re-supply vehicles. In the distance was what looked like a small mountain of crated engines and other spares.
Voke tried to hide his amusement at the major’s open-mouthed amazement. ‘There are seven more rooms like this.’
‘All filled like this?’
‘Certainly all filled, but not all like this.’ Voke led the way out again and talked back over his shoulder. ‘Another holds pieces of light and medium artillery, another contains engineering equipment. Two are filled with soft-skin transport; I cannot recall what is in the others. But that is not all. There are other storage areas for electronic equipment, radar spares and the like. And then yet more for clothing, small arms and ammunition. All on the same scale.’
They were passing a series of large rooms whose fireproof doors had been strongly wedged open. Looking in as they passed, Revell could not identify all that the various crates and racks held, but he saw sufficient to be more impressed and more bitter with each he hurriedly scrutinized.
‘Why the hell hasn’t any of this stuff ever been issued? There’s enough here for two or three battalions. We’ve been screaming for it for months.’
‘Actually, a clerk told me that here there is enough to equip at least a brigade, or even to refit a division. One of my men swears he has even seen several crated gunships. I do not disbelieve him.’ Voke’s tone had an edge to it now, and he was no longer smiling.
He led into a large circular room. The centre was dominated by a crescent of computer terminals and telex machines. Leaving only space for two or three doorways, the walls were lined with filing cabinets. Voke tugged at the handle of the nearest. It was locked. ‘You see, for a bureaucrat the turning of a key makes everything safe. We should have fitted the Free World with a lock, and kept communism out that way.’ He unleashed a massive kick at the cabinet, denting its front. ‘We give them the latest machinery, the best computers, and still they only feel happy when they are pushing pieces of paper from tray to tray.’
‘Doesn’t any of this material ever get issued? The road in hasn’t seen real traffic, maybe not all winter.’ Tapping at a keyboard, Revell was surprised when the screen glowed to life, displaying the gibberish he’d typed. Its green glow was eerie in the dimly lit room.
‘I have not been here even that length of months. All I have seen is perhaps five or six small loads being taken out by Chinook. High-value specialized equipment, radar, that sort of thing. Not enough to keep the cobwebs off the stacker trucks.’
‘Is that your task here, materials handling?’
‘No, Major. I was sent here to prepare all this for destruction.’
EIGHT
Tugging open the elevator gate, Voke led across the dusty interior of the shell of a house and out into the rain.
Looking back as he instinctively closed the street door behind him, Revell could see nothing about the property, even at this distance, that would betray its real purpose.
Voke noticed the inspection. ‘It is good, isn’t it? As far as we know it has fooled all the Warpac sky-spies, surveillance satellites and reconnaissance aircraft. Certainly they have made no attempt to destroy this very tempting target.’
‘You think they still don’t know it’s here?’
‘Well, perhaps by now they do. I understand their interrogation techniques are crude but effective.’ Voke shrugged. ‘I expect by this time our man has told them everything. We shall have to hope they do not arrive quite yet. It would spoil my preparations.’
‘What are your plans for getting out?’
‘We were due to be picked up at about the time the jamming became so bad.’ Rain plastered to Voke’s face the long blond hair that made a fringe below the brim of his helmet. ‘The chopper did not arrive, so we altered our plans.’
‘Reckon they forgot about you?’ Revell noticed that the road was not the soft asphalt it appeared, but concrete thick enough to take the biggest trucks. It had been washed over with tone-down paint, but a small patch that had been missed revealed its true colour.
‘Forgot? Yes, certainly it is possible. At this time a company of pioneers will not rank high in the list of transport priorities, especially as many of my men are too old for combat duties. Old William admits to fifty-six, but I think he could well be sixty, or even more. There are about five of us under the age of thirty, out of ninety-six. No, it is ninety-four now, isn’t it?’
‘So what are you going to do, gas up a few of the Bradley’s and make a run for it?’
‘Surely you are familiar with the ways of the Dutch army, Major.’ Voke laughed. ‘Even in battle they have to vote on everything. My men discussed the position this morning, when it became obvious the pick-up was not going to happen. I was not invited to the meeting. There I was kicking my heels expecting them to produce a demand for overtime pay, and instead they said that they wished to stay and defend this complex.’
‘With less than a hundred men?’ Revell tried to keep the amazement out of his voice. ‘This place is vast. You’d be spread far too thin. Sure you’ve got limitless ammunition, and if it was just a case of holding that narrow pass we entered by I’d say you could hold out for some hours. But there’s nothing to stop them pushing infantry through these hills at any one of a dozen points. The ground may be rough, but it’d only delay them, not stop them. Or they could come in low and fast and drop a few chopper loads before you could get Stingers on to them.’
A smug look came over Voke’s face. ‘For air-defence there is an RAF regiment battery dug in at that farm. They too were due to be air-lifted out this morning, so we are not alone in being overlooked.’
Revell had forgotten the Rapier they’d seen chasing the MIG. He had to concede that point. ‘But you still haven’t the manpower to defend the whole area. You’re just wide open.’
There was disappointment in the lieutenant’s expression. ‘I had hoped we could persuade you and your men to stay, but we cannot force you to join us. Look, Major, I know that time is precious, but will you give me just thirty minutes, that is all I ask? Just thirty minutes to show why I believe we can defend this place against whatever the Russians throw at us.’ He could see he was not winning the argument. ‘Listen, it will take at least that time to bring some transport to the surface and fuel and load them with ammunition. Tell me what you need and I will have my men do it right away. When we get back, if you still wish to go, then no time will have been lost.’
‘I suppose I’ve nothing to lose.’
‘You just can’t fucking do it.’
‘And why the bloody hell not?’ Scully resented Garrett’s objections. ‘What’s so fucking wrong with it, that’s what I want to know?’
‘It’s… it’s wrong. It’s not decent. You can’t cook a meal in the oven of a mobile crematorium.’