Per Fine Ounce

by Peter Vollmer

  Fortunately, both women were fit. Cherry by virtue of her profession, and Janet due to her vigorous gym schedule. There was nothing soft about either of them. While all were out of breath at this high altitude, they made good time. Now and then the motorcycles made a run at them, but their accurate return fire drove them back to either behind a ridge, rock outcrop or bend in the track.

  A while later, the air again filled with the throb of a helicopter’s rotors, but this now sounded different. It had to be the Denel Oryx. Soon it swung into view, those on board immediately opening fire, sending them below scurrying for shelter. Simultaneously, the two motorcycles zoomed over the horizon, approaching as fast as they could over the rough terrain.

  Peace threw himself to the ground, where he discarded the second LAW he carried and brought the machine pistol to bear. He opened fire, raking the ground in front of the motorcycles, and then lifted the barrel, stitching a row of bullets horizontally across the ground, letting the motorcycles ride into the burst of fire. The riders braked hard, locking their rear-wheels, but being on a down slope, the scramblers just skidded forward. The first was lucky; he boldly threw himself from the saddle. Not so the second, who rode into a hail of bullets, two of which struck his chest. He threw up his arms and toppled backwards from the still-moving cycle.

  Behind him, Peace heard the chatter of shots as those in the helicopter opened fire. He climbed to his feet and grabbed Cherry’s hand, and dragged her to the ground behind a two-foot ridge of rocks, the bullets just stitching past them, the air a cacophony of buzzes, bangs and whizzes as the bullets ricocheted off the rocks.

  Suddenly, next to him, he heard the sound of air driven from the lungs by a sharp blow. He turned round to see Janet collapsing to the ground, a stricken expression on her face. He rushed to her, rolled her over and immediately saw the jagged hole in her anorak. He pulled the zip down to reveal the woollen T-shirt and the blossoming circle of blood that now stained it.

  “Oh my God, I’ve been hit,” she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

  He realised they could not stay where they were. The helicopter and the other scrambler would be back. Although they may not have been friends, the expression on Cherry’s face told him that she too was devastated. This woman had been shot by her own kind and it would be fatal if she didn’t get immediate medical attention.

  Cherry helped Peace drag Janet behind a small rock ledge. He conceded there was nothing they could do for her. The bullet had penetrated a lung and they didn’t even have any form of first-aid kit.

  “Cherry, we’ve got to leave her and let them find her — they’ll be here in a minute or two,” Peace said. “After all, this is his daughter; he’ll rush her to hospital irrespective of what she’s done. He certainly isn’t going to order the death of his own daughter execution-style.”

  “Don’t leave me. He’ll kill me,” Janet whispered.

  “Cherry, go. I’ll catch up. Take the other LAW with you,” he said. He wanted a few seconds alone with Janet.

  Cherry seemed to understand this. She slowly rose from her haunches, backed away, returned to where the LAW lay, and then started running towards a deep gully that angled in from above to the trail that wove its way through the rocks.

  The helicopter’s drone had faded in the distance but then took on a more strident note. It was coming back and would soon be upon them.

  Peace took Janet’s hand into his own. “I’m truly sorry,” he said.

  She looked up into his eyes, and her expression said that she knew that he had to run if he wanted to live.

  “Go,” she said, “maybe my father will be kind and help me.” She squeezed his hand.

  He noticed that she had not coughed up any blood. Was that a good sign?

  The helicopter’s drone was louder. He looked up and could see it approaching. He bent and let his lips brush hers.

  “Thank you,” he said and ran for the protection of the gully. However, before he got there, the machine-gun began its chatter, and he imagined the impacting bullets raising chipped stone and dust as the gunner walked the shots towards him. He ran for his life. As he plunged into the vertical gap in the rocks, the walls of the gully seemed to miraculously close round him and shield him, the helicopter swooping over him as the pilot was forced to claw the aircraft skywards to avoid the rock wall. He threw himself down next to Cherry, who had rolled herself into a ball.

  He could hear the helicopter but it did not return, its sound fading in the distance. Had they found Janet? Had they seen her from above? He hoped so.

  “Is she going to be all right? She saved our lives,” Cherry asked, her face stricken.

  “I think so. Listen, you can hear it, but it’s not coming closer. I hope they’ve found her and are airlifting her and are about to casevac her straight to hospital,” he replied, hoping he was right. The woman didn’t deserve to die, even Cherry believed this.

  This time the distinct sound of the scrambler motorcycles distracted him. They approached again. It seemed the motorcycle of the downed rider had been retrieved and the machines were again scouring the area for them.

  “We’ve got to backtrack,” he said.

  “But you said that’s impossible.”

  “We’ve got to do something they’d least suspect… and that’s to make our way back to the house.” He forced a grin. “Straight into the lion’s den — it’s our only chance. But first, we’ve got to lose ourselves in this wilderness. They wouldn’t dream of looking for us in that direction, they’d never believe we’d do that.”

  Cherry didn’t reply but slowly picked herself up, and clutching her carbine in classic military fashion in front of her chest, prepared to move out.

  “The hell with the fuckin’ bomb. Let’s just get out of here. Our people can get rid of it later,” she said in a voice close to shrill.

  “No. Cherry, later is not good enough. They could use its threat as a bargaining chip. We couldn’t ignore it. Everybody would have to listen to them, never knowing whether they would use it or not. We’ve no choice — it’s got to be destroyed now! Or at least, make sure we render it somehow unusable.”

  She shook her head in resignation and took up position behind him. He’d discarded all weapons except the LAW, which he carried on his shoulder, a carbine cradled in a hand, and an automatic stuck in his belt. It was a lot of equipment for a man to carry, even when taking a shortcut through the mountains.

  They heard the helicopter again, both secretly hoping it had found Janet. The scramblers continued to search for them, but the terrain was now virtually impassable. They were forced to move slowly at no more than a walking pace, but now there was more than sufficient time to find ideal hiding places amongst the rocks and gullies. It was not long before they no longer heard the motorcycles.

  Drinking water was not a problem. Now and then, they’d eat snow, but both suffered hunger pangs, having not eaten properly for days. The sky remained overcast, occasionally sending down a flurry of snow. He had no compass but believed they were moving in the right direction.

  The area was desolate with virtually no vegetation, it being high in the Drakensberg Mountains. It was also unpopulated, which probably accounted for the deserted shepherd’s hut Janet had mentioned — who would want to live here? The chances of encountering any others were almost nil. The high altitude forced them to stop and rest more often than he wanted, and every time they resumed their journey, it was more difficult to get going again.

  He thought that Van Rhyn’s lodge could not be far off and hoped to see it every time they topped a ridge. Cherry had rapidly tired, and he found that occasionally he had to give her a hand. At nine or ten thousand feet, if you were not used to the altitude, any exertion was excessively tiring. Fortunately, he did not find the effects quite so severe. However, the LAW bit into his shoulder and the carbine had taken on a weight of its own.

  The last rock face they climbed was a near precipice, and they were forced to seek out hand-ho
lds, their progress reduced to a crawl. For Peace, it was more difficult, as the LAW was constantly hindering him, its weight threatening to pull him down. Finally, they made it to the top and sprawled on their stomachs, both fighting for breath. They peered over the top, taking care not to create a silhouette.

  “Cover your mouth with a cloth or something. Make sure your breath’s vapour doesn’t give our position away,” he said.

  “At this distance?” Cherry asked, looking at him as if she thought him ridiculous.

  “Ever heard of binoculars? Russian snipers used to say it was a dead giveaway.”

  She remained silent and did as he asked.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The lodge was no more than two hundred yards away. The Aerospatiale Puma sat on the pad on the same spot as when it made the emergency landing. In addition to the helicopter, there was now also a Mercedes-Benz Unimog, an all-terrain truck with a load capacity, which he thought sufficient to handle the bomb. On the rear of the vehicle, he saw a hydraulic collapsible mounted on the deck behind the cab as well as hydraulically operated outriggers to steady the vehicle when loading. Two technicians were working on the helicopter’s tail assembly.

  Another helicopter, a small bubble-shaped Hughes, stood nearby, presumably the aircraft on which the mechanics had arrived. There was no sign of the Denel Oryx helicopter. He wondered whether it had returned from delivering any wounded, which would have included Janet, to the nearest hospital — maybe not.

  It dawned on him that the neutron bomb still had to be in the Aerospatiale Puma. They probably hadn’t offloaded it yet. He hoped so. How did they propose to get it off the helicopter? It then struck him; the copter had its own winch capable of lifting more than a ton. He wondered what the bomb weighed.

  Of course, this hiding place high in the mountains was brilliant; nobody would look for the bomb up here and anyway, anyone who had knowledge of it would presume it was destroyed or rendered inoperative in the fire at Overberg.

  Night was near; already the sky had darkened. The twilight would be short-lived. They were exhausted and Peace resolved they would not spend another night out in the freezing cold. Besides, they had to find something to eat.

  He wondered whether the technicians below had any inkling of what had occurred here. Had they only been brought here to carry out repairs, oblivious of what the helicopter contained, and the purpose of it being here? He assumed they were Air Force personnel who probably thought that the big brass was on some outing in the mountains. Then again, maybe not; the damage to the helicopter had to be suspicious. Surely, there were a few visible bullet holes?

  “What to do now?” Cherry asked.

  “I’m not quite sure. Those two men don’t pose a problem, but I see the motorcycles are back,” he said and pointed towards the house where the motorcycles were parked, “so that makes four men so far. Where are the others? If the Denel Oryx doesn’t return within the next hour or so, it won’t be able to land. It’ll be dark by then. You don’t want to be flying in the dark with mountains and mist.”

  “Do you think they believed we escaped?”

  “I think so, otherwise the motorcycles would still be out looking for us.”

  They saw the two mechanics unload a small portable generator and then erect a stand attached to which were large floodlights. Once the generator was started, the two floodlights starkly illuminated the area on which the helicopter stood and where the mechanics were working. The two men were engrossed in their task and took little notice of their surroundings.

  “Please, Geoffrey, forget the bomb. If we get out of here, we can tell our people where it is, and they can blast this place off the planet,” she pleaded. Evidently, she was convinced that they stood no chance against so many, and that Van Rhyn would kill them immediately if he had the chance.

  She was beginning to irritate him. They had come this far and now she wanted to quit? He turned to face her and snarled, “Listen, woman, this is my operation and it’s my decision — got that?”

  She looked away and brought a hand to her forehead. “Don’t be unreasonable — you know perfectly well that the odds are stacked against us. I would agree with you, but why chance it? Goodness, man, we’ve tremendous backup who are probably on their way. Sure, this is a sovereign country but once the local government hears the story, our chaps will be here,” she pleaded.

  “Cherry, please don’t. These bastards are really evil. They want to kill so many. Christ, I’ve said that before. I will get him and get us out of here, or rather, make sure we know where this bomb eventually lands up.” He turned his back on her, as if to signify that the discussion was closed.

  She obviously realised it was pointless arguing with him. Just then, the front door to the lodge opened, casting a shaft of light outwards and illuminating the small cobble-stoned forecourt. Even in the late twilight, Peace immediately recognised the bulk of Van Rhyn as he stepped out into the open. He and the two who followed him out were dressed in thick anoraks and Van Rhyn was leading two large dogs on leashes. Peace recognised the dogs for what they were, which sent a shock through his system. He heard Cherry’s sharp intake of breath. They weren’t dogs but hyenas.

  Van Rhyn had brought the damn animals with him.

  “Now we daren’t come out of hiding. Those fuckin’ brutes’ sense of smell and sight at night are incredible. Van Rhyn will soon realise something is amiss. He’ll know we’re close by. It’s important that we remain downwind.”

  Peace hadn’t expected the animals, and he knew there’d be no creeping up on the enemy while they were around.

  The trio with the hyenas approached the helicopter and for the next hour, Peace and Cherry watched as the bomb was removed from the helicopter. This was done with the assistance of the winch and the crane on the Unimog. It was manhandled with some difficulty onto the load-bed of the truck. In the harsh light of the floodlights, Peace could clearly see the injuries Van Rhyn had sustained at Overberg. The man had to be in pain. He wondered where they proposed hiding the bomb. Surely not in the house, since there was no way of getting it into the building. There were other outer buildings, but it would be far too easy to find in these. He knew that the Unimog had to be the ideal vehicle to navigate the terrain provided it stuck to the tracks. Three tracks led from the house’s surrounds. Where did they lead to? They had spotted no other buildings or settlements nearby, although they had only seen a small part of the lodge’s surroundings.

  It was nearly midnight by the time the loading of the bomb was complete. It had also taken them almost an hour to secure the bomb to the vehicle. Peace saw the men were particularly meticulous about this, the bomb secured in position with multiple turnbuckle restraints and cables.

  The sky had cleared; the clouds driven away by a strong wind that whistled and moaned around the crags. It was cold, and they were not properly dressed against it. They had moved and had found some shelter against the wind. Pressed closely together for warmth in a crevasse in the rocks, they spent a miserable night sleeping in short fits, the cold frequently waking them.

  *

  The sound of the Unimog being started woke them. They crawled forward to look and saw two men in the truck’s cab, while the others, including Van Rhyn, had climbed into the Aerospatiale Puma, as it prepared for start-up.

  “Where are they going?” Cherry asked, her teeth chattering.

  “I don’t know but I think they’re going to hide the bomb. God knows where, though. Christ, but it’s bloody cold!”

  “The aircraft technicians are also climbing into the big helicopter,” Cherry said.

  Peace checked. They were all leaving, ten men in all. He wondered whether any had remained. The Denel Oryx had not returned.

  The Unimog’s still cold diesel engine spewed blue smoke as it started to move, slowly bouncing over the rough track that pointed northward. Shortly after, the Puma’s turbines began to whine, and minutes later, it lifted in the air and swung in a northerly direction. E
ven Van Rhyn’s pets, the hyenas, had been put on board. No smoke spiralled from the lodge and Peace was convinced all had left.

  “Come on. I think they’ve all gone. When the truck and vehicle went, nobody came out to watch them go. Fuck, I’m starving, we need something to drink and eat. A few extra clothes would also be a godsend.”

  Carefully, they approached the house and when crouched next to the rough foundations, they waited for any sound that would indicate that there still were occupants. They heard nothing. Gingerly Peace opened the door and listened for any sound from the interior. There was none. Slowly, he moved through the anteroom and into the lounge. The fire had nearly burned out. The few glowing embers gave off no smoke, but the room was still warm.

  Five minutes later and after checking the rooms, he headed to where he thought the kitchen was, with Cherry close behind. Already the interior’s heat was warming them up.

  The kitchen surprised them; it was well stocked. Clearly, Van Rhyn and his collaborators lived well. They soon established that both a paraffin-operated fridge and a separate freezer contained a good supply of fresh produce and meat. The kitchen boasted a four-plate gas stove; there were still pots on the fire-rings, the contents covered with lids. Cherry lifted one.

  “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “Beef curry!”

  She lifted the lid off another pot to find it still contained cold rice. There was more than sufficient to feed them. She lit a gas ring, mixed the curry with the rice, and placed this on the flame to warm up. A small, very low gas-fire still burned on the stove, keeping a tall, blue, enamelled coffeepot warm. They poured coffee into two used mugs, which Cherry had first rinsed, and added sugar they found on the table.