"Those stupid eemos," said the Tamil, "they're going to get us all killed."
"Such a shame," said Achilles, pointing his pistol at the Tamil's head.
The Chinese officer was already talking into his satrad. "Wait," he said. "It's not the Indians. They've got Thai markings."
Bean, thought Petra. You've come at last. Either that or death. Because if Bean wasn't running this Thai raid, the Thai could have no other objective than to kill everything that moved in Hyderabad.
Another whoosh-whump. Another. "They've taken out everything on the roof," the Chinese officer said. "The building's on fire, we've got to get out."
"Whose stupid idea was it to land up there anyway?" asked Achilles.
"It was the closest point to evacuate them from!" answered the officer angrily. "There aren't enough choppers left to take all these."
"They're coming," said Achilles, "even if we have to leave soldiers behind."
"We'll get them in a few days anyway. I don't leave my men behind!"
Not a bad commander, even if he's a little dim about tactics, thought Petra.
"They won't let us take off unless we've got their Indian geniuses with us."
"The Thai won't let us take off at all!"
"Of course they will," said Achilles. "They're here to kill me and rescue her." He pointed at Petra.
So Achilles knew it was Bean that was coming.
Petra showed nothing on her face.
If Achilles decided to leave without the hostages, there was a good chance he would kill them all. Deprive the enemy of a resource. And, more important, take away their hope.
"Achilles," she said, walking toward him. "Let's leave these others and get out. We'll be taking off from the ground. They won't know who's in what chopper. As long as we go now."
As she approached him, he swung his pistol to point at her chest. She did not even pause, merely walked toward him, past him, to the door. She opened it. "Now, Achilles. You don't have to die in flames today, but that's where you're headed, the longer you wait."
"She's right," said the Chinese officer.
Achilles grinned and looked from Petra to the officer and back again. We've shamed you in front of the others, thought Petra. We've shown that we knew what to do, and you didn't. Now you have to kill us both. This officer doesn't know he's dead, but I do. Then again, I was dead anyway. So now let's get out of here without killing anybody else.
"Nothing in this room matters but you," said Petra. She grinned back at him. "Soak a noky, boy."
Achilles turned back to point the gun, first at one Battle Schooler, then another. They recoiled or flinched, but he did not fire. He dropped his gun hand to his side and walked from the room, grabbing Petra by the arm as he passed her. "Come on, Pet," he said. "The future is calling."
Bean is coming, thought Petra, and Achilles is not going to let me get even a meter away from him. He knows Bean is here for me, so I'm the one person he'll make sure Bean never rescues.
Maybe we'll all kill each other today.
She thought back to the airplane ride that brought her and Achilles to India. The two of them standing at the open door. Maybe there would be another chance today--to die, taking Achilles with her. She wondered if Bean would understand that it was more important for Achilles to die than for her to live. More important, would he know that she understood that? It was the right thing to do, and now that she really knew Achilles, the kind of man he was, she would gladly pay that price and call it cheap.
19
RESCUE
To: Wahabi%[email protected]
From: Chapekar%[email protected]
Re: For the Indian people