Drakov spun around. Benedetto was pointing up at the mouth of the volcano. He squinted and saw what appeared to be birds high overhead, but they were too large and as he looked, more of them appeared, out of nowhere, descending swiftly.
“Sound the alarm!” he said, then, remembering his communicator, he turned it on. “Red Alert! Red Alert! We are under attack!”
Martingale karate-chopped one of the guards and wrenched his laser away from him, but Shiro was on him before he could fire. His right foot arced around in a lightning, spinning-wheel kick and the laser flew out of Martingale’s hand and over the side of the wall. Only the mercenary’s swift reactions saved him from the second kick, which followed the first with astonishing speed. Shiro had continued the spinning movement that initiated the first kick and came around with the other foot flying up at Martingale’s throat. The mercenary deflected it, backing away as Shiro continued moving forward rapidly, spinning around and around, cutting loose with kicks as if he were a moving buzz saw.
“Kill them!” Drakov shouted to the guards, activating his warp disc in the same instant and vanishing from sight.
Before the guards could fire, they became briefly enveloped in a blue mist of Cerenkov Radiation and their atoms disintegrated. Darkness turned his disruptor on Shiro, but his target reacted with amazing and decisive swiftness, vaulting over the side of the wall and dropping forty feet to the ledge below. Darkness could not move to shoot him.
“Quick little bastard, isn’t he?” said Darkness. He tossed the disruptor to Lucas. “Catch.”
For a moment, von Kampf had been mesmerized by the sight of the guards disintegrating, but as Darkness tossed the gun to Lucas, he suddenly roared and charged him. He passed right through the Doctor’s body and his momentum carried him over the wall and past the ledge. With a scream, he fell down to the rocks below.
“Quickly, take these,” said Darkness, taking several more disruptors off his belt and tossing them to Andre, Finn, Martingale and Land.
The moment he had sighted the attack force, Benedetto had shouted out his warning, then fled. Things had happened so quickly that they only now remembered him.
“The elevator!” Finn said, turning and sprinting for the door. Martingale was after him in an instant.
“How the hell do you fire this thing?” said Land, gazing at the warp gun in puzzlement.
As Andre quickly showed him, Lucas approached Darkness. “Thanks. You saved our lives. Can you get down to the submarine?”
“I don’t have the coordinates,” said Darkness. “I can’t home in on it as I can on you and Martingale. You’ll have to manage for yourself; I’ve done all I could. Good luck.”
He disappeared.
They quickly followed in the wake of Finn and Martingale, but by the time they had descended the stone steps, they saw that Benedetto had already taken the elevator down.
“It’s no good,” said Finn. “He’s jammed it. We’ll have to get down another way.”
“There is no other way!” said Martingale.
Without a word, Land stuffed the disruptor inside his jumpsuit and leaped out onto the cable. For him, it was like the rigging on a sailing schooner and he made his way down it hand over hand with surprising swiftness.
“That guy’s nuts,” said Martingale.
“Maybe,” said Finn, “but that’s the way to go.”
“Gentlemen,” said Verne, who had finally found his voice after the shocking appearances and disappearances he had just witnessed, “I fear it is impossible for me to make such a descent. I have not the strength. I should surely fall.”
“Go back to the house,” said Lucas. “Stay inside. We’ll come back for you after it’s over.”
“God protect you,” Verne said.
Finn leaped out into the shaft and grabbed the cable, wrapping his legs around it as Land had done. He started lowering himself, though not as quickly. Andre waited for him to get a slight start, then took a deep breath and jumped.
“You’re n
ext,” said Lucas to Martingale.
“No, you go ahead.”
Something in the mercenary’s voice made Lucas glance at him sharply. The man was deathly pale.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Martingale snapped. “Go on!”