Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46)(71)

Stone looked out the rear window; the hangar door was open again, and the lights were blazing. Men were running in every direction. “They’re back,” he said.

“And they’re moving the helicopter,” Kelly said, looking over Stone’s shoulder.

“Oh, shit,” Stone said. “I hope that chopper isn’t armed.”

“It is,” Kelly said, “but I think they have only one round.”

“I hope they don’t fire that,” the duke said.





57



GUIDED BY THE DUKE’S shouted instructions from the rear compartment, the big, old Bentley rolled and bounced across the grassy plain south of Kensington House, which blazed with light farther and farther in their wake.

“There!” the duke shouted to Herbert, “ten degrees to port!”

Herbert caught a big, wrought-iron gate in his headlights and drove up to it, braking and sliding the last five yards on the grass. At a halt, the duke leapt from the car. Digging into a pocket he came up with a clump of keys and ran to the gate. A large padlock was illuminated by the headlights of the Bentley, and he began trying keys.

“Everything all right?” Stone yelled, climbing out of the car.

“I’m just trying keys,” the duke called back. “One of them will work, I just don’t know which one.”

Stone trotted up.

“You’re in my light,” the duke complained.

“Sorry,” Stone took a step sideways, then he heard a distant boom. “Look at that” he said to the duke, pointing to the south.

The duke stopped fiddling with the keys and followed Stone’s finger. “That must be many miles away,” he said. “Look at the size of it.”

A fireball had appeared on the horizon, and the clouds above it were lit from below.

“I believe that’s an exploding ship,” Stone said. “Perhaps a Korean freighter.”

“Torpedo,” the duke said with finality.

“Did you serve in submarines?” Stone asked, watching a second explosion.

“In destroyers and frigates,” the duke replied, transfixed by the distant flames. “I fired many a torpedo, and that was a torpedo.”

Other, smaller explosions erupted, their sound delayed by the distance.

“Listen,” Stone said, turning to look back toward the airfield. “That’s the sound of a helicopter.”

“How many helicopters did we see back there?” the duke asked.

“Only one.”

“Yes, and it sounds like it’s coming our way.”

“Lance has two aircraft out here somewhere, armed with Hellfire missiles.”

The duke turned his attention back to the lock. “I hope it doesn’t get hit anywhere near us,” he said, trying more keys. “Got it!” the duke shouted. “Help me with the gates; their hinges may be rusted.”

They each put a shoulder to a gate, and after half a minute they had opened them to the extent that the Bentley could pass through.

“Into the car!” the duke shouted, then ran for it.

They slammed the doors, and Herbert, without further instruction, stepped on the accelerator.

“Turn right,” the duke corrected. “A left would take us back to the Hall.”

Herbert turned right onto a narrow, tarmacked road and picked up speed.

The duke pressed the switches to roll the windows down, and they could hear the helicopter rotor above the sound of the car’s engine. “Coming our way,” he said.

“I’m afraid so,” Stone replied. “How far down this road before we can turn away from south?”

“Ten, twelve miles,” the duke replied.

The ship at sea was still burning merrily.

“Are those sailors going to get any help?” Stone asked.

“Every lifeboat station up and down the coast will launch their boats; they’ll do what they can.”

The satphone vibrated in Stone’s pocket. “Yes?”

“Can you see the Channel from where you are?” Lance asked.

“We can see a burning ship; it must be forty miles away.”

“A British submarine took it out,” Lance said.

“They’re going to need rescue craft.”

“Everything is being done that can be done.”

“The helicopter took off from the airfield,” Stone said. “It’s headed south, we think.”

“It’s going for the ship,” Lance said. “It won’t find it afloat.”

“They must have a plan B?” Stone said.

“Who knows? But we have a plan B: We’ve got two armed choppers of our own and two jet aircraft that have already been scrambled.”

“What will they do?”

“They’ll try to shoot it down over Salisbury Plain, a big part of which is an Army training ground.”

“I wouldn’t like to see that thing go down on top of Salisbury Cathedral,” Stone said. “It’s my favorite.”

“Those lads are smarter than that,” Lance said.

“Tell me the truth, Lance: Can that thing be detonated in the helicopter?”

“I haven’t been able to get the truth from my betters,” Lance said. “They’re politicians, and unaccustomed to dealing with the truth.”