Then the pressure on my neck eased. There was a shot. Sparks whined off the chopper's canopy. The Doctor didn't blink. He just stared at me. I saw his eyes. They were locked on mine. He moved the joystick. The chopper dipped its nose, plunged towards us, rotors smacking the air and churning the ground into a storm of loose trash.

Samran fired again.

Sparks flew. Gla.s.s cracked. The chopper came on. His eyes held mine.

He wasn't going to stop until I was on that chopper. Another shot.

Samran wasn't going to stop either.

The chopper moved closer. Grit tore at my face.

Samran shifted his aim to the rotors.

The chopper stopped its forward movement, hovered nose down, an animal deciding whether to pounce.

Samran fired.

Smoke exploded from the exhaust as the chopper banked left, grazed a shoulder of rock, and tore off into the dawn. I watched it vanish into the sun. The wind died. After a moment Samran poked me with the gun and I got up.

I hugged Dilaver closer to me. I knew he was dead.

I just couldn't bear to let him go.

Chapter 6.

'Bernice!'

I called out her name as the chopper struck upwards from the mountainside, thrashed its way through the morning thermals. I jumped back towards the open hatch. Chris slammed it shut in my face and shoved me effortlessly back into a set of safety webbing. I was screaming at him.

'We left. Her. We left her behind, we have to go back, we -'

Chris fastened the safety webbing around me. Denton leant closer and took my hand.

I yelled and twisted in the harness.

Both of them ignored me. They probably couldn't hear me over the noise of the engine. Chris looked sympathetic. That look brought back too many memories from before my marriage. I couldn't bear it. I looked away, out of a small window beside me.

I caught a frantic glimpse of sky and rocky mountainside. The sun flashed through a pall of fog. Black smoke billowed in the down draft from the rotors and that dragged my gaze back to the ground, to Bernice kneeling there, to Samran, with the gun at her head.

Then we were up through the fog and she was gone.

We reached Dogubayazit in fifteen minutes. It was the worst quarter of an hour of my life. I couldn't get the image of Bernice out of my head. Of her kneeling on the ground with Dilaver in her arms and Samran holding a gun to her head.

I didn't even know if she was dead or alive.

By the time we arrived on the outskirts of the village I felt the world was beating me to death. The chopper didn't just land. It slapped the ground, bounced, rolled, hit a big rock, bounced, settled again. By the time we stopped, I felt as if someone had repeatedly smashed me in the small of the back with a large mallet, and someone else had got hold of my head and was squeezing it. Hard. I was hoa.r.s.e from screaming. No one heard a word over the engine noise.

I was first out of the chopper. Sod the rest of them; I had something to say.

I scooted around to the pilot's hatch, wind from the rotors blowing dust up at my face.

The c.o.c.kpit was empty. He wasn't there.

A hand touched my shoulder. I spun round, temper at bursting point. It was Chris. The look on his face was humiliatingly sympathetic. Behind him I could see the others limping through a barren field towards the outskirts of the village. The Doctor was nowhere in sight.

Chris started to say something. It sounded like an apology. I didn't want to listen. 'Where is he?'

'The Doctor?'

'No, the Pope you idiot! Of course I mean the Doctor. Where is he?' I was babbling but couldn't stop myself. 'I knew we didn't need him, but she didn't listen to me, the stupid b.i.t.c.h, oh no, not me, I'm only her husband! We didn't need him and he came anyway and now he's left her behind and she's probably dead and -'

Chris put a hand on my shoulder. The hand completely covered it. 'You'd all be dead if it weren't for him.'

I grabbed his wrist and flung the limb away from me. I might as well have punched a brick wall. 'How the h.e.l.l do you expect me to respond to that?

Why do you even think it makes a difference?'

He didn't answer right away. He seemed puzzled. Got you. I turned away, vaguely aware of another figure approaching. The Doctor? No. This man was tall and thin, dressed in battered flying leathers, a purple bobble hat and dark-blue Wellington boots. He was staring not at us but at the aircraft. 'You hef brought her back, my lovely helicopter, my good friend Chris Cwej, yes?'

Chris sighed. 'Yes, Sven. We promised you her back and here she is. Safe and sound.'

But Sven had seen the damage caused by Samran's bullets. 'Not so safe and sound, I think. I think you tell the porkies to me Chris Cwej. I think you hef been mistreating my best girl and I think you owe me great amounts of money to fix.'

Chris sighed. 'The Doctor will pay you anything you want.'

Sven looked like he was about to try to get a better deal when I said, 'Is this chopper yours?'

'Of course is mine! Who else but me appreciate fine craftsmanship of this quality?' He patted the canopy proudly. A piece of gla.s.s fell out and broke with a tinkle.

'Good. Now, I want you to take me back to Mahser Dagi. We'll need to go right now, because there's someone there and we need to rescue her.'

Sven looked interested. 'Lady professor?'

I sighed impatiently. 'Yes, lady professor, now if you'll just -'

Sven looked sternly at Chris. 'Lady professor? You leave?'

Chris looked really embarra.s.sed. 'Er, well, it wasn't quite as -'

'We cannot leave. By Gott. Must go fetch.'

'I know that!' I said. 'The only question I need to know is how long?'

Sven shrugged? 'One hour to refuel.'

'Only an hour? I can live with that.'

'And ...' he thought it over. 'I charge five thousand American dollars to fly.'

A jet screamed overhead at high alt.i.tude. Sven looked up, sucked thoughtfully on his lower lip. 'Ten thousand American dollars.'

I threw up my hands. 'Fine. Whatever.' I got out my wallet and showed him my AmEx card.

He frowned apologetically? 'Cash only.'

My head felt like it was going to explode. 'I don't have any cash.'

Sven looked puzzled. 'No cash, you hef?

'No! That's right! No b.l.o.o.d.y cash I b.l.o.o.d.y hef Are you deaf?' I screamed.

Sven said, calmly, 'Lady professor, cannot leave?'

'Of course we can't leave her there! She's my wife, for crying out loud!'

'Lady professor? Your wife she is?'

'Yes.'

'Married you are?'

'Yes.'

'Husband you are?'

'Yes!'

Suddenly Sven looked very nervous. He seemed unable to meet my gaze.

He sidled away, ducked under the airframe and began to check the fuselage for damage.

I stared at Chris in desperation. 'Can you fly this bucket of junk?' I kicked the nose wheel of the helicopter. Sven yelped in protest but I ignored him.

Chris shrugged. 'I expect so.'

'Well, then, you can just get right back in the d.a.m.n c.o.c.kpit and-'

Chris shook his head. The sympathetic look became even more sympathetic. 'Sven's right. There's not enough fuel. And we have to fix the damage. By the feel of it one of those bullets nicked a rotor. We were lucky to make it back in one piece.'

Sven heard the words bullet and rotor in the same sentence and immediately began to climb over the airframe, poking his bony fingers into bullet holes, groaning and generally muttering about the cost of damages.

I stared at Chris. I couldn't believe I was hearing this? 'She's back there!

She might be dead and you're worrying about a nicked rotor? The thing got us here - it can d.a.m.n well get us back! You were her friend! My G.o.d, how could you let him do this to her?'

From the airframe, Sven ran a hand tenderly over more damage and muttered, 'By Gott, how could you let him do this to her?'

Chris looked from me to Sven and back to me again. He seemed unsure which of the two identical questions to answer first.

'Well?' I insisted, determined to get Chris to agree with me at the very least.

Chris sighed. 'Look, I know it's hard, but you just have to -'

'No! No I don't, all right? I don't "have to" anything. G.o.d Almighty, Chris, I've ... We have to go back. We just have to. OK? We just have to!'

By now I was kicking the nose wheel and bashing the airframe with my bunched fists. Neither did any good. Sven had retreated in abject fear to the rotor housing and was making soothing noises while stroking the idle blades.

Chris gathered up both my fists in one of his. 'The more you damage the chopper the longer it'll be before we can go back.' I struggled to get my hands free. No chance. I swore. I swore louder when I realized I couldn't free myself from his grip. I kicked the nose wheel again. He tugged gently. I flew away from the chopper and sat down on the ground about ten feet away.

He grinned sheepishly. 'Oops. Don't know my own strength sometimes.

Sorry.'

I struggled to stand up, then lost my balance and fell over again. I began to get an idea of how tired I was. And how hungry. And thirsty. Don't misunderstand me. I was still just as angry. I was mad as h.e.l.l. But those other feelings - once you realized they were there, you couldn't ignore them.

Chris helped me up. 'You want me to carry you?'

Chris could probably carry two people my weight while jogging up a mountain. 'Don't be ridiculous.'

He shrugged. 'I won't if you won't.'

I said bitterly, 'If you won't help me get back out there, you can just leave me alone.'

I struggled to my feet and started to follow the others towards the village. I got all of ten steps before losing my balance. I managed to preserve my dignity enough to sit, rattler than fall, but that was where my effort ended.

Chris loped towards me. 'Come on. You do need my help.'

'I'd rather sit here and rot.'

The shadow of a frown crossed Cwej's face. It was the nearest I'd ever seen him to being angry. .'Don't be like that, Jason. The Doctor knows what he's doing, I'm sure. Now come on. Let me help you.'

He waited. Eventually I nodded, mumbled a.s.sent. 'That's better.' He put his arm round me and lifted.

I swore as he helped me to my feet. I swore as he all but picked me up in his arms. I swore every step of the way back to the village.

Chris just grinned.

I trudged through the village and arrived back at the hotel leaning like some old woman on Chris's arm. Children followed us every step of the way?

Some pointed at us. All of them giggled. One little girl wore the hair slide that I'd given Bernice on our wedding night. I thought I'd felt bad up until then; seeing that hair slide just 'made me feel very much worse.