'This way. This way.'

A Royal Engineers major was waiting for them, and led the squad through the garden of a rambling mansion-sized house and out on to a wide main road.

Hyde pulled up. 'We're sitting targets if they see us here.'

'There's a turning a little way down. Come on, hurry.' At a fast jog the sapper officer took them two blocks then ushered them into a side street.

Recognising the name of the road, barely readable on a fire-scorched sign on the side of a building, Boris brought it to Hyde's attention. 'Sergeant, on your map this is one of the streets marked in red.'

Holding back for a moment, Hyde saw the Russian tanks turning on to the street they were just leaving. They slowed, clearly undecided which way to go, or whether to terminate the pursuit, then the officer of engineers saw them also, and fired a long burst from his Patchette at them, a burst that seemed mostly composed of tracer. Striking and bouncing from a tank's armour it instantly drew their attention.

'That should do it...'

'Why don't you let them have the f.u.c.king lot, why stop at half measures?' To Dooley's dismay the officer did just that, putting the rest of the magazine into the flank of an armoured ambulance that had followed the tanks into the road.

The non-combatant vehicle immediately revealed its true ident.i.ty as a crewman appeared from a top hatch and fired a ring-mounted heavy machine gun at them. Water showered from traps on the tanks' hulls as they fired sh.e.l.ls from their main armaments and added the chatter of their co-axial weapons to the weight of shot skimming towards the squad.

There was no further hesitation. Their guide led them at a fast pace half the length of the side road, then into a solid slab-sided building that bombs and rockets had done no more than pockmark, once all the gla.s.s had been shattered in its facade.

'Not much for you to do now. Best just pick your grandstand seat and get ready for the fireworks.'

Hyde had begun to take an interest in the sapper major, and watching the road, kept half an eye on him also.

Everyone had to come back from the windows as on entering the comparatively narrow street, the Russian vehicles unleashed a storm of ordnance at the buildings flanking its length. Bullets and fragments of sh.e.l.l came in through every window and ricocheted about the gutted and looted interiors. Part of a shop front collapsed as a low velocity 73mm sh.e.l.l blasted its last supports away.

Apparently satisfied that they had either destroyed or frightened off any potential opposition they drove into the street, keeping always to the centre of the road, maintaining a proper interval between each vehicle.

'Those tank crews know what they're doing. Pity they're not getting proper back-up from the infantry in the red-cross marked wagon.' Burke watched their progress with an expert interest.

'Never did know a Commie who'd willingly get out from behind armour unless he were forced to, present company accepted.' Ripper added that for their deserter's benefit, but Boris wasn't listening.

It was the first chance he'd had, and Boris was hastily stripping off the Russian uniform and replacing it with the ragbag a.s.sortment of different nationalities uniforms that was his usual dress. He glanced to see if anyone was watching, before bundling the discarded clothes into a large crack in the part.i.tion wall and pushing them from sight and almost out of reach.

It must have been entirely at random, for there seemed nothing to guide the Russian gunners' choice as to which buildings to put sh.e.l.ls into. They would wait until they had pulled level with one, and then the barrels would depress back to the horizontal as the semi-automatic loader was disengaged, then they'd traverse and fire without hesitation and seemingly without aiming, as sometimes the sh.e.l.ls exploded against front pillars, sending clouds of dust back over the tanks, and at other times they'd penetrate almost to the rear of the ground floor before impacting and sending fireb.a.l.l.s roaring up through the structure.

'I love doing this.'

The major turned the handle of a detonator and a series of small charges rippled through a tall office block a little way along. Slowly at first, but with gathering momentum, the whole fabric began to sag and then in a welter of thousands of tons of steel and concrete it fell into the road to completely block it.

'Expensive way of making a roadblock, when you're short of explosives, isn't it?' Hyde had a genuine interest in the answer. The expenditure seemed profligate viewed against the parsimony with which small arms ammunition was issued in the city.

'No. We used munitions captured from the Ruskies, stuff that we suspected might be b.o.o.by-trapped. Couldn't even steam out the contents for use elsewhere, so we just fix our own detonators to them and use them like that. The cost is negligible.'

Again the detonator was turned, and this time it was a PT76 that took the full force of a blast that came from beneath the road. The vehicle was lifted several feet into the air by the forces erupting from the ordnance-packed sewer. Tracks, road wheels, hatches and every type of fitting were ripped from the vehicle before it crashed down and began to burn.

From a row of shops opposite the misused ambulance came a dozen great gouts of flame as crude projectors spewed streams of burning chemical. Liquid fire dripped from the tracked vehicle and every door was thrown open, only to be slammed shut again as the roasting air hit the men struggling to escape. A moment later they tried again with the same result, and then with the vehicle's engine racing they tried driving out of trouble, and only managed to motor into it.

A mine exploded beneath a track and the ambulance spun around in its own length as it broke. The rubber of every track pad and road wheel was well alight. When the belt of machine gun ammunition to the weapon on the roof began to cook-off, crew and infantry pa.s.sengers could take it no longer.

With the surface of its aluminium armour beginning to bubble in places, with phosphorus and sodium dripping from it, the doors began to open again, and stopped after only a few inches. The heat that had deterred them before had welded the hinges into solid ma.s.ses. Screams came from inside and a blistered hand was thrust through the gap between rear door and hull, only to be fused to the metal.

The remaining pair of amphibious tanks were trying to reverse past the wrecks to get out of the street, but the s.p.a.ce available was narrow and they were getting themselves into all sorts of trouble as they collided first with shop fronts and then with the burning wrecks and finally with each other, a collision that cost both of them the thin aluminium splashguards over their tracks. 'What's the crew of those elderly brutes?'

Clarence had the answer for the officer of engineers. 'Commander, driver, gunner and a section of infantry.'

'Ah, then we'd better finish them now, before the blighters decide to abandon ship, or tank rather, and take to the hills. Be a d.a.m.ned sight harder to winkle them out then.' From his pocket he took a small radio transmitter. 'Hope the Ruskies aren't jamming this frequency, that's the risk of these things. Much prefer wire control, where it's possible.' His thumb flicked a control to the 'on' position.

Red flame flowed over the front of a building opposite the tanks as drums on its top floor were punctured and ignited by small charges. Another building began to go the same way, and then one across the street was followed by another that made four and the process continued until a whole block on either side presented the roaring face of an inferno.

'Now this is a bit of a waste.' The engineer returned the transmitter to his pocket. He had to shout to be heard above the fires. 'This was planned to catch Russian infantry. We could have fried a whole battalion or more.'

Distorted by their rapid expansion, weakened by being heated until they glowed, the girders and reinforcing rods that kept the bomb-damaged buildings upright began to fail.

Giant chunks of concrete, whole sections of frontage, began to fall into the street, and the tanks' crews saw the danger too late. Even as they started to leave by the escape hatches, braving the searing heat of the street, they were struck down by the rain of beams and masonry cascading from the upper floors. The hulls of the tanks were speared by white-hot steel, crushed beneath torrents of concrete, and as their fuel tanks were ruptured and ammunition ignited, their destruction became total.

'Might be an idea if we made a move ourselves. Be silly to get roasted in our own oven.'

'Hold it, eh, Major?' Hyde had levelled his rifle at the engineer, and c.o.c.ked the weapon. 'I think we should have a word before we go anywhere.'

'Hey, Sarge, you lost a screw?' Dooley couldn't make sense of what was happening. 'This guy saved our bacon and broiled a platoon of Reds with their transport. You think he's a spy or something?'

'I don't know, but something's not right, so how about you go through his pack and find out just who we have here. Unless, that is, he'd like to save us the trouble and talk.'

The Royal Engineers major shrugged, then a quiet smile spread over his smoke-stained handsome face. 'The name is Thorne.'

THIRTEEN.

It was past mid-day when Revell woke, but only his watch told him that. The room was still dark, heavy shutters remained fastened over the windows. He groped for matches on the bedside table and lit the stump of candle.

With the pale illumination, memories of the night came pouring back, and with them the uncomfortable realisation that he was very sore. Rude noises came from the baby-oil bottle as he squeezed the last drop from it and gingerly patted it on to his red and flaccid p.e.n.i.s. The contact was painful, but the coldness was soothing.

Noticing that Inga's suit was missing from the chair, and hearing her moving about in the next room he hurriedly dressed, wasting some time in having to hunt for his scattered clothes.

'Oh, I was going to bring you breakfast in bed. I know it is a little late...' She saw him as he came into the lounge. 'No, I don't want anything, thanks anyway.' He hesitated. 'About last night...'

'Last night was last night. It is past, and I shall not talk of it if you do not want to, but,' she leant against him and stroked behind his ears with long slim manicured fingers, 'but I do not think you will be angry with me if I tell you it was lovely. I liked watching you do that, you came so many times, and when your fingers were inside me, and your tongue...'

'Yes... but like you say, that was last night...I wouldn't like anyone to know...not that I think you would...'

'Shush.' She put a finger to his lips. 'It is forgotten, until the next time. Now, eat with me.'

'I can't, I must go back to be rea.s.signed. That's where I should have gone after I left the hospital, and I must check on Andrea.'

Inga didn't argue, she could see that his mind was made up. 'The rea.s.signment office is closest, at least let me go there with you, won't you?'

'Sure, but I want to get away now, I've delayed too long already.' He saw her hurt expression at that. 'But I'll admit it, I enjoyed it too.'

The sun was high in the sky and trying hard to break through the perpetual dust and smoke cloud that hung over Hamburg. It was blistering hot down in the street and the queues at the water tankers were longer than usual.

A familiar landmark was missing from the city skyline, but if the people shuffling endlessly forward with their buckets and jerry-cans noticed, they made no remark.

It was slightly cooler underground, but the sheer numbers of people lined up before the tables and waiting on the platform and tracks beyond kept the humidity high and the air stale. There appeared to be even more of them than there had the time before.

An hour pa.s.sed before they even came within sight of the table: an hour of having their feet trodden on, of hearing petty squabbles all about them, of edging forward a half-pace at a time. If Inga had not been on his arm, helping to make the time fly, he would have barged his way to the front, using his strength, his rank or the 12-gauge to be attended to first. As it was he put up with the crowds and the noise and the bickering and the shoving because it stretched that much further the last few minutes he had with her.

'You were not wounded?' Andrea spoke to Revell, but her eyes were on Inga. 'What the h.e.l.l are you doing here, you're supposed to be in the hospital.' Revell was completely taken aback by her appearance. He noticed an a.s.signment slip in her hand.

'I could not stand being in that place. All that is wrong with me is that I have lost a little blood and I have some sutures in my leg. I reported here to get back into combat, but all they have given me is command of an old truck, an older man and some radio location equipment. Tomorrow I shall try again to return to a fighting unit. Who is she?'

The dislike generated between the two attractive women was instant and total. Revell would have liked to have thought that he was the cause of that, but he couldn't believe he was. The introductions he made served only to ice the air further.

'Did you know the squad was still intact?' Andrea now ignored the tall blonde, acting as though she didn't exist. She watched for the major's reaction to the news.

'Where are they?' He tried to keep his voice casual, to give her no satisfaction by reacting with surprise.

'At the Schauspielhaus, on Kirchenallee, resting. They were in action last night. I hear they crossed the Aussenalster and destroyed the big mortar that has been tearing Hamburg apart. It is only a rumour, but it is said they forestalled a Russian attempt to use a nuclear round on the city.'

Revell thought he felt Inga tighten her grip on his arm, and he patted her hand to rea.s.sure her. The action brought a withering look of contempt to Andrea's face. Saying nothing she hitched her M16 more comfortably on her shoulder and went out. He noticed a slight limp in her walk and might have gone after her had his companion not kept a firm hold on him.

'You will be rejoining your unit now?'

'Immediately. I'll come to the apartment as soon as I get a chance.' He tried to pull away, but she clung tight.

'I have a feeling, do not stay at the theatre. It will be safer if you find somewhere else. Please, do as I ask, please?'

'Don't worry, I've survived this long.' 'Yes, but do not stay there, it is very important.'

The urgency, genuine pleading, in her voice was unmistakable, and Revell didn't know quite what to make of it. He sought to calm her. 'OK, I'll get them to shift quarters, does that satisfy you?'

She nodded and then threw her arms round his neck and held him tight. Mostly the people in their vicinity ignored them, but an elderly woman sitting unravelling an old woollen cardigan smiled approvingly, and gave her chest a maternal pat as she watched the couple.

He had to tear himself away or he would never have had the courage to go. Disentangling himself from her embrace he gave her one quick kiss then turned into the press and made for the door, moving fast as he pushed through the throng and not looking back.

The squad registered amazement at his still being alive, but expressions of pleasure they saved for the news that Andrea had also come through. Revell saw a new face, and recognised it.

'Thorne, have you been looking after this crowd?'

'No he f.u.c.king hasn't, Major, sir.' Hyde shoved Thorne in the chest and barged him aside. 'And he isn't an officer in the Royal Engineers either. He's a b.l.o.o.d.y sapper corporal, for the time being. I held on to him as I thought we might as well have his services for a while before the military police have him.'

'This looks like being a day for surprises. OK, well done, Sergeant.' Inga's words came back to him, and their recollection convinced him there was more to them than some female whim, some half-baked premonition, though what he couldn't fathom. 'Get the men ready to move, will you. We're relocating in five minutes, soon as I've squared it with Colonel Horst.'

'Here, Major, what for? We've only just got settled here. They're just putting a light under a field kitchen and we've found decent bogs and beds.' Burke expressed the indignation and annoyance that several of the others displayed, but didn't voice.

There wasn't a reason he could give, not one that would make sense to them. h.e.l.l, it didn't make any d.a.m.ned sense to him. 'Just be ready to move when I get back.' It wasn't a good start to his resumed command.

To Revell's relief the Bundeswehr colonel didn't require any reason. He didn't care where the major's men set up home, so long as they could be found quickly in an emergency. He testily declined to take seriously the suggestion that he might like to move his own men from the theatre also, when no logical explanation was proffered to back the idea.

Hyde had to work hard and constantly to quell the mutinous muttering among the men when they left the great building and trudged off down the dusty road. Most of his threats had to be directed at Burke, who maintained a dirge-like monotone of complaint.

'Comes back from the b.l.o.o.d.y dead ... drags us from our f.u.c.king dinner ... four s.h.i.tty rows of upholstered seats ... nearest things to bleeding beds inside of a week ... proper chemical bogs ... even s.h.i.t paper ...'

'It were separated layers of corrugated cardboard.' Ripper injected a qualifying note. 'And we'd have had to knock the arms off the chairs before we could have laid on 'em, and then they'd have probably tipped up and folded away with us inside of them.'

'I'd still like to know why he's dragging us away from a cosy billet...'

The air-raid sirens commenced their wailing, as they heard the approaching jets and dived for cover. A pair of MIG-27's ripped the air apart with the staccato crackle of their turbofan engines as they pa.s.sed overhead at only a few hundred feet.

From the fronts of their belly packs came the rapid clatter of their 23mm Gatling cannons delivering the maximum rate of fire. The mixed tracer and explosive and incendiary sh.e.l.ls marched across an intersection, over the front of a gutted cinema and plunged in through the side wall of the theatre. At the same moment the aircraft released the contents of their under fuselage and inboard wing pylons.

Miniature parachutes deployed from r.e.t.a.r.ded bombs began an arching descent towards the building, and falling with them were the tumbling teardrop-shaped canisters of napalm bombs.

Three of the six iron bombs fell short, blasting an avenue of destruction through an area already hit many times. The others straddled their target, and the walls and the whole fabric of the theatre were beginning to crumple as the napalm struck.

Fire made giant bubbles through the smoke of the earlier detonations and the building was completely hidden as thousands of gallons of petrol-jelly drenched and consumed the ruins.

For once, though, the city's flak guns were putting up more than a token resistance. Lines of tracer, almost invisible in the bright sky save where they rose against the background of a smoke pall, chased the jets that, with their after- burners roaring, were climbing as fast as they could. For the trailing aircraft that wasn't fast enough.

Pieces flew from the jet and the smoke trail it left suddenly turned darker. Its undercarriage began to extend, further decreasing its rate of climb, and then a plume of white vapour poured from its fuselage side. For another four hundred feet it towed the twin trails, then an explosion threw it sideways across the sky and the white trail turned to a long feather of flame. The outer section of its port variable-geometry wing broke off and the MIG went into a stalling turn that became a flat spin towards the ground.

At three hundred feet an anonymous chunk of wreckage falling with the aircraft resolved itself as the ejector seat. It towed the slashed and burning remnants of a parachute.

Aircraft and pilot struck the ground near enough together, somewhere over towards the docks.

'You got second sight, Major?' Gaping, Ripper watched the fires taking hold of the flattened theatre.

Revell didn't have to answer; the incident had restored his stock, put him firmly back in charge again. But there was a question he was going to have to ask Inga, and he wasn't looking forward to insisting on an answer.

'Must be that nuke we found the other night.' Revell re-read the order. 'Looks like the city fathers have been scared to learn the Commies are ready to drop big ones on the city itself, so they're bringing forward plans for the breakout.'

'About b.l.o.o.d.y time.' Dooley's gut signalled its emptiness from both ends of him at once. 'Another day and we'd have been cla.s.sed as residents and then we'd never have got out.'

'We'd never be residents, not anywhere.' Attempts Burke was making to suppress wind from his small intestine were failing, and he joined the big man in a repulsive duet. 'We're cannon fodder. They'll let us do the dirty work for them, but they wouldn't have us as ruddy neighbours in case we glowed in the dark and frightened the kids.'

'Same back home.' Taking the sensible precaution of moving up wind of the other two, Ripper continued rea.s.sembling his rifle. 'Got a letter from my Aunt Emma just before we came on this jaunt, and from the tone of it I got the distinct impression she thinks I'm in danger of growing two heads. Mind you, the jars of home-made wine she gets through I reckon she sees two of most things.'