slippery with sweat. I clicked off the safety catch and drew slow, deep breaths to keep my concentration. Lord, don’t let me miss ...
There … Light blazed as the train came into sight. I squeezed my eyes mostly shut. Nearer, nearer… oh, Lord, no, it wasn’t stopping…
Screech . Ear-splittingly, the brakes engaged. Thank God – they’d just been too half asleep to immediately notice something so extraordinary as a stop signal – or beating their brains to recall if the complicated sequence of red and green flashes was correct…
Slowing, the train closed the remaining distance. Yes, stopping in about the right place... I raised the nonLee a fraction and waited. The nose of the locomotive passed me, the first carriage was juddering to a halt in front of us, but I could scarcely make out the guards in the even pitchier darkness left by the passage of the headlight.
“Fish and Foxes, now,” breathed Bane.
Click . Lights – appropriately dim out of consideration for our dark-adapted vision – flooded the train. There! Two guards, almost immediately in front of me, just throwing their hands up to their eyes.
I took one long, deliberate second to aim at the one on the left and squeezed the trigger. Just once… The guard dropped, the other followed. If any of us had missed, only Bane and Father Mark – Little Lion – would’ve fired a second time.
The locomotive’s engine roared – they’d seen the lights…
“Bugs and Reptiles,” snapped Bane.
Flash. Bang.
A flash of slightly greenish flame from just ahead of the train’s nose and the sound of a second explosion from the rear…
Screech.
The brakes locked, and the train shuddered to a halt again. Probably better not to think about how the guards in the locomotive must be feeling right now… Too late .
“African and Birds, go…”
Two dark shadows moved into the lights on our side of the train – Dove and Pigeon. Pigeon had his nonLee – indistinguishable from a Lethal in this light – trained on the locomotive door to discourage anyone from opening it. On the other side, Giraffe should be doing the same. Dove darted in close to spray a thick layer of flashDry rock glue all around the edges of the sliding door. The rescue party would get it open fast enough, but no one would be getting out for now.
“Egg laid,” confirmed Dove, as they backed away again.
“My trunk’s done the job,” said Elephant from the other side of the train.
“Postal service, come and get your packages,” said Bane. “Aquatics, Fish, Birds, lay your eggs, please.”
Six figures hurried forward, appeared to fiddle for a moment with the doors at each end of the three coaches, then jogged back up the bank.
“Aquatics, clear.”
“Fish, clear.”
“Birds, clear.”
“Hatching time,” said Bane.
Bang. Crack.
The charges went off almost in unison.
“Okay, Aquatics, Fish, Birds, get it unwrapped.”
The same six figures raced down again and began to haul the doors open.
“Anyone having trouble unwrapping the gifts?”
Silence. Good. All the doors were open.
The noise of the trucks was audible now over the soft hum of the locomotive. With astonishing swiftness, even considering all the drills, they manoeuvred into the narrow space between track and trees, leaving almost no gap between coach doors and truck tailgates.
“Pussycat, Brown Bird, Cuckoo, moving positions now. Keep your eyes peeled,” said Bane. “Everyone else, transfer those packages.”
We scrambled to our feet and hurried down the slope, Bane slipping a small device into my hand before heading off along the train. I climbed the ladder quickly to the roof, lying down on my stomach to reduce my silhouette. Looking down into the observation platform at the two unconscious guards, I could also see both of the locomotive doors. We didn’t dare shoot the guards again to make sure – just possible one could’ve been hit three times already.
Pussycat would be doing the same at the
There … Light blazed as the train came into sight. I squeezed my eyes mostly shut. Nearer, nearer… oh, Lord, no, it wasn’t stopping…
Screech . Ear-splittingly, the brakes engaged. Thank God – they’d just been too half asleep to immediately notice something so extraordinary as a stop signal – or beating their brains to recall if the complicated sequence of red and green flashes was correct…
Slowing, the train closed the remaining distance. Yes, stopping in about the right place... I raised the nonLee a fraction and waited. The nose of the locomotive passed me, the first carriage was juddering to a halt in front of us, but I could scarcely make out the guards in the even pitchier darkness left by the passage of the headlight.
“Fish and Foxes, now,” breathed Bane.
Click . Lights – appropriately dim out of consideration for our dark-adapted vision – flooded the train. There! Two guards, almost immediately in front of me, just throwing their hands up to their eyes.
I took one long, deliberate second to aim at the one on the left and squeezed the trigger. Just once… The guard dropped, the other followed. If any of us had missed, only Bane and Father Mark – Little Lion – would’ve fired a second time.
The locomotive’s engine roared – they’d seen the lights…
“Bugs and Reptiles,” snapped Bane.
Flash. Bang.
A flash of slightly greenish flame from just ahead of the train’s nose and the sound of a second explosion from the rear…
Screech.
The brakes locked, and the train shuddered to a halt again. Probably better not to think about how the guards in the locomotive must be feeling right now… Too late .
“African and Birds, go…”
Two dark shadows moved into the lights on our side of the train – Dove and Pigeon. Pigeon had his nonLee – indistinguishable from a Lethal in this light – trained on the locomotive door to discourage anyone from opening it. On the other side, Giraffe should be doing the same. Dove darted in close to spray a thick layer of flashDry rock glue all around the edges of the sliding door. The rescue party would get it open fast enough, but no one would be getting out for now.
“Egg laid,” confirmed Dove, as they backed away again.
“My trunk’s done the job,” said Elephant from the other side of the train.
“Postal service, come and get your packages,” said Bane. “Aquatics, Fish, Birds, lay your eggs, please.”
Six figures hurried forward, appeared to fiddle for a moment with the doors at each end of the three coaches, then jogged back up the bank.
“Aquatics, clear.”
“Fish, clear.”
“Birds, clear.”
“Hatching time,” said Bane.
Bang. Crack.
The charges went off almost in unison.
“Okay, Aquatics, Fish, Birds, get it unwrapped.”
The same six figures raced down again and began to haul the doors open.
“Anyone having trouble unwrapping the gifts?”
Silence. Good. All the doors were open.
The noise of the trucks was audible now over the soft hum of the locomotive. With astonishing swiftness, even considering all the drills, they manoeuvred into the narrow space between track and trees, leaving almost no gap between coach doors and truck tailgates.
“Pussycat, Brown Bird, Cuckoo, moving positions now. Keep your eyes peeled,” said Bane. “Everyone else, transfer those packages.”
We scrambled to our feet and hurried down the slope, Bane slipping a small device into my hand before heading off along the train. I climbed the ladder quickly to the roof, lying down on my stomach to reduce my silhouette. Looking down into the observation platform at the two unconscious guards, I could also see both of the locomotive doors. We didn’t dare shoot the guards again to make sure – just possible one could’ve been hit three times already.
Pussycat would be doing the same at the
Similar Books
