Kane pressed Jamal on the shoulder and the huge Somali moved silently. The song ended abruptly on a high note. There was a sudden cracking sound as if a dry branch had been snapped and Jamal lowered the dead man to the ground.
The cave was in darkness and Kane struck a match as he led the way in. There was a large spot lamp standing on top of the radio and he quickly switched it on and turned to the cases of arms.
There were only a few left. The first two he examined were packed with rifles, but the third contained submachine guns. A further search disclosed a box filled with circular, hundred-round clips. Kane handed Cunningham and the Somali two clips each.
‘What about the radio?’ Cunningham said.
Kane shook his head as he loaded his weapon. ‘No time for that now.’
As they went outside, there was the sound of an engine, and a truck moved away towards the temple and the outlet to the desert. Kane cursed and started to run down the slope.
Most of the Bedouins were still gathered around the fire and he moved quickly through the shadows towards the other end of the encampment.
The truck in which they had arrived that morning was standing on the edge of the tents in brilliant moonlight. He said quietly to Cunningham, ‘She’s ours. You take the wheel and drive like you’ve never driven before.’
They moved out of the shadows and scrambled in. As Cunningham pressed the starter, there was a sudden shrill cry from behind. Kane turned as several Bedouins ran forward. He raised his sub-machine gun and fired a quick burst and they scattered into the darkness. At the same moment, Cunningham took the truck away on a burst of speed.
As they topped the rise in front of the temple and hurtled towards the entrance to the gorge, the Catalina roared overhead, undercarriage and flaps down as it pointed for a landing on the flat plain outside.
‘Give it everything you’ve got,’ Kane cried, and Cunningham pressed his foot flat on the boards. The truck bounced over the rock-strewn surface of the valley and he fought for control, and then they were out in the open and chasing the plane.
Over on their right and clearly visible in the moonlight was the other truck. As they approached, Kane could clearly see Selim sitting in the rear, Skiros and Muller in front.
Skiros’s face was contorted with anger and he shouted something over his shoulder to the Arab. As they drew abreast, Selim raised a rifle and fired. Skiros swung the other truck towards them and Selim fired again. Kane ducked as the windscreen shattered, and Cunningham jerked the wheel desperately to one side and they skidded round in a complete circle.
For the moment they were safe and able to concentrate on the plane which was starting to touch down. As Romero applied his brakes, dust and sand rose into the night in a great cloud.
Sitting in the second pilot’s seat Noval turned and grabbed Romero’s shoulder. ‘There’s a firefight going on out there. Let’s get out of here.’
‘Give me a chance, for God’s sake,’ Romero said and boosted power.
Kane glanced back and saw that the other truck was overtaking them fast, and Cunningham swung the wheel in a half-circle that took them into the centre of the great dust cloud that was the plane’s wake.
For several moments they drove^jblind, choking and coughing, heads lowered against the stinging particles, and then the Englishman swung the wheel again and they shot out into the moonlight.
The Catalina was now taxi-ing towards the valley entrance at twenty or thirty miles an hour. Cunningham jerked the wheel, spinning the truck and a moment later they were driving on a parallel course.
Cunningham moved closer and Kane and Jamal stood up and started to pour a concentrated fire into the plane at point-blank range. Kane could see Romero high up in the nose of the aircraft, the dim light from the instrument panel illuminating his face. He raised his sub-machine gun and fired several times into the cabin. Romero ducked out of sight and the tail of the plane slewed round in a great arc, throwing a cloud of sand into the air.