The package had been heavier than Ryan could have supposed, and it scored heavily into the metal side of the tank, driving a huge crate into the ground and obliterating all traces of the two saboteurs.
As he pulled himself to his feet, he was aware that if he had caused some damage to be done to the storage tank, then it was a terrible error on his part. However, as he pulled himself to his feet and began to run, still deafened by the blast, toward the tanks, he could see that the side of the tank was scored and dented, but not ruptured. This was some kind of a relief, but it would be even more of a relief if he could find his son. He didn’t bother to yell, as he figured that Dean would be as deafened by the blast as himself.
Deans ears felt as if they were bleeding, but when he put his fingers to one of them, there was no blood. He had just been heading around the tank when the second explosion had knocked him from his feet. As he scrambled up again, with the Browning Hi-Power ready to fire, he was thinking only of one thing— was his father okay?
Both the younger and older Cawdor had their blasters ready as they came into each other’s view. But the razor-sharp reflexes passed from father to son prevented them from firing as each saw the other. Instead, there was a sense of relief. Both were alive, and knowing the other’s capabilities, they knew that their enemies had been routed here.
But what of the third attack?
KRYSTY, MILDRED AND DOC were approaching the refinery buildings from their different positions, and found themselves converging at the same point. But they still used the handsets to communicate, as it was difficult to be heard over the pounding of the horses hooves and the roar of the wag.
“How are we going to tackle this?” Mildred yelled over the static.
“I would suggest taking each building in turn,” Doc replied. “I think we should stick together to avoid confusion.”
Krysty shook her head as she shouted into her handset, her hair now tight to her scalp. “No, we can’t risk them having spread out over the two buildings and caused damage. We’ll have to split up.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Mildred agreed. “There are three buildings, two of them linked by that walkway. I say we take one each.”
“Very well,” Doc yelled back, “I fear I am not the quickest among us, so I should take the nearest.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Mildred said. “I’ll take the far one. You take the middle, Krysty.”
“Okay,” the woman agreed. “But stay alert, because this doesn’t feel good.”
Mildred nodded and spurred her horse, heading off to the far building, hoping that the saboteurs would be too busy to provide each other with covering fire. For she was sure the assumption that there would be at least one saboteur in each building would prove correct.
Krysty headed for the middle, taking her mount in a counterclockwise direction to achieve her goal, as opposed to Mildred’s clockwise direction. If they had already been spotted, then at least they would divide enemy fire.
Which left Doc to take the straight course down the middle. Doc wasn’t an easily frightened man, particularly not after the things he had seen and endured, but in his more lucid moments he was painfully aware of his shortcomings. And he knew that he was the weakest member, physically and in terms of sanity, of the companions. He also knew that he was the poorest horseman of them all. So he was glad that he had the shortest journey to the point of trouble, but also aware that even then it still made him an easy target.
The wag had long since ceased to roar, and in the darkness and shadow around the nearest refinery building, Doc couldn’t tell if it was empty of if there lurked danger in the shape of a saboteur.
Knowing his limitations, Doc suddenly pulled up his horse and dismounted, going the rest of the way on foot. It would take longer, but he would feel more confident of taking evasive or offensive action without having to worry about staying on his mount. In fact, he could use the beast as a diversionary measure. A smile crept over Doc’s face as he directed the animal toward the blockhouse refinery building and slapped its rump so hard that it made his palm sting. The pained and affronted creature ran toward the blockhouse, while Doc checked that his LeMat pistol was loaded. There were two charges.