Globusz^® Publishing 

elen ran forward taking as long strides as she could and counted them out loud. “One, two, three, four, five, six and dive.” They were flying, it was a clean take off close to the ground but immediately the slope dropped away below them and in no time at all they headed out over the water. “Put your glasses over your eyes first then I’ll pull mine down. Everything okay Nails?”

“Yeah, just fine.” Came the nervous reply as she felt him swing a little when he let go of the control bar; a moment later and the swing stopped as he took hold of it again. “I can’t see a damn thing with these glasses on, it’s pitch black. I don’t know how you’re gon’a fly.”

Helen reached up with one hand and pulled her glasses down, but quickly had to move them back slightly. “I’ll wait till we see the aircraft before covering my eyes, can you hear it yet?”

“No! Not yet, one minute.”

Helen banked the glider slightly, turning gently to the right and caught a glimpse of the sentry’s back as he stood on the rim of the dam looking out over the valley. They headed straight in now gently loosing height as Helen prayed that the aircraft would be on time. A moment later and she heard it then felt a squeeze on her arm from her companion. Quickly she pulled the glasses down and settled them over her eyes and in that moment, nearly panicked. ‘God! I can’t see a bloody thing, I may as well be blindfolded,’ she thought. ‘Hold it steady, just hold it steady. Trust your other instincts,’ she told her self, peering desperately into the gloom. The only warning she had was a streak of red across her vision. It was the only thing her eyes could see, and they tracked it then at the very last instant as she forced her self to look away, the midnight sun shone. The whole area became lit up like high noon. She gazed about her at the water below, the dam ahead and the sentry covering his eyes with his hands were imprinted on her mind. She even had time to adjust their flight path though the light lasted for no more than five seconds. They were only a hundred metres from the dam when once again they were plunged into total blackness. Helen flipped the glasses back onto her forehead. Her eyes hurt a little, though she had been warned not to look directly at it and now, only a few seconds later, she could see normally.

Her companion, she noticed, had ripped of his glasses and dropped them in the lake below. Now they were ideally placed for a landing on the rim of the dam with only thirty metres to go, Helen pulled back slightly, skimming the water, increasing the speed and diving below the level of the wall. Nails sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth and she felt the added tension on the control bar as the water rushed by barely a metre beneath their dangling feet. “Relax!” She said, shaking the bar for emphasis and then at the very last moment, just when it appeared they would hit the dam wall, Helen pushed forward. The glider obediently rose, shooting up over the parapet, stalled and a moment later as she pulled back and sideways Nails landed feet first right in the small of the sentry’s back.

Helen landed heavily and tipped the glider’s nose down which smacked on the pathway as Nails hit his quick release before turning on the prone figure of the sentry. Helen disentangled her self and stepped out from under the glider in time to see her marine friend quickly searching the soldier for more weapons. He looked up. “I don’t think I will need you to... thump him,” he said grinning broadly.

Helen, returning the grin and unable to resist the temptation replied. “We nailed him didn’t we, we really nailed him.” A minute later her marine friend hauled the soldier to his feet as they were joined by two more marines pounding along the path from the west buttress closely followed by the lieutenant and the scout.

After a quick glance at their captive and an even briefer comment, “Well done.” To Nails, the lieutenant made his way past them to the ‘hutch’ in the middle of the dam. Here he stopped in surprise on seeing the steel door was taped up around it’s extremities with masking tape. Even the keyhole was taped over. Helen, who had left the glider with one of the other marines, peered over his shoulder as the lieutenant bent down to look at the keyhole. “Stranger and stranger!” He intoned, “Now why would they tape it up like that?”

“Could it be booby trapped sir?” The scout cautioned in a diplomatic manner as the lieutenant made to lift the tape off the key hole.

“Oh! I hardly think so,” he replied, but nonetheless refrained from picking any more at the edges of the tape.

At that moment Helen caught a whiff of something, a faint alien smell of... what? “A moment please,” she muttered, bending down in front of the door, only to feel a heavy hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, I’m not going to remove any tape,” she added, shaking of the hand whilst sniffing around the keyhole. “Gas! ... I can smell gas. The void must be full of it. That’s why it’s taped it up.”

“What! Impossible... I can’t smell anything... Let me have another look.”

Both the lieutenant and his scout bent down and began sniffing around the edges of the door. “She’s right sir. It is gas.”

“Yeah! It’s gas all right, I can smell it now... It could blow at any moment... Clear the dam. Get everyone off. Now! ... Come on move it.” Helen ran towards the glider and started to pick it up but the lieutenant was right behind her. “Leave that. Come on, off the dam now.”

Helen hesitated. “No I’m not leaving the glider we may need it yet. It’s a long way down into the valley.” Then with one person on each wing tip and Helen holding the control bar they ran to the west buttress where they manoeuvred the glider into a corner beside the stone hut and jammed the nose down to stop it being blown away.

The lieutenant rapidly issued orders. “I want a sentry at the top of those steps on the west buttress, another across the dam and up the steps to the top of the east buttress. And no smoking,” he hardly needed to add. “Not with that smell of gas around. Make sure no-one comes anywhere near the dam; the rest of you, along the road to the top of the cable car. Then we’ll call in the progress and wait for bomb disposal.”

* * *

After once again examining the control box Fidel switched it off before Noberto replaced it in the plastic-bag. They checked on the sentry through the window, intending to slip away the same way they had come, quietly and unnoticed, when a red streak across the dark sky drew their attention. Two pairs of eyes followed it for a second or two. Both men where looking directly at it when a physical pain shot into their eyeballs. Their reactions were identical, both men covered their eyes and turned away but both turned towards the middle and the resulting collision of heads and hands only added to the confusion. Noberto cursed his companion. Fidel exclaimed that he had been blinded, though both men stayed silent when they heard the pounding feet of rubber soled boots descending the adjacent steps. Expecting the wearer of the boots to come knocking on the door Fidel felt for the key to ensure the door was locked. It just added to his confusion when the sounds retreated across the dam.

It was fully three minutes before the pain went away and Fidel was able to open his eyes to find that his sight was retuning. It was another three minutes before he had wiped away the tears and recovered sufficiently to carefully peer out the window. When much to his amazement he saw what appeared to be a group of soldiers running towards him hotly pursued by a huge bird. He ducked back into the shadows, crouching low whilst he evaluated what he had seen. It was only when the tip of a bamboo wing swept pass close to the window did he begin to realise the situation which was obligingly explained further as the American lieutenant, standing just outside the door, rapidly issued his orders.

Noberto, who was now beginning to recover, had also heard the orders given and immediately realised that they were trapped. He sat down on the one and only chair and began to curse Fidel for leaving the trigger here, concluding with. “I just don’t know how you could be so utterly stupid.”

“I’ve already told you I didn’t have any option. I couldn’t take the damn thing with me. It’s no use fighting over it now, it’s done. The question is what are we going to do about it? ... Why don’t you just go out there and tell them to bugger off, tell them to get back to their carrier and get out of this country? You’re a minister of the government, they should listen to you.”

“Oh yes! And how do I explain the dam void full of gas, you heard what the man said.”

“Tell them to mind their own business... or tell them it’s full of cockroaches and we’re fumigating it. Who the hell cares?”

“I do! Especially as it’s me they would be talking to, and later would point their finger at.”

A silence ensued as they both contemplated the situation. Fidel thought about their options, they had to get away and realistically there was no chance of bluffing their way out. ‘Can I take out the sentry on the buttress above? Ten years ago maybe, but now I wouldn’t stand much of a chance, even with Noberto’s help. One way is over the dam wall and into the water. But splashing about in the waters edge, doubtful and with Noberto, it was inevitable that they would be heard. Perhaps the other side of the dam? There is a set of steel rungs and they go all the way down to the bypass tunnel. We could climb down that, well I could! Noberto, could he climb down too? If not I’ll have to leave him to look after him self, then I would be on my own with a much better chance of getting away. How do I do tell him?’

Noberto was thinking along different lines, ‘How do I get out of this? What if we blow it now, the resulting panic and confusion would surly give us a chance to escape? Perhaps we could blame it on the Yanks sticking their noses into something that doesn’t concern them as they usually do.’ He turned towards Fidel. “What if we do it now, what do you think would happen if we blow the dam right now, it would generate a lot of confusion?”

“Yes that’s true... But Noberto we are on the edge of the dam ourselves. It will as likely as not take this hut with it when the dam goes and I don’t fancy committing suicide just yet... Listen I have a better idea. We could go over the dam wall, the parapet, and climb down the steel ladder that was put in for the construction workers it goes all the way down the dam face. All we need to do is to get over the parapet without being seen.”

Noberto shuddered at the thought before replying in a high voice. “It’s got no hand rails Fidel the rungs could be rusted through. I couldn’t climb that if my life depended on it. No! Not from this height, I’m not going to climb down there.”

“Noberto, listen! Your life does depend on it. It’s the only way out of this mess. Over the wall then down to the bottom, it’s not as if we have to climb up... Then hey! We’re home free. We can wait then for the norteamericanos to get their bomb team in and then blow it and blame it all on them.”

Noberto rather liked the idea of getting away completely, but the chance to blame it on the Yanks was the deciding factor, it was too good an opportunity to miss. “We would have to get up the valley above the dam before we blow it though.”

Fidel suppressed the obvious ‘of course’ and shrugged, it was just another indication of the strain that the man was under. Before Noberto could change his mind Fidel reached for the door and unlocked it but Noberto grabbed his arm almost in panic. “Wait! What about the sentry above us?”

“What about him. He probably can’t see the edge of the dam from where he is anyhow. Now let’s go before someone else interferes.” Fidel opened the door then shrugging of the hand on his arm put his head out and had a quick look around. The glider caught his eye and held his attention momentarily, but having little time to waste he ran towards the opposite parapet. A quick glance over his shoulder and he could see no sign of the sentry. He then leant over the parapet. The first of the rungs were a metre away to his left. Without checking that Noberto was following he moved along the wall and climbed over onto the first rung, felt for the second and then the third. As his head sunk to the level of the parapet he paused to take stock of the situation. Noberto was standing frozen, his left hand resting on the parapet whilst his right hand clung grimly to the plastic-bag containing the trigger mechanism. “Noberto!” he called in a whisper. “Noberto come on let’s go.” But all he received in reply was a flap of the left hand and a negative shake of the head. Noberto was obviously too frightened to climb down this way. Fidel contemplated going back and trying to persuade the man to come with him but deciding it would be a waste of time, continued climbing down on his own.

Noberto was now at a loss about what to do next. His right hand man was gone, had deserted him and now he was on his own. The situation now required action and he wasn’t a man of action. He left all that physical business to others. He was a thinker and a planner. But he couldn’t think his way out of this. Slowly he turned around and walked back towards the stone hut, noticing as he did so that it was built on the solid rock buttress and the concrete surface of the dam started some two meters away. Entering the hut he closed the door behind him and locked it. ‘You’re wrong Fidel, if I trigger the explosion now, from here the hut will be okay. Then all I need do is wait a while before leaving and just walk away.’ He reached down and removed the toy-aircraft controller from the plastic-bag placing it with reverence on the table. After switching on the controller he moved the control forward and to the left. The toy “aircraft” was now in a dive spinning to the left as he moved his finger over to the bomb release. He was about to jab down on it when he thought of Fidel climbing down the face of the dam. ‘Serve him right for desertion! Should I give him some more time? I’ll wait a little longer.’ He moved the levers back to ‘level flight’ and switched of the controller. “You have ten mutes Fidel,” he said to the empty room. But it was only another two minutes before he got to his feet and moved towards the door, opening it slowly he took a quick look around before crossing to the parapet. Leaning over as far as he dare he looked down but could see no sign of Fidel. Noberto stood, turned and looked about him there was no sign of the sentry above him and no sign of Fidel. He did not appear to have climbed back up so he was still on his own. Again he leant over the parapet. ‘He can’t have climbed down already, not all that way. The bloody fool must have fallen.’ He thought as he walked back to the hut.

Once more inside with the door locked behind him he felt safe. ‘How safe am I though? I’m fairly near the explosion, when it blows some bits or the blast may smash the window. Flying glass! It wouldn’t do to get cut and end up with a bloody face.’ Moving the trigger to the floor he tipped the table onto its side and was about to sit down behind it when he heard running footsteps again. Quickly he took up position behind the door and out of view of the window just as the door handle turned. A moment later the beam from a flashlight shining through the window wavered over the chair, the table lying on its side and the floor strewn with papers and the plastic-bag.

* * *

The marine sentry on the east buttress was annoyed. ‘Trust me to be chosen to have to cross a dam no doubt full of gas and unstable explosive and now I have to stand here on the top of this bloody rock and stop anyone from walking across. As if anyone would want to cross the dam at this time of night; except me of course and I’ll have to go back again when my stint is over. If it blows when I’m halfway across I’ll have no chance... Perhaps they’ll send a “chopper” for me.’ He thought hopefully. Turning he looked out over the dam, the curved rim sweeping away to the other side broken only by the concrete pill box in the middle that held the taped up door. A figure stood on the far side looking about him before going to the edge. The sentry blinked and rubbed his eyes. ‘What the hell is he doing? He’s not one of ours... now where has he gone? He’s just disappeared, not on the dam, and I can’t see him on the road.’ The marine keyed his talk box to ask the lieutenant what was going on.

Helen was standing beside the lieutenant talking to him when the call came in. He held up his hand for her to be quiet before exclaiming in surprise. “Wad’d’ya mean there’s a guy on the dam, how the hell did he get past you?”

“He didn’t come past me sir. He’s on the far side near you and no one crossed the dam. Sir!”

“What’s he doing now?”

“I can’t see him now. I think he went... into that hut or over the edge, first he looked over and then he sort of disappeared. Sir! I can’t see the face of the dam from here.”

Cursing, the lieutenant accompanied by his scout and Nails ran along the road to the dam. Helen not to be outdone followed more discretely. They arrived at the stone hut without seeing anyone, the lieutenant tried the door. Locked, he moved to the window but couldn’t see a thing. Shining his torch through the window and shading the reflection from his eyes he peered inside. Nothing! Just a chair, a table on its side and the floor littered with a plastic-bag and some discarded papers. Meanwhile Rocky went to the waters edge and Nails ran to the edge of the dam to look over the parapet; he saw the top rungs of a ladder which disappeared beneath him. “There’s a ladder here sir,” he said, climbing onto the parapet. Then with one hand firmly grasping the top rung he leant further over until he sighted Fidel clinging to the rungs some sixty meters below. “There’s a man here climbing down sir.” He turned back and yelled. “You... down there! Get the f--- up here, NOW!”

Fidel was already getting tired, he was only a quarter way down and his arms were aching as he had to hang slightly backwards whilst the dam curved under. Also he was becoming more concerned that Noberto may blow the dam whilst he was still clinging to the rungs of the ladder. Although the ladder was at the side of the dam he really didn’t fancy his chances if the dam was destroyed and even if he survived that and the ladder held; his chances with the U.S. marines whilst being fully exposed clinging to it, must be next to zero. They would assume that it was he that had blown the dam and was now attempting to escape. On hearing the shout from above he cringed before glancing upwards in time to see a head protruding over the lip of the parapet. Immediately he started climbing down again this time at a more rapid and dangerous pace. Not for a moment did he consider obeying the demand from above.

“He’s not coming back sir. Permission to go after him.”

“Err! No! Not you. Rocky you go and don’t let him get away,” the lieutenant added.

The scout ran for the parapet and quickly climbing over soon disappeared from view.

Helen made her way to the lieutenant’s side before commenting quietly. “If the dam was to blow now sir, he wouldn’t stand much of a chance on that ladder.”

“And neither would the man that he is chasing, I don’t think he will blow it whilst he is in danger him self.”

Helen pondered the situation for a moment before again speaking to the lieutenant. Realising it needed diplomacy she tried to encourage him to think the same way she was thinking. “It will be very dangerous if he does get away sir. If the man is able to climb down that ladder quicker than Rocky.”

“You think he can out climb one of my marines ma’am?”

“No sir, but he already has a good start. Now if Nails were at the bottom waiting for him... Well he would be between a rock and a hard nail, if you’ll pardon the pun sir.” Helen answered with a disarming smile and a glance at the glider for emphasis.

The lieutenant allowed a slight smile to creep over his face as he weighed the options before walking to the edge of the dam and peering over. Abruptly he turned to Nails, “Marine this is not an order but would you be prepared to fly with this lady again and get below that man. Cut off his escape route at the bottom of the dam and make damn sure he doesn’t get away. You know I can’t order you to fly with her, don’t you? Well it won’t go any further than us if you refuse.”

Helen couldn’t resist adding, “And if you hold him, I’ll thump him.”

Nails, glancing between the two of them, couldn’t help but smile at this last comment before nodding his agreement. “Yes sir, I’ll fly with the lady.” Then turning to Helen ha asked, “Where do we take of from ma’am?”

Helen had already decided that they couldn’t take off from the dam due to the parapet so she turned and gestured towards the steps. “Up there, we won’t have to climb very high; above the roof of this hut should do it, just enough to get us over the dam wall.”

The other sentry was called down to help and with his assistance the four of them soon had the glider in position. Helen hooked on and Nails once again strapped him self into the quick release harness. The lieutenant, stooping under the wing, had a quick word. “After you land it may be a good idea to make your way to the power house and warn the engineers there, just in case. Then make your own way round the bluff, out of the line of fire so to speak.”

Helen nodded in agreement as Nails replied, “Yes sir! Will do!”

“Good luck then, off you go. And you,” he said, tapping Helen on the shoulder. “Be careful.”

* * *

Noberto who had only heard part of the conversation pondered about what action he should take. ‘Fidel and one of those interfering marines are on the ladder and that damn woman is going to fly down with the other marine to cut of his escape. That lieutenant feels very sure that Fidel will be caught and if they do catch him then he’ll certainly talk to save his own neck. Well mister interfering Lieutenant of American Marines, I have news for you, I hold the ace.’ He waited a short while after the voices and footsteps outside disappeared before carefully checking the window to ensure that no one was about to shine a torch into his hut. Then with a great deal of care he took up position sitting on the floor behind the table, pulling it in close before picking up the toy radio control and placing it in his lap, once again he switched on.

‘Now stick forward and hard over to the left. We are now in a death spiral ladies and gentle men.’ He giggled holding the stick forward and over with his left hand his right finger hovered over the bomb release. ‘Now!’ He jabbed down with his right hand and held his finger on the button.

* * *

“Ready?” said Helen, looking at Nails. “Then take six strides. Go!” It was an easy take off and once again they were airborne, flying over the roof of the hut the road and the parapet they were soon beyond the dam as Helen banked left along its face. “Nails can you get your feet up into that strop behind you, like my feet,” She added, nodding behind her. There was a large updraft of air near the dam and they easily held their height whilst traversing its face. Noting this Helen started turning away to her right when suddenly all hell let loose. A sheet of flame some twenty metres high erupted along the whole length of the dam and balanced atop this flame was the complete walk way. Helen felt the blast and the heat, heard the roar of the explosion and lost control of the hang-glider. It shied away and flipped over onto its back. They both fell onto the sail and a second later it flipped again. The glider tumbled about the sky as it dived and side slipped rapidly loosing height. It was some moments before Helen could orientate her self. They were in a spiral dive, the wind had increased and all the stringers began to hum with the added speed of their decent. Peter’s words sprang into her mind, ‘don’t put too much strain on the glider.’ Then voicing her thoughts aloud she called out, “Dear God I hope it’s stronger than you thought Peter.” Gently she pushed forward on the control bar. 

* * *

Noberto felt the explosion through the seat of his pants rather than heard it, next moment the inside of the hut was lit by a red flash a second before being filled by flying glass as the window blew in and Noberto felt the pressure from the shock wave. If Shaun Daily had still been alive and near by he would have insisted that the dive and bank controls be returned to the neutral position before Noberto removed his finger from the bomb release. But he was no longer able to give this advice and Noberto, not knowing any better, lifted his finger. Immediately another circuit was made from the battery to two of Shaun’s ‘pen like’ detonators. The same detonators that had been dumped so unceremoniously onto the table when he was first searched on entering the country. These were fragile items and one was broken. The other however was not and it only needed one to trigger the small amount of explosive that Shaun had been able to pack into the controller. The resulting explosion was minute in comparison to the previous one but this was contained in the hands of Noberto and lay in his lap. He was left with only seconds to silently curse both Fidel and Shaun as he died.

Fidel meanwhile was trying to descend as rapidly as possible and consequently when the explosion came only one hand and one foot were on the ladder. The dam wall vibrated like the skin of a drum shaking his remaining hand free. Clutching wildly at thin air he toppled backwards, bounced of the rungs some fifty metres lower before eventually coming to rest on the anvil below the water chute.

* * *

On the glider the first movement of the control bar had little effect and Helen pushed forward some more. She immediately felt the added strain and heard the bamboo groan as the hum from the stringers increased in pitch. They were going down at a steep angle in a spiral and she had to pull the glider out of the dive but now there was added tension on the control bar as Nails gripped it tightly. She pushed a little more and managed to stop the spiral. The tone from the stringers rose yet again and screamed at her, ‘enough, no further.’ Trusting to instinct she held the bar steady and peered ahead, not daring to look at the bend in the wing as it took the added strain. The maw of the water chute was below them but approaching at an alarming rate. An age passed before she realised they were beginning to reduce the angle of the dive and the glider started to recover. They were past the water chute now and approaching the shale slope but they needed a little more height. Helen inched the control bar to the right. Then it happened, not a twang, just a thud followed immediately by the crackling sound of splintering bamboo, tearing cloth and giving Helen had no time to react as the right wing folded. Nails, who had been watching the ground approach, saw that they were over the slope of shale and with great presence of mind twisted his quick release harness. With the reduced load the remnants of the glider behaved differently and spun around above Helen’s head slowing her decent. She crashed onto the shale slope close behind Nails but still attached to the broken glider. Nails bounced, rolled and slid down the scree into the shrubbery at the base of the slope. Right behind him Helen slid and rolled cocooned in a shroud of the torn sail and broken bamboo. Eventually they both came to rest, Helen mummified in the glider remains whilst Nails was draped carelessly over a bush.

* * *

In the lead helicopter flying down the valley Peter was stationed between the two pilots, ostensibly to pass on his knowledge of the valley because he had flown it before, though with the glider. The lieutenant was leaning over his shoulder trying to get a glimpse of the dam. Some minutes before, they had seen reflections from the midnight sun and were now flying as fast as they could to find out how things were progressing. Rounding a bend in the valley the dam at last came into view, its concrete face light by the stars. The helicopter banked slightly and headed directly towards it, when suddenly the top of the dam erupted with a sheet of flame like a volcano and silhouetted against the flame Peter distinctly saw a black triangle. His hart skipped a beat as he realised that it could only be the glider and therefore must be Helen flying it. ‘Why was she still flying and what was she doing so near to the explosion?’ Next moment the flames disappeared, snuffed out like a candle and it was dark again. Peter strained his eyes trying to see what had happened. “We’re too late,” he exclaimed as his fingers dug into the pilots shoulder. “They’ve blown the dam, something must have gone wrong. I saw the glider in the flash, where did it go? Can you see it?”

The co-pilot flipped a pair of night vision goggles down over his eyes before scanning the face of the rapidly approaching dam. “The dam appears to be holding, I can’t see any cold spots, no cracks and no water appears to be seeping. The glider it’s much lower down and is flying fast, near the base of the dam... There!” He exclaimed raising his hand and pointing. Peter surprised at how low he was pointing strained to pick out the glider against the grey backdrop. ‘How come they are so low, just a moment ago they were silhouetted against the flames? They must be in trouble to have descended that rapidly.’

“I can’t see them. Are they still flying?”

“Yes! ... No! It’s broken. They’ve crashed. Near the water out flow.”

“Get me there, now hurry. Put me down some where nearby.”

“No! It’s too dangerous, it’s right below the dam and that may go at any moment. Besides there’s no flat area big enough. Nowhere to land.”

Peter desperately scanned the ground. “Listen! That’s my girl there, so put me down on the top of that pipe. The water outflow. Just hover above it and I’ll jump.”

“Do it.” The lieutenant said before adding to Peter. “I’ll have a marine go with you.”

“Thank you sir, but I don’t want to risk the life of one of your men. The dam may yet break.”

“One of my men was with her, he’ll need help... Medic, gather your gear together, one man only. A marine and that woman are down there. They crashed. You’re going with this guy. Get them ready for ‘evac’ as soon as you can.”

“Sir! It needs two for a stretcher and that civilian has got a bad shoulder. Permission to go as well... sir?”

“Okay rooky you too, leave your weapon... The helicopter will return as soon as they can.”

A moment later the helicopter was in a hover with one wheel resting on the top of the outflow pipe. Peter followed by the two marines carrying a stretcher was out and running along the pipe to the shale bank. He turned and jumped down again and again two meters at a time heedless of the danger to him self and heading for the body that he could see draped over a bush. When he arrived he saw it was the marine, and quickly felt for a pulse. He was alive and best left for the medic, so where was Helen? Peter cast around. There were the remains of the glider, a pile of sticks and black canvas but no sign of Helen. ‘She must have been flying it; the marine couldn’t have been flying it him self, so where the hell is she.’ The medic and the other marine came sliding to a stop beside him with the stretcher.

“There’s your guy he’s still breathing. You’d best look after him, if he wakes up ask him if he was on his own. Damit! He couldn’t be she must be nearby. I’m going to take a look lower down.” Peter moved to the bush that had stopped the glider and which was now rolled into a bundle. As he was about to pass it he saw some movement and kneeling down beside it felt through the canvas and found a leg. “She’s here, entangled in the glider. You have a knife?”

The second marine was quickly by his side in time to hear a groan emanate from her shroud as he carefully cut the canvas away. “Helen, are you okay, where does it hurt, are you in one piece?”

She took a deep breath like a sigh and opened her eyes which slowly focused on Peter’s face. “Peter, what are you doing here?”

“I just thought you may need some help with the glider.” He said glibly as his hands moved over her mummified form feeling gently whilst watching her face for a reaction.

“Sorry Peter you’re a mite tardy there, I think I bent it, that wasn’t a very good landing.”

He lent over put his arms round her and kissed her. “Yes! Just a little bit. That wasn’t how I taught you to land.”

It took a full five minutes to cut her free from the glider and she sat up. “I’m okay really I am. No bones broken, all this padding and the flack jacket seems to have saved me from the worst of it.” She replied in answer to Peter’s repeated entreaty. She appeared to have escaped with bruises and only a wrenched knee. The glider had protected her well. By this time the medic had brought Nail’s round who was now cursing over a broken leg and threatening to kill the medic if he hurt him further. At that moment Rocky joined them in a welter of loose stones as he slid down the slope.

Helen looked up. “What happened to the guy you were chasing on the ladder.”

“Lost him! ... He’s dead, he fell off... when it exploded.” He declared dramatically. “And I damn near fell off myself.” He looked at Nails, “Can we move him; we should get away from here in case the dam breaks.”

Helen grasped Peter’s arm, “Peter we need to go to the generator housing and phone home.”

“Home?”

“Yes! I mean the office. What time is it?”

Peter felt his bare wrist as the medic answered for him. “Time... err 3:30 ma’am.”

“The UK is five hours ahead, so some one will already be in at the company office. We need to get through to them and find out what the figures are saying about the dam. If they can get any figures that make sense, that is. We have to know if the dam will survive.”

The two marines decided they could manage Nails by themselves until the helicopter returned so after helping Helen to her feet and leaning heavily on Peter they made their way down the rest of the slope to the power house. The main doors were wide open but inside it was a different matter. A large cupboard blocked a doorway on their left whilst another cupboard leant against it jammed across the passage way. Peter went to move the cupboard and clear the blocked passage way but the first hint of noise he made was answered by shouts of help from behind the blocked doorway. The cupboards were removed and three white suited engineers emerged from the room shaking with fright.

Eventually Peter and Helen placated them enough to stop them running away. Peter, taking the senior engineer aside persuaded him to open the sluice to reduce the water level in the dam whilst Helen sought a phone. She rang the company office in the UK and asked to speak to David’s partner. It was only on telling them who she was that she was put through.

“Helen it’s good to hear from you, are you all right? Is David there?”

“Listen carefully and please don’t interrupt. David is dead, murdered.”

“David! Dead, murdered! When, how did it happen?”

“Later! I’ll tell you later. There has just been an explosion at the dam and we need a quick assessment of the damage. Can you pull up the latest monitoring figures and see what they say. Do it now, I’ll wait on the phone. I need to know if the dam will hold.” She heard the phone being put down on the desk at the other end and at the same time the long mournful sound of the siren sounded of from somewhere high up on the dam. They were at last opening the bypass sluice.

Helen sat with the phone to her ear, impatiently drummed her fingers on the table whilst one of the engineers stood near the window gazing intently up at the dam. It appeared as if every one was holding their breath when Drew burst in through the doors.

“What are you waiting for, we should have cleared this place, the dam is likely to give way at any second,” he shouted.

Peter just held up a hand for him to be quiet as Helen spoke into the phone “Yes I’m still here. You have the figures.”... “The strain gauges are all zero... Well the connections are probably broken. The water level is nearly full and the bypass is fully open. Yes, yes! We know that, what about the movement. Has the dam moved... is it going to give way?”... “Just a little! Are you sure?”... Helen gently replaced the phone. “He said the dam has moved a little, a few centimetres nothing to worry about, it should be okay.” Peter heaved a sigh of relief and turned to Drew as Helen came to her feet and limped over to the window. She gazed up at the star lit grey face of the dam and there, as if etched on the concrete, she recalled David’s face with all its blemishes. The wrinkles showed near the eyes, the small mole on his top lip and that lazy smile played around his mouth that she had so often seen when he looked at her. ‘David! You brilliant, clever man. You beat them all. You did it. They haven’t destroyed your dam,’ she thought as she felt Peter’s arm sneak round her waist.