Clive Cussler - Fast Ice

It snapped taut and caught the man in the back of the knees. His legs folded and he went over backward. He hit the ground, rolled to the side and turned back toward Kurt. Just in time to get hit in the face by another blast.

He raised the pistol, firing blindly and attempting to block the water with his free hand. Before he managed to get a clear view, Joe came in from the side and kicked the pistol from his grasp and dropped down on him with a flying elbow.

The impact slammed the burly man into the pool deck. His face hit the concrete and his nose shattered. He rolled over, his face bloody, his eyes filled with rage.

Joe threw a right cross, but the man caught it in his big paw and stopped the punch cold.

He stood up, pulling Joe toward him and then grabbing him by the tuxedo lapels.

Joe kicked the man in his substantial gut, but it had no effect. The man lifted him up and heaved him across the room like he was a small child.

Joe flew uncontrollably, crashing into the cabinets and bringing them down on top of him.

Rushing into action, Kurt charged around the far side of the pool, dragging the hose with him and hooking it around the brute’s body.

Kurt heaved on the line, but the big man was stout. He absorbed the force, taking a single step back but otherwise holding his ground. Turning the tables on Kurt, he locked onto the hose with both hands and ripped it from Kurt’s grasp.

To avoid being toppled into the pool, Kurt let go. As the big man stumbled backward in victory, Kurt raced to Joe’s side and helped him to his feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

They rushed for the door as the big man punched a large red button on the far wall. Alarms began to sound. Automatic doors began to close.

Sprinting for all they were worth, Kurt and Joe made it through the exit just before a steel-barred gate slammed shut.

“Now what?” Joe said.

“Keep running.”

23

Leandra was still in the maintenance shed when she heard the alarm go off. Red lights began flashing inside and sections of the fencing between the shed and the main compound slid shut. “So much for making a quick getaway.”

She crouched in her hiding spot, listening to the dull whoop-whoop-whoop of the alarm and watching as the Mercedes carrying Ryland and his guests pulled in and parked.

Stepping from the car, Ryland was met by two of his employees—an older man who was his primary gamekeeper and a younger ranch hand.

“What’s the alarm about?” Ryland asked calmly.

“Animal escape,” the gamekeeper said.

“Where?” Ryland demanded.

“Back at building four.”

To Leandra, Ryland looked preternaturally calm. “We’ve just come from building four,” he said.

The gamekeeper raised his hands. “All I can tell you is someone activated the high danger alert. It’s probably those damned lions again. They were raised in zoos and circuses. They were mistreated badly and they’re dangerous. At this point they associate humans with food.”

“So you’ve told me,” Ryland said. “I doubt they’re the problem this time. Give me your radio.”

The gamekeeper produced his radio and handed it over. Ryland held it to his face and pressed the talk button. “Building four, come in, this is Ryland. What’s your status?”

Leandra had the volume on her radio turned down to the bare minimum, but the scratchy sound of a human voice came through. She pressed the speaker to her ear to listen.

“. . . spotted two intruders after you left. I don’t know how they got in here, but they beat up one of my men and took a sample of the pool water. I hit the emergency animal alarm to lock down the building but they got out before the doors shut.”

The details made little sense to Leandra, but Ryland’s guests looked instantly concerned.

“Sample?” the Russian said. “Of your catalytic algae?”

“Relax,” Ryland said.

“With a sample, someone could develop a counteragent.”

“Unlikely,” Ryland said. “Besides, they’ll never have the chance. They’re in the middle of a game park teeming with wild animals and surrounded by electric fences.”

Remaining unflappable, he brought the radio back up and pressed talk once more. “Were these intruders two men in tuxedos, one of average height with short dark hair and a taller one with silver hair and an irritating smirk on his face?”

“That’s them for sure.”

“I thought so,” Ryland said.

Liang seemed agitated by this news. “You know these men?”

Ryland nodded. “Two Americans from an organization called NUMA. I was suspicious of them from the moment they requested an invitation.”

“Then you should have refused them entry,” Liang snapped.

Ryland shook his head. “Refusing them entry would have raised their suspicions and I wanted to learn their intentions. Now that I know their goal, I will deal with them appropriately.”

“How?” Tunstall asked.

“In a way that looks like an explainable tragedy.” He turned back to the gamekeeper.

“Those lions were brought here to be hunted,” he said. “It seems only fair to let them have a little fun of their own. Take a few of your men and release them. Bring the night vision scopes and find the Americans. Once you spot them, keep the lions moving in their direction.”

“Those lions are overdue for a feeding,” the gamekeeper said.

“Yes,” Ryland said, grinning. “That should make them even more keen to do the job for us.”

24

Kurt and Joe were running in a southerly direction when they heard the first sound for the lions behind them. The roar of a male could travel for miles, but this call was much closer. Other roars followed and it sounded as if a skirmish had broken out between several of the beasts.

“That’s not a sound I wanted to hear,” Joe said, continuing to move.

Whatever caused the disturbance, it soon died down.

“I’d prefer if they kept roaring,” Kurt said. “If they stay quiet, we’ll never know where they are.”

“At that point I think you can assume they’re sneaking up on us.”

Kurt and Joe had no way of knowing that the gamekeeper and his assistant were using cattle prods to force the maladjusted lions out of their cramped pens. Or that the big cats, now agitated, had balked, swatting at the prods and roaring with each painful jab.

Running at a pace they could maintain, Kurt kept moving south, bending their course wide of the main building and its inviting lights.

“What about Leandra?” Joe asked.

“Let’s hope she’s heard the commotion and got out,” Kurt said.

Coming upon a tree with a Y-shaped trunk, Kurt climbed up and gazed off into the distance.

“What do you see?” Joe said, breathing deeply to resupply his muscles with oxygen.

“Headlights and dust,” Kurt said. “They’ve got a couple vehicles out there, weaving back and forth.”

“Sounds like a modern cattle drive,” Joe said. “Or, in this case, a lion drive.”

Kurt had no doubt they were using the vehicles to spur the lions forward. He wondered about doubling back, then realized it would be too slow on foot to get around the lions and the men in the vehicles.

He looked the other way. There wasn’t much light, but based on the glow from the lodge, he estimated the fence was no more than half a mile off. “Let’s run for it.”

Kurt hopped down and the two of them took off once again. Picking up the pace and running in silence.

A glance back told Kurt their pursuers were coming closer. He saw four vehicles spread out in a V formation, headlights glaring like the eyes of some infernal beast. He had to assume the lions were somewhere in the front of that beast.