Perdition's Daughters, page 27
Daniel glanced at his watch, then knelt and lifted Elizabeth effortlessly into his arms.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, striding out across the wasteland.
Jennifer, Lesya and Yana ran close behind.
‘Stay with me,’ he called to them, lengthening his stride.
The girls jogged beside him as Pasha watched them go, gratefully clutching the handful of roubles Daniel had given him. It was more money than he would make from a month of begging on the streets.
They crossed the open ground as quickly as possible. Daniel ducked in between the two small brick huts, crossed the track and struck back towards the sloping platform edge.
‘Move in front of me. Get on the train and stay out of sight,’ Daniel called to the girls.
Petr’s pulse was racing. Whistles were blowing and doors were clunking shut. The train was leaving. He stood in the centre of the terminal and turned full circle, his eyes darting and head swirling. The horrific, sickening thought struck him – the platforms, they must have made the platforms. He remembered Daniel’s words at the castle. “People always use two-dimensional search patterns”. He had covered the doors, the main entrances and the exits, those coming in and those going out. What if they had already been in the station? What if they were already on the platform? Already on the train? He turned and ran.
Petr burst out of the doors and onto the long stretch of platform. The train was already rolling slowly. He looked down the long length of carriages. All the doors were closed – all except one, the first door of the furthest carriage, right at the far end of the platform. It swayed open as a tall man, wearing a white hard hat, stepped up from the platform, carrying the small, athletic frame of a young woman in his arms.
Petr stared and swallowed hard as reality dawned.
TWENTY-FOUR
Petr stood momentarily transfixed, the fleeting, incredulous scene taking one, thumping heartbeat to register. Then he responded – a snap judgement call. It was a natural, automated, knee-jerk reaction. A decision nine out of ten people would make – the wrong decision. His eyes took in the movement and the people. His brain processed the information and confirmed the recognition. The name Temple screamed through his mind and his untrained reactions took over. He turned and ran toward the target, straight down the length of the platform. The train began to accelerate alongside him, rolling steadily out of the station. Too late, he realised his mistake. He should have chosen the immediate point of entry – the door which had been directly in front of him on the platform. He grasped for the next and thumped the button hard. The door remained closed. The train was leaving, the door was locked – they were all locked. He continued to run, dodging past passengers, leaping over luggage and careering down the platform. The train accelerated out of reach, but still he ran.
At last, Petr’s brain confirmed it was a futile effort. His pace slowed and his head rolled back in despair. Easing down to a leaden-footed, beaten walk, he stood at the end of the platform and roared his frustration.
‘It’s OK, you can stand up now,’ Daniel said to the girls as they crouched below the window line in the centre of the last carriage.
The girls climbed to their feet and followed Daniel through to the next, near-empty carriage. Finding a group of seats, they sat in silence, letting the adrenalin surge and nervous energy drain from their bodies.
‘Thank you, Daniel,’ Elizabeth said.
They all nodded. ‘Thank you, Daniel,’ they said in turn, believing that they were now free and safe.
Daniel brought them crashing back to reality.
‘We’re not home yet,’ he said sternly. ‘Not until we cross the border.’
‘They won’t find us now, will they?’ Elizabeth asked nervously.
‘All I’m saying is that we have to stay alert. They were at the station. Petr’s not stupid; he knew we’d be there. We were lucky he didn’t think to cover the platforms. If they think we made it this far, there’s nothing to stop them getting ahead and boarding the train later, assuming they’re not onboard already.’
The girls looked around anxiously as the dread came flooding back.
‘Please don’t let them find us and take us again,’ Jennifer pleaded fearfully, tears welling up in her eyes.
Yana sat silently back in her seat and pulled her knees up to her chest. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her head against the window and stared vacantly out at the passing cityscape, singing gently to herself.
Daniel looked at her sympathetically. She was in a bad way. Her mind, far more than her body, had been shattered. The slightest hint of a return to her ordeal caused her to mentally close down, firmly shutting out the world and everything around her.
Lesya placed her hand gently on Yana’s knee.
‘Don’t worry, we’re safe now. I won’t let anything else happen to you, I promise,’ she whispered, glaring at Daniel.
Daniel listened to her words and stared hard at her in return. He said nothing. It wasn’t the time or place. They were far from safe and he knew it. Lesya was making promises, and however well intentioned, they were promises she could never keep.
‘Who’s hungry?’ he asked cheerfully, changing the subject and trying to lift their mood.
They all nodded, forcing half-smiles, except Yana.
‘Great, I’m ravenous. I suggest sandwiches and snacks rather than the full buffet car. It’s better that we stay here and attract as little attention as possible. The fewer people that see us, the fewer traces we leave, OK?’
The girls nodded again with a little more enthusiasm.
‘One gourmet picnic coming up,’ Daniel smiled. ‘Wait here, I’ll be right back.’
Daniel wandered down through the train, using the excuse of getting food to carefully search the carriages. If Petr and his men were aboard, Daniel wanted to see them before they saw him. He walked slowly, checking each carriage thoroughly before entering and moving on. They had done well. Their luck was still holding. There was no sign of Kozlov’s men; the train was clear. He relaxed just a little. The next two and half hours to Vyborg would be safe. He wandered back to the buffet car and spent the remaining money on a selection of hot rolls, pastries, coffee and chocolate.
Petr ran back into the station, calling in his men over the radio as he went. The men gathered round.
‘We missed them,’ he growled, his face flushed crimson, with anger rather than exertion.
The men looked at him and then at each other in disbelief.
‘How?’ they asked almost as one.
‘I made a mistake, a wrong assumption; the wrong search pattern,’ Petr replied, ruefully shaking his head. ‘Olaf, find out where that train stops.’
‘Yes, Petr,’ Olaf confirmed, running to the ticket counter.
He returned moments later, handing Peter the information he wanted. The men stood back and waited whilst Petr rapidly scanned the train timetable.
‘Vyborg. They don’t have any passports – they will have to get off at Vyborg,’ he said with conviction.
Petr looked at the men.
‘Get the cars. Olaf, radio ahead – get the chopper ready,’ he ordered.
The big, black Toyotas accelerated away from the station, screeched around the city streets and out onto the Sestroretsk road.
The big Mil Mi-8 helicopter was already sat with its engines idling, the huge rotors turning lazily as the pilot waited for Petr and the men to arrive. The 4x4’s skidded to a halt in front of the castle. The men jumped out and ran across the open lawn to the waiting chopper. Petr was the last to climb aboard. Dejectedly, he slumped into his seat and slid the door closed.
‘Let’s go,’ he said.
The noise inside the cabin changed as the pilot increased the power and the rotors rapidly transformed from a slow and lazy whomp-whomp, to a fast, loud and heavy whack-whack-whack. The great machine lifted into the sky. Rising vertically, it cleared the height of the trees, pirouetted ninety degrees, climbed and accelerated north.
Sergei Kozlov turned in his seat next to the pilot and faced Petr, his expression dark and his brow deeply furrowed.
‘You missed them?’ he asked with thinly disguised anger.
Petr stared for a moment, not realising that Kozlov would be on board, unable to hide the look of shock on his face. He nodded slowly, reluctantly admitting his failure.
‘We missed them – just,’ he added quickly.
‘You know where they are now?’
‘The train. They’re on the Repin, Mr Kozlov. They can’t get off until they reach Vyborg. We’ll be there ahead of them. We won’t miss them again.’
‘A second failure would be most unfortunate. There would be consequences – unfortunate consequences,’ Kozlov acknowledged menacingly.
Petr knew exactly what he meant.
‘Yes, Sir,’ he replied sombrely.
Daniel returned to the girls with the selection of food and they all ate hungrily. Aided by the warmth of the carriage and the steady rocking motion of the train, one by one, they drifted into exhausted sleep.
The train left the remnants of the city behind, entering the snow-covered fields of the open countryside. Daniel sat alone. He stared out of the window, deep in thought, and evaluated their next objective, calculating the possibilities and alternatives. He took the optimistic possibility first. They would reach Vyborg in two hours. If by some miracle Kozlov and his men had either miscalculated their route or simply given up the chase, they would leave the train and call for help. After that, they would hide out and wait to be taken over the border to Finland and safety. He thought about the odds, smiled to himself and discounted his optimism without any further consideration.
Option two; the most likely scenario. Kozlov and his men would be waiting in Vyborg. Four, maybe five men would be posted in the station – on the platform this time. The rest would be dispersed outside, just in case they somehow slipped through for a second time. Daniel mulled it over. He had no idea what Vyborg or the station would be like. It was the main stop for the customs checks. Therefore, it stood to reason that the place was pretty large. There would be police, government officials and other more clandestine security personnel in significant numbers. Usually that might be a good thing, but not in Russia. Not under these circumstances.
Option three; the final choice. He ran it through in his mind. There was no alternative. He had hoped for a clean getaway, but he knew that had been overly optimistic; a more drastic and unexpected course was their only chance of escape and survival. He looked over to the girls. All but Yana were sleeping. Yana stared unblinking at the white, frozen landscape as it rolled past her window.
The Lynx helicopter flew low and fast. The men inside stared solemnly at one another.
‘What time does the train reach Vyborg?’
‘10:30am.’
‘Are you sure that’s where they’ll be?’
‘They’re on the Repin. The girls won’t have passports; they’ll have to get off there.’
‘And then what?’
‘Call for aid and either hide or strike out for the border.’
‘Call who?’
Two of the men shrugged.
‘Guess we’d better be on time then,’ the dark-haired man said simply, glancing at his watch, then at the two men sitting adjacent to him. ‘It’s going to be tight. I don’t like this; I don’t like at all.’
The two men nodded and remained grim faced. There was nothing else to say.
Daniel pulled the spare magazine for the rifle from his coat pocket, then opened the canvas workbag and checked the ammunition already with the gun. There were thirteen rounds; he had no need to count, but it was a time-served routine – check and double check – any good soldier knew you could never be too prepared. He clicked three rounds from one magazine. Loaded them into the other, leaving him with one full ten-round mag and three spare bullets. He dropped the full magazine into the bag and placed the three spare bullets into his pocket. Next, he took out the Makarov he had retrieved from Elizabeth and checked it over. He had two full clips – ten rounds in each. He slipped the gun and spare clip into the opposite pocket. He was good to go.
Daniel looked out of the window as the heavy sound of rotor blades clattered overhead and a big Russian Mi-8 helicopter turned and swooped in low over the ground, cruising the length of the train.
Elizabeth opened her eyes, gasped and watched in horror as the enormous black and green machine flew in close, banked steeply and rose away again.
‘It’s them,’ she exclaimed, the fear palpable in her voice.
‘I know,’ Daniel stated calmly. ‘Time to go.’
‘Go?’
Daniel looked down at her, his face calm and resolute. There was no time for discussion or explanation.
‘Get them up and ready, I’ll be back in a second.’
Elizabeth roused the others.
‘We have to go,’ she said as they stretched the stiffness from their limbs and rubbed the sleep from their eyes.
‘Go? Are we at the station?’ Jennifer asked.
‘No, not quite, it’s not far. There was… There was a helicopter,’ Elizabeth explained hesitantly. ‘It flew over a minute ago. It’s them – they’re still out there.’
Elizabeth watched as Jennifer’s returning hope and optimism crumbled before her eyes.
‘What are we going to do? Daniel can’t beat them all. They’re going to catch us and take us back,’ she cried.
Elizabeth gripped her sister’s shoulders.
‘We’re going to do exactly what Daniel tells us. He got us out and he’s got us this far; now come on,’ she demanded assertively, snapping the words at her sister.
Daniel returned to the carriage, the assembled rifle strapped to his back. He looked at Elizabeth and briefly nodded his approval.
‘Let’s go. Lesya, bring Yana,’ he instructed, leading them out into the space between the last two carriages.
‘The train will be slowing down in a minute. Once the speed has dropped enough we’re going to jump. Kozlov’s men are at the station. It will take them a little while to realise that the train is late, a little longer to find out we’re not on it, and even longer to find our trail.’
The girls looked out of the window. The countryside flashed past at an alarming rate. They looked nervously back at Daniel. He looked focussed and confident.
‘Ready to go?’ he asked.
The girls nodded dumbly.
‘Good. When I say, jump. Push off hard and watch where you’re landing. The snow’s pretty thick; we’ll be alright.’
He stepped back into the carriage, smashed his elbow through the glass-covered case and pulled the handle hard. The emergency brakes clamped on with full force. The wheels locked and bit into the tracks. Sparks and ear-piercing metal screeches filled the air. The train’s speed halved in seconds, sending passengers and luggage tumbling through the carriages.
Daniel hit the button. The door hissed open, the emergency brake automatically releasing the locks on all doors. Frozen air poured in and blustered around them as Daniel pushed Yana and Lesya toward the opening.
‘Go,’ he said.
Lesya held Yana in front of her. She looked out of the door and down. The ground still seemed to be rushing beneath her feet. There were no tracks to clear. It was a jump straight out onto a narrow, snow-covered bank which dropped steeply away to the open fields below.
‘Go,’ Daniel called again.
Lesya gulped in a breath, held it a second, pushed Yana hard, then jumped after her. They thumped into the ground, rolled and kept on rolling, momentum carrying them at speed down the bank. They slithered to a stop at the bottom of the incline, wrapped in the thick, soft blanket of snow.
Jennifer moved hesitantly toward to the open door, the knuckles on her hands whitening as she gripped the sides hard.
‘Let’s go, Jennifer,’ Daniel ordered with no time for pleasantries.
Jennifer pushed her head out of the door and anxiously watched the ground. Fearfully, she swayed back and forth in the opening like a ski jumper waiting at the gate.
‘Come on, Jen, I’m right behind you. You can do it,’ Elizabeth urged.
Daniel stood in behind her, placed his hand in the centre of her back and shoved hard. Jennifer screamed as she was launched out of the doorway, her arms turning frantic circles in the air. Then she was down, tumbling through the snow toward the bottom of the bank.
Daniel scooped Elizabeth into his arms.
‘It’s really just not your day, is it!’ he quipped, launching himself through the door, taking Elizabeth with him before his comment could register.
Daniel released Elizabeth in mid-air.
‘Sorry, this is going to hurt,’ he said as he let her go.
They landed a few yards apart. Daniel rolled twice on the levelling ground, controlled his movement and came easily to his feet. Elizabeth thudded side-on into the snow and rolled further down the bank, painfully jarring her ankle as she slithered to a stop.
The train careered on.
Daniel wasted no time. He got the girls up and moving, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the soon-to-be stationary train.
The going was hard and the fresh snow soft and deep. Their feet sank with every step, slowing their progress to a crawl. Elizabeth struggled bravely, desperate to keep pace, but with every agonising step she fell further behind.
‘Keep going,’ Daniel called as he turned and headed back.
He stopped in front of Elizabeth, stooped and offered the broad expanse of his back.
‘Climb on,’ he ordered.
She didn’t argue; she could walk no further. She threw her arms around Daniel’s neck and clambered gratefully onto his back.
Daniel picked up the pace, marching out in front of the girls, urging them to keep up as he headed for the cover of a thickly-wooded area on the far side of the snow-covered fields.
