out of this building and run about thirty metres, then down a flight of steps.’
Lauren spoke awkwardly, because she still had a wad of bloody tissue jammed into her mouth to stop her lip bleeding. ‘I don’t fancy it.’
‘Me neither,’ James said. ‘The last thing we want is to get caught out in the open. We’re better off staying put.’
All three kids ducked instinctively as a helicopter skimmed the roof. Two more came into view, looming over the courtyard at the rear of the Holy Church, their positions exposed by the powerful lights illuminating the spires.
One of the helicopters switched its searchlight on, flooding the paved area beneath it with light. It was a big beast, military green, with a dozen commandos standing in open doorways, ready to spring out when it touched down.
As the chopper moved within ten metres of the ground, an orange streak roared out of the church and hit it from point blank range. The blast knocked three men out of the open doorway, as a blaze erupted inside the cockpit.
‘Back up,’ James yelled.
He knew the window would shatter if the helicopter exploded, so he wrapped an arm over his face and dived under the nearest desk. Lauren and Rat did the same, but nothing happened. James braved a glance. The flames were out and clouds of fire-extinguishing powder billowed out of the helicopter’s doorways.
Apparently the helicopter had been saved by its fire protection system, but the pilot was flying blind and had no option but to pull up. That left three bodies on the ground below. Two were engulfed in flames and didn’t seem to be moving, but the third rolled frantically in the dirt trying to extinguish his burning uniform.
The other three helicopters were now in plain sight, trying to land in the courtyard but coming under heavy fire. Another streak – James guessed it was a rocket-propelled grenade – ripped from inside the church. It deflected off the side of a descending helicopter, before spiralling up in a wild trajectory and exploding close to the perimeter wall.
The next shot was a direct hit on the tail rotor of the helicopter closest to touchdown. It twisted violently, its blades centimetres shy of a fatal collision with the side of the church.
As the pilot battled to control his ship without a tail rotor, the other two helicopters pulled up and backed away from the compound, apparently under orders to withdraw. Unfortunately, this left the chopper with the damaged tail as the only target in the sky. Two more rockets slammed home as it tried to pull up, one from the church and one from inside a turret.
This last was a direct hit on the fuel tank. James buried his face against the classroom floor and felt a wave of heat as the sky lit up in orange. A deafening slam was followed by a shockwave that blew out hundreds of panes of glass across the Ark.
Deadly shards sprayed the room around James, as the sudden change of air pressure made his ears pop. If he hadn’t been shielded under the table, he would have been sliced to pieces.
Although his eyes stung from the smoke and fuel vapour, he forced them open and looked around desperately for his sister. ‘Lauren?’
‘We’re OK,’ Lauren yelled back, though James could hardly hear over the ringing in his ears. ‘You?’
‘Yeah … I think.’
James stood up carefully, avoiding the broken glass. He dashed over to join Rat and Lauren, who’d huddled together in fright.
‘I think they’ve pulled back, for now,’ James said.
Lauren rubbed her eye. ‘That poor man burning on the ground,’ she said, sniffing and looking completely stunned. ‘There must have been loads more in the one that blew up.’
James grabbed his radio and shouted, ‘Chloe?’
‘Where are you?’ she asked, audibly shocked. ‘Did I see what I think I just saw?’
‘We didn’t have time to get underground, we’re still in the education building, and yes you did see a chopper go down.’
‘I told them,’ Chloe screamed. ‘I bloody told them. Are you guys OK?’
‘Lauren’s shaken up, but we’re all in one piece.’
‘The other three choppers are touching down in the desert near me,’ Chloe said. ‘I’ve got nursing qualifications. They’re bound to have injuries up there and I’m sure I can help out.’
*
The high-speed catamaran had been built as a rich man’s plaything, or at least Dana couldn’t imagine any woman splurging millions on such an absurd toy. Yet, in another way, she couldn’t help admiring it, from its immaculately