Hunter Killer by James Rouch Read Free Book Online Page B

on, its beam picking out the dust filling the air as its circle of pale yellow illumination lit up the extent of the damage.
    Hyde cautiously began to unfasten his harness, then had to grab at the loose ends to stop himself being thrown to the floor as the cabin lurched sideways and slid downhill to a second, more gentle collision than the first. Blasts of ice-cold air whirled snow into the cabin through the gaps among the debris wedged into the damaged front quarter.
    Though resting at a steep angle, the cabin seemed more firmly settled than before, and as a second torch was brought into action Revell gave the order for the men to release themselves.
    Outside there was a strange jostling clinking noise, like broken bottles being rolled together in a blanket. It had a rhythmic quality, regular and even. ‘Hey, we’re taking in water.’ It was York who announced the discovery, as he moved to help a bombardier trying to free a gunner pinned against the wall. ‘Keep calm.’ The babble of sound that’ greeted the information signalled a warning to Revell, and he acted fast to prevent a panic. A quick examination showed that the water was not rising. That and the fact that the cabin was not moving suggested that they were firmly beached at the water’s edge. ‘Sergeant Hyde, take two men and scout our position. Find somewhere for the casualties, preferably with room enough to take the command centre as well.’
    Nodding to Clarence and Libby, Hyde left through the small emergency hatch in the roof. As soon as the trio had gone, Revell turned his attention to the chaos of the interior.’
    There were eight dead, all gunners, including the battery commander and sergeant-major. Both men had been pierced by the same spear-like splintered floorboard. The fifteen injured included Lieutenant Hogg, whose broken nose was pouring blood in a seemingly endless stream, and Boris, who had been hit in the face by flying rubble and was heavily cut and bruised about the mouth, and eyes. Most of the other injuries were multiple fractures of the chest and limbs.
    ‘Come on, Burke, you can let go now.’ York was having to prise the driver’s fingers from the back of the seat in front. As fast as he or Andrea levered one digit free, another would snap back to re-establish the vice-like grip. We’ve landed. You’re not fucking hurt, give us a hand.’
    It quickly became apparent that the front doors were too badly crushed and jammed into their surrounds to be opened without cutting gear. It was just as obvious that getting the injured out through the roof hatches would be virtually impossible.
    ‘I want a hole in that wall, Dooley, get to it.’ Panning the torch about, Revell sought someone to wield their other axe. ‘You give him a hand, Burke. If you don’t like it in here, this is your chance to make your own way out.’
    The offer worked where nothing York had said had succeeded. In an instant Burke was up from his seat, had snatched the small bright-bladed axe and was attacking the angle-iron braced alloy wall.
    An arm floated in the eighteen inches of water that filled one corner, adding the final touch that made the din-filled cabin into an audio-visual modern version of a surrealist nightmare. The blend of the horrific and the absurd was perfect, and the flickering beams displayed each in turn.
    Reversing, the axe, Dooley hammered flat the ragged edges of metal left by Burke’s energetic, but more frantic than planned, efforts.
    ‘That’ll do. Start moving the casualties. I want to get away from this shoreline as soon as Sergeant Hyde returns.’ Re veil helped an artillery man with a broken arm to the improvised exit.
    ‘He’s here now.’ Moving aside to let the NCO back in, Dooley caught and gashed his hand on a ragged protuberance he’d missed. The annoyance he gave vent to in a burst of voluble swearing was directed more at the tear in his glove than at the cut or its cause.
    Learning by Dooley’s example, Hyde