Forester. ‘But Armstrong reckons it’ll work.’
‘Armstrong is a good man,’ said Aguillar. ‘He is thinking of immediate necessities – but I think of the future. Suppose we hold off these men; suppose we destroy the bridge – what then?’
‘We’re not really any better off,’ said O’Hara reflectively. ‘They’ve got us pinned down anyway.’
‘Exactly,’ said Aguillar. ‘True, we have plenty of food, but that means nothing. Time is very valuable to these men, just as it is to me. They gain everything by keeping me inactive.’
‘By keeping you here they’ve removed you from the game,’ agreed Forester. ‘How long do you think it will be before they make their coup d’état?’
Aguillar shrugged. ‘One month – maybe two. Certainly not longer. We advanced our own preparations because the communists showed signs of moving. It is a race between us with the destiny of Cordillera as the prize – maybe the destiny of the whole of Latin America is at stake. And the time is short.’
‘Your map, Señor O’Hara,’ said Rohde suddenly.
O’Hara took out the chart and spread it on a rock, and Rohde traced the course of the river north and south, shaking his head. ‘This river – this gorge – is a trap, pinning us against the mountains,’ he said.
‘We’ve agreed it’s no use going for the bridge downstream,’ said Forester. ‘It’s a hell of a long way and it’s sure to be guarded.’
‘What’s to stop them crossing that bridge and pushing up on this side of the river to outflank us?’ asked O’Hara.
‘As long as they think they can repair this bridge they won’t do that,’ Aguillar said. ‘Communists are not supermen; they are as lazy as other people and they would not relish crossing eighty kilometres of mountain country – that would take at least four days. I think they will be content to stop the bolt hole.’
Rohde’s fingers swept across the map to the west. ‘That leaves the mountains.’
Forester turned and looked at the mountain wall, at the icy peaks. ‘I don’t like the sound of that. I don’t think Señor Aguillar could make it.’
‘I know,’ said Rohde. ‘He must stay here. But someone must cross the mountains for help.’
‘Let’s see if it’s practicable,’ said O’Hara. ‘I was going to fly through the Puerto de las Aguilas. That means that anyone going back would have to go twenty miles north before striking west through the pass. And he’d have to go pretty high to get round this bloody gorge. The pass isn’t so bad – it’s only about fourteen thousand feet.’
‘A total of about thirty miles before he got into the Santos Valley,’ said Forester. ‘That’s on straight line courses. It would probably be fifty over the ground.’
There is another way,’ said Rohde quietly. He pointed to the mountains. ‘This range is high, but not very wide. On the other side lies the Santos Valley. If you draw a line on the map from here to Altemiros in the Santos Valley you will find that it is not more than twenty-five kilometres.’
O’Hara bent over the map and measured the distance. ‘You’re right; about fifteen miles – but it’s all peaks.’
‘There is a pass about two miles north-west of the mine,’ said Rohde. ‘It has no name because no one is so foolish as to use it. It is about five thousand eight hundred metres.’
Forester rapidly translated. ‘Wow! Nineteen thousand feet.’
‘What about lack of oxygen?’ asked O’Hara. ‘We’ve had enough trouble with that already. Could a man go over that pass without oxygen?’
‘I have done so,’ said Rohde. ‘Under more favourable conditions. It is a matter of acclimatization. Mountaineers know this; they stay for days at one level and then move up the mountain to another camp and stay a few days there also before moving to a higher level. It is to attune their bodies to the changing conditions.’ He looked up at the mountains. ‘If I went up to the camp tomorrow and spent a day there then went to the mine and stayed a day there – I think I could cross that pass.’
Forester said, ‘You couldn’t go alone.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ said O’Hara promptly.
‘Hold on there,’ said Forester. ‘Are you a mountaineer?’
‘No,’ said O’Hara.
‘Well, I am. I mean, I’ve scrambled about in the Rockies – that should count for something.’ He appealed to Rohde. ‘Shouldn’t it?’
Aguillar said, ‘You should not go alone, Miguel.’
‘Very well,’ said Rohde. ‘I will take one man – you.’ He nodded to Forester and smiled grimly. ‘But I promise you – you will be sorry.’
Forester grinned cheerfully and said, ‘Well, Tim, that leaves you as garrison commander. You’ll have your hands full.’
‘Si,’ said Rohde. ‘You must hold them off.’
A new sound was added to the noise of the river and Rohde immediately wriggled up to his observation post, then beckoned to O’Hara. ‘They are starting their engines,’ he said. ‘I think they are going away.’
But the vehicles did not move. ‘What are they doing?’ asked Rohde in perplexity.
‘They’re charging their batteries,’ said O’Hara. ‘They’re making sure that they’ll have plenty of light tonight.’
II
O’Hara and Aguillar went back to help the women make camp, leaving Rohde and Forester watching the bridge. There was no immediate danger of the enemy forcing the crossing and any unusual move could soon be reported. Forester’s attitude had changed as soon as the decision to cross the mountains had been made. He no longer drove hard for action, seemingly being content to leave it to O’Hara. It was as though he had tacitly decided that there could be only one commander and the man was O’Hara.
O’Hara’s lips quirked as he mentally reviewed his garrison: An old man and a young girl; two sedentary academic types; a drunk and someone’s maiden aunt; and himself – a broken-down pilot. On the other side of the river were at least twenty ruthless men – with God knows how many more to back them up. His muscles tensed at the thought that they were communists; sloppy South American communists, no doubt – but still communists.
Whatever happens, they’re not going to get me again, he thought.
Benedetta was very quiet and O’Hara knew why. To be shot at for the first time took the pith out of a person – one came to the abrupt realization that one was a soft bag of wind and liquids, vulnerable and defenceless against steel-jacketed bullets which could rend and tear. He remembered the first time he had been in action, and felt very sorry for Benedetta; at least he had been prepared, however inadequately, for the bullets – the bullets and the cannon shells.
He
