第29节

per level

was, without doubt, the work of Iron Masters - and there were dozens of

them, swarming all over the place!

The horse which had carried him into the heart of Big D was walking

slowly towards the far side of the arena.

Steve shrank back into a small pit formed by three massive chunks of

rock as several Japs ran out to meet the exhausted animal.

Well done, Brickman. This time you really have excelled yourself... He

checked the skyline in case any guards were posted round the rim.

Nope. No danger from that direction. If there had been anyone on top

of Big D he would have been met by a reception committee at the door.

Had they caught him in possession of the horse, helmet and sword of one

of their compatriots they would, in all probability, have put two and

two together to make five, and gone on to mark his card in no uncertain

fashion.

To prevent any future misunderstandings, Steve stuffed the helmet and

its straggling hairpiece into a nearby crevice and slid the sword into

another. Having got over the initial shock of the latest twist to an

event-filled day, his brain began to register the finer details.

As far as he could tell, there were only four fully active members of

the wild bunch on duty; a fifth was hobbling towards the animated

group around the horse with the' aid of a stick, helped by a sixth who

had what looked like a bandage around his head. All the rest - maybe

fifty or sixty people in all - were women and children of various ages,

some babes-in-arms. There was no need to make an accurate

head-count.

All that mattered was that there were just too goddamn many!

Steve mentally kissed goodbye to the prospect of several square meals

and a night in a comfortable bed, and started to climb out of his

hiding place. Two of the able-bodied men were now striding

purposefully across the arena towards the entrance where he lay hidden,

followed by two women and a small group of kids.

It was time to get going. When they found that the missing rider was

not lying in the passageway and that the door had been propped open,

alarm bells would start ringing.

Steve started to ease himself out of his hidey-hole. The two Japs at

the head of the search party were still about fifty yards away. Just

enough time to get clear. When he was halfway towards the rear edge of

the rockpile he heard what sounded like several horses clattering up

the passageway. Christo! He dived back under cover and watched with a

mixture of horror and surprise as eleven be-flagged samurai galloped up

the entrance ramp and skidded to a halt in the arena. From the way

they jerked around in their saddles they were clearly as surprised as

he had been. Pulling out their swords, they wheeled about, jabbering

excitedly. Steve couldn't understand a word but it was clear that

these guys realised they'd hit the jackpot.

Their sudden appearance on the scene caused everybody else to panic.

With shrill cries of alarm, the women with the two front men picked up

the two smallest children and herded the rest towards the caves around

the edge of the arena. Everybody else ran for it too, including the

remaining men - presumably to get something to fight with.

The pair that had been walking towards the entrance froze and went for

their swords. There wasn't much else they could do. They were only

yards away from the leading horses. It was a brave but futile

gesture.

Before their swords were clear of their scabbards both were cut down

with blows that severed one side of their neck from shoulder to

clavicle.

The first wave of horsemen split into two and swept round both sides of

the arena, riding down the stragglers; panic-stricken kids and women

who had stopped to gather them up. Unable to reach safety, others ran

back towards the centre and were mown down when several samurai in the

second wave started firing arrows with deadly accuracy. Two dismounted

and rapidly got to work with their swords on the people who had been