The licking flames pinpointed the helicopter.
Drake picked himself up, moved back and then ran around the fallen beast, Alicia and Dahl at his side. Their hearts were in their mouths, their hopes displayed on their stricken faces. Crouch and Hayden were with them a second later, running in from a different position.
As one they came around the wreckage.
It exploded; a concussive wave expanding fast and once more causing the ground to shake. Drake fell forward onto one knee, didn’t stop moving, and managed to recoil back into an upright position, still progressing forward. Alicia landed on her left hip, crying out, but was up again in less than a second. The rest followed. A few chunks of debris flew around them, some flapping in the gust. A portion of the sand that had flown upward began to rain back down.
“You there?” Hayden cried frantically. “Mano? Mai?”
Her plaintive call went unanswered.
Drake cleared the fiery remains, still running into a curtain of dust, finally seeing it beginning to thin out. He saw tail lights then, and at last Kinimaka’s Jeep, now coasting and stopping a few hundred yards beyond the wreck.
“Mai?”
“Comms are out,” Alicia said. “At least theirs are.”
Hayden was running past them, approaching the Jeep and wrenching at the doors. Kinimaka brought it to a stop, a look of surprise on the big Hawaiian’s face as they all came alongside.
“Whassup, brah?” he asked. “Did I hit something?”
Drake laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah, a fucking great bird. Well done, mate. Bloody well done.”
Hayden was alongside him in the passenger seat, reaching out, grabbing his shoulders for a hug. Mano went right in, arms engulfing her. Drake took in the back seat and the relieved faces there.
“All good?”
Smyth came alongside in the second Jeep. “We gotta hurry. Some of those idiots are still coming.”
“Don’t they know the tomb is theirs?” Mai asked.
“I’d be amazed if they knew their mother’s name.”
Crouch’s cellphone rang once more, the tiny sound barely discernible. “Jump inside.” He waved everyone into the Jeeps and climbed in last. Drake kept an eye out to the rear but saw nothing beyond the burning chopper.
“Go,” Hayden said finally. “Just go. We’ll sort ourselves out later.”
The Jeeps pealed out, heading for the tarmacked road.
Finally, Crouch answered his phone. “What?”
It was only because Drake was looking straight at his old boss that he noticed the quick variation of expressions. Like changing seasons Crouch’s face went from relieved to surprised to shocked and then, surprisingly, to fearful.
Drake had never seen Michael Crouch looking scared before.
“Are . . . are you sure?” The voice came out low, just a croak.
Someone spoke for another twenty seconds.
“All . . . right . . . oh, my . . . all right . . .” Crouch’s voice cracked with almost every word.
Drake sat forward, consumed with worry.
“You okay?”
Crouch ignored him and finished the call. For an entire minute he stared down at the floor and then managed to collect himself. He looked up at those in the Jeep.
“We have big, big trouble,” he said. “I almost wish I’d never started this now.”
“What trouble?” Alicia asked. “What’s wrong, Michael?”
“I really don’t see how any of us can survive this.”
Drake almost gulped, affected by how Crouch was acting. “Tell us, mate.”
“It’s Luther,” Crouch breathed, voice barely a whisper and strained to maximum. “He’s here, in Egypt and locked on to our trail. We’re done.”
Drake frowned at him. “We’re never done. Not this team. Besides, we’re trying to stop an apocalypse here.”
“Luther is the apocalypse,” Crouch said. “With arms and legs. We can’t stop him. Can’t beat him. I’m sorry, my friends, but it’s just a matter of time until he finds and then kills us. All of us.”
Drake looked away from the already beaten gaze, stared at the desert skies and drifting clouds. Somewhere out there was a retro warrior, gunning for them with only one mission on his mind, one goal, removed from all communications, closing in by the minute. He could almost hear the approaching footsteps.
Judgment day was coming.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Crouch had the presence of mind to put them on the road to Thebes.
Drake lounged back in his seat, eyes half-closed, lulled by the gentle rocking and rolling of the vehicle with the air-conditioning set just so. It was an odd thing to be told, after everything he’d accomplished, that a balls-out blood-warrior was coming to kill him and that he’d probably die, but he tried to make the best of it.
“We have a head start on the mercs,” he said brightly.
“A two-hour drive to our obelisk.” Crouch had recovered slightly by now and told them he’d recognized the next clue. “We should still beat them there.”
“What do we know about it?” Alicia asked. Drake guessed she was attempting to settle Crouch by getting him to talk about the stuff he loved.
“Oh, it’s hard to say. This giant monolithic obelisk tops out at twenty meters high, the tip is covered in a gold-silver alloy electrum to catch the first rays of the morning sun. It was fashioned in one piece of red granite from Aswan and has been moved twice since its initial placement in front of a temple gateway, south of Thebes. Luckily this particular obelisk remained in Egypt. Augustus and other early Roman emperors had many removed. The Roman emperors commissioned the first new obelisks since the twenty-sixth dynasty, they were so fanatical about them. But ours . . . ours is pretty standard fare, I’m afraid. Nothing spectacular about it.”
“But that’s the norm for this quest,” Alicia said. “Clues left where they will remain. Inconspicuous, low-profile.”
“She has a good point,” Drake said. “Even the curse was barely known until Amenhotep’s tomb was found.”
“Does it have a name, this obelisk?” Smyth asked.
“What—like George?” Alicia wise-cracked. “I doubt that.”
“No, no, don’t be a wiseass. Usually these things have titles. The Obelisk of Amun-Ra, or some such.”
“It is believed to be the obelisk of Pharaoh Menes, but as I said it moved around. Most recently, and we’re talking many, many years ago now, it was taken as a symbol of an ancient church.” He smiled. “I’m not quite sure what came first. The church or the obelisk. Most ancient churches in Egypt are Christian and not based around Cairo, as most think. Many of these churches are built on sacred ground, where it was believed the baby Jesus and family stopped. Others, like the one associated with the obelisk, are secluded, out of the way, because they were built when the Christian religion had been forbidden by the Roman Empire.” He shook his head. “Yeah, in those days there was even conflict between eastern and western Christians. Most of the churches are unusual, some even built in caves.” He paused as his phone started to ring again and glanced quickly at the screen.
“A contact,” he said with relief. “I asked for more information regarding this FrameHub fiasco.”
Drake rolled easily with the bumps and the bends, closing his eyes against the glare that filled the windows. He’d lost his sunglasses back in the desert, a calamity to be sure but probably not the last time he’d ever do it.
Crouch sighed and pulled himself upright using the seat back. “Okay, okay, this FrameHub could be a credible threat. They’re threatening a demonstration if the countries don’t reply soon. The demand has been re-sent, re-evaluated. We don’t like the look of what they’re doing. Don’t like the look of it at all.”
“Any clues as to who this FrameHub crew are?” Hayden’s voice came over the comms system loud and clear since all the damaged units had been replaced.
Crouch sighed once more. “Basically, they’re a myth. No, the
y’re the myth. Half a dozen of the world’s greatest ever hackers joined together, planning mayhem. And not just of the digital kind. They’re looking to change reality.”
Drake shifted position. “Why?”
“Well, that’s the question isn’t it? Clearly, it’s not for the money. They could skim a million bank accounts and we’d never know. It’s not for the recognition. They’re basement gods. Best guess at the moment . . . it’s because they’re whacko.”
Alicia nodded. “That covers most of our enemies.”
Drake looked over at Crouch. “Is that it? So we know nothing.” It was a statement.
“We’re not dealing with ghosts here,” Crouch said. “We’re dealing with the vaguest impression that a ghost passed by once. Give them some time.”
“Try telling that to Greece, Turkey and Egypt,” Dahl said, “when that deadline approaches.”
“I want to approach the elephant in the . . . car,” Hayden said. “Luther. Everything I know is hearsay, possibly sensationalized. You know how office rumors go. He’s real, for sure. I saw some basic reports years ago. What I want to know is—what can we expect?”
Crouch looked at Alicia. The Englishwoman looked away. “I remember him,” she said. “From one mission a long time ago. Our unit infiltrated a highly organized, highly dangerous terrorist cell in Eastern Europe, received good Intel on when to take it down, and worked hard to hone a takedown plan. We watched, we waited, we manipulated every member of that cell so they were there, inside, that day. All we needed was our contact to get out. Three minutes before the agreed time an American team hit that place.” She exhaled. “Talk about the fourth of July. They lit not only the terrorists’ apartment up, but the entire building. The block. They ran in there with semi-autos, grenades and even RPGs. It was hell on earth when a sniper would have made do. It was utter havoc when it should have been a quiet assassination. They wanted no remains, not even bones. That—” she looked back at Crouch again “—was the one and only time I met Luther.”
Drake now sat upright. “So you did meet him?”
“I wasn’t gonna let that go. Such disregard. I chased the bastard down. Confronted him. He was . . .” She frowned. “Savage. Like you might imagine a Native American to be when they ruled the plains. All he said was ‘orders’ and then turned away, wearing his American military swagger like a fucking cape, full of himself and full of loyalty too, I guess.”
“You think he was manipulated back then too?”
Alicia shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Soldiers carry out their orders and don’t ask questions. This was more about the man—the beast, if you like. I’ve never seen such ferociousness. It stopped me in my tracks. The only time that’s ever happened.”
A silence panned out, punctuated by the road noise and the whistling air-con. In the end it was broken in the best, inimitable way of the Mad Swede.
“Kenzie,” he said quietly into the silence with the comms on. “Please remove your hand from my lap.”
Drake laughed. Even Alicia smiled. Smyth took the chance to tell everyone they were twenty minutes out and to start loading up. Their supply of ammo and other military gear was dwindling rapidly. If they didn’t top up soon, they’d be out before the next seal presented itself. Drake knew Crouch could probably take care of that, but didn’t want to rely solely on his ex-boss.
A small town appeared up ahead; dusty, sandy and shining under the sun. Most of the buildings were dull browns and beiges, but some of the taller ones glimmered and more than one faux-gold capstone twinkled. Smyth made his way through until they were a block from the obelisk and then pulled up. Dust surrounded the vehicle as he stopped.
“Reccy time,” Hayden said. “Don’t forget we have more than just mercenaries looking for the seals, and now Luther too. Bring your A game, guys.”
Drake and Yorgi moved off to the left as the rest of the team split. The heat outside was unrelenting, beating down at his scalp, but at least there wasn’t the slightest breath of wind to stir the sand up. With a quick look he confirmed the others were on their way, Alicia and Mai together—surprise there. Dahl and Kenzie joined at the hip—no shock there. Drake worried for the big Swede, but getting personal was not his place. Half an hour later they all met up.
“All clear,” Crouch said.
“Seems so,” Alicia said.
The obelisk stood less than a hundred meters before them, rising straight and high, and pointing right up at the heavens, at the sun. It was sandy in color, imposing in height and covered in pictures and hieroglyphics.
“Y’know,” Alicia said with a laugh. “What the hell are we gonna do if the picture’s above head fucking height?”
Drake blinked. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. It now became clear that their headlong flight across Egypt wasn’t exactly conducive to clear thought. Also, the stress caused by being on the run felt like a blanket, shrouding and blocking plain, sharp judgment. Crouch though, gave a short laugh.
“No worries,” he said. “We zoom in with these.” He patted a pair of field glasses. “Great magnification and photo option included.”
The obelisk stood in a tiny square, paving all around. To the left sat a low huddle of homes and to the right a hodgepodge chain of ugly buildings.
Alicia stared at the perpendicular object. “Stands out like a sore—”
“Alicia,” Drake warned her. “There are people around.”
“What?”
Those few passing by were locals, judging by their look and clothing. No tourists over here. Drake studied alleys and windows but saw no furtive movement. Crouch started forward.
“Best get started.”
Drake saw pictures he’d become used to now: large and small hieroglyphics. It didn’t take long for most of the team to scan the obelisk whilst two stayed on watch. After that it was Crouch using his binoculars to study each side. The capstone portrayal was at the very top and on the back of the obelisk, just underneath its own shining pinnacle. Crouch struggled to get a good photo because of the position of the sun, but came away after ten minutes of trying.
“I think I have it.” He rotated a wheel, zooming in on the screen’s image. Four pairs of eyes crowded around to get a better look.
“Is there anything to confirm it’s the doomsday device?” Kenzie asked.
“No, but what else could it be? There was once talk of the Giza pyramid itself being built for such a purpose but it’s all too fantastical. Passageways hewn at just the right angle could amplify and cohere energy emissions using highly sophisticated crystal technology. It’s all a little too farfetched for me. I’m backing simple weapon, simple technology. It’s the capstone. But now . . . that’s interesting . . . the new depiction is the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut,” Crouch said with awe. “That’s easy to find and enter. Very famous. But, oh hell, it’s bloody huge.”
“Bigger than the tomb?” Alicia asked.
“Many, many times.”
“Good job there are so many of us,” Kenzie said positively. “We’ll get the job done.”
“But no chance of destroying or even hiding the picture.” Dahl gazed up at the topmost heights of the obelisk. “Which I think we should do with at least one of these clues.”
Hayden clapped Kinimaka on the back. “We could always ask Mano here to lean up against it.”
Drake smiled. “Or just walk past it.”
“Hey, cool it, brah. Or I might just walk past you.”
Drake studied the terrain for the dozenth time. “Abba is right though,” he said. “We do have to slow our pursuers.”
The roar of a powerful engine and the grinding of large tires reached their ears.
Drake keyed the mic. “Smyth?”
“We got two fully laden military vehicles headed right toward us. Full-on velocity too. They’re taking no prisoners.”
Crouch went sheet-white. “No. Not now. We can’t—”
Drake felt a strange trickle of trepidation drip down his spine. “Luth
er?”
“Well, none of them trucks got a name,” Smyth said. “But the way, even on approach, there’s men hanging out the windows with RPGs I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet.”
Judgment, Drake thought.
Their judgment was here.
And it had brought the motherfucking fire.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Flight or flight? Drake thought. Fight or flight?
Ordinarily, the choice was clear but today it had a number of cloudy alternatives. In the end there was no choice. Crouch was already running for the lead car.
“Outgunned. Outplayed. They have superior vehicles, backup and drones. Just run.” The man’s voice was calm over the comms.
Hayden’s decision had to be split-second. “Go.”
They crowded back into the cars, waiting twenty seconds for Smyth and Kenzie, and then gunned it down one of the tributaries that led away from the town. Even inside the cars they could hear the roar of Luther’s transport, hear it growing closer and closer. The man knew exactly where they were, possibly aided by the drones, but now Drake remembered something.
“You said Luther was old school,” he said. “He won’t have backup or eyes in the sky.”
“I know,” Crouch said seriously. “But we had to move. We could never have held that square as we were.”
“So he’s what . . .” Alicia asked. “Sniffing us out?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Crouch said. “He’s here now!”
Ahead, two military Hummers swung into the street, traveling two-abreast. Drake’s mouth fell open in shock as they began to pick up speed.
“Do not play chicken with this maniac!” the Yorkshireman cried.
Crouch swung the wheel right, followed by Kinimaka in the second vehicle. “I don’t intend to. I don’t have a death wish, Drake.” He jammed his foot to the floor, pouring on the speed.
Drake turned around, saw Kinimaka’s vehicle almost kissing their rear fender and then, storming around the sharp corner, both of Luther’s Hummers, bouncing off potholes and walls alike.
“He’s not holding back.”
The Matt Drake Boxset 6 Page 30