After a few minutes, the Greek and his companions returned. Their wide eyes proved that they had found the cave’s golden secret. The leader took out a walkie-talkie as the two Nepalis excitedly told the others what they had seen. ‘Collins, we will definitely need the winch. Is this ledge wide enough for you to land?’
‘Negative,’ came the crackling reply, in an American accent. ‘We’ll have to hover to lift anything off there, and even then it’ll be tight.’
The Greek pursed his lips in annoyance. ‘Okay. I’ll call you when we’re ready.’ He put away the radio, then took out another transmitter: a satellite phone. The call was answered almost immediately. A brief discussion, in Greek – the mercenary leader identified himself to the other party as ‘Axelos’ – then he addressed his men. ‘There’s a large crystal in the cave. We need to bring it out here so it can be winched up.’ He waited for the translation, then continued: ‘It will be heavy, and it needs to be moved very carefully. You, stand guard.’ He pointed to four of the mercenaries, including the amateur near Jayesh. ‘The rest come with me to move it. Anything else in there you can keep, but both Crucibles are mine.’
That last brought greedy excitement from the Nepalis, some casting unpleasant glances at the prisoners – already thinking about permanently ensuring their silence, Nina was sure. The foursome spread out to keep the monks and their companions covered as their comrades disappeared into the cave. ‘You told them about the Crucibles,’ Rudra growled at Nina as he got to his knees.
‘How?’ she protested. ‘I didn’t even know what they were until Amaanat showed me.’ The guard glowered at her again, but did not try to silence her. ‘And I definitely didn’t know there were two of them! Someone else did, though.’
‘That cannot be,’ said Amaanat. ‘The only outsiders who have ever seen the Midas Cave were Tobias Garde and his companions.’
‘Then someone connected to his companions talked.’ It occurred to her that in her desire to finish her mother’s work, she had overlooked a question she should have asked her grandmother: who else had been with Tobias?
But that would have to wait until she got back to New York – if she ever did. The more pressing question was: what were they going to do now?
‘If they try to airlift the big Crucible out of here,’ Eddie said quietly, ‘they’ll have a job getting close enough to drop a winch line.’ He glanced at the near-vertical rock face above the ledge. ‘When they actually pick it up, that’s when we’ll get our chance.’
‘To do what?’
Eddie didn’t reply, instead looking at Jayesh. The Nepali slowly rubbed his coat as if scratching an itch in his lower back. Eddie nodded.
‘Uh, okay,’ said Nina, surprised. The two former soldiers had somehow shared a plan without needing to speak.
‘There should be no violence,’ said Amaanat, but with resignation. ‘We do not need to—’
One of the guards barked at him in Nepalese. The abbot fell silent. Rudra gave the man a hostile glare, but did nothing.
Ten minutes passed before Axelos and the other mercenaries returned, straining to carry the larger Crucible by its metal cage. The Greek leading the way, they brought it almost to the edge of the flat ground before putting it down with relief.
‘We have the Crucible,’ Axelos said into the walkie-talkie. ‘Move in to collect it.’
The larger helicopter approached. The other aircraft held a watching brief, though close enough to show that there was another man in the cabin as well as the pilot. The AW169 carefully slowed to a hover thirty metres out from the ledge, then edged closer.
The rotor downwash blasted a biting whirlwind of snow from the ground. Some of the mercenaries shielded their eyes. Jayesh gave Eddie a meaningful look, but the Englishman shook his head almost imperceptibly: not yet. The guards were still watching their prisoners, weapons at the ready.
Nina realised that the chopper could not get close enough. The rotors were perilously near to the rock wall above, and she knew from experience that helicopters could become extremely unstable if they were hit by displaced air bouncing off a solid surface. The pilot quickly reached the same conclusion. The AW169 pulled back. A few seconds later, Axelos’s radio crackled. ‘I can’t get any nearer. It’s too dangerous.’
The Greek was not pleased. ‘We have to take the Crucible. Can you lower the cable and swing it to us?’
The pilot sounded incredulous at the suggestion. ‘If you want to risk being hit by it, sure.’
‘Do it.’
‘Okay, your decision . . .’
The helicopter’s side door slid open and a man leaned out, operating the winch controls. A steel cable with a large hook on the end was slowly lowered towards the ledge. As it drew closer, the pilot began to rock his aircraft gently from side to side. The heavy hook swung like a pendulum, each sweep wider than the last.
‘Get ready to catch it!’ Axelos ordered. As his men moved hesitantly towards the hanging line, the guards watched the spectacle unfold, distracted from their charges.
Eddie tensed, preparing to act. Jayesh brought his hand towards the hem of his coat . . .
The Greek added, ‘And watch them!’ He pointed at the prisoners. The Gurkha’s hand retreated as the four men returned their attention to their assignment. The Englishman muttered a curse.
Another swing, and the hook scuffed through the snow close to the Crucible. The winch operator shouted to the pilot as Axelos’s men hurried to grab it. The helicopter dropped a couple of metres, the line going slack, and the hook came to rest. The mercenaries surrounded it like hounds on a wounded animal. More cable played out, then the aircraft cautiously drew away from the mountainside.
Axelos slapped a hand on top of the Crucible’s metal cage. ‘Fix it here.’
The Nepalis attached the hook to the loop running over the top of the great crystalline sphere and locked a carabiner clip into place. Axelos tested that it was secure. ‘It’s ready,’ he said into the radio. ‘Take it up!’
‘Get set,’ Eddie whispered. Jayesh nodded; Nina took a deep, nervous breath, unsure what was about to happen but psyching herself up to react when it did.
Her gaze met Amaanat’s. He too knew that the two ex-soldiers were about to take action, and was silently begging her to stop them. But she couldn’t. While Axelos seemed interested only in the Crucibles, his men were now filled with a lust for the gold in the cave. There was no way they would let their prisoners live.
The old monk realised that violence was inevitable. For a moment Nina thought he was about to warn their captors . . . but then he gave her a look of almost infinite sadness, bowing his head and placing his palms together in silent prayer.
The pilot increased power. The helicopter slowly ascended, drawing the cable with it until it was almost taut. Axelos signalled to the winch operator, who worked the controls.
A shrill metallic twang came from the steel cable as it pulled tight. The Crucible lurched, slithering a few inches closer to the edge. The mercs hurriedly moved clear as the straining line vibrated like a plucked guitar string. If it snapped, the lashing end could easily decapitate someone.
Another look passed between Eddie and Jayesh. Their one chance was almost here . . .
Engines roaring, the helicopter tried to climb. The Crucible shifted again, rocking precariously on the cliff edge. The cable creaked, the ancient metal cage enclosing the strange artefact juddering under the stress, then the great sphere slithered off the ledge.
And swung outwards.
The helicopter was yanked down by the extra weight – but with the winch arm extending out from its port side, it also rolled unbalanced to the left.
Towards the mountain.
Those on the ledge reacted with sudden fear as the chopper veered at the cliff above them. The pilot frantically counteracted the movement, c
limbing and banking hard to starboard. But momentum was still carrying it closer to the looming rocks, closer—
The rotors came within inches of the cliff . . . then retreated. The Crucible swinging wildly beneath it, the AW169 lurched clear, its downwash blasting a hail of gritty debris over the ledge.
The mercenaries shielded their heads—
Eddie and Jayesh burst into action.
The Gurkha whipped both hands under the back of his coat. His kukri had been taken from him – but it was not the only blade in the scabbard. There were also two much smaller knives, a karda and a chakmak, used to hone the kukri itself to perfect sharpness. Yet they were still weapons in their own right – as Jayesh proved by stabbing them deep into each side of the neck of the inattentive guard.
The man let out a choked cry, spitting blood. Another mercenary whirled and fired, only for his comrade to take the bullet to his chest as Jayesh hauled his prey around as a human shield.
The dead man’s Kalashnikov fell from his hands. ‘Nina, go!’ Eddie yelled as he dived for it. He caught the weapon, rolling on landing and firing back at the attacker.
The AK-74 spat out a stream of bullets. The rifle’s fire selector was set to full auto, catching the Englishman by surprise; he hadn’t considered that the merc might actually be as amateurish as he had appeared. But the rounds still hit home, ripping a bloody swathe across his target’s torso.
Pandemonium erupted. The monks scattered, some running for cover amongst the boulders, others throwing themselves flat. A mercenary barged Amaanat aside, aiming at Eddie—
The abbot whirled – and drove the heel of his palm hard into the man’s face, breaking his nose with a wet crack.
Another merc flinched in sympathetic shock and raised his AKM, only for a lightning-fast sweep of the old man’s other arm to knock it out of his hands. But a third mercenary charged Amaanat like a bull, tackling him brutally into the snow.
Nina had followed Eddie’s instruction and taken off at a run. But she did not head for the cover of the rocks – rather, towards the cloth-wrapped Crucible.
Rudra sprang up to follow her, the anger in his eyes directed as much at the redhead as the intruders.
Eddie jumped upright, searching for new targets amidst the chaos. He found them – but some of the fleeing monks were in his line of fire, freezing the Yorkshireman’s finger on the trigger. ‘Jayesh!’ he yelled instead, racing for the rocks near the ladder.
The Gurkha started after him, bullets searing past—
One clipped his thigh. The wound was only shallow, but it was enough to make him fall. The shooter prepared to finish the job . . .
Eddie switched the selector to burst-fire mode as he scrambled behind a rock, sending a rapid three rounds at the gunman. None hit, but they served their purpose, drawing the mercenaries’ attention away from his friend.
And towards him.
Ragged splinters of stone exploded from his cover as the gunmen opened fire. He pulled back behind it and glanced around the other side, trying to locate his wife.
Nina had been ignored in the mayhem, scurrying past the mercenaries as they regrouped. She grabbed the Crucible. The geode was heavier than it looked.
Now she searched for cover. The hut, or the cave? The latter would offer more protection, but the next burst of steam from the natural reactor couldn’t be far off. If she went inside, she would be broiled – or irradiated.
The hut. She started for it—
Someone grabbed her from behind. She gasped and spun – to find Rudra trying to claw the Crucible from her grip. ‘You cannot take it!’ he roared.
‘I’m trying to save it!’ she cried. ‘We can’t let them steal it!’
He wrested the shrouded sphere free. ‘You did this!’ he screamed as he shoved her away. ‘You brought them here!’
‘I didn’t—’
She stopped abruptly. Axelos had heard the altercation and realised they had the Crucible. ‘There!’ he yelled, pointing. ‘Get them, stop them!’ A mercenary took aim. ‘No!’ the Greek cried. ‘You’ll hit the—’
The man fired. Rudra took a burst of bullets to his upper chest and head. Nina screamed, feeling hot liquid splash her cheek as he fell. The Crucible thudded into the red-speckled snow.
The gunman watched with a satisfied leer as the monk crumpled, then switched targets to the American—
His own skull blew apart as three tightly spaced bullets from Eddie’s rifle struck home.
Axelos ducked and scuttled behind a boulder. He shot a look at the Crucible, but dealing with the Englishman now took priority. ‘Flank him!’ he shouted. ‘Spread out and go after him from both sides!’
‘Eddie, they’re coming for you!’ Nina cried as she checked on Rudra. The young man was dead, a hamburger-sized hole in the side of his shaven head oozing disgustingly into the snow. Horrified, she retrieved the Crucible and hurried for the hut.
Eddie heard Nina’s warning. He peeked around the rock to locate his enemies, but was forced to jerk back as a fusillade of bullets pockmarked the stone. The brief glimpse had revealed two of the mercenaries, but the flat chatter of Kalashnikovs warned him there were more closing on his position.
He switched the selector to single-shot – every bullet had to count now – and hurriedly checked his surroundings. More boulders poked from the snow behind him. He could dart between them for cover, but he would rapidly run out of manoeuvring room. The ledge thinned to nothingness against the cliff face about sixty feet away. The mercenaries would quickly pin him down.
He had to move, though. Flinders burst inches from his head as one of the attackers came around to his left. A few more seconds and he would be exposed.
Only one way out. He fired a shot to force the man back – then sprinted for the ladder.
His rush caught the mercenaries by surprise. More bullets cracked past, but he was already weaving between the last few rocks. A glance back: Nina was almost at the hut. He didn’t know how he was going to help her, but even a few seconds out of the line of fire would give him time to think up a plan.
The valley opened out before him as he reached the edge. He jumped, twisting in mid-air to grab the ladder’s top rung as he dropped past it—
His right hand snagged the corroded metal – but the other slid off the icy surface. He swung around . . . and lost his grip.
The rungs whipped past him. He clawed desperately at them, fleetingly catching one, but the coating of ice splintered into nothingness in his grasp—
Impact.
Pain exploded through his legs as he hit the lower ledge. But the momentary pause in his descent had slowed him just enough to save him from a broken bone.
He was not safe, though. A shout came from above. One of the Nepali mercenaries peered over the top of the ladder, and saw him.
Eddie rolled to flatten himself against the cliff face as several bullets smacked against the ground behind him. His own gun had landed in the snow at the ladder’s foot, but trying to recover it would get him shot. Instead he scrambled into the snowless crevice containing the steam vent. More rounds impacted on the bare stone, but there was just enough of an overhang to shield him from gunfire from above.
A low noise warned him of another danger, however. A deep grumbling sound came from the vent, slowly rising in intensity.
The cave was about to blow.
13
Eddie knew that if stayed where he was, he would either be scalded by radioactive steam or blasted off the ledge. He had to move.
The shelter—
It wasn’t much, but it was his only option. He hopped over the fallen mercury canister and ran through the thick snow to the little wooden lean-to.
He pulled the door, but it didn’t move. Frozen. He kicked at it, trying to crack the encrusted ice – then some si
xth sense made him glance up. Another merc was leaning over the higher ledge, fixing him in his sights.
Eddie threw himself back against the cliff as a ragged bullet hole burst in the door. He looked up again, but a bulge in the cliff face now blocked the gunman from view. Safe, for the moment, but he couldn’t go any further without becoming a target.
He edged sideways, back to the crevice, only to see steam drifting out from the vent. No way forward, no way back: he was trapped.
And a change in the engine note of one of the helicopters warned him of a new danger.
‘He’s on the ledge below us,’ Axelos told the Mil’s pilot over the radio. ‘Move to a position where you can see him, then take him out.’ He listened with growing annoyance to the reluctant reply, the chopper’s pilot – and owner – not wanting to put himself or his aircraft in harm’s way. ‘Why do you think the man with you has a sniper rifle? Do it!’
The Mi-2 descended towards the mountain. Axelos switched his gaze to the AW169. The Crucible was still suspended beneath the larger helicopter, its pendulous swing finally slowing.
One prize was secured. But that still left the other. His boss had been very clear about wanting both.
He turned back to the cave. The smaller Crucible had gone.
The sight of the little hut’s door closing told him where the redhead had taken it. ‘You two!’ he called to the nearest of his men. ‘The woman’s in there – get her!’
The cramped shack offered no place for Nina to hide. Shelves held the equipment the monks needed to make use of the Midas Cave, but nothing more. It wasn’t even properly weatherproofed, with wide gaps between some of the planks.
And through one, she glimpsed two mercenaries hurrying towards her.
‘Shit!’ she gasped, searching for anything she could use as a weapon. There was nothing.
All she could do was run, but there was nowhere to go—
The Midas Legacy (Wilde/Chase 12) Page 16