by Alex Archer
Then he punched her in the head.
Chapter 24
When Annja came to, her ears told her that she was still down by the excavation site. She blinked a couple times, and the light made her shut her eyes again.
“Ouch.”
Dunraj’s face swam into view. “Yes, that was a nasty little shot I gave you there, eh? Not bad for the intercollegiate lightweight boxing champion at Oxford, was it?”
Annja went to rub her jaw but found she couldn’t move her hands. Oh, no, she thought. Not again.
She turned her head and found that her arms were tied out on either side of her with her hands pinned palms down at her wrists. She was strapped to the conveyor belt that she’d followed down to the dump-truck area.
“I think it’s time we had ourselves a talk, don’t you?”
“Let me go,” she said. “I don’t give a damn that you’re raping the mountain. Just let me go.”
“‘Raping the mountain.’” Dunraj rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know, I quite like that. I may use that, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. Knock yourself out.” Annja craned her neck. The feeder machine was stopped. She knew why.
“Is this all for me?”
Dunraj smiled. “I’m quite taken with you, Annja. Truly. I didn’t give you enough credit. And yet, here you are. You’ve managed to escape and kill an awful lot of my men. And then you somehow found your way down here, and I am at quite a loss as to how to explain it all. Not that I haven’t tried, but I’ve really not been able to come up with anything.”
“That’s a shame.”
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to let me in on all of your little secrets, would you?”
“Just as soon as you let me off this conveyor belt.”
Dunraj clapped his hands. “Yes, well, there’s that, isn’t there? The problem is, of course, that you seem to have discovered an inordinate amount of information about me. And frankly, it’s information I like to keep secret.”
“The highway back to Hyderabad,” Annja said suddenly. “You’re going to create a new roadway through the mountain. That will let you open up whole new areas for development, and if anyone wants to use your new road, they’ll probably have to pay you a grand sum.”
Dunraj smiled even wider now. “You are a marvel. Marry me.”
Annja smirked. “You’re such a romantic, tying me up like this when you propose. It’s so, so…”
“Twenty-first-century power couple?”
“I was thinking lunatic-asylum-bound,” she replied.
Dunraj sighed. “But I could never really be sure you were trustworthy, could I? No, I suppose not. Oh, well.”
“Wow, that was a quick relationship. I’d better change my status on Facebook before someone else beats me to it.”
“While you’re there you might consider posting a last will and testament, because I’m afraid that very shortly, you’ll be bound for the afterlife.”
“And here I thought that you’d want to carve me up like you did that guy earlier. You know, have another one of your heart feasts.”
Dunraj shook his head. “I considered dragging you back to the other cave, but you seem to have this penchant for escaping. And it wouldn’t do to have you blathering on about this dig site. Some of the men over there might grow suspicious of me and what I’m up to. I can’t have that.”
“So you’ll kill me here?”
“Yes.”
Annja jerked at the chains holding her arms in place. But they were solid steel.
“I don’t think you’ll find them all that easy to escape,” Dunraj said. “They’re layered steel.”
“And what—you’re going to send me into your little machine there?”
“You know what it’s for?”
“I have an idea. It makes big rocks into smaller rocks.”
He nodded. “It helps us extract the minerals. Sometimes we find gold, sometimes other more valuable things. But either way, it doesn’t matter in your case. We’ve removed our rocks from the machine and have set it up especially for you.”
“You’re really going to too much trouble on my account,” Annja said. “You could have just shot me.”
“I rather fancy myself more creative than that.”
Annja tested the chains again, but they were wrapped around her wrists too tight. Not good. She glanced at Dunraj. “Tell me something.”
“Perhaps.”
Annja shrugged. “What? You’ve got me strapped down to a conveyor belt, and shortly you’ll send me in to be ground up into tiny pieces. You can’t spare a little information?”
“Depends on the information, Annja.”
“Consider it a last request.”
Dunraj sighed. “We’ll see.”
“What’s the deal with the Thuggee thing?”
Dunraj cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve got them here for some reason. I don’t buy for one second that you’re a devotee of Kali. Even if you’re eating hearts raw. You’re down here desecrating her sacred lands, for crying out loud.”
“And what would you know of worship and all it entails?”
“I know enough to recognize a fraud when I see one. And you are a fraud. Whatever your men believe about you, it isn’t the truth.”
“My men believe exactly what I want them to believe. That I am a high priest of Kali and a Thuggee leader. They should all do what I say. And everything was working perfectly well until you and your cameraman came stumbling into town.”
“So, your men are simply here to help perpetrate a ruse, right? To scare the residents and what—get them to sell their homes to you so you can turn around and develop this part of the area, too?”
“Maybe.”
Annja frowned. “Some last request.”
“I don’t really care what you think about my plans here, Annja. And a big part of me is attracted to the idea of you dying without ever knowing the answers.”
“I’ll come back from the dead and haunt your ass.”
“Idle threats.”
“Oh, you’d better believe I will. You kill me now, start counting down the minutes until I come back for you and drag you down to hell with me.”
Dunraj smiled. “I enjoy our repartee. It’s a refreshing change from my usual boring conversations of the day.”
“Unstrap me and we can talk for hours.”
“Not a chance, my dear.”
“Worth a shot.” She struggled again with the chains. “One more thing, if you don’t mind.”
“You’re really getting on my last nerve. What do you want now?”
“Frank.”
Dunraj looked at her. “What about him?”
“Let him go. He’s had nothing to do with any of this. It’s my fault he got caught up in it all.”
“I admire your loyalty to your friend. But unfortunately, he’s seen and heard far too much.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Dunraj. His death won’t make any difference to you. And not killing him wouldn’t affect you, either.”
He shrugged. “That’s true, I suppose. It doesn’t really make much of a difference either way. But I think I’ll kill him just the same. And you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t want me to do it. And that alone will give me a great deal of pleasure.”
Annja stared him in the eyes. “I want you to know something.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to enjoy seeing the police lock you up very, very much.”
“Bold words,” Dunraj said. “Considering you’re about to be made into tiny little Annja Creeds. I wonder what your obituary will say? Have you ever given that any thought? What those you leave behind will say about you?”
“I’ve got very interesting friends. I’d rather they all come after you than write some sappy obituary.”
“Touching.” Dunraj checked his watch. “Unfortunately, I see our time has just about come to an end.”
>
“Has it? I thought we were just getting warmed up.”
“Tragically, no.” Dunraj kissed her on her forehead. “My darling, I’m afraid I must bid you adieu.”
Annja felt the conveyor belt lurch underneath her, and then she was moving along at a slow pace toward the feeder machine about two hundred feet away.
“You couldn’t have put me closer? What’s the deal with this? You milking the moment?”
“It gives you time to think about the inevitable. And then when the first waves of pain wash over you and you’re rendered into pulverized flesh, your last thought will be that I remain alive.”
Annja smiled. “I meant what I said, Dunraj.”
“About what?”
“About me coming back to haunt you. You think I’m joking. But I’m not.”
Dunraj smirked. “You’ve been impressive, Annja. No one could dispute that. But even you won’t be able to escape this.”
“You’d better hope not. But just in case, have you given thought to your obituary?”
“Not really. I suppose that’s one more way we’re alike.”
Annja shook her head. “We’re not alike at all, Dunraj. I have respect for things from the past. You just hope to profit from them.”
“You profit from them with your TV show.”
Annja glanced ahead of her. The feeder machine loomed larger, and she could see the separator trays working like giant metallic teeth. Her feet would enter them first.
Not good.
She couldn’t free her hands, couldn’t get a grip on the sword to cut her chains away.
What the hell was she going to do?
“Dunraj, let me out of here.”
But he was already behind her now and on his way. “Farewell, Annja Creed. Godspeed and all that jazz.”
I’m really starting to hate that guy’s guts, she thought.
But she had no more time to dwell on Dunraj.
She looked for the sword where it waited. She visualized it in her hands, visualized it cutting the chains.
But she couldn’t get a grasp on it.
Damn.
Fifty feet away, the feeder machine’s hungry jaws worked tirelessly.
Ready to devour her.
Chapter 25
The conveyor belt churned beneath her, carrying Annja Creed toward an extremely painful death. She struggled against the chains, but it was no use. With each passing second, the conveyor belt carried her closer to her fate.
Annja tried to manifest the sword again, but without mobility in her hands, she found herself unable to do it. She could not get the sword to materialize.
She felt each bump underneath her back as the belt rattled along. The grinding gears thundered into one another like a giant wood chipper.
There’s no way I’m going to survive that, Annja thought.
She kicked out with her legs, trying to free them, as well, but the chains that held her arms also pinned her feet.
She was helpless.
Is this it? Is this how it ends at last? I’ve carried that sword as a weapon for good and justice for years now, and when I finally need it the most, it lets me down. She frowned. Was this God’s plan? Was this how He had written her fate?
Her life?
The noise of the feeder machine was overpowering, and she knew that no one would hear her. The belt moved her closer to the machine.
Toward her death.
Another few seconds and it would be all over. Another few seconds and she’d feel those first waves of agony before she blacked out.
And then the machine switched off, freezing the separator trays in midmotion, splayed apart as if in midchew. Annja looked around furiously.
“Hiya, Annja.”
She looked back. “Frank?”
He grinned.
“Your timing couldn’t be better. I’d ask you how you got free, but there’s no time! Hurry up and get me out of here before Dunraj comes back and finds that we’re both free.”
Together they got the chains off and Annja hopped off the conveyor belt. She wobbled a bit and then righted herself. Frank held her up. “Looks like you’ve been busy.” He glanced around. “What the hell is all this stuff?”
“Never mind,” she replied. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“Where am I going?”
“Hyderabad. You’re going to find Pradesh and tell him about this place. Have him get the police or military or whatever and come out here to shut down Dunraj.”
“And what about you?”
“Me?” Annja smiled. “I’m going after Dunraj.”
“Alone? Don’t be foolish. He’s got a ton of guys and they’ll kill you.”
Annja shook her head. “You’re going to have to trust me on this, Frank. And believe me when I tell you that Dunraj doesn’t stand a chance against me.”
“You say that so confidently.”
“I am confident.”
Frank frowned. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it. Do what I say and find your way to Hyderabad. There are trucks leaving all the time, taking the dirt out of here and dumping it somewhere along the way. There’s got to be an exit out of the underground tunnel. Make a note of it and tell Pradesh to use it as the entrance to get his teams in here.”
Frank nodded as he listened. “All right, but how do I get out of here?”
Annja pointed farther down. “You see that truck?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re hitching a ride on it. Climb into the back when it’s done loading and then ride it out. Once you get out of the tunnel, continue to the dump site or jump off and get help from the locals somewhere.”
“This is getting very complicated.”
Annja grabbed him and shoved him toward the dump truck. “Trust me, you’ll be safer this way. I couldn’t bear having your death on my conscience. Go now and call Pradesh. He’ll know what to do.”
“But what am I supposed to tell him?”
“Tell him Dunraj is dirty. That he’s digging the mountain out and that the murders are all his doing. Pradesh will be able to act on that and come back here with the support we need, okay?”
Frank nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” He started running toward the dump truck. “Take care of yourself, Annja.”
Annja watched him climb into the back of the nearest dump truck and huddle next to a big pile of dirt. The truck moved off, and Frank waved once before getting his head back down.
Annja gave him a thumbs-up and then turned back around.
Time to find Dunraj.
But the man standing in front of her didn’t look as if he was going to let that happen.
He stood about six feet two inches, and he held a long steel pipe, roughly three feet long.
He said something to Annja and then smiled.
The meaning was pretty clear.
He’s going to try to kill me. Unfortunately for him, I’m not bound.
Instantly the sword was in her hands. Its strength flowed into her arms and throughout her body.
Annja regarded the man, whose shock registered on his face. “Let’s make this quick, sweetie. I’ve got a boss to kill.”
If he was afraid of the sudden appearance of the sword, he didn’t let it slow him down. His first attack was a straight thrust aimed at Annja’s chest. She pivoted and cut in at his hands.
But he was quick. He backhanded her, and Annja took the side of the pipe to her rib cage. She heard the crunch and felt the stabbing pain lance through her chest.
Cracked ribs, she thought. There goes sleeping for the next few months.
She wheeled away and brought up her sword as the next swing came screaming in at her head. He’s swinging for the fences.
She dropped to one knee and grimaced as her cracked ribs shouted their protest. But Annja kept going, driving in and cutting up as the man used the pipe like a staff and warded off her cuts.
Then he flipped the pipe down onto the flat of Annja’s blade. The i
mpact jarred the blade out of her hands, and Annja watched the sword skip away.
“Now! Kill her now!”
She knew that voice.
Annja looked up and saw Dunraj watching the action from a higher vantage point. She smiled. “I’ll be right there.”
Annja reached out and took the sword back into her hands. The man with the pipe sensed an opportunity and came in hard, swinging at her repeatedly. She backpedaled against each successive cut and launched her own counterattacks.
But Pipe Man was skilled with his weapon and knew how to defend himself against the blade. And no matter how much Annja cut at him, he was able to deflect and ward off each slice she aimed his way.
Annja jumped away out of reach of his next attack and paused to breathe. Both of them were winded. The constant back and forth was taking its toll. And Annja felt as if she was breathing fire with every gasp. Damn the broken ribs.
Pipe Man recovered quicker than she did and drove in hard, this time coming straight down as if he was chopping wood. Annja backed away, but he kept advancing.
And then she stumbled down the slope.
Not again.
Annja rolled and came to her feet, then dived just in time to avoid the next swing of the pipe.
She cut back and felt the blade just barely score a line across the man’s chest. She caught the smell of blood in the air and saw him grimace.
Annja nodded. “Now it’s more even.”
Pipe Man watched her guardedly now, aware that the blade could indeed reach him.
Annja felt a new wave of strength flood her limbs, and she drove at him this time, attacking with all of her spirit.
Every cut and slice was echoed by a shout and yell from her as Annja dug deep and found the strength to keep up a continuous barrage of attacks.
Now it was Pipe Man’s turn to go on the defense. Annja drove him back, ever back toward the feeder machine that Frank had stalled.
The Pipe Man stumbled, and Annja cut down on his wrist, severing his hand. He screamed and fell back.
The pipe clattered away across the dirt.
Annja raised her sword and prepared to finish him off.
And then Annja felt something lance her side—heard the gunshot—and stumbled forward against the feeder machine.