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‘Keep hold of Kit!’ Eddie ordered Girilal as he ran for the doors. The other guardians were already sprinting for the entrance to investigate.
Nina went after them. ‘What do we do? It’ll take ages to get the chest out of the valley!’
‘I don’t think we’ll even get the chance - no, get back!’ he shouted at the men ahead of him.
Too late. The noise of the blades got louder, pounding subsonic thumps that they could feel as much as hear - but it was another, more deadly sound that made Eddie throw Nina into the cover of one of the ancient war machines. A machine gun opened fire, tracer rounds searing through the open doors. Gouts of blood burst from the guardians’ bodies as the gunner sent a stream of death into the Vault.
Shankarpa flung himself back as bullets cracked into the stone floor. He scrambled to join Nina and Eddie behind the solid, spiky roller of the udghatima. ‘The chest! Where is it?’
‘There!’ Nina pointed. The two men carrying it had put it down beside the ramp before going to the doors.
A freezing wind blasted into the cavern as the helicopter descended. Eddie looked out from behind the roller. The chopper was a Chinook; a large, twin-rotor transport aircraft designed to lift heavy cargoes - or large numbers of troops. The rear ramp, facing them, was fully lowered, the gunner lying on his belly and letting rip with a bipod-mounted M249 machine gun. Behind him were at least a dozen more men, dressed in black combat gear and body armour, carrying MP5Ks.
The surviving guardians tried to run for cover, but the gunner cut them down. One man attempted to leap from the top of the broken stairway to the uppermost ledge. A burst of machine-gun fire and his legs exploded into bloody chunks of meat, sending him tumbling screaming to the ground.
The firing stopped. The Chinook’s engines increased power, and it climbed out of sight. Beyond it, Eddie saw the red and white helicopter that had overflown the valley earlier - and a third aircraft, a compact black and silver MD 500. That particular model was based on the US Army’s MH-6 Little Bird gunship - and its users were taking advantage of its military heritage. One of the cockpit’s doors was open, the barrel of another M249 aiming down into the valley.
He ducked back. ‘Christ, they’ve got three choppers out there! No idea how many guys in them, but it looked like a lot.’
‘We’ve got to get the Vedas somewhere safe,’ said Nina, glancing out at the chest. Shielded by the stone ramp, it had escaped damage during the onslaught, but now seemed terrifyingly fragile.
‘We’ll never be able to get it outside - not without getting shot to shit.’ He took another look round the udghatima. ‘We should - shit!’
Ropes dropped in front of the ledge. The Chinook was hovering above the overhang. At any moment, troops would rappel down. The MD 500 was also hanging above the valley, ready to provide covering fire.
‘They’re coming,’ Eddie told Shankarpa. The ropes wavered, snake-like, as the mercenaries began their descent. With his Wildey, he could have picked them off before they reached the ledge, but the only weapons to hand were knives and swords.
Unless—
He looked at the giant stone roller shielding them. ‘Nina, you said these things were ready to go - how do you set them off?’
‘How should I know? You’re the death machine expert!’ They hurriedly examined the machine. Once a lever was pulled to release a chock, a heavy weight on a chain would drop - and turn a sprocket to spin the roller.
But the wall-smasher would be no use against their attackers. It could crawl along on small wheels - but it wasn’t pointing towards the entrance, and there seemed no way to steer it.
‘This one’s no good,’ said Nina, ‘but we could use one of the others to hold them off. If we can get to them before—’
‘We can’t,’ said Eddie. ‘We’re out of time.’ The first of the black-clad troopers came into sight, slithering effortlessly down the rope and swinging on to the ledge. He raised his weapon and ran to the side of the entrance.
Eddie recognised him. Zec.
More mercenaries landed. Zec leaned round the door to check the interior, signalling another two men to cover him and his partner as they entered.
‘What can we do?’ Nina whispered.
Shankarpa drew his sword from his back. ‘We fight them.’
‘You’d be dead before you got within twenty feet,’ said Eddie. But they were fast running out of options as the mercs advanced. The only direction they could go without being seen was back into the Vault’s depths - and the chances of their evading discovery shrank with every extra man who touched down.
No choice. ‘I don’t like to say it, but all we can do is hide.’
‘But they’ll get the chest,’ Nina protested.
‘I don’t see how we can stop ’em - not without getting killed. Come on. You too,’ he added to Shankarpa, who seemed on the verge of rushing out in a kamikaze attack. ‘Move it.’
He directed Nina and Shankarpa towards the Vault’s rear, keeping the giant roller between them and the mercenaries as they investigated the bodies, hunting for survivors. The trio passed the miniature palace, skirting the fabric of the deflated balloon and angling back round to where Eddie hoped Kit and Girilal were still waiting. The hard part would be getting to them unseen; the braziers were burning hotter and brighter than ever, and there were still dashes of flame in the oil channels.
He peered through the wooden framework of a war machine. The Chinook had moved off, taking the ropes with it. That meant for the moment that no more mercenaries would be entering the chamber. The knowledge was far from reassuring; they were still outnumbered more than two to one by armed men.
The mercs divided into three-man teams, spreading out to search the cavernous space. Eddie spotted Girilal cautiously peering out from behind an elephant statue. He guessed that Kit was with him; the old yogi didn’t seem the type to abandon an injured man.
‘Okay, we’ve got to reach Kit and Girilal and find somewhere to hide,’ he whispered. ‘Maybe under one of those machines.’
‘How do we reach them?’ Nina asked. They would have to cross the open space around one of the oil channels - in direct line of sight of the entrance.
‘We’ll have to time it right.’ The nearest group of mercenaries had reached the udghatima, shining torch beams at the great roller. ‘If they go behind it . . .’
‘I will make them,’ said Shankarpa. Before Eddie could stop him, the Indian had picked up and thrown a small piece of gold jewellery. It clonked off something near the udghatima. The beams flashed round to find the source of the noise.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ Eddie hissed, angry. ‘Now they know there’s still someone alive!’ Two of the men in the team moved out of sight to investigate, but the third was holding position, shining his light suspiciously round him. ‘Okay, we’ll have to risk it. Get ready. Soon as he turns away . . .’
He ducked as the beam swept round, scanning the path into the Vault before turning back to the roller. ‘Go!’ He pushed Nina out first, then followed Shankarpa across the aisle—
The torch beam whipped back, catching them before they were even halfway across.
‘Shit!’ Eddie dived behind the elephant statue as a shout and the chatter of automatic fire reached him simultaneously. Bullets pitted the stone behind him. More shouts from other directions, the rapid tramp of running footsteps as other mercenaries closed in.
Kit was there with Girilal. He tried to push himself upright, but gasped in pain as his leg gave way. He would have to be carried - making him and his helpers easy targets.
Nina looked round the other end of the statue, seeing more men running through the cavern. ‘Eddie, they’re coming!’
They were trapped; the approaching mercenaries had clear lines of fire on each side. Eddie searched desperately for a weapon, but there was nothing he could reach without exposing himself to gunfire.
No way out. The nearest group of mercs was seconds away, preparing to whip round the statu
e and blast everyone they found there—
‘Zec!’ Eddie shouted, startling his companions. ‘Zec, it’s Eddie Chase! Can you hear me?’
No reply for a moment, only the pounding boots closing in - then a Balkan-accented command of ‘Hold your fire!’ as three men burst round the corner, weapons raised, fingers tight on the triggers . . .
But no shots.
Another team of mercenaries appeared at the other end of the statue, boxing in the five survivors. Laser sights flicked on, green dots settling on heads and hearts. More footsteps, this time marching. Zec appeared, regarding Eddie curiously. ‘Chase. This is a surprise.’
‘For me too,’ Eddie replied, raising his hands. ‘I thought Khoil was going to fire you.’
‘He almost did. But for this operation, he needed a man with experience who could assemble a fighting force quickly.’
‘Well, even though he was wrong about you being a good bloke, Hugo seemed to think you knew what you were doing, so I suppose that makes sense.’
‘Hugo?’ whispered Nina, confused. ‘What is this, Mercenaries Reunited?’
He shushed her. ‘So where’s Slumdog Billionaire and his wife?’
The comment amused Zec. ‘They are in one of the helicopters. I think they will also be surprised to see you.’ He ordered the other mercenaries to continue searching the Vault, then gestured for the prisoners to pick up Kit and take him to the entrance.
‘What are you doing?’ Nina quietly demanded as the armed men ushered them along. ‘He’s the asshole who kidnapped me - why are you being all buddy-buddy with him?’
‘’Cause if I hadn’t been, we’d all be dead,’ Eddie replied. ‘Keeping him talking was the only way to keep us alive.’
Her face brightened. ‘You’ve got a plan, right? Tell me you’ve got a plan.’
‘Er . . . only if you count “see if something good happens before we get shot”.’
‘Riiiight . . .’ she said, hope fading as quickly as it had risen. ‘I was after something a bit more, y’know, specific.’
They reached the ramp, Nina glancing at the chest containing the Shiva-Vedas. The mercenaries obviously had no idea of its significance, but Khoil would be unlikely to overlook it. Was there any way they could hide it from him?
Zec brought them to the end of the ramp, where they lowered Kit so he could sit with his back against it. His men held them at gunpoint for several minutes while the other mercenaries continued their sweep of the cavern. Eventually they returned, reporting that there was nobody else alive. The Bosnian relayed this over his radio headset. ‘The Khoils are on their way,’ he told Nina and Eddie. Outside, the red and white helicopter flew up the valley.
‘I can’t wait,’ Nina said sourly. The bodies of the guardians were scattered nearby, rivulets of blood congealing on the floor, and even though she was trying not to look at them, just the awareness of the bullet-torn corpses was making her feel sick.
Eddie was looking at them, though; more specifically, at their weapons. Most of the fallen swords were too far away, but there was a long-bladed dagger that had ended up only a few feet from the stone ramp. With a distraction, he might be able to reach it and stab one of the mercenaries, giving him a chance to grab a gun . . .
He noticed Girilal watching him, the yogi following his gaze to the dagger. The realisation that the holy man knew what he was planning was somehow unsettling. He turned away, keeping the knife in the edge of his vision.
More snow blew through the doors. A figure was lowered into view: Tandon. Unlike the mercenaries, he was not rappelling, but being winched down in a harness. Zec signalled to two of his men, who hurried out and pulled him on to the ledge. They unfastened the harness, which quickly rose out of sight as the winch line was wound back in. A short time later it returned, now bearing the giant bearded form of Mahajan. The two bodyguards took up positions awaiting the arrival of a third person.
Pramesh Khoil.
His two servants quickly freed him from the harness. He brushed himself down, then entered the Vault. His triumphant march broke step when he saw who was waiting inside. ‘Dr Wilde,’ he said, the flat voice not quite concealing his surprise. ‘And Mr Chase. The recurring bugs in my otherwise flawless program.’
‘I told you knowledge and experience are more useful than any computer,’ Nina replied. ‘You’re too late - the Shiva-Vedas are already gone. The IHA airlifted them out of here.’
A smug smile crossed the plump face. ‘I think not. Until now, the weather conditions were too severe - and the only helicopters that have entered the airspace are mine. Where are they?’ He received no answer. ‘No matter. We will find them.’ He took in the vastness of the Vault, eyes widening. ‘It is here, it really exists . . .’
‘Sounds like you had some doubts,’ said Nina.
‘The failure to find anything at Mount Kailash was becoming a concern, yes.’
‘So what brought you here?’
Another smile. ‘Ironically, you did. Or more accurately, Mr Jindal did,’ Khoil continued, indicating the startled Kit, ‘and his mobile phone. My people learned that you had left Delhi, and that made me wonder: where had you gone? So I had my telecoms company track his phone through the cellular network, and discovered he had gone to Gaurikund. The only possible reason for you to go there was if you believed you had located the Vault. Once I put that new information into Qexia, everything made sense. I feel slightly foolish for not having thought of the connection to Mount Kedarnath sooner.’
‘Garbage in, garbage out,’ said Nina scathingly. ‘You were acting on bad data. That’s what happens when you rely on technology.’
‘Yet it was technology that allowed me to find you. And the Vault.’ The wind rose again, and he turned to see Vanita being winched down, Tandon and Mahajan helping her on to the ledge.
‘Great, she’s here. Now the party can start,’ Eddie muttered.
Khoil was about to say something in defence of his wife when he noticed Girilal, who had been standing behind Shankarpa, for the first time. ‘A Pashupati?’ he said, intrigued.
‘Girilal Mitra, at your service!’ said the old man, his voice shifting conspicuously back to the manic singsong. He danced round his son to meet Khoil. Zec and some of the mercenaries aimed their guns at him, but Khoil waved them down. ‘So you are Mr Khoil, the computer man.’
‘I am, yes.’
‘Ha!’ Girilal leaned on his stick, staring disapprovingly at the billionaire. ‘You are a very bad person.’
To Nina’s surprise, Khoil seemed stung by the allegation. ‘No! I am a loyal servant of Lord Shiva, like you. I am doing his will.’
‘And is this his will?’ asked Girilal, waving a hand at the bodies.
‘Why would one of his loyal servants kill his other loyal servants, hmm?’
‘A true servant of Shiva would know that death is of no consequence,’ proclaimed Vanita loudly, striding into the chamber with Mahajan and Tandon. She was wrapped in layers of cold-weather clothing, and seemed decidedly annoyed to be there, not even giving the wonders of the Vault a second glance. ‘Especially when it will help end the Kali Yuga. Now, where are the Vedas?’ She gave Nina an icy look. ‘I assume she knows.’
‘They are here somewhere, my beloved,’ Khoil assured her.
‘Somewhere is not good enough. Find them, now!’
Khoil turned back to Girilal. ‘I have no quarrel with a holy man. Do you know where to find the Vedas? If you tell me, I will let you go free.’
‘And what about my friends?’ Girilal countered. ‘Will they go free too?’
‘I am afraid that will not be possible.’
‘Ha!’ snorted Girilal, banging down his stick. ‘You are a bad man. Very bad.’ He waved a dismissive hand. ‘Shiva wants nothing to do with you. And nor do I.’ Ignoring their guns, he shuffled past the mercenaries and sat huffily on the ramp, facing away from Khoil.
Zec glanced questioningly at his employer, but Khoil, seeming genuinely startled by the yog
i’s rejection, shook his head. ‘Search the Vault. Find the Vedas.’
‘What do they look like?’ Zec asked.
‘According to the text from Atlantis, they are stone tablets with text in Vedic Sanskrit. They will probably be in a container for protection, a box or chest.’
Zec and all but two of the mercenaries spread out to begin their search. ‘You’ll never find them,’ said Nina as Vanita began to pace impatiently, her husband looking up in fascination at the vimana. ‘It’s a big cave, and they could be absolutely anywh—’
‘Found them,’ called Zec from beside the ramp.
‘God damn it!’
Zec and another man brought the chest to the Khoils and opened it. ‘These are them, yes?’ he asked.
Khoil, hands shaking in excitement, carefully lifted out one of the tablets and examined the ancient text. ‘Yes,’ he breathed. ‘The Shiva-Vedas! The words of Lord Shiva himself.’ He looked at Vanita, the light of the zealot in his eyes. ‘We have them! We will wipe away the corruption of the Kali Yuga. A new age - and we will create it.’ He delicately replaced the tablet in the rack, then closed the lid. ‘Chapal, Dhiren! Prepare it for transport.’
The two bodyguards came to him as the mercenaries returned. Mahajan carried a backpack, from which he took a roll of strong plastic netting and a bundle of harness straps. He and Tandon wrapped up the chest so it could be winched away.
‘Now, what about them?’ Vanita asked impatiently, indicating the prisoners. ‘I think they have lived far too long.’
‘I agree,’ said Khoil.
‘Good! Then kill them!’ She glared at Zec. ‘Now!’
Zec nodded, about to issue a command—
Shankarpa dived at Khoil with a scream of rage.
Zec swept up his MP5K, catching the guardian a savage blow across his face and knocking him down by the foot of the ramp. Another mercenary kicked Shankarpa in the chest and aimed his gun at his head—
Girilal snatched up the dagger and stabbed it to the hilt into the merc’s throat.
The other mercenaries whipped round to face the unexpected threat as the trooper fell, a spray of red spurting out from the wound. Zec fired at the old man. The burst of bullets hit Girilal in the chest and stomach, slamming him to the floor.
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