‘That everything?’ asked Diamondback. ‘So what now?’
‘Now,’ said Shaban, ‘we clean up.’ He looked at his watch, then indicated the eastern entrance. ‘We have just over five hours before the IHA open that door. Lorenz, how long will it take to seal the royal entrance?’
The grey-haired man looked up from the jacks. ‘Once we’ve got everything out of here, about an hour to move the block back into position,’ he said, his accent Dutch.
‘There can’t be so much as a footprint left behind,’ Hamdi said, nervously regarding the tracks on the dusty floor.
‘There won’t be.’ Shaban indicated some gas cylinders beside the compressor. ‘We’ll use compressed air to clear the floors - by the time the IHA get in, the dust will have settled.’ A nod to the man standing with Gamal. ‘Broma, get started.’
‘Shit,’ Eddie whispered. ‘We’ll have to make a run for it after all. Soon as they go back upstairs for their gear, we’ll leg it.’
They waited in the darkness as Broma began erasing stray footprints with blasts of compressed air. The other men moved away from the swirling dust clouds.
‘Should we risk it?’ said Nina.
‘There’s still that bloke by the door,’ Eddie said, watching Lorenz check the jacks. ‘When he moves away . . .’
Broma suddenly stopped working, peering with a puzzled expression at the floor near the entrance to the dark chamber. Eddie immediately knew why.
He had seen their footprints, freshly made in the dust.
‘Back, back, back!’ Eddie hissed. Broma followed the new tracks to the entrance. He squinted into the shadows.
Eddie and Nina ducked down behind a section of the ruined pillar. Macy crouched beside a smaller hunk of broken stone as Broma swept a torch beam across the floor. He fixed the circle of light on one set of tracks and followed them.
To Macy’s hiding place.
Frightened, she hunched lower - and crunched a small piece of debris under her sole. It was only a faint scrape, but it was enough to make Broma twitch. The torch beam locked on to the fallen pillar. He put down the air cylinder . . . and drew a knife.
Macy froze. The beam exposed more of the pillar as he approached . . . then found the young woman hiding behind it.
The knife snapped up—
Crack!
A five-thousand-year-old piece of pottery exploded into fragments as Eddie smashed it over Broma’s head. The man fell to his knees against Macy’s hiding place - and Eddie kicked the back of his head, cracking him face first against the stone. Broma slumped unconscious to the floor.
In the entrance chamber, Shaban looked round sharply at the noise. ‘Broma?’ he called. No reply. He gestured to Lorenz. ‘Check it.’ Lorenz grabbed a pickaxe and hurried to investigate.
Nina jumped up. ‘Come on,’ said Eddie, grabbing Macy’s hand and quickly following Nina to the other doorway.
Lorenz entered the room, seeing Broma’s fallen torch - and the body slumped beside it. He looked round in alarm, spotting fleeing silhouettes in the faint rectangle of light across the room. ‘Hey!’
‘Shit!’ Nina gasped. She raced through the next darkened room, passing the light stand and glancing up the stairs. Nobody in the zodiac chamber, but there was no way out either. Instead she ran into the last room, a smaller repository of records with four supporting pillars lit by two more light stands. An opening in the east wall led back into the entrance chamber.
Through it, she saw Gamal running towards her with a hammer in one hand. Backing up, she almost collided with Eddie at the bottom of the stairs. ‘This way’s blocked!’
‘So’s that way!’ Macy cried, pointing behind her as Lorenz charged after them.
‘Up!’ Eddie yelled, taking the steps three at a time. Nina and Macy dashed after him.
Gamal and Lorenz reached the bottom of the stairs simultaneously, rushing up them to catch their cornered prey . . .
Only to run back down even faster as a screaming Eddie pursued them, the circular saw shrilling in his hands. ‘Come on, you fuck-sticks! ’ he bellowed as he chased them into the illuminated room. ‘Who wants some?’
Gamal clearly didn’t, sprinting back into the entrance chamber, but Lorenz turned to face him. He swung the pickaxe, trying to smash the saw from Eddie’s grip. Eddie jerked back - and another swipe brought the sharp point alarmingly close to his head. ‘Whoa!’
The spinning blade was producing a gyroscopic effect, making the bulky and heavy saw even more awkward to wield. Sweeping its trailing power cable out from under his feet, Eddie hefted it, watching Lorenz’s movements closely as the two men circled. He would have to be fast.
Lorenz lunged—
Eddie twisted away from the metal spike - and jerked the saw upwards. There was a brief skzzt! as the blade sliced effortlessly through the pickaxe handle, the head flying across the room. He grunted, annoyed. He’d been aiming for Lorenz’s hands.
It had the desired effect, though. Lorenz dropped the handle’s stump and rapidly retreated into the entrance chamber. Eddie glanced back at Macy and Nina. ‘Think I’ve got this under control!’ he shouted over the noise of the whirling saw. ‘You two get ready to run, I’ll - oh, shit!’
Through the passage he saw Diamondback at the workbench, donning his snakeskin jacket and drawing a revolver from inside it - but the more immediate danger was Gamal, running back past Lorenz with the chainsaw in his hands!
8
Eddie scuttled backwards as Gamal ran into the room, his weapon’s cable whipping behind him. The chainsaw was smaller and lighter than the circular saw - and its blade was much longer. ‘Go round the other way!’ he shouted to the women, only to realise they had separated. Nina was at the doorway to the stairs, but Macy had jumped the gun and was halfway round the room before she froze as she saw the new threat. Eddie was now between them - and with Gamal coming straight for him, Macy was cut off.
Gamal thrust the chainsaw at Eddie’s stomach. He swung his clumsy weapon downwards to protect himself, and the two blades clashed against each other. The circular saw was almost wrenched from Eddie’s hands as the edge of his blade momentarily caught in the chainsaw’s teeth, spinning metal coming perilously close to his leg. With a strained roar, he hauled the saw back up - as Gamal stabbed at him again.
Sparks sprayed as Eddie’s weapon rasped along the chainsaw’s flat blade before snagging in its teeth once more. The jarring impact knocked him backwards, and he almost tripped over the jack’s air hose. Gamal advanced.
Lorenz re-entered the chamber. He saw Macy trapped in the corner and moved towards her, fists raised. ‘Uh, little help?’ she cried.
Nina was about to try to reach her when she saw Diamondback running towards the room, gun raised. She dived back to the foot of the stairs as a bullet shattered a scroll container.
Macy backed towards the light stand as Lorenz closed in. Eddie moved to interpose himself, but if he tried to attack Lorenz, Gamal would be able to get a clear strike with the chainsaw.
The hose—
He swung the saw - not at Lorenz, but at the floor, slicing through the air line. There was a ringing shrill as his blade carved a groove into the stone, but it was nothing compared to the earsplitting hiss as compressed air surged from the hose’s severed end, sending it whipping insanely about the chamber.
It lashed Lorenz, opening a deep cut in his cheek as it struck him and blasted gritty air into his eyes. He screamed, staggering blindly away from Macy - to smack head first into a pillar. He dropped to his knees, groaning.
Gamal backed away from the demented hose - blocking Diamondback’s aim. ‘Turn off the compressor!’ the Egyptian shouted.
‘Go round, get out!’ Eddie told Nina, gesturing for her to escape through the darkened chambers.
‘Not without you!’
‘I’ll catch up, just go!’
The writhing hose abruptly died, slapping lifelessly to the floor. Diamondback had shut down the compressor. Nina saw him da
rt back to the doorway, gun at the ready. She turned and ran as another Magnum round smacked into the wall.
Gamal went back on the attack. Eddie swung his saw defensively, the blades grinding with another shower of sparks. Macy shrieked and took cover behind a pillar as the two men passed, Gamal driving his opponent into a corner.
Something brushed her foot. She looked down, seeing the saws’ power cables shifting as their wielders moved. A memory from the entrance chamber flashed through her mind - the junction box, equipment plugged into it.
Including the chainsaw . . .
Both cables were orange - but the chainsaw’s seemed a deeper shade. She grabbed the darker of the two lines at her feet and reeled it in.
Diamondback was about to pursue Nina when his attention was caught by the saw fight. He took aim at the Englishman - but Gamal, back to him, unwittingly obscured his sight as he lunged at Eddie once more. The American released the trigger, impatiently waiting for another opportunity to fire.
Eddie tried to slash at Gamal’s arm, but the uniformed man easily countered, the chainsaw bitting a chunk out of the circular saw’s casing. Eddie flinched as plastic fragments spat into his face. The sheer mass of the machine was rapidly wearing him down - and behind his adversary he saw Diamondback, revolver tracking him. Gamal jabbed the chainsaw, forcing him back. He could feel the heat of the lamps on the back of his head.
Cornered—
Macy felt the cord pull taut. She yanked it as hard as she could.
In the next chamber, the plug popped out of the junction box . . .
And Eddie’s saw fell silent.
The chainsaw’s electrical flex wasn’t darker. It was just dirty - and she had taken hold of a similarly grubby section of the circular saw’s power cable.
‘What the fuck?’ Eddie yelped. He looked at Macy, crouched with the cable in her hands and a guilty expression. ‘Macy!’
The blade was still spinning, but slowing - and Gamal had already seen his opportunity, stabbing the chainsaw at him. He jerked up the dead power tool like a shield—
The chainsaw’s teeth ripped through its casing and smashed the blade’s axle assembly. The steel disc shot across the room like a lethal Frisbee. It clanged off a pillar, whipping at the passage - and forcing Diamondback to dive backwards to avoid being decapitated. The blade shot over him and bounced off another pillar in the entrance chamber. Shaban ducked and Hamdi screamed as it flew between them.
Eddie hurled his useless weapon at Gamal. He hoped the other man would make the mistake of trying to deflect the heavy piece of machinery with the chainsaw and knock his own blade back into his face, but the security chief spun out of the missile’s way and faced his target again.
His defenceless target.
The chainsaw swung, forcing Eddie back against the light stand. Gamal grinned, driving the saw straight for his chest—
Macy pulled the other cable.
The unexpected tug was just hard enough to throw off Gamal’s aim. The blade’s tip slashed through the shoulder of Eddie’s leather jacket, drawing blood - but the wound wasn’t enough to stop Eddie from grabbing his unbalanced enemy and flinging him round—
Into the light stand.
The chainsaw carved through the high-powered bulbs - and their power lines. Glass exploded and crackling blue flashes arced as Gamal took the full force of the electricity through his body. Muscles paralysed, unable even to scream, he crashed on to the tripod. Smoke coiled from his nostrils and eye sockets as he was cooked from the inside out.
Eddie jumped clear. ‘Bright spark,’ he said as he pulled the horrified Macy upright. ‘Come on!’
Nina ran through the dark rooms. In the glow from his dropped flashlight she saw Broma woozily pushing himself up - and stomped on his back as she vaulted the fallen pillar, slamming him back down.
She reached the short passage. Shaban was by the royal entrance across from her, Hamdi leaning breathlessly against a nearer pillar, ghost-pale. He saw her, and reacted in shock. ‘Dr Wilde?’
‘Dr Hamdi,’ she replied. ‘I think you’ve got some explaining to do.’
He came towards her. ‘If you think you can—’
She punched him in the face and continued towards Shaban, leaving the Egyptian official squealing and holding his nose. A crowbar was propped against a pillar; she picked it up, holding it like a sword. Shaban seemed unconcerned, a slight smirk twisting his scarred lip. ‘Dunno what you’re grinning at,’ she said, indicating the case. ‘You’re not taking that out of here.’
He didn’t answer, but his brief glance to one side warned Nina that something was wrong. She turned her head towards the western exit - and saw Diamondback returning.
Aiming—
A bullet blew a chunk from a pillar as she leapt past a light stand to take cover behind the ornate column. ‘Kill her,’ Shaban ordered.
In the second dark chamber, Eddie heard the shot. ‘Hide in here,’ he told Macy before running into the first unlit room. Broma was struggling to rise again, so he trampled him back down, then saw his knife glinting in the spill of torchlight and snatched it up.
Nina kicked the light stand. Top-heavy, it crashed to the floor, the bulbs shattering and plunging the room’s eastern end into darkness. She ran to another pillar near the sealed entrance. Diamondback jogged towards her. Behind him, Lorenz stumbled into the room, blood on his face. The shadows wouldn’t hide her for long . . .
Eddie ran in, guessing Nina’s position from where Diamondback was pointing his gun. ‘Oi!’ he yelled. Diamondback saw him, spun, fired - as Eddie ducked behind a column, the wall cratering just behind him.
‘Get the zodiac out of here!’ Shaban ordered, waving Lorenz over. Hamdi scurried to join him.
Diamondback closed in. Back pressed against the column, Eddie raised the knife. The American’s revolver fetish meant he only had two shots remaining in his Colt Python. Even with a speedloader, it would take him several seconds to re-arm once they were gone, leaving him open to a counter-attack.
But he had to use up the remaining bullets first.
A sound from the nearby doorway. Broma had recovered, face gnarled with anger. He lumbered towards Eddie. Shit! That left only one direction he could retreat - and Diamondback was waiting—
From the shadows, Nina saw Diamondback’s face light up with the anticipation of a kill. ‘Eddie!’ she cried, flinging the crowbar as hard as she could at the gunman.
It hit his shoulder. The .357 Magnum boomed as his finger flinched on the trigger. Broma jumped back from the bullet impact on the column - and Eddie ran into the darkness to Nina.
‘Broma! Lorenz! Take the zodiac!’ Shaban shouted, angry impatience rising. Broma hesitated, then crossed the chamber to pick up one end of the case. Lorenz took the other. Hamdi turned and fled up the tunnel, holding his nose. The two men carried the case after him.
‘Dammit!’ Nina said as she watched the zodiac disappear, before looking at Eddie. ‘What, you brought a knife to a gunfight?’
‘He’s only got one more shot,’ Eddie countered. ‘Then he’ll have brought fists to a knife fight!’
Diamondback was closing on them, but Shaban shouted to him. ‘Bobby! Come on!’
‘What about these two?’
‘The zodiac is all that matters - go! We’ll collapse the tunnel and seal them in!’
Nina and Eddie shared an anxious look. ‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ they said as one.
Shaban entered the tunnel. Diamondback followed him as far as the entrance, holding position beside the stone block with his gun raised, daring the couple to show their faces.
‘Give me one of those pots,’ Eddie said.
Nina grimaced at the thought of another priceless artefact’s destruction, but handed him a container. He hefted it.
Shaban’s voice echoed down the tunnel. ‘Bobby, move!’ Diamondback’s gaze flicked towards to the sound, just for a moment—
Eddie sprang out and hurled the pot.
&n
bsp; He was already rolling for the cover of the next pillar as Diamondback fired - and hit the container in mid-air. It exploded like a clay pigeon. Some of the pieces struck Eddie, but he ignored them, only one thought in his mind.
Six shots.
He jumped up, hoping he hadn’t misidentified the revolver and that Diamondback wasn’t carrying a seven-shooter . . .
He wasn’t. The American turned and sprinted up the tunnel.
Eddie pursued him, light bulbs flashing past.
Too late, he realised Diamondback was carrying a second revolver. He tugged it out of his jacket, slowed, turned—
Eddie tackled him. Both men hit the floor beside the chugging generator. Diamondback raised his gun, but Eddie swiped it from his hand. The lank-haired gunman tried to scramble after it, only for Eddie to slam a sledgehammer punch into his kidney, dropping him flat.
But Diamondback wasn’t out of the fight, wrenching himself round and smashing an elbow into Eddie’s chest. Eddie gasped at a stab of resurgent pain where his rib had been broken seven months earlier.
Diamondback saw the weakness and lashed at the spot again. Eddie thumped back against a support beam.
The American pulled free, trying to get up, but Eddie kicked him hard on the backside. Diamondback stumbled before falling again . . .
At Shaban’s feet.
Eddie looked up. Shaban had retrieved the revolver.
And was pointing it at him—
He rolled behind the generator as Shaban fired. The first shot smacked off the floor and ricocheted down the tunnel - but the next hit the generator. The machine jolted, mechanism grinding. The lights flickered. Another shot - and the fuel tank burst open, petrol gushing out.
‘Get back,’ Shaban told his henchman, a cruel smile forming. Diamondback stood with a sadistic half-laugh. Both men retreated.
‘Oh, shit,’ Eddie whispered. He had a choice of death by bullet - or death by incineration.
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