“Oh, that,” Luther suddenly said. “That’s my big brother.”
Dahl gawped at him. “You have a big brother? Fuck me.”
“I sure do. His name’s Molokai. But don’t speak to him. He’d just as soon spit down your severed neck than shoot the shit, if you get my meaning.”
Drake couldn’t tear his eyes away from the right claw—a mechanical, knife-edged appendage instead of a hand, all steel and carbon-fiber, and gleaming in the sun, fingers opening and closing mechanically, edged by blades and dripping thick red blood into the thin covering of sand by his feet.
Dahl shook his out of it. “Get moving. We need to help them.”
Luther laughed. “Ha, ha. Not with Molokai. He’s a weapon. Just watch.”
Drake didn’t listen. “This team doesn’t spectate,” he said. “It helps.”
Before they even sprang into motion the battle began. The helicopter hovered and the mercs fired their weapons, the amplified sound immense beside the Great Pyramid. Karin and her accomplices dived to the sides, firing accurately and cleverly, using broken and crumbling steps for cover. Molokai raised the gun that was about the size of Yorgi and opened fire, the clack-clack of its chambers resounding as deep down as Drake’s very soul.
Bullets tacked a line across the mercs, each bullet killing a man and blowing a large hole through his torso. They shattered large chunks from the pyramid. In just seconds Molokai had ended ten men and was walking forward, into the fire. He didn’t go unscathed, taking bullets to the chest, but he somehow walked through the barrage, withstanding the pain. When a bullet struck a part of his body that was not protected by Kevlar he ignored that too—shrugging the through-and-through off with an irritated twist of the mouth.
Half the mercs were finished. Drake now found himself confronted with the unknown scenario of the SPEAR team being forced to simply watch the last battle. They were normally a full part of it.
So this is retirement? he thought ironically. Watching? I don’t like it.
Bullets clattered and struck hard. Karin and her two comrades fought economically and with a minimum of risk. Molokai did resort to taking cover but only when a bullet took off his ear lobe, causing that appendage to start bleeding profusely. Luther grunted with humor at the incident.
“Kai won’t like that.”
The unorthodox fighter dug his clawed hand into a body and threw it at the remaining mercs, shredding it with bullets. It was distraction enough to take out another two. Drake and Dahl were on the scene then, followed by Luther, and finished the mercs that remained.
There was a lull, a strange nonentity of action that lasted half a minute. During this time the big chopper continued to hover.
Drake ignored Molokai and walked over to Karin. The last surviving Blake stared at him with neutral eyes, letting him get close and not dropping her gun.
“It’s me,” he said, wondering if she had a head injury. “Matt.”
“About time,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Where have you been?” he asked. “Why now?” A thousand questions hovered at the tip of his tongue.
“Not now,” Karin said. “After the battle.”
“We just finished it.” Drake laughed.
“What, them? No, they were just the guards. The real force of mercs is coming. They were waiting out front.” She jerked her head in the direction of the Sphinx. “Do you know what they’re chasing?”
“Yeah, the capstone.” Drake shelved his questions for later, turning to the arriving team. “Fighting’s not done.”
“Oh, thank you for that.” Alicia sighed loudly. “I thought we’d missed out.”
Hayden, Kinimaka and others greeted Karin carefully as the black-haired girl looked on. She smiled, nodding, but Drake thought he detected something else there. Maybe it was the training.
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t worry. You can get close again. With us. If you want to, that is.”
Karin motioned at her friends. “Meet Dino and Wu. New friends of mine.”
Luther brought Molokai over, seeming intent on introducing him. At the last moment Molokai stepped back with Luther; Pine and Carey fanning out.
“We can take it from here,” Luther said. “And we can take you. I wasn’t sure I’d need backup to take you, Drake, but called my big brother here just in case. Do you really wanna tangle with both of us?”
They leveled their guns and the standoff began.
“Bloody hell, Luther. Why can’t you see past the trees?”
“Because I have the luxury of not having to. Now lay down your arms, all of you.”
Drake worried, thinking of everything Crowe had said about Tempest and what Lauren might have discovered. If they fought back now, some would die. A glance at Karin told him she hadn’t been expecting this; so she wasn’t in on it.
“Tempest,” he said. “The weapons. The other teams. Luther, we have too much at stake and so does the world.”
Luther waved his handgun. “Down. Now. You have until the count of—”
The whistle started low but grew very quickly, becoming a thunderous roar. It came out of the sky, a missile fired by FrameHub, precisely monitored so that it struck at the exact angle and the exact point. Drake threw himself headlong. The missile struck the Great Pyramid and exploded, throwing rubble out into the air along its first and second seams, blasting a hole in the side.
The huge chopper still hovered; out of the blast radius.
Over the hill came a running horde of mercenaries.
“Weapons!” Dahl cried out.
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
Shattered pieces of Khufu’s tomb landed all around them and upon them. The team sighted the attacking mercs and unleashed a hail of gunfire, but the force was too strong and reckless, overcoming them in minutes. The helicopter at their back repositioned slowly, moving until it hovered outside the great hole that had been blasted in the side of the pyramid.
“They’re going for the capstone,” Crouch said. “They just breached the secret passage.”
Drake guessed as much. He smashed a running merc in the face as he raced past, then braced for a return punch of the production of a weapon, but none of the men were fighting. They were running straight for the still-smoking hole.
Chains dangled from the bottom of the helicopter, curled in a heavy iron mass for now. The quicker mercs grabbed hold and began to unfurl them, dragging them into the new hole. More soon joined, lending their strength to the task. Some fought with Luther, Molokai, Mai and Kinimaka, but only a few, causing a distraction. Others took cover and took potshots. The area was in chaos; frantic.
Drake slid over to Crouch. “Ideas?”
“I don’t bloody like it, Drake! FrameHub have researched this. Acting on Intel received inside the pyramid they blew a hole in just the right spot. Now they’re planning to drag it free. This is the same alliance of nutter that just sent Egypt to the Dark Ages.”
Drake caught his drift. “You think they’re gonna set the capstone up top?” He raised his gaze to the apex of the currently flat-topped structure. “No way. Even FrameHub aren’t so stupid.”
“They’re gamers. Juvenile madmen with incredible power at their fingertips. And they’re ghosts, gods. I think they’ll do it just for the kicks.”
Drake took it all in; the hovering heavy-lift chopper, the twenty or so men attaching the chains; the way the others were pinning his people down; and then: something else.
Vladimir and Saint stood just inside the ragged hole, supervising their men. As he watched Vladimir turned to the chopper pilot and gave the sign for two minutes.
And then he gave the sign for up.
Maybe it meant something else, but Drake wasn’t taking any chances. He spun, took a deep breath, and screamed at the team.
“Forget them! We have to grab the capstone. These madmen are going to start up the machine.”
Most of the SPEAR team turned, Karin too. Luther and Molokai continued to take ou
t hidden enemies. Pine was looking over and so was Dino.
He gestured again. “If the pyramid is the weapon, the capstone is the key. Once placed, it’ll power up. We can’t afford to let that happen!”
He surged forward, running headlong into danger. Dahl was at his heels, Kenzie too. They evaded bullets, dodged a grenade. They went through three men as if they were made of dough. Alicia joined them and then came Smyth and Hayden. They were deadly karma, angels of death.
They passed by the chopper just as it began to thunder, rotors spinning harder, rising slowly off the floor. From inside the tomb came a terrible and tremendous grating roar, the sound of age-old stone being moved, being dragged, being torn out of its resting place. The pilot poured on the power. Mercs came surging out of the hole, desperate not to get crushed. Vladimir and Saint came with them.
They ran straight into the SPEAR team.
Drake met Saint head on, not even slowing momentum as he timed a headbutt to perfection. If he’d been wrong even by a millisecond it could have ended disastrously but it ended with Saint recognizing him and receiving a shattered nose bone and cranium at almost the exact same time.
Saint fell instantly, the shortest bout in history.
“That’s how you fight.” Drake spat on the jailor and fight orchestrator. “That . . . is how you fight.”
Dahl rammed into Vladimir, taking the merc boss right off his feet and carrying him ten paces before using that incredible momentum to throw him into the jagged pyramid wall. Vladimir struck hard, twisted, and screamed from the pain caused to his back. He went down like a sack of spanners, inert. Dahl leapt over to ensure the job was done.
Drake fought more mercs, sending a punishing blow to stomach and then chin. But again, they chose not to engage; all running past him without acknowledgement.
“This is becoming annoying,” Alicia said. “Are we even visible?”
“Well, they’re sure feeling us.” Kinimaka wrenched his hand out of a folded merc’s stomach, moving aside as the man dropped at his feet.
Another bunch ran past. Drake fought with one and then the most horrendous screeching that he’d ever heard rang out. The chain grew taut, the chopper strained, its engine groaning. It rose by the meter. The huge chains grumbled. And then, through the hole, Drake got his first glimpse of the ancient capstone that had been formed to top the Great Pyramid.
It came through the hole, dragging blocks and showers of mortar with it, a small pyramidion in contrast to Khufu’s but looking large and deadly to Drake. It swung free, lifted by the chopper, passing close to Drake’s flying body as he dived aside. Kinimaka ducked under it, caught in its shadow for many seconds, leaving Drake with the paradoxical wish both for the chains to hold and to break—but not right now.
The capstone, still shining, still covered by white polished cladding, swung under the chopper and then began to rise faster as the pilot learned its weight and dimensions. The mercs fought hard now, their primary job done, and the SPEAR team communicated as best they could.
In battle.
The capstone rose higher. Drake looked to their last chance; the grounded choppers.
“Dahl!” he cried. “With me!”
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
Drake and Dahl, Alicia and Mai raced together for one of the black helicopters.
They passed Luther and saw him nod, acknowledging their perilous bravery and offering support. They passed Hayden and Kinimaka, the big man back to back with his oldest living friend, striking mercenaries left and right. They passed Yorgi and Crouch with guns, keeping men at bay and helping the others. They passed Smyth and Kenzie, one looking like he wanted to get this fight out of the way as soon as possible and the other wishing she had joined them.
Even took a step their way.
But Smyth needed help and she jumped back in, supporting him.
Perhaps there was a major hope for her yet.
Drake climbed into the pilot’s seat of the first helicopter; Dahl the second. As one they fired up the engines, letting the rotors turn. Alicia pointed out a stockpile of weapons in the back that the mercs hadn’t even used—RPGs, grenades and loaded guns.
Above, the giant capstone moved up the side of the huge pyramid, hefted by the big-lift chopper. Drake moved the cyclic controls so that his own bird lifted and then took off. They took to the air, chasing the capstone up the sloping wall, aiming to get alongside the big helo.
Alicia, watching as they drew closer, said, “Y’know, I’m quite excited to say this, Drake. Just put me on that big chopper.”
“Bit busy now, Alicia.”
“Oh, har har, Quick as a flash, Drakey.” She readied her gun, slamming a new mag in and pointing the barrel out the window.
“Not bothered about saving them,” Drake said. “Take the pilot out if you can.”
“On it.”
Dahl came up too, visible in Drake’s eye line, his helicopter rising up the other side of the Sikorsky. They passed the capstone and then the bulk of the bird, drifting around to the cockpit. Below, Drake could see a sandy plain of death, blood and battles to the death. Up here, it was all noise, concentration and maneuvering.
*
Hayden fought in the midst of it all, stopping mercs where they ran and watching Kinimaka’s back as much as he watched hers. They pivoted, spun as if on a hinge, a well-rehearsed, experienced dance. As best they could they watched out for the other members of the team.
Yorgi and Crouch stayed put, well defended, but the others moved frequently, not wanting the enemy to grow comfortable with their position. Smyth crawled along some ruins, the wall barely taller than his back, with bullets glancing off it. Occasionally he would bob up, squeeze off a few rounds and then shift to the next place. Kenzie used her speed and skill, stepping up to an enemy, wrenching his gun aside and breaking his nose with the barrel.
Hayden knew these men had lost their leaders—she’d seen what Drake and Dahl had done to Vladimir and Saint—but concluded they must have been promised some final bonus, something extra if the capstone met the top of the Khufu pyramid.
She made them pay dearly for that decision.
Kinimaka was moving slower than normal, still in pain from the bullet strikes. She sympathized but this wasn’t the time for pity. When he faltered she was there for him. When he winced in agony she took the man that was targeting him.
When he fell to one knee, she used his immense shoulders as a bench to rest her gun.
She saw Drake’s helicopter riding high, chasing the big Sikorsky and the swinging capstone up the giant pyramid. The capstone shone so brightly it blinded her, glorious white light shimmering as it played backward and forward with the sun. Kenzie cut across her vision then, again using a merc’s weapon as a club and no doubt missing her sword. In truth, the SPEAR team were well dug in. It was the mercs that had made themselves exposed.
And what of Karin? Hayden saw her running and switching positions in perfect routine with her team. But where had she been until now? And why was she so suddenly here? The questions would have to wait.
Luther fought at the fringes with his team. Pine and Carey ran in tandem, perfectly in tune, covering each other’s backs and communicating with ease. Molokai raged among a knot of mercenaries, taking bullets but ignoring the impact as if they were made of foam, not lead. Hayden had to assume he’d gotten hold of some new kind of body armor. Even a glancing bullet should stop a man, but she’d seen it in the past where Drake had ignored a bullet impact and kept going on sheer adrenalin. But Molokai . . . the man was savage.
The metal hand was a brutal claw he used to devastating effect. One touch or grip of that hand signaled the end for the man on the receiving end. In the other, a high-caliber weapon pumped lead into everything nasty that moved. Hayden saw three men mown down in just a second, and then three more. Molokai held a man up by the neck, his terrible claw constricting his throat until his legs stopped kicking.
“Not keen on our new playmates?” Kenzie as
ked as she slid to a sandy halt a meter to Hayden’s left.
“That is a different level of fierce,” Hayden pointed out. “Luther and Molokai are . . .” She shook her head.
“Exactly as advertised,” Kenzie reminded her. “We were told their reputation. Well, Luther’s at least.”
“I guess.”
Hayden focused on the moment, rather than watching Luther and Molokai’s rampaging. The band of mercenaries was thinning out now, and several were hanging back, shading their eyes as they stared at the topmost height of the Great Pyramid.
Hayden looked that way too, just as Kinimaka and Kenzie gazed up. The capstone was approaching the top; the doomsday weapon minutes from being completed. Drake and Dahl struggled to get close, beset by gunfire and buffeting winds. Where it all ended up from here was anyone’s guess.
Hayden stayed close to Mano.
*
Gently, Drake feathered the stick and floated alongside the pilot’s window. He saw a skinny white man with grizzled hair and a thick moustache. Drake saw the dirty yellow teeth when he bared them.
The pilot stuck a HK casually out the window.
And opened fire.
Drake pulled back, letting Alicia return the favor but not wanting to lose the engines. It wasn’t the fall that bothered him, it was losing the chance to prevent the enemy laying the capstone.
The Sikorsky continued up slowly as if nothing was occurring, an incredible spectacle against the Great Pyramid with Drake and Dahl’s black choppers flying alongside. Guns poked out of many windows and gunfire was exchanged. Bullets laced the skies and indiscriminately sprayed holes in the metal sides. And now Drake saw one more anomaly—a black drone with mini-cameras mounted on its sides tracking the Sikorsky and watching.
The Seven Seals of Egypt (Matt Drake Book 17) Page 21