“What is it?” asked Amrit.
“Grab a flashlight from my pack and hurry back,” said Shaw, trying to sound calm.
A couple of seconds later, Amrit returned.
“Turn it on and shine it down the hill,” said Shaw.
Amrit nodded her head and turned on the flashlight. Instantly, a bright beam of light reached out into the dark. As she slowly moved the light around the perimeter of their camp, Amrit suddenly froze.
“Jesus,” muttered Shaw when he saw at least six pairs of red eyes shining brightly in the light.
“Do you think they intend to attack?” asked Choling.
Shaw shook his head. “I don’t know. If they wanted to, they could have easily overrun the camp and killed us all when the first beast attacked.”
“Perhaps it was just probing our camp to see how we would react,” said Amrit.
“That makes sense. It’s what we would do to an enemy,” said Shaw.
“Still think they’re bears?” said Choling.
“Whatever they are, they’re blocking the way down,” observed Shaw.
“What are we going to do?” asked Choling.
“It doesn’t look like we have many options open to us,” replied Shaw. “For now, we must remain vigilant until first light. I want two men on duty per shift. I’m fairly certain that these things are nocturnal; that’s why we’ve never come across them in the day. Once the sun comes up, they’ll seek shelter. When we’re certain that we are alone, we have to carry on with our mission.”
“Are you serious?” blurted out Amrit. “We’re outnumbered by Adler’s people, and now we have a herd of unnatural animals with a taste for flesh to contend with as well.”
“What would you suggest?” asked Shaw. “We can’t allow Adler to succeed in his mission, and turning back is not an option that I am willing to entertain.”
“Neither am I,” added Choling. “My men and I are willing to die before we allow anyone to enter the sacred cave to take what is not theirs.”
“I wasn’t advocating surrender,” said Amrit. “But we have to be realistic. Right now, we don’t stand much of a chance on our own up here. We should climb down the mountain, round up some more of Choling’s men and wait in ambush for Adler and his people when they come back down.”
“We cannot turn back,” said Choling bluntly.
“Why not?” said Amrit.
“I don’t think those beasts intend to step aside and let us get away. Secondly, my grandfather told me that he had a dream in which the nine of us would attempt to climb the mountain and stop the sacred objects from being removed. That is why we cannot turn back.”
Amrit turned and looked over at Shaw. “James, please tell me that you’re not buying this stuff, are you?”
Shaw shook his head. “I don’t believe in the same things as Choling; however, I do share his goal. We must push on and stop Adler. If we don’t, the Nazis are going to get their hands on something that could be used to make bombs that could destroy entire cities.”
“This is madness. Has the whole world gone insane?” snapped Amrit. “I’m going to check on Sergeant Bruce.”
Shaw watched her go. He didn’t know why, but he felt a shiver crawl down his spine. When he looked back towards the animals waiting for them just outside of their camp, Shaw was stunned to see that they had vanished. It was as if they could come and go as they pleased without making a sound.
Shaw stomped his feet up and down to get some warmth into his cold toes. He wondered how bad things had gone for Adler’s team and if any of them had survived the night.
With frozen blood covering his left eyelid, Adler struggled to see. He was amazed that he was still alive. A beast had gotten close enough to him that one of its razor-sharp claws had cut through his fur hat and dug a deep gash across his forehead. Numb from the bitter cold and the fear still beating in his heart, Adler looked about at the carnage strewn throughout his camp. The beasts had planned their attack well. The first man to fall under their claws was Roja. When the Afghans saw they were leaderless, they quickly degenerated into a terrified mob of men trying to escape the deadly trap sprung on them. In less than a minute, all but three of the Afghans were dead, their bodies torn to pieces. Adler, Silvas and Zaro had stood back to back and emptied their weapons into the savage monsters as they tried to reach the tent with Ortega in it. It was as if they knew what was precious to Adler and his mission. Firing until they ran out of bullets, Adler and his men killed five of the beasts before the others, bloodied but still defiant, retreated into the night.
Silvas, still struggling to catch his breath in the thin air, prodded one of the dead animals with his rifle. “Patrón, have you ever seen anything like this before?”
“No, I have not,” replied Adler.
“Perhaps they are yetis,” said Zaro. “The English claimed to have found tracks of the mythical beast when they climbed Everest in the 1920s.”
“I don’t care what they are,” said Adler. “They are smart and they are dangerous.”
“Sir, what are we going to do? We needed the Afghans to carry the supplies. Without them, we cannot carry on,” said Silvas.
“We will strip down our loads and carry only what we need. I want to make a push for the cavern at first light,” said Adler.
“Si, Patrón, but what about the explosives we are carrying? Also, don’t forget that we will still need men to carry the provisions we need to survive. If Ortega keeps getting weaker, we will need men to carry her off this cursed mountain alive. Who is going to do this now that all but three of the Afghans are dead?”
Adler bit his lip. Frustration and anger boiled up inside him. They were so close that he could taste victory. There was no way he was going to turn back, not when he was only hours away from finding a source of power that would help Germany win the war. He stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked down the icy slope. A second later, a thin smile crept across his face. Perhaps he didn’t have to do anything; perhaps the solution would soon come to him.
Chapter 22
Mount Naraka
With Choling in charge outside, Shaw decided to see how things were going with Bruce and Amrit. As he crawled back inside the tent, Shaw sensed that he was in for a frosty reception. Amrit had her back to him while she knelt over Bruce and checked his breathing apparatus.
“Amrit, I’m truly sorry if I said anything out there that may have upset you,” said Shaw, hoping to get her to speak to him.
Amrit finished with Bruce and then turned around to look over at Shaw; tears filled her eyes. “Why can no one be honest with me?”
“I’m sorry, Amrit,’ said Shaw, “I don’t understand.”
Amrit wiped the tears away from her eyes. “Three years ago, my brother lied to me when he said that he was going to Lhasa on business. I never saw him again. I was told that he had died in an accident and that his remains had been cremated. However, it was all a lie. Last year, I learned from an old friend that he died trailing a party of German climbers into this region of Tibet. No one knows precisely what happened to him, only that he disappeared.”
“I’m sorry,” said Shaw.
“Don’t you see, James? He probably died somewhere on this wretched mountain, killed by the Germans or one of those things.”
“No wonder you’re upset, I’d be as well,” said Shaw.
“It’s not just that. You never told me that the object we are looking for could be perverted into a weapon that could kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Don’t you trust me enough to tell me the real reason why we are all risking our lives up here?”
“Yes! Yes, of course, I trust you,” replied Shaw, reaching over to take Amrit’s hands in his. “I just thought it best to tell you only what you needed to know in case we were ever captured, because the less you know the less you need to hide,” he explained.
“Well, it’s all a little late for that now. What are your orders regarding this power source?”
“I am to prevent Adler from getting his hands on it.”
“Is that all?” asked Amrit.
“My superiors undoubtedly would love to get their hands on the power source if they could.”
“Do you think our side can be trusted to wield that much power and use it in a responsible manner?”
“Amrit, these are questions that I tend not to dwell on. We have a war to win, and that’s all that matters right now.”
“James, please, you’re better than that. The power to kill is not something that should be taken lightly. Please tell me that if this Vril device does exist that it will never leave this mountain.”
“Amrit, please, if this power could be used to shorten the war and save an untold number of lives, why shouldn’t we use it?”
“A child’s life in Berlin is no less precious than a child’s in London or Bombay. Mass murder in the name of victory is something that I cannot in good conscience support, not now, and not ever.”
“If it’ll get me a couple more minutes of sleep,” said Bruce, unexpectedly, sitting up, “Captain Shaw and I promise to destroy the Vril device, or at the very least ensure that it will never leave this bloody cold mountain. There, does that work for you?”
“Yes, it does,” replied Amrit. With a smile on her face, she leaned down and kissed Bruce on the forehead.
Bruce pulled up his oxygen mask and said, “Now, if you two will excuse me, I’m going to close my eyes and rest for another little while longer as I have a horrible feeling that it will be my last good sleep for the next couple of days.”
He was right.
Two hours later, after eating a meal of barely warm spaghetti out of the can, Shaw helped the Tibetans tear down the tents in preparation for the day’s climb. The cold morning air’s temperature hovered around twenty degrees below freezing. Bundled up with several layers of extra clothing, Shaw could still feel the cold seeping in. The Tibetans with their fur clothing looked just as uncomfortable this morning. Shaw jumped up and down a couple of times as he tried to get used to the steel crampons attached to the soles of his boots. He could feel the long metal teeth grip the snow and ice beneath his feet.
He was about to speak with Amrit about the route they would follow up the steep icy slope when he stopped and looked around for the body of the creature they had killed last night.
It was nowhere to be seen.
He called Choling over to him and asked what had happened to the beast.
With a stunned look on his face, Choling tried to find the remains of the creature. He shook his head and said, “I don’t know where it could be. I was outside for the remainder of the night with the sentries. It sure as hell didn’t get up and walk away, and I didn’t see another one of those things enter the camp to remove the body, either.”
Shaw couldn’t believe it. The beast had died with two bullets lodged in its brain. The only thing that made sense was that another one had snuck into their camp and taken the remains right from under Choling’s nose. It was frightening to realize that they could move about unseen.
“Well, there’s no time to worry about such things right now,” said Shaw, trying to sound as if things were going to plan. “We’ve got a long slog ahead of us today.” Shaw walked away, leaving Choling to ponder how the remains had vanished.
“Penny for your thoughts?” said Shaw to Amrit as she stowed away the last of her kit inside her pack.
“I was looking at the path up to the glacier and remembering a time when my brother and I climbed a mountain in northern India,” said Amrit with a melancholy tone in her voice. “It wasn’t this high up, but it was a long and difficult climb. It took us hours to reach the summit. I thought we were going to die on the way back down in the dark. My brother Sagun, however, was a greater mountaineer and guided us back to safety. I wish he was here with us now.”
Shaw reached over and squeezed her arm. “Come on, we’re lucky to have you. Now, Miss, lead on, we’ve got a mountain to climb.”
Amrit looked ahead and picked a path up the steep slope. Bruce was second in line followed by Shaw. Tied together for safety, they began to make their way up the sheer icy slope. It didn’t take long for all three to begin to gasp for oxygen. Amrit’s pace was two steps up, followed by a pause of a second or two to catch her breath before taking another two paces. Both Shaw and Bruce had to use their climbing poles to help propel themselves along.
Shaw soon found that he had to concentrate his tired mind on moving slowly and carefully up the side of the mountain towards the glacier. Any miscue, no matter how small, could end tragically on the slick, ice-covered slope. Shaw could see that at the pace they were climbing, their destination was at least eight hours away. It was going to be a long and tiring day.
After a couple of hours, Shaw jammed his poles into the snow and signaled for a short halt.
Bruce carefully made his way to Shaw and with a wink offered his oxygen mask to him. As he took a couple of deep breaths, Shaw felt the fog lift from his weary mind. His tired body, no longer starved for oxygen, seemed to spring back to life. It was as if he were back on firm ground at the base of the mountain. After thanking Bruce, he offered the mask to Amrit, who also took in several deep breaths of much-needed oxygen.
“Ok then,” said Shaw. “We’ll stop every hour on the hour and take in some bottled oxygen. It’s the only way we’re going to make it up to the glacier before nightfall.”
Amrit nodded her agreement.
Shaw looked back over his shoulder and saw Choling helping one of his men to breathe from one of the bottles of oxygen. It was the first time he realized that the Tibetans were probably suffering as badly as he was.
“Here,” said Bruce as he handed Shaw a hard candy. “I think it’s all we’re gonna get until we reach the next camp.”
Shaw thanked Bruce and took the candy. The strong tart flavor of lemon filled his mouth. He turned his head to look at the sky and cursed under his breath. Dark, menacing storm clouds were rolling in from the east like water from a burst dam. He judged that they had two or three hours before they arrived. When they did, Shaw knew that it was going to snow, and they would still be out in the open.
With an hour left in their climb, the clouds surged in over the top of the mountain, blocking out the sun and turning the world dark. Almost immediately, it began to snow. In less than five minutes, visibility had dropped to a couple of yards.
In the lead, Amrit pulled off her goggles and struggled to see where she was going. She swore when she saw that she was unable to see more than a few paces in front of her. Uncertainty and doubt began to seep into her mind. If she veered too much to the left or right, she could lead them all off the side of a cliff and towards certain death. In frustration, Amrit bit her lip. She was about to recommend that they try and hunker down where they were for the night when Shaw suddenly appeared out of the snow.
“Let me take the lead,” said Shaw.
“Why?” asked Amrit.
Shaw held up his hand. In it was a small military-style compass. “I took a compass bearing from where I was to the bottom of the glacier before the snow began to fall. If I stay on my bearing, we should make it there in one piece.”
Amrit hesitated for a second.
“Look, we can’t stay here,” said Shaw firmly. “If we don’t get to a piece of flat ground and put up our tents in the next couple of hours, none of us will survive the night.”
“Ok, you lead,” said Amrit, undoing her rope. Quickly switching places with Shaw, Amrit fell into line behind Bruce, who had his head down and looked tired and in need of a rest.
With the compass held out in front of him, Shaw began to slowly walk forward. Like Amrit, he could only go a couple of paces through the knee-deep snow before having to stop and catch his breath. After what seemed an eternity, Shaw saw a wall of ice emerge out of the swirling snow. He reached out with his hand; running his hand along the ice, Shaw realized that they had arrived at the base of the towering glacier. As he ca
lled out to his friends that they were near their next campsite, Shaw felt relief that they’d made it this far without being forced to stop by the raging storm. Carefully, he moved along the side of the wall of ice, trying to find a relatively flat spot to pitch their three tents. He had gone no more than twenty yards when he stumbled over something buried in the snow. Shaw landed face first in the soft snow; swearing loudly, he got up on all fours. When he looked back at what had tripped him, his heart leapt up into his throat. Sticking out of the snow was a frozen arm.
Bruce bent down and helped Shaw up onto his feet. “You ok, Captain?”
“I don’t know,” replied Shaw as he looked around at his feet. There were frozen and contorted limbs protruding through the snow everywhere like some kind of macabre garden.
“Mother of God,” said Bruce when he saw the frozen bodies. “What the hell happened here?”
“I think we’ve found Adler’s team, or at least their corpses,” replied Shaw.
Amrit walked over to Shaw and placed a hand on his arm. “Oh God, this is awful. Do you think that they were all killed by the same beasts that attacked us last night?”
“I don’t know,” said Shaw. “I only count six bodies. I’m sure that there were at least a dozen of them alive yesterday.”
“Perhaps their bodies are still buried under the snow,” said Bruce.
Shaw shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe, but we need to set up our tents before it gets too dark out here to see what we’re doing.”
Shaw stepped back from the frozen corpses and waited for Choling to catch up. Quickly passing on what they had found, Shaw instructed Choling to get the shelters set up right away and for two men to be on sentry throughout the night. Both men were to be armed and carry flashlights that had to be on at all times. Shaw wasn’t sure if that would be enough to keep the creatures away, but it was better than doing nothing but wait for them to attack in the dark. He also made sure that Choling understood that he and Bruce would pull a shift as well.
The Mountain (A James Shaw Mission Book 2) Page 20