Ultimate Weapon

by Chris Ryan

  We’ve come all this way, risked everything, and we still haven’t found her.

  Behind him, Laura was running up the mountain-side, approaching the circle of rocks. She arrived panting, her face covered in sweat and dust. ‘It looks like a butcher’s shop down there,’ she said. ‘What the hell’s happening?’

  ‘There’s no sign of Sarah,’ said Nick, pointing towards the terrified Iraqi woman.

  Jed noticed the hint of despair that had crept into his voice.

  ‘This is the woman Salek was protecting,’ he said pointing towards the woman. ‘And now the bastard is dead, so we can’t even ask him where she is.’ He ground his fists together. ‘We’ve bloody blown it.’

  Laura stepped up to the woman, gripping hold of her shoulders, and shaking her violently. ‘You speak English?’ she snapped.

  The woman cried, and mumbled something in Arabic.

  ‘The Englishwoman,’ said Laura. ‘Where is the Englishwoman?’

  She shook her head, scrunching her hands into her tear-smudged eyes. ‘Ibna,’ she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘Ibna.’

  ‘It’s his daughter,’ said Jed, recognising the word from his Arabic lessons with the Regiment.

  ‘This is bloody useless,’ said Laura. ‘We’re getting nowhere.’

  ‘It’s finished,’ said Nick. ‘We’ve bloody failed.’

  ‘She must be here somewhere,’ said Laura angrily. ‘She was with Salek. I know she was.’

  Nick spread his hands out wide. ‘Do you bloody see her then … ?’

  Jed slid down the rock. He needed to sit, to try and preserve his strength. His eyes closed, trying to rest for a brief second. If we are going to find Sarah now, we’ll need all the strength we possess, he thought. Maybe more.

  ‘We can’t get any backup out here,’ said Laura. ‘You guys will have to beat the information out of the bitch.’

  Nick waved a hand at her. ‘She doesn’t bloody know anything,’ he said. ‘And we’re soldiers, not sodding gangsters.’

  He turned away, his face reddening with anger. Laura was saying something, her voice hoarse and raw, but although Jed was listening to her, he was watching Nick. He was just looking at the mountain ahead of them, not as a soldier might, studying it for hiding places and defensive positions, but looking instead at the shape of it, the way a geographer might. There was a strangely detached expression on his face, as if he was trying to figure out the answer to a riddle.

  But what is it? Jed asked himself. What the hell has he seen?

  He cast his eyes up towards the mountains. From where they were sitting, the next peak seemed to soar above them, rising another hundred feet or so into the air. There were some low-lying clouds, and the ground was covered with snow. There was a dip on the left-hand side of the mountain, where the rock seemed to fade into the cloud to create a shape like a crescent. But beyond that, Jed could see nothing. Just a barren empty stretch of rock, capped by a dusting of pure white snow.

  ‘She’s up there,’ said Nick suddenly, pointing towards the dip in the mountain. ‘Right there.’

  ‘Where?’ said Jed.

  ‘Right there,’ said Nick, pointing towards the crescent.

  ‘What makes you think that?’ said Laura.

  Nick paused. His expression was calm and determined. ‘She’s my daughter, I just know,’ he replied.

  Jed started to pull himself up from the ground. He could feel the strain in his legs, and his spine was creaking as he tried to move. ‘I’m coming with you,’ he said.

  Nick looked at him. ‘You can’t move,’ he said. ‘You’ve taken a bad wound, mate. Rest it, and there’s a chance the doctors will get that lead out of your shoulder and patch you up.’

  ‘I’m coming,’ Jed snapped.

  If Sarah was up there, he was determined to find her. I can’t lose her now …

  Nick knelt down, gritting his teeth to control the pain in his own wounded leg. ‘Leave it,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll go.’

  ‘You’re in no better state than me,’ said Jed.

  ‘Listen, there are moments when even the best of men walk away from a fight, and moments when they walk straight into one,’ said Nick. ‘When you get to my age, you realise that. If you get to my age …’

  He turned round, struggling to power himself forward. His wounded leg was hurting badly, and each step was visibly agonising.

  Jed tried to stand, determined to follow him. But his head was too dizzy, his eyes were closing, and it was impossible to focus. As his eyes shut, he could see Laura taking out a satellite phone and starting to press its buttons.

  Nick looked up towards the dip into the mountain. It was only another hundred yards or so. He could clearly see an opening that must lead into another network of caves. Up here, there was at least a foot of snow covering the ground: hard, thick snow that had settled on these mountains last autumn and was turning into blocks of solid ice now that spring was almost here.

  As he glanced back, he could see flecks of crimson spreading out across the pristine white surface of the ground. My own blood, he thought grimly. I must have lost at least a pint of it climbing up here. And I’ll shed the other seven if I need to.

  Laura was about twenty yards behind him. Even without any wounds, she was still finding the going harder than he was. In the Regiment, Nick had led several courses in snow and mountain fighting, and he’d done a year in the Alps as a ski instructor before the business fell apart. He knew more than most men about how you ploughed your way across heavy snow: Laura was just an amateur. If she thinks you can just walk up this mountain, she has a lot to learn.

  Nick turned round and gritted his teeth. The pain ripping through him was excruciating. Every step required a new effort of will: each one sent a fresh bolt of pain jabbing up through him, as if he was walking across burning-hot coals. He could feel his leg turning rotten as he pressed on. He’d found a broken branch from one of the few trees that managed to grow this high up, and had turned that into a rough staff, using it to take some of the weight off his leg as he dragged himself painfully forwards. But you didn’t need to know much about medicine to know that putting this kind of pressure on a leg that had taken as much punishment as this one had was precisely the wrong thing to be doing. Jed was right. He was only making it worse. The chances of saving the leg now were less than zero.

  Fifty yards. He could see the entrance more clearly now. The side of the mountain suddenly opened up, revealing a cave at least thirty feet long. Ice and snow were hanging over its roof, spitting down in a row of frozen spears. Inside, however, it looked like it provided some shelter from the weather. The resemblance was uncanny, thought Nick, summoning up the willpower to crunch his leg down into the snow again. His mind was drifting back more than ten years, to when he’d been walking through the Alps with Sarah, to when they’d had an argument, she’d tried to run away from him, and he’d pointed out the slopes of Les Houches to her. I told her somewhere just like this was a good place to hide. If she’s anywhere on these mountains, she’s right here. I just know it.

  He stood at the entrance to the cave, peering into the darkness. The wind was blowing hard, kicking up a dusting of snow that partially obscured his vision. The cold was cutting into his skin, biting away at his shattered nerves as if he was being sliced open by a knife. ‘Sarah,’ he said. ‘Sarah.’

  His lungs were so short of air, it was painful just to speak. As he parted his lips, it felt as if part of his neck was being ripped out of him. The sound of his voice echoed around the cave, then gradually faded away, until it was replaced by silence.

  Nick listened and waited.

  Nothing.

  ‘Silver girl,’ he said.

  Silence.

  ‘Silver girl,’ he repeated, louder this time.

  ‘Dad.’

  Nick’s head shot up so sharply it was as if a bullet had struck it. He was looking straight into the cave. The voice was faint and weak, like a wounded animal, but he
was certain he had heard it accurately. Maybe twenty yards, maybe thirty, from the right-hand side of the cave. It sounded as if something was muffling the voice, but it just about carried on the wind.

  ‘Dad,’ she repeated, the voice stronger this time. ‘Is that you?’

  If Nick could have run he would have, but the wound in his leg made it impossible. Using his staff, he dragged himself forwards, ignoring the pain searing through him. He took a torch from his kitbag, and shone it around the cave. It was no more than twelve feet high, with frozen ice on the ceiling, and shards of rock sticking out in every direction. Off to the right, there was a heap of boulders that appeared to have tumbled out of the mountain in a rockslide. That was where the voice was coming from, he felt certain of it. Holding the torch in one hand, and the staff in the other, Nick closed down the distance. ‘Are you OK?’ he shouted through the darkness, listening as his own voice echoed through the cave.

  Of course not, he told himself. Nobody would be up here if they were OK.

  Resting his staff on the first boulder, Nick looked behind the pile of tumbled rocks. As soon as they laid eyes on one another, Sarah smiled and started to lever herself up. She looked thin, Nick noted, desperately thin, like a skeleton that had come back to life. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was wearing just some battered jeans, and a T-shirt. Her skin was frozen blue, and her veins were visible through her skin. None of that matters now, Nick told himself, the relief flooding through him. She’s alive. She’s OK. We’ve made it.

  He knelt down, scooping her up into his chest, and cradling her the way he had when she was a baby. There were tears streaming down her face, and her body was shaking from the cold. ‘I’m … I’m thirsty,’ she said, her voice fractured.

  Nick cradled her in his arms. ‘Of course you are,’ he said. ‘Everything’s going to be OK now.’

  He reached into his kitbag, and took out a packet of biscuits, some dates and a bottle of water. Sarah took the water, and splashed it into her mouth, gulping down on it. How long it had been since she’d had anything to drink Nick couldn’t say, but she looked badly dehydrated and the cold would have only made that worse. He cautioned her to sip slowly: too much water could damage you when you’d had nothing to drink for a long time. Next, she took one of the biscuits, stuffing it into her mouth. Her lips were still so dry and cold, and she choked before she managed to swallow any of the food.

  In his arms, she was still shivering, and her face was still smudged with tears. ‘It’s fine,’ said Nick, holding her close to his chest. ‘Dad’s here now. It’s just fine.’

  Slowly Sarah started to draw away from him. Her head lifted from his chest, and she was looking straight past him. Her eyes were locked right above his shoulder. And the look of fear had returned.

  ‘What the fuck is she doing here?’ said Sarah.

  Nick turned round. Laura was standing right behind him. The Beretta was held steady in her hand. And it was pointed straight at Sarah.

  ‘I said, what the fuck is she doing here?’ Sarah’s voice was louder this time.

  ‘I would have thought that was obvious,’ said Laura. ‘I’ve come to get you.’

  THIRTY-SIX

  For a moment Nick remained perfectly still, as if he were one of the shards of ice hanging from the sides of the cave. Laura was standing five feet behind him, with the Beretta rock steady in her hand: she was far enough away that Nick couldn’t reach out and strike the gun out of her hand, but close enough that she couldn’t possibly miss Sarah’s head if she fired the gun.

  ‘Move away,’ she said coldly, glancing towards Nick. ‘And give me your gun.’

  He started to rise up. The wound in his leg was still bleeding, sending droplets of blood on to the icy stone. Reluctantly, he took out his own revolver, and handed it across. Laura motioned with the gun for him to step away from the boulder. He walked slowly, measuring each pace. Behind him, Laura had motioned to Sarah to stand up. All three of them were standing close to the entrance to the mountain.

  ‘Did you find it?’ said Laura.

  She had her back to the mountain, and the light was streaming in behind her. Sarah was standing six feet away from her, and Nick five further on. Both of them were looking out on the open mountain, where a rising gale was blowing up flurries of snow. Just wait until you can make your move, Nick cautioned himself. You can kill her then. You haven’t come all this way just to see Sarah shot now.

  The Beretta was still pointed straight at his daughter’s head.

  ‘You sent me into hell,’ she snapped.

  The anger and venom were evident in her voice. Nick looked first at his daughter, than at Laura. It was obvious that the two women knew each other, might even have worked together. ‘What the hell is going on here?’ he said.

  Both women ignored him.

  ‘I’ve already asked you once,’ said Laura. ‘Did you find it?’

  ‘That science is for everyone,’ said Sarah.

  Laura gave a curt shake of her head. ‘The Firm is about to take possession of it,’ she said.

  ‘Nobody can own that science,’ said Sarah.

  She was standing her ground, but her hands were shaking. Laura walked towards her, one careful pace after another, still pointing the gun. She stood by Sarah’s side. Suddenly, her left hand snapped upwards, grabbing Sarah’s hair and yanking it back. In the same moment, she stabbed the Beretta into the side of Sarah’s face, so that its barrel was aiming straight into her ear. Nick started to move, taking one step forward, then another. His eyes locked on to Laura’s, and he could feel the venom in her expression. ‘Back off,’ she said. ‘Or this bullet goes straight into your daughter’s brain.’

  Nick stopped. He was five paces away from Sarah, but he didn’t dare take another step. Laura’s finger was hovering on the trigger. He could smell how nervous she was. One sudden movement and she was going to kill Sarah. He felt certain of it. A sense of dread wrapped around his heart as he realised how slender was the thread on which his daughter’s life was hanging. Don’t mess this up, he warned himself. Just for once, don’t mess this up.

  ‘What’s happening here?’ he said, his voice firm and insistent.

  ‘She set me up,’ said Sarah. She was struggling to speak, with her head still wrenched backwards.

  ‘Is that true?’ he said to Laura.

  ‘A month ago, it became clear that the Iraqis were close to cracking a working technology for nuclear fusion,’ said Laura. She was pronouncing the words clearly and slowly, and yet Nick could hear the fear on her lips. ‘Jed brought us some pictures back from the plant that showed they were creating a working reactor. We knew we couldn’t let that happen. It would destabilise all the plans for the invasion. So we worked out a way of stopping it. We already knew that Sarah was working on fusion technology, because we keep tabs on all the science going on around the country that might have political or economic significance. We knew that Wilmington was already working with the Iraqis. Indeed, a lot of the information that allowed them to construct their lab had come from him. So we paid Sarah a hundred thousand pounds to cooperate with us.’

  ‘The money in her account came from Iraq,’ Nick muttered.

  Laura shook her head. There was a bead of sweat dripping off her forehead, but her expression was still icy. ‘We arranged for it to pass through those bank accounts, so that it looked that way. The Firm doesn’t want to be seen to be handing out a hundred thousand to just anyone.’ She paused, relaxing her grip on Sarah’s hair, but keeping the Beretta tight to her head. ‘In return, Sarah agreed to act as if she had cracked the secret of nuclear fusion. Wilmington would tell the Iraqis, we felt certain of that. They would lift her out of the country, and take her to their labs. That way she would find out what they were working on. Afterwards, it became clear they were closer than they imagined: they had about 90 per cent of the puzzle solved, and Sarah would give them the last 10 per cent. So the lab had to be hit, taken out.’

  Laura hesitated,
as if even she was embarrassed by the duplicity of the conspiracy within which Sarah had been ensnared. Outside, Nick could see that the storm blowing down the side of the mountain was getting worse: howling gusts of wind were sending drifts of snow swirling up around the entrance to the cave. Behind Laura, there was just a twisted wall of white. We’re about as cut off from civilisation as it is possible to get, Nick thought grimly. And rightly so. Civilisation has long since abandoned us.

  ‘But Sarah escaped from the lab before it was hit, and we could only assume that the Iraqis were desperate to keep hold of her, because putting together what they knew with what she knew meant they would finally have the technology they wanted,’ continued Laura. ‘So we sent Nick and Jed into the country as the two men most likely to find her. I must say that part of the operation worked rather well.’

  ‘You never said you’d send me into Iraq,’ said Sarah.

  Laura smiled briefly. ‘Of course not,’ she said. ‘If I had done, you’d never have played along.’ She tapped the barrel of the Beretta against the side of Sarah’s head. ‘We are all called upon to make sacrifices for our country sometimes, as your father could probably tell you.’

  ‘You lied from the start.’

  ‘What did you think this was, the Girl Guides?’ Laura shrugged. ‘Now, have you and the Iraqis finally cracked the technology of nuclear fusion?’

  A look of defiance descended upon Sarah’s face. Nick recognised it at once. He had seen it more times than he cared to remember when she was a teenager. Her eyes would narrow and her jaw would harden, and you knew at once you had more chance of squeezing orange juice from a brick than getting her to change her mind.

  ‘I wouldn’t tell you even if I had,’ said Sarah, the disgust dripping out of every vowel in the sentence.

  ‘We had a deal,’ said Laura. Once again, she tapped the barrel of her gun against the side of Sarah’s head. Each time she did it, Nick could feel a stab in his heart. He wanted to run out and rescue her, but he had to will himself to hold back.