‘That recording would be a hell of a thing to show to the United Nations,’ said Nina. ‘Or the US! You just confessed to destroying an American airliner, with the approval of the British government. That’s an act of terrorism — an act of war.’
Brice tried to conceal his concern, eyes flicking upwards as if seeking help from on high. ‘They wouldn’t believe it,’ he said. ‘And even if they did, they wouldn’t act upon it. It would wreck the special relationship between Britain and the US.’
‘I think you already did that when you wrecked a fucking plane,’ Eddie told him sarcastically. ‘But anyway, how about we make you an offer? You said you could get us out of here without the militia killing us. Do that, for all of us, and we’ll make sure that video doesn’t pop up on everyone’s Facebook feed. Obviously we’ll keep a copy, or twenty. Just in case anyone really does think about sending some boys from the Increment after us.’
‘The what?’ asked Nina.
‘MI6 crossed with SAS. You don’t want to meet ’em if you’re not on their side. But we’re not going to meet ’em. Are we, Brice?’
‘The Increment are the least of your worries at the moment,’ said the other Englishman. He now seemed tense, almost anxious, again glancing up at the ceiling. ‘I may not be able to hold the Insekt Posse back once they find out you killed Mukobo.’
‘Well, you’d better try, hadn’t you? ’Cause I doubt they’d be too happy to see the guy who let their leader get shot by another Brit. They might even think we were working together.’
‘I highly doubt that.’
‘Oh, I’ll make sure to tell ’em.’
Brice said nothing for several seconds, thinking. ‘Okay. There’s another option,’ he said at last. ‘Even with Mukobo gone, the secession still has a chance of success as long as they have a supply of weapons. The militia outside know I was going to provide them. I can use that as leverage to keep us all alive long enough to get out of the jungle. Once we’re clear, I’ll arrange for my contacts to extract us on the sly.’
Nina had stood back while the two men had their discussion, but now started to feel uneasy. It wasn’t until Brice yet again flicked his gaze upwards — unconsciously, it seemed — that she realised why. ‘Eddie, something’s wrong,’ she said. ‘He’s waiting for something.’
‘The only thing I’m waiting for is your accepting the one chance we all have of escaping from here,’ said Brice curtly.
She shook her head. ‘No, there’s something else. I mean, you know you’re still being filmed, right?’ She waved at the windows. Beyond them, the drone dipped in response. ‘You just said you’re going to screw over the militia the first chance you get. Why would you do that if you know they might find out? For that matter…’ She paused, worried.
Eddie stepped back to join his wife, keeping the revolver fixed upon Brice. ‘Uh-oh. What is it?’
‘He’s a spy. More than that, he’s deep undercover to give his bosses plausible deniability. So… why would he tell us anything about the true nature of his mission? I mean, isn’t the first rule of spy craft that you never talk about what you’re doing?’
‘I think that’s Fight Club.’
‘Yeah, you just keep on quippin’, Roger Moore,’ she snipped. ‘But either everything he’s told us is another lie, or…’ Dread rose as the only other possibility became clear. ‘Or he felt safe telling us the truth, because he doesn’t think we’ll live long enough to pass it on.’
‘I’m here to offer a deal that’s mutually beneficial, that’s all,’ insisted Brice. ‘I want to get away as much as you do.’
‘No, she’s right,’ said Eddie. ‘All you care about is completing your mission — which means we have to be dead so we can’t fuck it up by telling anyone.’ He glanced at the drone. ‘And everyone else with us has to be dead too, so that recording can’t ever get out. What’re you waiting for, then? You keeping us occupied so the militia can set up an attack?’
‘Your men are in a well-defended position with a clear line of fire. A direct assault on that entrance would be suicide without grenades and explosives — which the rabble who came with me don’t have.’
Eddie knew Brice was right — but was now as convinced as Nina that he had come to them as a distraction from some larger plan. ‘I think we should get back to the others,’ he told her. ‘Brice, get moving.’
The spy’s hesitation told him that Brice was exactly where he wanted to be. ‘I’m telling you, the only way out of here is with my help. I—’
The Yorkshireman stepped closer. ‘Move. Now. Or you can stay down here with Mukobo, permanently.’
‘All right, all right.’ Brice raised his hands higher and started towards the exit. ‘But you really should take my offer.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Because if it expires, then so will you—’
A thunderous explosion shook the chasm — and daylight streamed in from above.
23
Nina and Eddie reacted in shock at the detonation. Brice, however, had clearly expected it to happen, but not known exactly when. He flinched — then recovered and ran for the windows.
Eddie’s revolver tracked him—
Something smashed down on the building with such force that the ceiling split apart. Brice dived behind the altar, Eddie whirling to shield Nina from flying debris. More impacts came from outside as falling stones hit the bottom of the cavern.
The Yorkshireman looked up — to see Brice vault through a window. ‘Nina, you okay?’
‘Yeah,’ she gasped. There was a gaping hole in the ceiling, broken stone scattered beneath it. She saw the remnants of a carved eagle on one piece of rubble. ‘Oh my God, they blew open the palace roof!’
Eddie ran to the window. The darkness outside had been pierced by an eerie shaft of grey light — picking out Brice running for the mine. He raised his gun, but the other Briton leapt into the excavations as he fired. The bullet shattered against the vein of greenish stone with an almost musical clang. ‘Shit!’
Nina hurried to him, but the escaping spy was not her greatest concern. ‘Eddie, listen!’ The Mother of the Shamir glinted in the first natural light to reach it for thousands of years — and its constant, unsettling hum changed.
Growing louder.
‘We should get the hell out of here,’ she said, alarmed. ‘Remember what happened to Zhakana when they dug this place out? I think it’s going to happen again!’
‘Brice is still down there,’ Eddie snapped.
‘Yeah, and we’ll be stuck here with him if we don’t move. That thing’s charging up, just like the Shamir — only it’s way bigger!’
He got her point, reluctantly retreating. A voice reached them as they emerged into the chasm. ‘Nina! Eddie!’ shouted Howie.
Nina looked up to find the young man on a bridge. ‘Get up to the surface!’ she cried. High above him, she saw an elongated hole had been blasted in the palace’s vaulted roof.
‘Those rocks took out my drone!’ Howie told her.
‘You’ve got the recording, haven’t you?’ demanded Eddie.
The American held up his laptop. ‘Yeah, but—’
‘Guard it with your fucking life! It’s the only proof of what’s been going on here! Now move!’
Clutching the computer, Howie ran up the bridge. ‘We’ve got to get up there fast,’ Eddie told Nina as they hared up the stairway. ‘If they rope down from that hole, they’ll be able to attack from both sides — shit!’ The sharp retort of an explosion echoed down from above. ‘That was a grenade! They must’ve called in reinforcements.’