Rasche glared back across the shaft at the fugitives. ‘Shoot them! Fire, fire!’ Weapons burst into life — but the distant figures were already hidden behind another rock formation.
Eddie pushed Nina against the cliff wall, Banna and the Israelis huddling for cover behind them as bullets cracked off stone. But the Nazis had lost their line of sight. He squeezed past his wife to take the lead. ‘What the bloody hell was that? Sounded like Indiana Jones and Catwoman having a whip fight.’
‘I think I know,’ said the panting Banna. ‘There is a story in the Romance of Alexander finding trees with a sap like myrrh; when his men tried to collect it, they were ferociously whipped by invisible spirits. The carvings we saw could have been those trees, but I do not know how they killed the Nazis.’
‘Probably a bellows system blowing out leather strips or ropes from the holes,’ said Nina. ‘The trigger would have been under one of the paving slabs, so when someone stepped on it… What?’ she added, aware that her suggestion was being treated with scepticism. ‘I’ve seen this kind of stuff before! This isn’t my first ancient booby-trap.’
‘They do all sort of blend together after a while,’ Eddie admitted.
‘So Andreas based the traps on the Romance?’ asked Zane.
Nina nodded. ‘He wrote it, so he got to cherry-pick his favourite parts. It fits with the whole idea that finding the spring is a challenge based on Alexander’s adventures, though. If you read the Romance, it gives you clues about the dangers.’
‘So what’s the next one?’
‘Who knows?’ said Banna. ‘Huge fleas, men without heads, birds with human faces — it is full of incredible creatures.’
‘Giant crab,’ said Eddie, looking at something below.
‘Yes, there is a giant crab in the story too.’
‘No, I mean — an actual giant crab. Down there.’
‘What?’ said Nina, stopping to see for herself. To her amazement, she found exactly what her husband had described. Beneath them was the bronze statue of a crustacean, the body a disc about three feet across with a pair of much larger claws extending ahead of it. The metal creature faced up a steep slope descending from another junction ahead, a slot along the centre of the paved path looking suspiciously like a track. ‘Okay, so again, we definitely go right,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what that thing’ll do to us, but I’m pretty sure it’ll involve big-ass claws.’
‘Look — there are spears,’ said Banna. Several long bronze shafts with sharp tips were propped at the fork.
‘Were there spears in the story?’ Eddie asked.
‘Yes, but they were all broken by its claws.’
‘Then why are they there?’ Nina wondered aloud. ‘Another part of the challenge?’
Eddie was first to the junction. ‘Doesn’t matter since we’re not going down there.’ He directed his light over the right-hand route, which curved around a crease in the cliff. It was devoid of mythical creatures. ‘Okay, this way looks safe. We need—’
Flashes of fire from higher across the shaft — and bullets smacked against the rock face in front of him.
He retreated, but the barrage followed as the Nazis hurried along their own path to bring him back into sight. It finally ceased as he pressed his back against the wall near the spears, protected by a slim overhang, but they would reach a clear vantage point in seconds. ‘Shit! We can’t go that way.’
Nina assessed the other route. It was steep enough to shield them from the Nazis if they stayed low… but it had its own dangers. ‘We’ll have to go down there.’
‘What, and catch crabs?’ Eddie protested.
‘More like the crab catches us — but we don’t have a choice!’
‘I’ll cover you,’ said Zane. ‘Latner, stay with me. The rest of you, go!’ He went to the outer edge of the intersection, turning off his flashlight and fixing his sights on the chasm’s far side. Another Mossad agent took up position with him as Banna and two other men, Taubman and Krebs, moved to join Eddie and Nina.
The Yorkshireman aimed his torch down the new path. The bronze monster lurked at its foot, claws poised as if ready to snap into motion at any moment. ‘Caught between a Reich and a hard case…’ he muttered. ‘Okay, Nina, stay behind me — and keep your head down!’
He hunched low and scuttled down the new path. Nina followed — just as the Nazis came into sight and attacked again. Zane and Latner retaliated, Banna shrieking and covering his ears as he was forced to duck under their fire to reach the junction. The two other Israelis went after him.
The descent was so steep that Eddie had to turn sideways to find purchase on the slick slabs with the edges of his soles. Another look ahead. He didn’t know when the crab would start moving, but he was certain that it would…
More rounds rained down. Zane crouched to present as small a target as possible, searching for their source. He flicked his Uzi’s selector to single-shot, took careful aim at one of the muzzle flashes, and fired. The man lurched backwards, rebounding off the wall and falling screaming into the blackness below.
The other Nazis intensified their assault. Zane scrambled on to the slope, dropping flat on his stomach to shoot back over its top. Latner tried to follow — but was hit in the leg. The Mossad commander grabbed at him as he fell, but his fingers only brushed the other man’s clothing. Latner went over the side, a brief cry sharply truncated as he hit an outcrop below.
Zane could only spare his comrade an anguished glance. ‘What’s happening down there?’ he shouted.
‘Nothing — yet!’ Eddie replied. He was halfway towards the waiting crustacean, tension rising with every step. The ancient mechanism’s trigger might be jammed or broken, but based on past experience, it was far more likely that it would activate once he reached the point of no return.
Three quarters of the way, and the bronze beast still had not moved. Given the steepness of the slope, with a few steps of run-up he could jump right over it…
Footfall on another paving slab — which shifted under his weight. ‘Aw, crab!’
With a shrill of metal against stone, the monster jerked into motion.
‘Get back!’ Eddie shouted, retreating. The crab jolted after him. Its claws swept from side to side, intermittently jerking upwards to deter anyone from vaulting over it. He glimpsed a metal post protruding up through the slot into a hole on its underbelly; the mechanism was under the path itself, clanging chains hauling it along its track.
‘To where?’ Nina protested, bumping into Banna. The Nazis were still shooting, the crack of splintering stone above her almost as loud as Zane’s return fire.
Krebs sidestepped to the edge of the path and raised his Uzi. ‘Out of the way!’ he shouted.
Those lower down hurriedly moved against the wall as he fired. Bullets clanged off bronze, the noise like the tolling of a dozen discordant bells. But the crab continued inexorably towards them, the rounds barely denting the metal. ‘Stop, stop!’ Nina cried as a ricochet struck the rock just above her head.
The Israeli ceased fire — then rose, judging the timing of the claws’ sweeps. ‘I’ll jump over it!’
‘No, you won’t make it!’ Eddie warned — but Krebs had already rushed past him. He ran at the crab, making a flying leap—
One claw lashed upwards as if the creature had seen him coming. Krebs’ foot clipped it, pitching him forward. He threw out both hands to catch himself, but his right arm buckled as he landed hard on the unyielding stone — and he rolled over the edge. The Mossad operative’s terrified wail lasted only two seconds before he hit the bottom of the shaft eighty feet below.