‘No, Takashi-san! You have to—’
The beam locked on to them, pinning the two men in its harsh gaze. Eyes narrowed against the glare, Takashi stared back with a mix of defiance and acceptance. ‘Glas,’ he said. ‘That traitor Glas is behind this—’
The machine gun spat fire. The windows shattered, a storm of bullets shredding Takashi and his secretary into bloody chunks.
Eddie regarded the oak doors with concern as the gunfire stopped. ‘Definitely don’t think we want to go in there.’ The pitch of the helicopter’s engine changed, suggesting that it was circling the building.
Looking for more targets.
‘That doesn’t leave us with many options,’ Nina replied. There was another, single door in the corridor wall on their side of the chasm, but reaching it would require going back down the dangerous slope before hopping on to the stub of a beam at what had been floor level. She retrieved the case. ‘Keep hold of my hand until I can jump across.’
‘For Christ’s sake, just leave the case, will you?’ He frowned. ‘Wait, what’s in it? It’s those fucking statues, isn’t it!’
‘Yeah, and after everything I’ve been through to get them I’m not letting go of them now.’
‘After all the trouble they’ve caused, the world’ll be well rid of them,’ he countered. ‘Give ’em here.’
‘No, Eddie,’ Nina insisted, clutching the handle more tightly. ‘I don’t have time to explain right now, but they’re a part of something big — something amazing. I have to find out what it is.’
He shook his head. ‘No, you—’
‘You asked me to trust you a minute ago,’ she cut in firmly.
‘Well, trust me. Please, Eddie. It’s very important.’
‘All bloody right,’ he said after a moment. ‘I won’t smash ’em, I promise. Now get moving, will you? If that chopper comes back—’
‘I’m moving, I’m moving,’ she protested, extending her free hand to him and starting down the slope. He held on to her, leaning forward as far as he dared. She neared the broken beam and took a deep breath, swinging the case in her hand. ‘Okay, and a-one, a-two, and a-three!’
He let go and she jumped as the case reached the end of its upward arc, its momentum helping carry her all the way to the stub in the wall. She landed — and wobbled, waving her arms before steadying enough to hop across to the open door. The room beyond was a lounge, minimalistically furnished. Nina entered as Eddie made a running jump on to the beam, then without a pause leapt the rest of the way into the room. ‘All right, now what?’ she asked.
‘Try to find another way out of here.’ He recognised the room as where he had seen Stikes earlier; that meant there was a way back to the maintenance shaft through the ventilation grille overhead, but it would take more time than they could afford. There was a second door across the lounge, however. ‘You know where that goes?’
‘No — but Takashi took me through the rooms on the other side of the building,’ she remembered. ‘If we carry on past the vault, we might be able to get to the stairs from there.’
‘Probably run into trouble coming up ’em, but it’s better than being stuck here.’ He drew the gun and went to the door. Beyond was what appeared to be a conference room. More doors led off it, but the one that seemed the best prospect was in the opposite wall. ‘Okay, come on,’ he said, crossing the room. Nina followed, the case in her hand.
Eddie opened the door a crack and cautiously peered through. Beyond was the Zen garden. The white spire of another wind turbine was visible through the windows, the lights of Tokyo beyond. ‘Okay, it’s clear,’ he said. ‘Which way?’
‘That door,’ Nina said, pointing to the right. They jogged towards it—
And were dazzled by the spotlight beam as the helicopter descended outside.
They both dived for cover as the gunner opened fire. Wind shrieked through the windows as they burst apart in a crystalline spray, trees shattering under the pounding onslaught. ‘Shit, shit, shit!’ Nina wailed as she scrambled behind a boulder. ‘Why do people in helicopters always try to kill me?’
The gunfire stopped. Eddie peered out from behind a rock and saw what he had feared — the chopper was turning to bring its rockets to bear.
‘Stay down!’ he shouted as he ran to the windows, opening fire with the Makarov. The gunner ducked back into the cabin as a bullet clanged off the fuselage, but the helicopter was almost a hundred metres away, and the Russian gun was sighted for much closer ranges — he couldn’t aim it accurately enough to hit a specific target.
The chopper’s nose came round, the spotlight dazzling him. He could now barely make out the aircraft itself through the glare, never mind its pilot.
But there was something closer that he could see, and hit…
He snapped up the pistol and emptied the magazine into the wind turbine’s hub.
Machinery blew out in a shower of sparks. The whirling blades juddered, their vibration rapidly increasing, loud clangs rising even over the helicopter’s roar. Another burst of sparks from the crippled generator — then with a screech the rotor sheared away from the hub.
Still spinning at high speed, it dropped to the tier below — and bounced away into the night sky.
Straight at the helicopter.
The horrified pilot tried to take evasive action as it arced at his aircraft, but it was too late. The hefty blades sliced off the chopper’s tail boom as if it were made from damp paper. Without its tail rotor, the helicopter immediately went into an uncontrollable spin. Wobbling like a top, it whipped around faster and faster, losing altitude as it careened towards the skyscraper—
Eddie hurled himself back out into the garden as the tumbling aircraft crashed through the building’s outer wall six floors below and exploded. A huge fireball surged up the tower’s side behind him. He scrabbled to join Nina, shielding his face from the heat as the roiling inferno ascended. ‘You okay?’
She nodded, still stunned by what had just happened. Oily black smoke boiled upwards beyond the broken windows, leaving the edge of the carpet aflame. ‘Oh my God!’ she cried. ‘What about all the people downstairs?’
‘Soon as the fire alarm sounded, they’ll have evacuated,’ said Eddie, hoping that the Japanese reputation for efficiency extended to Takashi Industries’ emergency procedures. ‘And I think we ought to join ’em.’
He helped her up, and was about to head for the exit when the ceiling sprinklers burst into life, drenching them. ‘Great,’ Nina moaned, flicking strands of wet hair from her eyes. ‘What next, an earthquake?’
The building shook.
Eddie shot her an accusing glare. ‘That was not me tempting fate!’ she protested as she retrieved the case. ‘I’m not a fate-temptress!’
Another jolt. The sound of more windows splintering came from below — followed by a deep groan of buckling metal and crumbling concrete. The sprinklers died as pipes were severed. They both felt another movement, their inner ears warning them that they were leaning over — even though they were standing still. Through the smoke, the glowing Toyko skyline slowly began to tilt. ‘The whole fucking building’s going over!’ Eddie yelled.
More noises of imminent collapse reached them as girders broke from their joints and concrete slabs sheared apart. The doors through which they had been about to leave creaked in distress as their frame warped — then they shattered, chunks of wood flying into the room. The ceiling behind the exit collapsed, ventilation hoses thrashing angrily amongst the falling rubble.
They were cut off from the stairs.