Diamondback rolled away from her, throwing himself to the far side of the bulldozer. Eddie fired, but both shots clanged uselessly off the machine.
He ran to Nina, who was desperately trying to free her arm.
The earthmover continued its inexorable advance, five feet away, four. Eddie knew there was no way she could get her hand loose in time - and instead jammed his gun against the metal ring.
He pulled the trigger. The bullet severed the tie, ricocheting off the ring and knocking the gun from his hand. The muzzle flame burned Nina’s arm. She screamed, but he had already pulled her back as the earthmover ran over the dented ring.
They rolled clear as the hulking machine rumbled past, but the danger wasn’t over. Shaban raced past for the canopic jar. Diamondback was a few paces behind him, gun raised. Eddie looked for his own weapon—
It vanished under the bulldozer’s track with a crunch of flattening metal.
He hauled Nina with him round the rear of the crawling machine. Diamondback fired, the shot tearing a chunk from the yellow bodywork. The American was about to run after them when he realised there was a shortcut, and jumped up to climb into the cab—
Eddie was already there.
He made a diving tackle over the seat, and both men crashed to the deck. The revolver clattered across the floor.
Shaban reached the jar and snatched it up, feeling a moment of pure relief as he saw it was undamaged and still sealed. He ran back to the dune buggy. Berkeley looked out from his hiding place; the cult leader scowled at him, making him cringe back.
Eddie punched Diamondback - with his injured arm, causing himself almost as much pain as he delivered. The American realised something was wrong and clawed at his adversary’s forearm, fingers digging into the bullet wound. Eddie screamed, jerking back and giving Diamondback the chance to kick him away. The bulldozer rolled past them.
Nina climbed into the machine’s cab. She kicked the spanner off the accelerator and shoved the gearstick into neutral, the bulldozer clanking to a stop just short of the spreading fire at the back of the hold. In front of the earthmover she saw Diamondback smash an elbow down on Eddie’s chest, beyond them Shaban climbing into the dune buggy - and through the gaping forward ramp . . .
The cliff!
Diamondback hit Eddie in the ribs again, then sprang up to find his gun. It was in front of the bulldozer. He grabbed it and straightened, turning to shoot Eddie—
And froze as the dune buggy peeled away with a screech of tyres. Shaban was at the wheel, clutching the canopic jar to his chest. ‘Sebak!’ the American yelled, voice lost amongst the roar of wind and machinery. ‘Wait!’
Eddie sat up. Diamondback snapped out of his shock at being abandoned and took aim—
Nina slammed the bulldozer into gear.
It jerked forward - and its scoop hit the American hard in his back. His gun flew from his hand and landed in the steel bucket. He reeled towards Eddie - then lurched backwards as a fist ploughed into his face.
Eddie hit him again and again. Diamondback spat out blood. Eddie wound up and smashed an uppercut into his chin that knocked the other man off his feet against the scoop’s edge, the metal teeth ripping through the back of his snakeskin jacket.
Diamondback wasn’t finished, though. He saw his gun, groped for it—
And was hauled into the air as Nina raised the scoop.
His weight pulled the jacket tightly over the steel teeth, leaving him hanging helplessly. He tried to shrug off the garment, but couldn’t get his arms free.
Eddie drove one last punch into his stomach as the bulldozer stopped, then looked towards the bow.
Shaban drove the dune buggy off the ramp.
The rugged off-roader hit the ground hard, slamming the Egyptian against his seatbelt. He just barely managed to keep the vehicle under control with one hand as he gripped the jar. For a moment the Zubr gained on him, the ramp’s jutting edge like a huge shovel blade about to scoop up the buggy . . . then he pulled away, making a hard turn to one side. The hovercraft blasted past him.
Heading straight for the cliff.
Macy saw the dune buggy swing away, and realised who was driving.
If Shaban had escaped, then where were Nina and Eddie? Were they—
No. She refused to accept the possibility. They hadn’t given up on her; she wasn’t going to give up on them.
Jaw set, she dropped down a gear and pushed the accelerator to its limit. The temperature gauge was in the red, the elderly Land Rover overheating, but it still began to overtake the hovercraft.
Nina ran to Eddie. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked, taking in his multiple injuries.
‘Nothing a month in the Maldives won’t fix,’ he rasped, gripping his arm to stop the bleeding. Ignoring the impotently kicking and swearing Diamondback, he surveyed the hold, seeing the hatch leading to the starboard engineering compartment. ‘We’ve got to stop this thing. Maybe we could chuck something in the engine—’
‘There isn’t time!’ Nina cried, jabbing a finger at the front ramp. ‘We’re gonna go over a cliff!’
‘What? Shit!’ His search became more desperate. The fire at the rear ramp was now a swirling inferno, and if they tried to jump off from the bow the hovercraft would mow them down.
No way out—
A crash of metal made them whirl - to see the battered Land Rover lurch backwards up the front ramp. Macy had driven directly in front of the Zubr, then braked hard, to be swallowed up like a minnow by a whale. The 4×4 skidded as she slammed on the brakes, slewing round to face them.
Macy sat up, dazed, then her rattled expression became one of delight as she saw Nina and Eddie. ‘Come on!’ she shouted. ‘Get in!’
They ran for the bullet-pocked Defender. ‘Logan!’ called Nina. ‘Move your ass!’ Berkeley emerged from his hiding place and scurried for the Land Rover. They all piled in.
Through the bow, Eddie saw the edge of the cliff for the first time, rushing towards them. Too close for the Land Rover to get clear. ‘The rear ramp, go!’ he yelled.
‘It’s on fire!’ Berkeley protested.
‘Just go!’
Macy slammed the Land Rover into gear and drove the 4×4 between the two ranks of heavy equipment. She saw the whipping flames. ‘Jesus!’
‘Go through it!’ cried Eddie. Diamondback was still hanging from the earthmover’s scoop, but had twisted round enough to reach his gun. ‘Go!’
Diamondback aimed the revolver at the Land Rover’s driver as the vehicle charged towards him—
Fear paralysed his trigger finger. He had been so intent on recovering his gun that he hadn’t seen the approaching cliff - until now.
He overcame his shock and fired, but a fraction of a second too late. The bullet punched through the Land Rover’s roof above Macy’s head. The Defender surged past him.
Nina looked back. ‘We’re not gonna make it!’ The Land Rover was designed for endurance, not acceleration.
‘We’ll make it,’ said Eddie, gripping her tightly. They passed the last earthmover, flames swelling ahead as Macy angled for the ramp. ‘Although I think we should duck!’
They dropped as low as they could as the Land Rover drove into the blaze, tongues of fire licking hungrily through the broken windows.
They hit the ramp—
The Zubr reached the cliff.
A huge blast of escaping air swept sand and stones off the rockface as the skirt vented into the void below. Its support gone, the hovercraft’s bow dropped, the massive vehicle jolting violently as the bottom of its hull ground against the lip of stone. Still driven onwards by its three huge propellers, it balanced like a see-saw - before tipping over the point of no return. Everything inside it that was not lashed down slid forwards . . .