"Religion divides everything in India and Pakistan," Selena said.
A marker told them they were on the Surankote Daraba Road. They passed a turnoff with a sign in English, Arabic and Hindi pointing the way to the airstrip. Tall hills surrounded the strip on three sides. They could see the fortified control line between Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, snaking along a hill on the other side of the field. Guard posts and bunkers bristled on the hillside. High barriers of rolled wire in two rows with a narrow dirt path between them marked the line.
"I spy a helicopter," Lamont said.
"Yup. Looks nasty. What is that, a 20mm sticking out in front?" Nick said.
"Looks like it. Rocket pods, too."
Selena had binoculars on the chopper. "People standing around. Sentries on the perimeter. Looks like an elite unit, everyone is armed and wearing black uniforms. Wait a minute."
Selena adjusted the binoculars. "There's a car turning onto the strip."
She watched. The car came to a stop and a man in civilian clothes got out and walked toward the chopper.
"It's Cobra."
"Jackpot," Lamont said.
Nick drove pulled to the side of the road and parked where they could see the helicopter through the trees.
"Now what?" Selena asked.
"Now we wait for Cobra's next move."
CHAPTER 55
Rao turned off the road and onto the landing strip. Ijay's helicopter sat part way down from the end. Four men armed with Kalantak micro assault rifles were stationed around the perimeter.
Ijay's bird was a Rudra Class attack helicopter, named for the Vedic god of the tempest. The aircraft looked the part, lethal and black. Four long blades stretched out over the center of a wide body that could carry twelve heavily armed soldiers. A long-barreled 20mm cannon stuck out like a spear from a chin mounted gun turret in front. Pods mounted out to the sides carried antitank and antiaircraft missiles. The Rudra was a fast attack helicopter designed to put the fear of God in an enemy tanker, right before he got to meet his god in person. The sophisticated systems of the bird placed it with the best of its kind, anywhere in the world. The new radar evading technology on this one put it in a class of its own.
Ijay stood outside the craft talking with several of his men. As he pulled up and parked, Rao could see the pilot and another crewman in the cockpit. It looked as though the pilot was angry. As Rao got out of the car, Ijay broke away from the group and came forward to meet him.
"Ijay," Rao said.
"Sir." Ijay saluted.
"Where is Afridi?"
"Dead. As are all his men. Two of mine were killed. This man has been costly."
Rao thought of Lakshmi and his son, dead on that station platform all those years ago because of Afridi. He wished he had Afridi's corpse at his feet. He would urinate on him, kick him, spit on his face. He wished Lakshmi and Arjuna were here with him, to feel his revenge. But they were not, and all he felt was a numb recognition that his enemy was dead at last. Somehow he'd thought it would be more intense, more satisfying.
"Sir?" Ijay was looking at him.
"Sorry, I was thinking," Rao said. "I'm sorry about your men."
Ijay nodded.
"Tell me what happened," Rao said.
Ijay described the flight across Pakistan and the brief battle for the camp, the death of Afridi. Then he told Rao what they had found.
"We recovered several boxes of gold and one of precious stones," he said. "Old coins. Pieces of gold, finely worked."
"It's all part of the Mughal treasure stolen during the sack of Delhi," Rao said. "We'll use some of it to compensate the families of your men who were killed. Did you look through the box with the jewels?"
"No. We were busy."
"Let me see it."
"It's inside."
The two men walked over to the helicopter. Rao heard cursing, a steady stream of muttered blasphemies.
"That's the pilot you hear," Ijay said. "There's an electrical problem. We almost crashed when we came in and now we can't take off until it's fixed. It's probably a problem with the new gear. We'll find it, but it might take a while."
They climbed into the helicopter. There was a faint, acrid smell of burned insulation in the air. Two black body bags lay at the rear, uneven shapes in the gloom of the interior. The co-pilot had a panel off the side of the cabin, studying the wiring. The boxes from Afridi's campsite were stored under an aluminum bench seat. Ijay pulled one out.
Rao opened the lid.
Ijay said, "I've never seen anything like what's in this box. Never."
Rao pushed aside several stones and saw the Eye.
At last!
He drew the Eye from the box and held it up to the light coming through the open door. His hand trembled.
"We'll use some of the gold to compensate the families of your men. I'll turn the rest of it in," Rao said. "Except for this. This belongs in the temple."
"It's beautiful," Ijay said.
"Do you know the prophecy about the Eye of Shiva?"
"Every good Hindu knows the prophecy," Ijay said. He quoted: "When the Eye is returned, my enemies will be consumed in the divine fire."
"That's right."
"That is the Eye?" There was awe in Ijay's voice.
"Yes. You've served Lord Shiva by bringing this back to Mother India."
"You knew it was there?"
"I had hoped it was. I suspected Afridi had found the Mughal treasure, or some part of it. This was meant to be."
"Karma," Ijay said.
Rao nodded. "I'm going to take this to the temple in New Delhi. Bring everything back to base once you've completed repairs."
Ijay saluted. "Sir."
Rao got back into his car. He felt one of the headaches starting. Eating seemed to help and he could take some of Krivi's pills. He decided to stop at a restaurant he'd noticed in town. After hundreds of years, a few more minutes before the Eye was returned wouldn't matter.
Selena had been watching. Now she lowered the binoculars. "Cobra's getting in his car."
Nick said. "We can't take him here. Those guys are Special Forces. There's no cover and we're outgunned. We wouldn't have a chance."
Lamont swatted at a fly buzzing in the van. "What do you want to do?"
"He has to be going back to Srinagar. There's only one road, the way we came in. He has to go that way. We'll get ahead of him and wait."
"Then what?" Selena asked.
"We ambush him, force him off the road. Once we're out of the city and past that checkpoint, there are long stretches of highway where we could do it."
"You ever do anything like that before?" Selena asked.
"In Iraq. Of course, we had armored vehicles there. Made it easier."
"He's driving a Jaguar. If he wants to ditch us, he'll leave this heap in the dust," Lamont said.
"Then we'll make sure he doesn't get the chance."
Nick started the van and pulled out after their quarry. The Jaguar was already far ahead. They entered the city. Soon they were crawling in heavy traffic, stuck behind a large truck belching black smoke. There was no opening to pass.
Nick couldn't see Cobra's car ahead.
"This traffic sucks," he said. "We're going to lose him."
Suddenly Selena pointed off to the side. "There's the Jag."
The Jaguar was parked outside a restaurant.
"Looks like we caught a break," Lamont said.
"Let's hope he takes his time."
The truck in front turned off into a side street. Nick dodged a three wheeled motor bike loaded down with a family of four and a goat and picked up speed. In another ten minutes they reached the outskirts of town.
Different sentries manned the checkpoint. They passed through with no problem and half an hour later were parked on the side of the road in the shade of a cluster of trees, waiting for Cobra.