"Soon. What's your status?"
"There are two missiles out in the open. One's ready. It looks like there's only one guy who knows what he's doing. He finished with the first and now he's gone to the second to set that one up. That one is still down on the bed of the transporter."
"Nick, whatever happens, that missile can't launch."
"Yeah, I know."
"Wait. If the drone doesn't get there in time, stop it any way you can."
"Copy that."
"Good luck."
"Yeah."
Nick looked at the others. "You heard Harker. We'll wait. If it looks like they're going to push the button, concentrate your fire on the guy at the console."
"We'd better move back some," Lamont said. "They're likely going to drop a 500 pounder or two. We're too close."
"All right. As long as we keep line of sight on that console."
They moved back into the trees.
"That's far enough," Nick said. He looked at his watch. "Can't be more than a few minutes, now."
Sudden shots splintered chips of bark from trees nearby. The three sentries had found them. Selena moved behind a tree just as bullets kicked up dirt where she'd been standing. She reached around the trunk and fired blind at the shooters. Nick and Lamont opened up. The afternoon quiet vanished in the sharp explosions of automatic weapons.
Up on the staging area, Rao and Ijay heard the shooting. Rao ran over to where Ijay's man was working on the second missile.
"Is it ready?"
"Not yet. The other one is."
"Leave this. Get over to the other. Here."
Rao took the card Krivi had given him with the codes and programming for the missile out of his pocket. It went into a slot on the console. Once loaded into the computer, the flick of a switch would send the missile on its way.
"You know what this is?"
"Yes, sir."
"Use it. Fire as soon as you can." He gave the card to the soldier. "Hurry up."
The man ran over to the transporter and climbed up onto the back, the card in his hand.
Ijay signaled his men away from the launch. Rao moved to the safety of the tunnel. It wasn't a good idea to be near the tail of the missile when it ignited.
Nick fired at one of the soldiers shooting at them and brought him down. He looked around and saw Ijay's man climbing onto the truck. He swiveled and fired and an empty casing caught in the ejection port. The gun jammed.
On the truck, the operator inserted the card and activated the firing sequence. He got up to leave the unit for cover. Nick cleared the jam, aimed and fired and the man fell off the truck.
Seconds later the Agni III came to life. Flame and smoke erupted from the base of the missile.
"Fire at the missile and the control panel," Nick yelled.
Selena and Lamont turned. The three of them stood and emptied their magazines at the console and the missile. Nick saw holes appear in the white body. It began to rise. Nick dropped a magazine, jammed in another, and emptied it at the console with it's switches and gauges. He could see fragments fly off where the bullets hit.
Ijay's men were still shooting at them. A bullet plucked at Selena's sleeve. She turned and shot another man. One man still came on. She shot him too. He fell to the ground, clutching his gut and screaming. She couldn't hear him over the roar of the rocket engine. She turned back to watch.
The missile climbed toward the sky on a column of orange fire and billowing white smoke. It began to pick up speed. The noise was deafening.
"Too late," Nick said. "We were too late."
Then the missile slowed. It tilted to the side and fell back toward the launching site, the rocket engine belching flame.
"Jesus," Nick said.
They dropped down flat. Selena covered her head with her arms.
The missile hit the ground and exploded. Flaming bits and burning fuel fell back to earth in a hellish rain.
Then the Reaper struck with a 500 pound bomb.
The explosion ripped branches from the trees and sent them flying through the air in a lethal storm of splinters. Selena covered her ears. The shock lifted her body from the ground. A huge, burning tire from one of the transporters crashed into the dirt a foot from her head and rolled away down the hillside.
She lay there, waiting. There were no more explosions. Slowly, she stood and looked around. Everything was muffled, as though her ears were stuffed with cotton.
Fires burned in a dozen places. It wouldn't be long before the forest of pines where they stood would be in flames. The staging area had been destroyed. The transporters and helicopters were twisted hulks of charred metal. A breeze brought an unpleasant odor of burning rubber.
"We'd better get up there before these woods go up," Nick said.
They climbed the rest of the way to the top. The fire spread through the trees below. Small fires dotted what was left of the staging area. The bomb had left a gaping crater in the smooth surface.
A body lay near the tunnel entrance on its back, eyes staring toward the sky. The dead man's face was marked by birthmarks that looked like spots. Debris smoldered in front of the tunnel. It looked as though the interior of the complex was intact.
Lamont brought his rifle up. "I saw movement in the tunnel."
"We have to go in," Nick said. "I'll take point."
They entered the cavern. Scraps of metal and smoking bits littered the first ten yards. The remaining missiles lay silent at the back of the cavernous space. There were bodies on the floor, one in the uniform of a ranking officer. It was dark inside except for light from the entrance and the window of one office. They heard someone singing to himself.
They kept up against the wall and reached the office. Nick took a quick glance through the window and ducked back.
"It's Cobra," he said. "He's sitting at a desk. He has a pistol in his hand."
"How you want to do it?" Lamont said.
"He's the only one left," Nick said. "I want to try and take him alive. Ready?"
Without waiting, Nick stepped into the door of the office and pointed his M-16 at Rao.
"Game's up, Rao. Put the gun on the desk and your hands behind your head."
Rao swiveled in the chair, the pistol coming up as he turned, but it wasn't pointed at them. He held it in his right hand, the barrel pressed against the side of his head. In his left, he held a great, red stone.
For a second, Rao's face was a mask of anger. Then he smiled.
"Carter," he said. "How did you know?"
"We've been listening to your phone calls," Nick said. "Put down the gun. Slowly."
Rao held up the stone. It blazed with color under the lights.
"Do you know what this is?" he said.
"It's pretty," Nick said. "Put down the gun."
Rao laughed. It trailed off to a giggle. Selena and Lamont looked at each other. Lamont twirled his finger by his head.
"Pretty," Rao said. "You are looking at the soul of Mother India and all you can say is it's pretty."
"Why don't you tell me about it," Nick said. "I'm willing to learn. But put down the gun."
Rao ignored him. "I think the lady knows what I'm holding. Don't you, Doctor Connor?"
"You know who I am?" Selena said.
"Of course. And Mister Cameron, AKA Shadow. Unfortunate about Sergeant Peete, wasn't it? Did you know he died this morning?"
"You son of a bitch," Nick said.
Selena knew he was going to shoot. "Wait, Nick," she said. "He's lying. Elizabeth would have told us."
"Maybe." But he relaxed, just enough.
"So, Doctor Connor?" Rao held up the jewel.
"If I'm right, it's a jewel called the Eye of Shiva," Selena said. "No one has seen it for centuries."
"Very good," Rao said. "Doctor Connor, are you an honorable person?"
"What do you mean?"
He's nuts, Nick thought. I should shoot him. He watched Rao's gun.