"Are you honorable? Do you keep your word?"
"I believe in keeping my word. I guess that makes me honorable."
"If you give me your word about something, I will put down the gun."
"What is it?"
"I want you to take the Eye back to where it belongs. To the temple of Shiva, off the Peshwa Road in New Delhi. Anyone can tell you where it is. Give me your word that you will give it to the priests there. They'll know what to do."
"If I give you my word, you'll put down the gun?"
"I will."
"All right," Selena said. "You have my word. I'll take the Eye back to the temple."
Rao sighed. "I would have liked so much to bring it myself. Not much chance of that, now."
He leaned forward. The gun never wavered from his head. Rao slid the jewel across the desk.
"Pick it up," he said to Selena.
"Careful, Rao." Nick said. His M-16 was aimed at Rao's head, his finger on the trigger. "I'll shoot if you blink wrong."
Rao smiled again. Selena moved forward, keeping out of Nick's line of fire, and took the stone. It felt cool. The jewel was heavy in her hand. She stepped away from the desk.
"Islamabad would have been destroyed," Rao said.
"Put down the gun," Nick said. "I won't tell you again."
"I miss Lakshmi," Rao said. His eyes looked sad. Then he smiled. "It's not over."
He pulled the trigger. The side of his head blew out in a geyser of blood and tissue. The body slammed back and fell from the chair.
"Shit," Nick said. He lowered his rifle.
"What did he mean, it's not over? Who's Lakshmi?" Selena asked.
"I don't know," Nick said. "Let's get out of here before the whole Indian Army shows up."
"I hear a helicopter," Lamont said. "Might be too late."
They ran outside. The forest was burning all along the side of the mountain. Thick clouds of brown and black smoke billowed upward. Tongues of red and orange flame leapt high into the air. The heat was intense. Pieces of metal wreckage lay scattered in every direction. The crumpled black nose cone from the missile lay in the path of the advancing fire.
"How come it didn't go off?" Selena said. She gestured at the warhead.
"It was probably set for an altitude burst," Nick said. "There's a firing sequence that has to happen or it won't detonate. It's the way they're designed. A way to keep them safe."
"Safe. Who are they kidding? Lucky for us," she said.
Akron's Huey circled in and set down near the edge of the crater. They ran to it and climbed in. Seconds later they were airborne. Nick settled into the co-pilot's seat.
"Figured you might want to get out of Dodge," Akron said.
"You got that right."
"You don't mess around, do you? You should have seen that from over there by those ruins. Biggest Roman candle I've ever seen. If I had that on film, I could sell tickets."
"Yeah. Take us back to Srinagar."
"I got a feeling it might be better if we took the long way around," Akron said. "Might get a little bumpy."
"Just get us back without getting shot down," Nick said.
"Roger dodger, Captain."
They lifted off in a steep bank. Nick grabbed for whatever he could find. Lamont uttered a string of obscenities in the bay behind him. Akron headed away from Srinagar.
"Where are you going?" Nick said. "The city's that way."
"So is the Indian Air Force. Trust me."
Akron flew at fifty feet above the highway for a few minutes. Then he banked to the right and flew into a narrow canyon that disappeared into the mountains. The walls of the canyon seemed inches away from the spinning blades. Akron was whistling as he flew, twisting and turning along the torturous route of a river below. It would be almost impossible for the Indians to find them here, unless they knew where to look.
Akron looked over at Nick. "Yesssir, you folks put on quite a show," he said. The chopper came close to the canyon wall.
"You mind watching where you're going?" Nick said.
Akron looked hurt. Nick called Harker.
"Director, we're on our way back."
"What happened?"
"Rao shot himself. We brought down the missile, but it was a close thing. The launch site is unusable and there's a hell of a fire burning. Rao had this big ruby. He made Selena promise to take it back where it came from."
"The Eye of Shiva," Elizabeth said.
"Right."
"Where are you?"
"On the way back to Srinagar."
"The Indians are kicking all foreign journalists out of Kashmir," Elizabeth said. "You qualify, as a documentary crew making films. The plane has been released, along with your passports. Get back and get out of there."
Nick remembered what Rao had said. He had to know. "How's Ronnie doing?"
"No change."
Nick took a deep breath.
"Nick, that jewel is important. It has to go to the government. You can't take it back."
Nick looked back at Selena. She was watching him, listening to the conversation. They all had ears on the link.
"Why not?" Nick asked.
"It's a national treasure. Bring it home and we'll return it with the proper diplomatic protocols."
"What?" Nick said. "You're breaking up." He made rasping noises.
"I said…"
Nick made crackling and hissing sounds."…up. Can't…what…say…"
He ended the connection and turned back toward Selena.
She smiled at him and his heart missed a beat. Her violet eyes were bloodshot. Her face was scratched and streaked sweat and dirt. Nick thought she'd never looked more beautiful.
"Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome."
The adrenaline surge was long gone. Nick was exhausted. The journey back to Srinagar passed in a blur. Once they saw a flight of six military helicopters go past in the distance, headed for the missile complex.
At the hangar, they gave Akron back his guns.
"Thanks," Nick said. "You did a good job with that bird."
Akron said, "Wouldn't have missed that for anything. I haven't had that much fun in a long time, but I admit it could have turned out different. Tells me it's time to pack it in. I'm going back to the states."
"What about this?" Nick gestured at the Huey, the hangar.
"Doesn't matter," Akron said. "It's mostly junk. My guess is the Indians are going to figure out that was my bird out there. I don't want to be around when they do. I'm out of here." He turned to Selena. "Sorry I got you mad at me, Sweet Pea."
He grinned at her and walked away.
"What an ass," she said.
"Yeah, but at least he's a consistent ass," Nick said.
CHAPTER 66
They drove to the airport and were cleared to leave Kashmir. The Eye was concealed with the guns in the camera equipment. Nick waited until they were in the air and Srinagar was receding below before he asked Selena what she was going to do.
"What would you do?" she said.
"You heard what Harker said. Turn it in. There must be a national museum for antiquities. That's where it belongs."
"I gave my word."
"To a dead man who tried to get us all killed. And then there's Ronnie."
"That's a cheap shot," Selena said. "You know damn well I haven't forgotten Cobra was responsible for what happened in Manila."
"You're right. Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across like that."
"I gave my word," Selena said again.
"It's a historic treasure," Nick said. "It's priceless. How long do you think it will last if those priests put it back on display?"
"That's not my problem," Selena said. "Besides, if you didn't think it was the right thing, why did you tell Elizabeth you couldn't understand what she was saying?"
"Because I wanted to give you the choice. Like you said, you gave your word."
"Did you tell the pilot we're going to New Delhi?"
Nick sighed. "Yes. I thought you might be stubborn about it. But I think it's a mistake."