‘So what can we do? We have to get them out of there.’
‘Unless we can find a way in without being seen, which I don’t think we could until dark, there’s nothing we can do unless they get some kind of signal to us. Then I could claim probable cause for entry and demand police backup, but without something definite . . .’
‘Sod it!’ Mac banged a fist down on his thigh in frustration. There was nothing he could do to help his friends.
At gunpoint, Nina and Eddie were marched through an underground passage to one of the observation bunkers. ‘Who the hell owns tigers?’ Eddie said in disbelief after Nina explained the sanctuary’s purpose. ‘I thought they were computer nerds, not the Indian Siegfried and fucking Roy!’
‘Did the SAS teach you anything about dealing with wild animals?’ Nina asked hopefully.
‘Yeah - stay away from them!’
‘I was hoping for something more specific. And speaking of staying away, why the hell did you come to India? I told you not to give them the Codex!’
Eddie shook his head in disbelief. ‘You’re still going on about that? I know you’re bloody mad for old junk, but you can’t seriously think that I’d put some book above your life!’
‘It’s not just “some book”, Eddie,’ said Nina, exasperated despite the danger. ‘It’s a vital part of whatever the Khoils are planning. They want to start a war, some kind of global catastrophe, I don’t know what - but before they can, they need the Codex so they can find the Vault of Shiva and take the Shiva-Vedas. ’
‘What do they need them for? If they’ve got the power to start a war, then I don’t see how some ten-thousand-year-old stone tablet’s going to make a difference.’
‘It’s eleven thousand years, at least—’
‘Yeah, because getting the dates right is really important right now.’
‘And,’ she went on, irritated by his sarcasm, ‘Pramesh thinks that without them, the plan won’t work. He’s trying to bring the world into the next stage of the Hindu cycle of existence, or some warped version of it, at least - but if he doesn’t have the Vedas, Shiva’s own pure teachings, he’s convinced that everything will fall back into chaos and corruption.’
‘So,’ Eddie said as they approached the end of the passage, ‘the Khoils want to start World War Three . . . for the good of humanity?’
‘Pretty much.’
‘Christ.’ He shook his head again. ‘We know how to pick ’em, don’t we?’
They entered the bunker, one of the guards pointing at the elevator platform. Eddie quickly surveyed the surroundings as they stepped on to it. The bunker was octagonal, with a rectangular extension opposite the entrance to accommodate the elevator. Raised metal walkways led up to the windows, which looked out slightly above ground level. A desk was home to a computer and a telephone, a map of the tiger sanctuary and its tunnels on the wall beside it. He took in as much information from the map as he could before a guard operated a control, and the platform rose with a hydraulic whine.
They emerged into sunlight, surrounded by a cage. Nina recognised the clearing where she had watched a tiger be tranquillised a few days earlier. ‘There are cameras all over the place,’ she warned, pointing out a stout metal pole nearby. A black sphere at its top turned to observe their arrival. ‘They’re watching us.’
‘Indeed we are, Dr Wilde,’ said a voice, startling them. Khoil. But not in person; his tone was tinny, coming through a small loudspeaker on the triangular aerial drone. It descended into the clearing, camera pointed at them.
‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world,’ Vanita added.
Khoil spoke again. ‘You may have noticed a new addition to my vimana.’
‘Yeah, I see it,’ said Nina. Where the dart gun had been before, a larger and more deadly weapon was now mounted beneath the compact aircraft’s body: Eddie’s Wildey. She glowered at her husband. ‘You would have to buy another of those stupid things . . .’
‘As you saw with the dart gun, I am a good shot. But Vanita only wants me to use the gun as a last resort. Her tigers prefer live prey.’ The cage lowered into the ground, leaving them standing in the open. The drone pivoted as if gesturing into the surrounding trees. ‘The nearest tiger is forty metres in that direction. Move towards it.’ The gun swung back.
They reluctantly stepped off the platform. ‘What do we do?’ Nina whispered, looking round fearfully.
‘First thing, don’t get eaten,’ Eddie replied, trying to mask his own worry. Without a weapon, they had almost no chance of surviving a tiger attack. ‘Second, bring down that drone and get my gun. Did he say it had a dart gun on it before?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then he’s in for a fucking surprise if he fires it. Okay, stay close and follow my lead.’ They entered the trees, the drone descending under the overhanging branches to follow them.
Eddie peered into the vegetation. Forty metres; about a hundred and thirty feet. If the predator was hunting, they wouldn’t see it until it was almost upon them. With a light breeze blowing through the foliage, the visual confusion of the undergrowth and the dappled sunlight cutting into the shadows made it almost impossible to pick out movement.
He looked back at the drone. It was about ten feet behind, slightly above head height. He needed something heavy enough to knock it off balance . . .
A chunk of broken branch on the ground, mouldering amongst the decomposing leaves. He pretended to stumble, scooping it up as he caught his fall. ‘Stop,’ he whispered. ‘Get ready to run.’
‘Which way?’
‘Any way that isn’t at the tiger!’ Eddie half turned towards the drone, concealing the hunk of wood behind his body. Nina looked nervously into the trees for any telltale flashes of orange.
The drone came to a hover, eight feet away. ‘Keep moving,’ ordered Khoil.
‘Think I’d rather stay here,’ said Eddie. ‘Anyway, how do you even know where the tigers are?’
‘The tigers are all tagged with a GPS—’
Eddie suddenly hurled the piece of wood at the drone, knocking the little aircraft back. ‘Run!’
He grabbed Nina’s hand, and they turned and charged through the undergrowth, swatting low branches aside. The drone recovered and almost angrily spun to follow. The firing mechanism attached to the gun’s trigger pulled back—
The Wildey fired with a colossal boom, the bullet narrowly missing Nina to blast a fist-sized chunk of bark out of a tree - but the effect of the gun’s recoil on the drone itself was nearly as damaging. It was thrown backwards, spinning wildly into another tree trunk. If its rotor blades had not been shrouded inside impact-resistant plastic its flight would have ended there; as it was, it bounced off and wobbled drunkenly back into a hover.
‘If you’re talking, you’re not reacting,’ Eddie said by way of terse explanation as he and Nina crashed through the bushes. Any animals nearby would certainly be able to hear them, but he hoped the tiger had reacted like the birds that had burst in fright from the trees and fled from the sound of the shot.
‘Where are we going?’ Nina panted.
‘Outer wall - I saw where we were on that map. There might be a way out.’
They emerged from the trees. Ahead was a twenty-foot grey concrete walclass="underline" the preserve’s boundary. About sixty feet distant Nina saw a ladder attached to the wall - but its lower section had been raised like that of a fire escape, the lowest rung almost twelve feet up. ‘Eddie, over there.’
‘If I give you a leg up, you can pull it down—’
A rifle cracked above them, the bullet kicking up a small explosion of earth at their feet. Two men with guns ran along the top of the wall, a third aiming another shot. Nina and Eddie bolted as a second round slammed into the dirt.