‘Can we use that to work out the Vault’s location?’ Kit asked.
‘We should be able to, since we know where the temple is. Do you have Google Earth or something on your laptop?’
He did; a few minutes later, the screen showed a virtual view of Kedarnath mountain from the village of the same name. Off to the northeast, there was indeed a ridge with what could be described as a notch cut into it, though the relatively low resolution meant it could just as easily be a glitch of the rendering system.
‘The ridge is, let’s see . . . about three and a half miles from the village,’ said Nina. ‘The Vault’s supposedly somewhere up there.’
Eddie brought the camera higher, pulling back for an aerial view. ‘It says the village is at about three and a half thousand metres, but the ridge is . . .’ He moved the cursor across the screen. ‘Christ, it’s almost six kilometres up in places.’
‘Steep climb,’ noted Mac. ‘You’d have to take it slowly, or risk getting altitude sickness.’
‘That’d explain why the priests needed a full day to get to the Vault, I guess,’ said Nina. ‘But they wouldn’t have had anything close to modern mountaineering gear, so there must be a way that’s passable by foot. Could they have gone through the notch?’
‘Depends how big it is.’ Eddie indicated the angular graphic on the screen. ‘That doesn’t tell us anything. Could be fifty metres deep, or five hundred. We’d need to see it for real.’
‘What are the chances of that?’ Nina asked Kit. ‘You said that Eddie’s no longer Public Enemy Number One - are we free to travel?’
‘You really want to go to Kedarnath?’ he asked. ‘Is that a good idea?’
‘Whatever the Khoils are planning, it seemed to be on a deadline, otherwise they wouldn’t have been in such a desperate rush to get hold of the Codex. And they both seem pretty smart - they might not be archaeologists, but they’ll figure out that Mount Kailash isn’t the right place sooner rather than later. And when they do, they’ll start looking for other possibilities. Since they’re both devout followers of Shiva, I’d guess they know about Mount Kedarnath and his pied-à-terre.’
‘You want to go climbing the Himalayas?’ Eddie asked. ‘In December? It’ll be a bit bloody nippy.’
‘Pramesh seemed completely sincere about needing these ancient texts, the Shiva-Vedas. If we can find the Vault of Shiva and get the Vedas first, that’ll be a big spanner in his works - not to mention an archaeological find to match anything we’ve seen so far.’
Mac tapped his foot on the floor, the prosthetic leg making a dull creak of metal and plastic. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to count me out, then. Much as I love freezing my arse off on mountainsides, I’m not really up to the task any more. I have a slight deficiency in the limb department.’
Nina smiled at him. ‘Mac, you’ve already done way more than I can ever thank you for.’
‘I might still be able to do something useful, though. Peter Alderley is coming to India as part of the British delegation for the G20 summit. The Khoils might be pulling every string they can in the Indian government, but I highly doubt they’ll have any influence at MI6. I’ll talk to him and see if he can find out anything.’
‘Oh, great,’ Eddie groaned. ‘My favourite person.’
‘We should meet him,’ Nina said, teasing. ‘You can apologise in person for dropping his invitation down a drain.’
‘Tchah!’
Mac smiled. ‘I’m sure Peter will enjoy that. But whatever Eddie may think of him, he takes his work very seriously - and threats to global security are very much part of MI6’s remit. Especially with twenty world leaders in the same place at the same time.’
‘Do you think that’s their plan?’ said Nina. ‘Attack the G20? Then manipulate the media to place the blame on different countries?’
‘It’d be a pretty good way to kick off a war,’ Eddie said.
‘But how would they do it?’ asked Kit. ‘You’ve seen the security - entire sections of the city are closed off. Nobody would be able to get close enough.’
Nina gave him a grim look. ‘If that’s what the Khoils are planning, they’ll find a way. No, scratch that - they’ll already have found a way. They’ve been working on it for months, ever since they started stealing the cultural treasures. All they need are the Shiva-Vedas, and they’ll have all their pieces in place. So Eddie’s right - we have to get to the Vault of Shiva first.’
‘Just the two of us, then?’ said Eddie. ‘Since I know I’ve got absolutely no chance of talking you out of this.’
‘Just the three of us,’ Kit said, to everyone’s surprise. ‘If you’re going, I’m going with you.’
‘You’ve done a lot for us too, Kit,’ said Nina. ‘You don’t have to do anything else.’
‘Oh, but I do. First, does either of you speak Hindi?’ Nina and Eddie shook their heads. ‘You might not get very far without someone who can. Second, until Eddie is fully cleared, I will probably have to take personal responsibility for his actions - and I will have a hard time doing that if he is three hundred kilometres away up a mountain!’
‘Will your bosses be okay with that?’ Nina asked. ‘I doubt if searching for the lost vaults of gods is in your job description. ’
‘But my job is about more than tracking down lost art,’ Kit reminded her. ‘It also covers the theft of valuable antiquities. And the writings of Lord Shiva himself must surely qualify.’
Mac light-heartedly raised a finger. ‘They haven’t technically been stolen yet.’
Kit laughed. ‘Then consider it crime prevention! But you will need my help, and I am happy to give it.’
‘Have you got any climbing experience?’ Eddie asked.
He nodded. ‘And I can get the clothing and equipment we will need.’
‘I think we have a team, then,’ said Nina. ‘Kit, thank you.’
He smiled, then picked up his phone. ‘I have a long call to make to Lyon.’ He entered a number, then went into the next room to hold the conversation in private.
Eddie looked at the image of Mount Kedarnath on the laptop. ‘You really think it’s there?’
‘Yes, I do - and we could be the first people in thousands of years to find it. But we have to get there before the Khoils.’
Mac leaned forward in his chair. ‘It won’t be easy, Nina. The conditions in those mountains at this time of year will be awful. Eddie may have had survival training, but even so, one wrong step could kill all of you.’
Eddie snorted. ‘Your pep talks were a lot better back in the Regiment.’
‘I’m getting more careful with age. You might want to consider trying it. Both of you.’ He gave them a meaningful look, then stood. ‘Speaking of which, age affects the body as well as the mind, so if you’ll excuse me . . .’ He headed for the bathroom.
‘Cheeky old git,’ said Eddie, with a fond look after his former commanding officer. ‘I’m always careful. Ish.’ He noticed how Nina was looking at him. ‘What? Don’t tell me you agree with him.’
‘Of course I do, Eddie. We almost got killed at the Khoils’ estate. Several times.’
‘Par for the bloody course with us, isn’t it? And being chased up a tree by a tiger’ll make a great story to tell at a pub sometime.’
‘And what about the story when you almost got your throat ripped out by a psychopath because you didn’t hear him coming? Will that be on the list too?’
‘Yeah, okay, that wasn’t so good. But I still came out on top.’