Eddie recognised him. Zec.
More mercenaries landed. Zec leaned round the door to check the interior, signalling another two men to cover him and his partner as they entered.
‘What can we do?’ Nina whispered.
Shankarpa drew his sword from his back. ‘We fight them.’
‘You’d be dead before you got within twenty feet,’ said Eddie. But they were fast running out of options as the mercs advanced. The only direction they could go without being seen was back into the Vault’s depths - and the chances of their evading discovery shrank with every extra man who touched down.
No choice. ‘I don’t like to say it, but all we can do is hide.’
‘But they’ll get the chest,’ Nina protested.
‘I don’t see how we can stop ’em - not without getting killed. Come on. You too,’ he added to Shankarpa, who seemed on the verge of rushing out in a kamikaze attack. ‘Move it.’
He directed Nina and Shankarpa towards the Vault’s rear, keeping the giant roller between them and the mercenaries as they investigated the bodies, hunting for survivors. The trio passed the miniature palace, skirting the fabric of the deflated balloon and angling back round to where Eddie hoped Kit and Girilal were still waiting. The hard part would be getting to them unseen; the braziers were burning hotter and brighter than ever, and there were still dashes of flame in the oil channels.
He peered through the wooden framework of a war machine. The Chinook had moved off, taking the ropes with it. That meant for the moment that no more mercenaries would be entering the chamber. The knowledge was far from reassuring; they were still outnumbered more than two to one by armed men.
The mercs divided into three-man teams, spreading out to search the cavernous space. Eddie spotted Girilal cautiously peering out from behind an elephant statue. He guessed that Kit was with him; the old yogi didn’t seem the type to abandon an injured man.
‘Okay, we’ve got to reach Kit and Girilal and find somewhere to hide,’ he whispered. ‘Maybe under one of those machines.’
‘How do we reach them?’ Nina asked. They would have to cross the open space around one of the oil channels - in direct line of sight of the entrance.
‘We’ll have to time it right.’ The nearest group of mercenaries had reached the udghatima, shining torch beams at the great roller. ‘If they go behind it . . .’
‘I will make them,’ said Shankarpa. Before Eddie could stop him, the Indian had picked up and thrown a small piece of gold jewellery. It clonked off something near the udghatima. The beams flashed round to find the source of the noise.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ Eddie hissed, angry. ‘Now they know there’s still someone alive!’ Two of the men in the team moved out of sight to investigate, but the third was holding position, shining his light suspiciously round him. ‘Okay, we’ll have to risk it. Get ready. Soon as he turns away . . .’
He ducked as the beam swept round, scanning the path into the Vault before turning back to the roller. ‘Go!’ He pushed Nina out first, then followed Shankarpa across the aisle—
The torch beam whipped back, catching them before they were even halfway across.
‘Shit!’ Eddie dived behind the elephant statue as a shout and the chatter of automatic fire reached him simultaneously. Bullets pitted the stone behind him. More shouts from other directions, the rapid tramp of running footsteps as other mercenaries closed in.
Kit was there with Girilal. He tried to push himself upright, but gasped in pain as his leg gave way. He would have to be carried - making him and his helpers easy targets.
Nina looked round the other end of the statue, seeing more men running through the cavern. ‘Eddie, they’re coming!’
They were trapped; the approaching mercenaries had clear lines of fire on each side. Eddie searched desperately for a weapon, but there was nothing he could reach without exposing himself to gunfire.
No way out. The nearest group of mercs was seconds away, preparing to whip round the statue and blast everyone they found there—
‘Zec!’ Eddie shouted, startling his companions. ‘Zec, it’s Eddie Chase! Can you hear me?’
No reply for a moment, only the pounding boots closing in - then a Balkan-accented command of ‘Hold your fire!’ as three men burst round the corner, weapons raised, fingers tight on the triggers . . .
But no shots.
Another team of mercenaries appeared at the other end of the statue, boxing in the five survivors. Laser sights flicked on, green dots settling on heads and hearts. More footsteps, this time marching. Zec appeared, regarding Eddie curiously. ‘Chase. This is a surprise.’
‘For me too,’ Eddie replied, raising his hands. ‘I thought Khoil was going to fire you.’
‘He almost did. But for this operation, he needed a man with experience who could assemble a fighting force quickly.’
‘Well, even though he was wrong about you being a good bloke, Hugo seemed to think you knew what you were doing, so I suppose that makes sense.’
‘Hugo?’ whispered Nina, confused. ‘What is this, Mercenaries Reunited?’
He shushed her. ‘So where’s Slumdog Billionaire and his wife?’
The comment amused Zec. ‘They are in one of the helicopters. I think they will also be surprised to see you.’ He ordered the other mercenaries to continue searching the Vault, then gestured for the prisoners to pick up Kit and take him to the entrance.
‘What are you doing?’ Nina quietly demanded as the armed men ushered them along. ‘He’s the asshole who kidnapped me - why are you being all buddy-buddy with him?’
‘’Cause if I hadn’t been, we’d all be dead,’ Eddie replied. ‘Keeping him talking was the only way to keep us alive.’
Her face brightened. ‘You’ve got a plan, right? Tell me you’ve got a plan.’
‘Er . . . only if you count “see if something good happens before we get shot”.’
‘Riiiight . . .’ she said, hope fading as quickly as it had risen. ‘I was after something a bit more, y’know, specific.’
They reached the ramp, Nina glancing at the chest containing the Shiva-Vedas. The mercenaries obviously had no idea of its significance, but Khoil would be unlikely to overlook it. Was there any way they could hide it from him?
Zec brought them to the end of the ramp, where they lowered Kit so he could sit with his back against it. His men held them at gunpoint for several minutes while the other mercenaries continued their sweep of the cavern. Eventually they returned, reporting that there was nobody else alive. The Bosnian relayed this over his radio headset. ‘The Khoils are on their way,’ he told Nina and Eddie. Outside, the red and white helicopter flew up the valley.
‘I can’t wait,’ Nina said sourly. The bodies of the guardians were scattered nearby, rivulets of blood congealing on the floor, and even though she was trying not to look at them, just the awareness of the bullet-torn corpses was making her feel sick.
Eddie was looking at them, though; more specifically, at their weapons. Most of the fallen swords were too far away, but there was a long-bladed dagger that had ended up only a few feet from the stone ramp. With a distraction, he might be able to reach it and stab one of the mercenaries, giving him a chance to grab a gun . . .
He noticed Girilal watching him, the yogi following his gaze to the dagger. The realisation that the holy man knew what he was planning was somehow unsettling. He turned away, keeping the knife in the edge of his vision.
More snow blew through the doors. A figure was lowered into view: Tandon. Unlike the mercenaries, he was not rappelling, but being winched down in a harness. Zec signalled to two of his men, who hurried out and pulled him on to the ledge. They unfastened the harness, which quickly rose out of sight as the winch line was wound back in. A short time later it returned, now bearing the giant bearded form of Mahajan. The two bodyguards took up positions awaiting the arrival of a third person.