The floor lurched.
For a moment he thought it was an earthquake. But then he heard a metallic scraping beneath him - and realised the gondola itself was moving.
He looked up, seeing to his shock that the hot air from the furiously blazing fire in the brazier had partly inflated the balloon. No longer a flaccid bundle of fabric, it had swollen enormously, reaching the roof of the cavern.
The gondola jolted again, harder. Kit grimaced at another bolt of pain in his leg. The balloon’s envelope was taller than the Vault, meant to be inflated in the open. Trapped against the rocky ceiling, heat was building up too fast. Sparks and cinders swirled in the updraft as the fabric began to burn.
He kicked with his good leg, finally dislodging the dead man. He pulled himself upright - then fell again as the balloon left the ground, the flying palace swaying beneath it.
Nina was making her way back to the entrance, keeping to the shadows, when she heard loud noises to one side. Someone starting up one of the war machines? There was no reason for the mercenaries to do so - maybe Kit was still alive.
She climbed on to the plinth of a statue for a better view - and was startled by the sight of the great bloated grub of the balloon squirming against the ceiling. A fierce fire burned inside the elaborate little palace.
A fire that was spreading to the rest of the balloon. Glowing patches of light flickered inside the silken outer shroud . . . getting larger as she watched.
If the balloon ruptured, the burning fabric would land on top of the gondola - and Kit.
No longer concerned with stealth, she ran through the cavern to help him.
Shankarpa brought Eddie to the end of the steep, narrow tunnel, the other side of the valley visible through an archway. Eddie looked out. The rope bridge was off to one side. To his dismay, someone aboard the red and white helicopter was pulling the chest into the cabin. ‘Shit, they’ve got the box!’
Dark anger crossed Shankarpa’s face. ‘They will pay,’ he said, opening the old rifle’s breech and loading a round. He took aim at the Dhruv - then both men flinched back from the hurricane of snow and grit as the Chinook descended. The big helicopter slowly backed towards the giant statue, lines dangling from its open rear ramp.
Shankarpa fired at the Chinook. The boom from the old gun was painful in the confined space, but the only result for all the sound and fury was a clang as the round struck armour. The MD 500 had pulled away to let the larger chopper into the valley, but its gunner was still watching for telltale bursts of smoke from the rifles - a rattle of fire shattered the stonework outside the arch.
‘I need you to keep that gunship busy,’ said Eddie. ‘If it catches me while I’m crossing the bridge, I’m fucked!’
‘There is another tunnel that will take me to the other guardians. I will tell them to cover you as you cross.’
‘How long will it take you to get there?’
‘Two minutes.’
Eddie glanced out. The Chinook was moving into a hover - much lower than the Khoils’ helicopter, the whumping blades of its rear rotor actually beneath the overhanging rock, tips less than ten feet from the statue of Shiva. The pilots were trying to get the rear ramp as close as possible to the ledge so the mercenaries could jump in rather than having to ascend the ropes. ‘I don’t have that long. Go - get there as quick as you can.’
Shankarpa started for the tunnel. ‘What are you going to do?’
Eddie looked back at him. ‘Run like buggery!’
The downwash from the Chinook’s rear rotor blasted through the Vault, sweeping up the dust of centuries in a blinding swirl. Nina squinted as the gritty storm stung her eyes.
The wind caught the balloon, setting the palatial gondola swinging like a pendulum. She expected it to be blown further back into the great cave, but the combination of the gondola’s gyrations and air currents gusting round the cavern’s ragged natural roof instead sent it spinning towards the entrance.
Fire burst through the balloon’s skin. Either there was a hotspot above the brazier or the material had torn on the ceiling, but it didn’t matter - a rush of escaping air sent a huge spray of embers across the Vault, falling like glowing snowflakes. Nina hurriedly pulled up her hood as they dropped around her, scorching her parka.
Rapidly losing height, the gondola hit a siege engine near the launch ramp. She glimpsed Kit as he bailed - or was flung - out of the door, then the whole thing crashed to the floor, knocking over the brazier she had originally lit.
The balloon itself was being consumed with frightening speed, large parts already reduced to ash and motes of hellfire. The air filled with smoke. Coughing, Nina weaved through the flames, hoping Kit hadn’t already been swallowed by them.
Eddie looked out at the Chinook. It was hovering precariously with its rear ramp just above the lip of the ledge. He spotted Zec crouching low, waving his men into the helicopter.
He couldn’t wait for covering fire. He was out of time - the mercs would soon be gone, firing their parting shots to destroy the Vault.
And Nina.
He ran to the rope bridge, arms outstretched for balance as he traversed the planks two at a time. Still no booms from the Martini-Henrys. He looked for the MD 500—
The men aboard saw him, the little helicopter pivoting to bring the M249 to bear.
Laser-lines of tracer fire seared past him as he ran.
Zec heard the gunfire, and glanced down the valley to see the MD 500 unleashing a barrage at a figure running across one of the rope bridges.
Chase! The Englishman was certainly a survivor, he admitted with grudging admiration. But his luck had surely run out - the gunship could use the tracers to ‘walk’ its fire on to its target. One hit, and he would fall to his death - if the onslaught didn’t destroy the entire bridge under him.
But he couldn’t spare the time to watch. The last five men were jumping on to the ramp, others inside pulling them into the hold. Behind them was Tandon, but he wasn’t moving to board. ‘Get inside!’ Zec ordered.
‘We have to wait for Dhiren,’ Tandon insisted.
‘There’s no time! We need to—’
Two sounds hit him simultaneously. The first was a salvo of booms from the guardians’ rifles as they opened fire on the MD 500 - and the second was an explosion inside the Vault.
A few seconds earlier, Nina had found Kit, curled in agony as he clutched his injured leg. She dragged him away from the burning swathes of fabric draped over the treasures around him—
The next instant, they were knocked down by an explosion.
The rockets!
Stacked behind the vimana’s launch ramp, the burning debris scattered from the brazier had set them alight.
A second rocket detonated - then a third shot upwards, slamming into the ceiling and bursting apart like a bomb.
‘Jesus!’ Nina cried, pulling Kit under a statue as sparks rained down. Another rocket flew past, streaking towards the rear of the cavern like an enormous firework.
Eddie had no idea what was happening as he heard what sounded like explosives going off in the Vault - all he knew was that the guardians had saved him from being torn apart by the MD 500’s machine gun. At least two shots had hit the gunship, which was now hurriedly ascending.
He jumped over a bullet-riddled plank and continued across the bridge. Halfway there, but he still had to go up another two levels . . .
Zec grabbed Tandon. ‘Get aboard, now!’ He pulled the Indian towards the Chinook’s gaping maw—
Something black shot at them on a trail of flame.
The explosion of the first rocket had flung the others in all directions. One landed between the two high walls of the launch ramp, blunt nose pointing towards the open doors . . . and its fuse sparking and sizzling.