A gaping hole.
It was a ragged oval dropping into the heart of the mountain, over a hundred feet across at its widest. Steam rose from the opening, condensing as it hit the colder air above before being whisked away by the endless wind. ‘There’s something warm down there,’ said Nina, seeing no snow around its edge.
Kagan nodded. ‘The eitr comes from somewhere deep inside the earth. The other pit was hot also.’
‘Looks like Lock and Hoyt are already inside,’ said Eddie. At one side of the pit, a metal trestle had been set up to hold several ropes descending into the abyss.
‘How many of them are there?’ Nina asked.
‘Chopper that size could carry a dozen people, easy. Great, another fucking private army.’
‘So what are we going to do?’ said Berkeley.
‘No matter what, we cannot let them leave with the eitr,’ insisted Kagan. ‘We must take out that helicopter. Then we will go into the pit and use Thor’s Hammer to neutralise the eitr.’
‘If it works,’ said Eddie. He observed the scene below thoughtfully. The man was still watching the pit, apparently waiting for those inside to return to the surface. ‘They don’t know we’re here.’
‘You sure?’ said Nina.
‘If they did, Hoyt wouldn’t have only left one bloke up here. He’s nasty, but he’s not stupid. That guy’s just keeping an eye on the ropes.’
‘What are you thinking?’ Kagan asked.
‘That we can sneak right up to the chopper without being seen. We’ll use those rocks for cover.’ He gestured at several stones poking up from the snow between the group’s position and the helicopter. ‘If he stays focused on the hole, we can get within fifty feet of him before he even realises we’re there.’
‘And if he looks around before then?’ said Berkeley.
Eddie took out the Wildey. ‘Then I find out how accurate this is at long range! But I reckon we can do it.’
‘So do I,’ said Kagan, nodding. He spoke to his men in Russian, then turned back to Eddie. ‘They will keep us covered on the way to the helicopter.’
‘Make sure they don’t shoot that thing on your back, eh?’ The Englishman cautiously rose. ‘Nina, wait here until it’s safe. Keep an eye on him.’ He jerked a thumb at Berkeley.
‘I don’t need to be baby-sat,’ Berkeley complained. His sour expression became more concerned as Nina unslung her AK-12. ‘Nina, are you sure you know how to use that thing?’
‘Ask the wolves,’ she replied. Then she reached out and squeezed Eddie’s hand. ‘Good luck.’
‘See you soon,’ he said, smiling. ‘Okay, Kagan, let’s go. There’s trouble down’t pit!’ He grinned, adding: ‘I always wanted an excuse to say that.’ Everyone looked at him. ‘It’s a Yorkshire thing… oh, never bloody mind. Come on.’
He climbed on to the plateau, keeping low as he headed for the first rock. Kagan followed. The Russian soldiers spread out along the rocky edge to cover them.
‘So,’ said Kagan, eyeing the Wildey, ‘the big gun. Does it impress the women?’ He smirked.
Eddie made an irritated noise. ‘Everyone’s a fucking comedian. I use a big gun because when I shoot someone with it, they fall down and don’t get back up, okay? Well, usually they don’t.’ They reached the rock and hunched behind it. The lone guard was still watching the pit; now that Eddie was closer, he could tell from the man’s body language that he was both cold and bored. Presumably Lock and company were not rushing their descent into the depths of the earth. ‘Okay, his gun’s over his shoulder, so he’s definitely not expecting trouble. What’s that in his left hand?’
Kagan narrowed his eyes. ‘A radio, perhaps? I cannot see it properly.’
‘Maybe he’s waiting for Lock to tell him they’ve got the eitr, so he can help pull ’em out.’
‘Then we must get there before he does.’
They zigzagged between the rocks. About a hundred feet from the helicopter, Eddie signalled for Kagan to pause. ‘There’s someone else in the chopper,’ he said as they crouched behind a snow-covered boulder. A shadowy figure was visible through the aircraft’s windows. ‘The pilot.’
‘There is another person,’ said Kagan. Somebody was in one of the passenger seats.
Somebody blonde.
‘It’s Tova!’ Eddie said. ‘They must have brought her in case there were any more runes they needed translating.’
‘They will not need her for much longer,’ Kagan pointed out ominously.
‘We’ve got to get her out of there. You sort out the guard; I’ll—’
He broke off, both men ducking as the mercenary moved. The object in his hand was indeed a radio, the squawk as it received a message carried by the wind to the observers. Eddie couldn’t quite make out the words, but he recognised the voice. ‘Hoyt! That bastard.’ He leaned out, trying to listen to the message. ‘Can you hear what he’s saying?’
‘No, he is too far— Wait, get back.’
Eddie pulled into cover as the mercenary turned and started back to the helicopter, still listening to his leader. Fragments of the transmission reached the lurking duo. ‘… at the bottom,’ said Hoyt. ‘Make sure the ropes… gonna get the stuff. Once we’ve… boss wants us to head straight back up. Tell the pilot…’
‘They are about to take the eitr,’ said Kagan in alarm. He raised his AK. ‘We cannot wait — we must stop them.’
‘Hold on, hold on,’ Eddie told him. The radio message became clearer as the merc neared the helicopter.
Hoyt’s words sent a chill through him. ‘And the boss says we’re finished with Blondie. Take her out and shoot her.’
‘Roger that,’ said the mercenary, a sadistic smile crossing his face. He clipped his radio to his belt and unslung his rifle as he reached the helicopter. ‘Okay, out,’ he barked as he opened the door, pulling Tova from the aircraft. Her hands were secured behind her back by flex-cuffs, and she almost fell.
‘Fuckers,’ Eddie hissed as he saw the Swede’s face. Without Nina as leverage, Hoyt and Lock had resorted to much more direct — and brutal — ways of forcing obedience from the archaeologist. Tova’s face bore several bruises, her lower lip swollen. Her eyes were puffy and red from exhaustion — and fear. ‘I’m going in.’
‘Chase, wait—’ Kagan began, but the Englishman was already moving.
He scuttled towards the helicopter, keeping out of the line of sight of both its pilot and the mercenary. He couldn’t risk a shot at the latter; even if the bullet was dead on target, it might rip right through the man’s body and hit Tova as well.
He would have to be more hands-on.
The mercenary dragged Tova to a spot ten feet from the helicopter. ‘Oh God,’ she gasped, realising what he was about to do. ‘No, please! I did what you wanted!’
‘It’s nothing personal,’ said the mercenary, though the relish in his voice gave away that the act of killing was more than pure business to him. ‘On your knees.’
‘Please, don’t!’ she wailed.
‘Shut up.’ He forced her down to the snowy ground, then raised his gun to the back of her head. ‘If it wasn’t so fuckin’ cold, I’d have you facing the other way first. Bit of fun in return for me makin’ it quick—’
‘Make this quick,’ Eddie growled as he rose up like a spectre behind the mercenary, clamping one arm around the man’s head and the other across the front of his shoulders — and twisting them in different directions.
There was a revolting snap from deep inside the mercenary’s neck as bone splintered, muscle and tissue compressing with a wet squish. The man’s eyes bugged wide and he opened his mouth to scream in pain, but no air escaped; his windpipe was crushed shut, spinal cord severed below the fourth vertebra. Eddie let him drop. The man crumpled to the ground, completely limp, mouth gaping silently like a goldfish out of water. ‘Don’t fuck with my friends,’ the Englishman told him, then moved to help Tova. ‘It’s okay, we’re going to get you out of here.’