Berkeley picked up on it loud and clear. ‘Because, well,’ he said with some hesitancy, ‘I didn’t hear any denials when Nina said you were planning to use the eitr to make a weapon of mass destruction.’ Lock’s expression darkened, but Berkeley pressed on. ‘So I’m starting to reach the conclusion that…’ He looked at the mercenaries around him, almost as if registering for the first time that they were armed. ‘That it might not be a good idea for me to do it. No offence,’ he hurriedly added.
There was a lengthy silence — then, to everyone’s surprise, Lock shrugged, almost smiling. ‘That’s your decision, of course, Dr Berkeley. And I respect it.’
Berkeley blinked. ‘You do? Oh. Well, good.’
‘I don’t agree with it, though. But it doesn’t matter, because now that we have her,’ he indicated Tova, ‘we don’t need you any more.’
Hoyt grinned. ‘About time. Guy’s been a pain in the ass ever since we brought him aboard.’
He gestured to two of his men, and before Berkeley realised what was happening, they had grabbed him by his arms and pulled him away from Lock. ‘What are you— Hey! Let me go, what the hell are you doing?’ the archaeologist protested.
Lock ignored his squawks. ‘Someone photograph the runes,’ he said. One of the mercenaries opened a pack and took out a high-end digital SLR camera, then began to take pictures. ‘Dr Skilfinger, you’re going to translate them for us.’
‘I will not,’ she replied.
‘Yes, you will. Because we haven’t just got you — we’ve got Dr Wilde too. If you don’t do what I say, then…’ He made a boom sound.
‘Don’t do it,’ Nina told Tova. ‘We can’t—’
She cried out as Lock backhanded the side of her face. ‘Shut up,’ he growled. ‘You talk too much — you’re as bad as your husband. Get them back to the trucks, we’re taking them with us.’
Nina pressed a hand against her aching cheek, filled with both fury and outrage at being humiliated. ‘You fucker!’
Only the gun pressed hard into his abdomen stopped the enraged Eddie from hurling himself across the dais at Lock as his men dragged Nina and Tova towards the exit. ‘Nina, don’t give these shitheads anything!’ he shouted. ‘I’ll come and get you, I promise!’
Hoyt laughed. ‘Yeah, we all know what a promise from you means, Chase. A bullet in the back of the fuckin’ head, just like you gave Natalia!’
Even as she struggled, the words caught Nina’s attention — as did Eddie’s suddenly mask-like expression. Hoyt saw her shocked reaction. ‘Whoa, wait!’ he called to the men hauling her. ‘She stays for a minute.’ They stopped, holding Nina as their comrades took Tova from the chamber.
‘What are you doing?’ Lock asked.
A malevolent smile oozed across Hoyt’s bony visage. ‘I think Chase has been keeping secrets from his old lady.’ Keeping the gun aimed at Eddie, he released him and stepped back. ‘So, you never told her about your little adventure in ’Nam?’
‘I know about Vietnam,’ Nina said defiantly. ‘You were trying to use a German girl to get your hands on the formula for eitr. Eddie protected her.’
Now it was Lock’s turn to laugh. ‘That’s one hell of a definition of protection. I think you’re right, Hoyt — she doesn’t know.’
‘Know what?’ she demanded.
‘Don’t you get it?’ said Hoyt. ‘He killed her! He fucking executed her and burned her body, to stop us from getting samples of her DNA. That’s what a promise from him gets you! Just can’t protect your women, can you, Chase?’
The men holding her eased their grips, but Nina was too stunned to try to break free. ‘Eddie? What are they talking about? Did you…’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
His mask was still in place, but it couldn’t hide the dismay and conflict behind it. ‘What’s the matter, Chase?’ said Hoyt gloatingly. ‘Oh, now all of a sudden you don’t have any smart-ass comments? Ain’t that a thing.’
Nina shook her head. ‘No. I don’t believe it.’
‘It… it is true,’ said Kagan, with a heavy sigh. ‘I saw her body with my own eyes. I am sorry.’
She looked back at her husband. ‘Eddie?’ she asked, voice almost plaintive.
‘I did what she wanted me to do,’ he said, struggling to meet her gaze.
The silence that followed was broken by the man with the camera. ‘Okay, I’ve got them.’
Lock nodded. ‘We’re done here, then.’
‘What about them?’ Hoyt asked, with a flick of his gun at Eddie, Kagan and Berkeley.
Lock shone his flashlight at the ceiling. The beam glinted off the golden shields, but he was more interested in the wooden rafters, tracing the lines of the supports down to floor level. ‘This all looks very flammable, don’t you think, Hoyt?’
Hoyt grinned evilly. ‘Yeah, a real fire hazard.’ Pistol still pointed at Eddie, he took out his cigarette lighter and descended to the great hall’s floor. He crouched by a table, scraping some of the loose straw into a pile and setting it aflame. ‘Guys? Light ’em if you got ’em!’ Some of the other mercenaries spread out across the chamber to start fires of their own.
Nina watched in horror. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Consider it a Viking funeral,’ Hoyt replied. He watched as his fire grew, taking hold of the ancient, bone-dry wood of the table. ‘Burn, baby, burn.’ More flames rose around the chamber as furniture and beams caught light.
‘But — but you can’t just burn it down!’ Berkeley protested. ‘This is Valhalla, one of the greatest discoveries—’
Lock cut him off. ‘I don’t know how many people at the IHA or in Russia know about this place, but if Dr Wilde found it, somebody else could too. I don’t want to risk anyone else discovering the runestones before we reach the eitr pit.’
Hoyt turned to Berkeley. ‘Besides, thought an archaeologist’d love the chance to be a part of history. You’re gonna—’
Eddie lashed out with his elbow at the man holding him, knocking him back. He lunged at Lock, but the mercenary recovered and clubbed him down with his rifle. ‘Eddie!’ Nina cried as he fell.
‘I’m okay, I’m okay,’ he groaned. He pushed himself up on to his knees… and surreptitiously grabbed the Wildey’s ejected bullet, tossing it away with a flick of the wrist. It clinked off the stone floor to land in one of the spreading fires.
Lock was shaken by the attempted attack, but quickly covered it. ‘That was stupid, Chase. What were you hoping to achieve? You really think you can punch your way out of here?’
‘Worth a try,’ Eddie replied, preparing himself. When the heat of the fire caused the round to cook off and explode, he had to be ready to take his only chance.
When it cooked off. Any moment now…
Nothing happened. He glanced at the fire. The glinting brass case was visible amongst the flames, but the blaze wasn’t hot enough to ignite it.
The other fires were rising higher, though. Smoke billowed up into the vaulted ceiling. Hoyt suppressed a cough. ‘Think we need to get moving, boss.’
‘I think so too,’ Lock replied. Covering Eddie with his gun, he backed down the steps of the dais. The soldiers of fortune followed his example. ‘Get Dr Wilde out of here.’
Nina’s captors hauled her towards the doors. ‘You bastards!’ she yelled.
‘What about these assholes?’ asked Hoyt, indicating Eddie, Kagan and Berkeley.
‘Shoot them,’ Lock decided. Berkeley moaned in fear.
‘No!’ cried Nina as the mercs raised their guns — but then she was dragged out of the great hall, her shouts lost beneath the growing crackle of the fires.