Someone plunged into the water and surged downwards. The dark shape swelled in her vision, taking on form as it drew nearer — revealing a face.
Eddie!
He reached down to rip her coat free. Wrapping one arm around her body, he pushed with both legs against the SUV to pull her clear, then kicked to haul her back to the surface.
They broke through it together. Nina coughed out river water before drawing in several whooping gasps of air. Eddie supported her, shoving bobbing ice chunks aside. ‘Are you okay? Nina, are you all right?’ he panted.
‘I’m — oh God! I’m okay, I’m okay,’ she rasped, coughing again. ‘Oh, Jesus!’
He reached the edge of the ragged channel. ‘Come on, climb out,’ he said, taking hold of the ice with his left hand and using his right to help lift her up in the water.
Nina gratefully slapped one sodden arm down on the surface and weakly dragged herself out, her husband pushing her from below. ‘Thank you, Eddie. Thank you. Oh God, I really thought I was going to die—’
‘The day ain’t over yet!’
Tarnowski had pulled himself from the river on the other side of the channel. Sopping wet, he fumbled inside his coat and pulled out a pistol, tilting it to drain the water out of the barrel before pointing it at the couple. ‘You fuckers,’ he said, breath hissing through his gritted teeth. ‘You goddamn near killed me! Well, right now I don’t give a fuck if the boss wants you alive — this is where you—’
A geyser burst up in front of Eddie with a muffled bang — and a hole exploded in Tarnowski’s chest, blood and shredded flesh spraying out as he tumbled backwards. The mercenary’s gun thunked off the ice and splashed into the water.
Eddie lifted the Wildey into the open air. The big gun’s slide was locked back after firing its last bullet, the thick steel of its barrel and frame protecting it from the overpressure that had destroyed Nina’s P90. ‘If you’re goin’ to shoot, shoot,’ he said, in a strained attempt at a Mexican accent. ‘Don’ talk.’
‘Movie quote?’ asked the shivering Nina.
‘Yep.’
‘Thought so.’ She clutched his sleeve, helping him climb on to the ice. ‘Oh God, I’m so cold!’ Her teeth were chattering so much she could barely get the words out. ‘What do we do?’
‘Get to shore,’ he rasped. ‘Curl up tight, try to keep warm. Keep your clothes on.’
‘Not often you want me to do that,’ she said, managing a little smile.
He laughed, which turned into a cough. ‘Always a first time. But even if they’re soaked, they’ll still give you some insulation. I’ll see if I can start a fire—’
‘I don’t think we’ll have time,’ she interrupted, fear returning. The forest had fallen silent, but now a shrill buzz grew louder with every moment.
The second icerunner. It emerged from another bend a few hundred yards downriver, propeller wash blasting up a swirling cloud in its wake.
‘Shit,’ gasped Eddie. He reached to eject the Wildey’s empty magazine, only to remember that he didn’t have a replacement. And Tarnowski’s gun was at the bottom of the river. ‘Shit!’
The icerunner roared towards them. The man in the back seat leaned out of the cockpit, gun raised and ready. Eddie and Nina stood and staggered for the shore, but with the cold slowing them, they knew they would not reach the trees before the mercenaries got into weapons range.
The piercing roar rose to a scream—
The noise was coming from more than one engine.
They realised it simultaneously, exchanging a wordless look before diving sideways — as a snowmobile leapt over the top of the ridge and crashed down on the riverbank, kicking up a huge eruption of snow.
Kagan was driving, swerving to avoid both the couple and the dark rent in the ice. He skidded to a stop on the frozen river, unslinging a P90 and unleashing the entire contents of its magazine at the icerunner.
The mercenary in the rear seat fired back, but the Russian’s bullets found their target first. The pilot jerked back in his seat as rounds ripped bloodily into his chest. One of the outriggers left the surface as the vehicle veered sharply off course — then the icerunner flipped over, the propeller stabbing into the ice and sending it tumbling towards the trees. It smashed into a towering conifer and exploded, blazing debris scattering in all directions.
‘That saves you starting a fire, I guess,’ Nina said to Eddie.
Her husband gave her a strained grin, then helped her to her feet. They reached the shore as Kagan brought the snowmobile back to them. ‘You caught up quick.’ The Russian’s vehicle still had some of the team’s equipment on its rear rack; he dug through it to pull out two survival blankets. Nina gratefully accepted the silver thermal wrapping.
‘I set off as soon as I got out of the hole,’ Kagan replied. ‘I do not like waiting. And,’ he added with a dismissive shake of the head, ‘Berkeley was whining like a child! I did not know how much longer I could put up with him.’
‘Where is he?’ Nina asked.
The answer came with the sound of another approaching vehicle on the ridge. A second snowmobile appeared, this one moving at a decidedly more cautious pace. Berkeley hesitantly guided it through the trees and down to the shore. ‘You’re alive!’ he said, somewhat disbelievingly, as he saw Nina and Eddie.
‘Yeah, glad you’re okay too,’ said Nina sarcastically.
The other archaeologist stopped and, with considerable relief, dismounted. He took in the wreckage of Eddie’s icerunner and the burning remains of the other. ‘Business as usual, I see. Where did you get that gun?’ He eyed Kagan’s weapon.
‘I found it on the ice a kilometre or so back, by some crashed snowmobiles,’ said the Russian. He gave Eddie a look of veiled amusement. ‘I cannot imagine how that happened.’
‘Yeah, it’s funny what people leave lying about,’ said Eddie.
‘Where’s Dr Skilfinger?’ Berkeley asked.
Kagan turned sharply to Eddie. ‘You did not get her?’
‘One fucking thing at a time,’ said the Englishman as he huddled inside his blanket. ‘No, I didn’t get her. They must be a couple of miles ahead of us by now.’
The Russian restarted his snowmobile. ‘We have to catch them! They will make her give up the location of the second eitr pit!’
‘How many bullets’ve you got left in that thing?’ Eddie asked wearily, nodding at Kagan’s weapon. ‘I’m guessing the square root of fuck-all. And they’ve still got two trucks full of pissed-off guys with guns. Besides,’ he added, hugging the blanket more tightly around himself, ‘if I got back on a snowmobile, the wind chill’d fucking kill me. Me and Nina need to dry off and warm up before we can do anything else.’
‘But we know where they’re going,’ Nina reminded Kagan. ‘Tova said that the second site is in Helluland — Baffin Island. We can go there too.’
‘But we do not know exactly where,’ he protested. ‘Baffin Island is big — it is bigger than Britain! And they have photographs of all the runes from Valhalla, while we have nothing!’
‘Ah… I wouldn’t quite say that,’ said Berkeley, raising a forefinger in smug contradiction. He unzipped his coat, taking out the broken tablet computer and the sun compasses. ‘We still have these.’ He smirked. ‘You see? I do have my uses. We can recover the data from its memory and finish the translation, and then we’ll have exactly as much information as they do.’
Kagan scowled. ‘That will mean nothing if we are behind them.’
Nina huddled against Eddie, as much for comfort as warmth, and gazed down the river after the long-departed convoy. ‘Then we’d better get started.’
30