Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [166]
They leapt, clearing the gap – and landing hard on a metal roof. Nina staggered, but kept her footing – just. It was Eddie who stumbled, one foot slipping out from under him. He skidded across the roof, legs flailing over the side . . .
Nina still had hold of his hand. She gripped it with all her strength and wedged a heel against a domed ventilator cover. The jolt as she caught his weight felt as though her arm was tearing from its socket, but she fought through the pain and held on. Eddie dangled before managing to catch the carriage’s rain gutter with his boot’s ice-shredded toe. He forced himself back on to the roof.
Nina dropped on her butt with a bang. ‘Jesus!’ she gasped, releasing his hand. ‘I thought you were going over!’
‘So did I,’ Eddie admitted, gasping for breath – and then coughing as a dirty cloud rolled over them. ‘Bloody hell! Let’s get off here before we end up smoked like fucking hams.’
He crawled along the roof, Nina behind him, and looked down. Like the locomotive, the carriages were vintage, with open platforms at each end. Eddie lowered Nina down, then thumped on to the platform himself.
A door led inside. They went through – to find the tourists taking the last train of the day staring at them in astonishment. Their touchdown on the roof had been far from quiet.
‘What?’ said Nina, deciding that nonchalance was as good a response as any. ‘I’ve got a ticket.’ She fished inside her clothing to produce it; it was indeed a return fare.
‘I don’t,’ Eddie complained.
She flopped down in a seat and smiled. ‘Well, if the conductor comes along, you’ll just have to hide in the john.’
‘They did what?’ Stikes barked into his phone.
‘Let me guess,’ said Sophia with a resigned sigh, ‘they got away from your men.’
He shot her an irritated look. ‘They jumped on the train.’ Leaning forward, he addressed the driver of the Range Rover in which he, Sophia, Warden and Larry were travelling. ‘Can we get to the next station before them?’
‘Not on this road, sir,’ came the apologetic reply. ‘The train goes through a tunnel, but the road goes the long way round.’
Stikes sat back, fuming. ‘Oh, that’s too bad,’ said Larry mockingly.
‘We still have Chase’s father,’ Warden said from the front seat, regarding the man in question with disapproval. ‘Chase and Dr Wilde came here to rescue him – they’ll do the same again.’
‘Only if we can contact them to issue an ultimatum, and I doubt they’ll be going back to the IHA to wait for one,’ Sophia told him. ‘They’ll try to find the meteorite.’
‘So they can destroy it,’ Stikes added.
‘But we have the statues,’ said Warden. ‘She can’t locate it without them.’
‘And we can’t locate it without her,’ Stikes pointed out. ‘We only know it’s somewhere in Ethiopia. And Wilde probably got a much better idea where from this . . . vision.’
Warden nodded. ‘So what do we do?’
Stikes straightened in his seat. ‘The first thing I need’, he said imperiously, ‘is total and unrestricted access to the Group’s resources worldwide. Men, information, money – everything, from all the members.’
The American eyed him suspiciously. ‘Why?’
‘If we’re going to beat Wilde and Chase to the meteorite, we can’t afford to waste time discussing how to proceed. We have to act quickly and decisively. There’s still a chance we can catch them before they leave Switzerland, or at least before they reach Africa, but unfortunately they’re very resourceful – as you’ve just seen. If we can get people and equipment in place in Ethiopia as soon as possible, we still have a chance of beating them. We can either capture Wilde and force her to locate the stone for us . . .’
‘Or let her lead us to it,’ finished Warden.
‘Exactly.’
The American nodded again. ‘All right. I’ll give you complete access.’ He took out his phone – then fixed Stikes with a warning look, raising a finger. ‘Don’t screw this up.’
‘I won’t,’ Stikes replied firmly. ‘I’m not going to let them win.’
32
Ethiopia
Peter Alderley dabbed sweat off his drooping moustache as he warily surveyed