The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [144]
But the wall-smasher would be no use against their attackers. It could crawl along on small wheels - but it wasn’t pointing towards the entrance, and there seemed no way to steer it.
‘This one’s no good,’ said Nina, ‘but we could use one of the others to hold them off. If we can get to them before—’
‘We can’t,’ said Eddie. ‘We’re out of time.’ The first of the black-clad troopers came into sight, slithering effortlessly down the rope and swinging on to the ledge. He raised his weapon and ran to the side of the entrance.
Eddie recognised him. Zec.
More mercenaries landed. Zec leaned round the door to check the interior, signalling another two men to cover him and his partner as they entered.
‘What can we do?’ Nina whispered.
Shankarpa drew his sword from his back. ‘We fight them.’
‘You’d be dead before you got within twenty feet,’ said Eddie. But they were fast running out of options as the mercs advanced. The only direction they could go without being seen was back into the Vault’s depths - and the chances of their evading discovery shrank with every extra man who touched down.
No choice. ‘I don’t like to say it, but all we can do is hide.’
‘But they’ll get the chest,’ Nina protested.
‘I don’t see how we can stop ’em - not without getting killed. Come on. You too,’ he added to Shankarpa, who seemed on the verge of rushing out in a kamikaze attack. ‘Move it.’
He directed Nina and Shankarpa towards the Vault’s rear, keeping the giant roller between them and the mercenaries as they investigated the bodies, hunting for survivors. The trio passed the miniature palace, skirting the fabric of the deflated balloon and angling back round to where Eddie hoped Kit and Girilal were still waiting. The hard part would be getting to them unseen; the braziers were burning hotter and brighter than ever, and there were still dashes of flame in the oil channels.
He peered through the wooden framework of a war machine. The Chinook had moved off, taking the ropes with it. That meant for the moment that no more mercenaries would be entering the chamber. The knowledge was far from reassuring; they were still outnumbered more than two to one by armed men.
The mercs divided into three-man teams, spreading out to search the cavernous space. Eddie spotted Girilal cautiously peering out from behind an elephant statue. He guessed that Kit was with him; the old yogi didn’t seem the type to abandon an injured man.
‘Okay, we’ve got to reach Kit and Girilal and find somewhere to hide,’ he whispered. ‘Maybe under one of those machines.’
‘How do we reach them?’ Nina asked. They would have to cross the open space around one of the oil channels - in direct line of sight of the entrance.
‘We’ll have to time it right.’ The nearest group of mercenaries had reached the udghatima, shining torch beams at the great roller. ‘If they go behind it . . .’
‘I will make them,’ said Shankarpa. Before Eddie could stop him, the Indian had picked up and thrown a small piece of gold jewellery. It clonked off something near the udghatima. The beams flashed round to find the source of the noise.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ Eddie hissed, angry. ‘Now they know there’s still someone alive!’ Two of the men in the team moved out of sight to investigate, but the third was holding position, shining his light suspiciously round him. ‘Okay, we’ll have to risk it. Get ready. Soon as he turns away . . .’
He ducked as the beam swept round, scanning the path into the Vault before turning back to the roller. ‘Go!’ He pushed Nina out first, then followed Shankarpa across the aisle—
The torch beam whipped back, catching them before they were even halfway across.
‘Shit!’ Eddie dived behind the elephant statue as a shout and the chatter of automatic fire reached him simultaneously. Bullets pitted the stone behind him. More shouts from other directions, the rapid tramp of running footsteps as other mercenaries closed