The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [150]
Tandon smiled and bowed. ‘It will be my honour.’
‘We leave in five minutes. Go!’
Tandon ran into the Vault. Zec signalled for his men inside to join the hunt. As they scattered, he began to strap Khoil into the harness.
Eddie supported Kit as they hurried through the Vault, but the Interpol agent gasped in pain with every step. ‘I can’t keep going,’ he said, teeth gritted. ‘Leave me, find Nina.’
‘I can’t just dump you,’ Eddie replied. ‘If we—’
‘You have to! I’m slowing you down. Look, in there.’ He waved a hand at the balloon’s palatial gondola. ‘Hide me inside.’
‘If someone finds you, you won’t stand a chance on your own.’
Kit forced a smile. ‘I can take care of myself. Come on, quick!’
Reluctantly, Eddie guided him into the palace. The Indian took one of the swords from the rack before slumping in a corner. ‘Now, go, go.’
‘I’ll try to decoy them away from you,’ Eddie promised. He moved back outside, hearing sounds above the constant rumble of the helicopters.
Footsteps - close by. He scurried away from the balloon, moving into cover behind a statue. Peering round it, he saw four mercenaries advancing on his position. He had to draw them away from Kit; despite the policeman’s brave words, a sword was no match for a gun.
He looked deeper into the cave, the flickering glow of the braziers revealing a shadowy pathway between the Vault’s piled treasures. It was narrow, but the other end would, he thought from exploring the great space earlier, join up with one of the broader aisles.
The mercs were getting closer to the balloon. Eddie picked up a bejewelled vajra and ran for the passage, tossing the ceremonial weapon. The loud clang caught the mercenaries’ attention, as he’d hoped - and they ran after him.
But only three of them. The fourth hesitated, then moved cautiously towards the gondola, MP5K raised.
Eddie swore under his breath, but kept running, rounding a corner before his pursuers had a chance to shoot. But he heard gunfire anyway - from deeper in the cavern.
Mahajan and the other mercenaries had found Nina.
Nina shrieked as bullets shattered a wooden carving just behind her, splinters landing in her hair. She leapt behind a large statue of a cow. The great stone animal shielded her, the gunfire stopping - but she only had a few seconds’ respite before the men had her back in their sights.
The giant spiny roller of an udghatima lay ahead, her only possible escape routes to either side of it. The one behind the machine was narrower, hemmed in by elaborately carved friezes of dark wood, while the wider route ran alongside an even larger statue, this one of a bull, kneeling on all four legs to form a bovine wall. She raced down the latter path, searching for a way out at the far end—
There wasn’t one. The two paths converged beyond the udghatima, blocked in by more ornate friezes. She could climb them, but the mercenaries would catch up before she reached the top. An easy target.
Panic rising, she whirled and looked back down the narrower path. No exits or hiding places there either. But there was a large lever protruding from the udghatima, holding its mechanism in check for untold centuries . . .
Mahajan reached the corner first. A malevolent smile crossed his scarred lips as he advanced down the narrow path towards her. The two mercs ran round in front of the udghatima to cut her off.
She was trapped.
Unless . . .
Nina seized the lever and strained to move it. It creaked, long-frozen gears scraping against each other - then coming free with a jolt. The weight dropped, chain lashing in its wake.
The roller turned.
And the entire machine lurched, the small wheels set into its base driving it forward. Mahajan brought up an arm to protect his eyes as a spray of grit and dust flew off the thick metal bars jutting from the stone.
The mercenaries froze, just for a moment, the unexpected motion of the bus-sized siege engine catching them off guard. It was a moment too