The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [62]
A knock on the door. Eddie let the Bosnian in. Zec was carrying an impact-resistant plastic box the size of a briefcase, as well as a holdall. He took in the hostile faces with a dismissive eye before regarding the ducting. ‘This is the size of the vents in the UN?’
‘Yeah,’ said Eddie.
He put the box down at one end of the duct, pushing it into the opening. It fitted - just. ‘Lucky. You will need to take this with you.’
‘What is it?’
Zec pulled the box back out and opened it, revealing a piece of equipment that looked like the guts of a desktop scanner mounted above a transparent plastic tank some five inches deep. ‘Portable rapid prototyper. Fill with—’
‘I’ve used these,’ Matt cut in. ‘There are two lasers in the scan head, and where the beams cross they turn the medium in the tank solid. They build things up layer by layer, like a 3D fax machine. Once whatever you’re making’s set, you just lift it out of the tank.’
‘So what’s this one going to be making?’ asked Eddie.
Zec smiled sardonically. ‘Your wife’s hand. I will give you a memory card with her handprint tomorrow.’
Matt regarded the prototyper dubiously. ‘What’s its resolution? The ones I’ve used haven’t been accurate enough to copy fingerprints.’
Zec took a moment to remember the answer. ‘Sub-millimetre, whatever that means. It will be good enough.’
‘It’d better be,’ rumbled Eddie.
Matt had more technical questions. ‘What about the base medium - is it a photopolymer or a thermoplastic powder? How long will take to make the handprint?’
The mercenary frowned. ‘Ten minutes, and the liquid is in the bag - what it is does not matter!’ He faced Eddie. ‘All you need to know is that it will work. But once the handprint has been created, you must wait until it cools to the right heat before you use it.’ He opened the holdall and took out a digital thermometer. ‘The security scanner checks body temperature as well as handprints.’
Eddie kneaded his forehead. ‘Great, one more thing to worry about.’
Zec looked at the blueprint. ‘How is your plan coming?’
‘It’s getting there. But it’d be getting there faster if we could actually work on it. You’ve delivered your little toy, so fuck off and leave us to it.’
Unbothered by the insult, Zec headed for the hall. ‘You have until tomorrow night to bring me the Codex. I will be waiting.’
‘Yeah,’ Eddie said coldly. ‘So will I.’ He waited until Zec had departed, then locked the door.
Mac emerged from the study. ‘Bastard. I had a perfect shot at him the whole time, too - I would have put a bullet in his head if you’d given the word.’
‘Not just yet,’ said Eddie. ‘Can’t do anything to him until Nina’s safe.’
‘You know that he’s almost certainly been told to kill you the moment you hand over this book? And they probably intend to kill Nina too?’
Eddie smiled grimly. ‘Course I do. That’s where Plan B comes in.’
11
India
A sharp rap on the door jolted Nina out of her boredom.
She had been a prisoner in her suite since the previous day; meals had been brought to her, but there was always a guard in the hallway outside. She had considered escaping via the window, but it was too high for her to jump down - and she was still constantly being watched electronically, the guard entering within seconds to order her to close it. Sullenly, she sat up. ‘What?’
Tandon entered. ‘Mr Khoil wants to see you.’
She had no interest in seeing him, but decided it would at least alleviate her cabin fever. Besides, anything more she could find out about his plans might be useful. ‘Okay, lead on.’
Tandon took her through the palace to a large, high-ceilinged room. For a moment, she wondered if she had been brought to some bizarre high-tech disco: the room was dark, lights flickering inside a tall dome-shaped framework at its centre. The illumination came from dozens of large flatscreen monitors, arranged inside the frame to form an almost 360-degree wall of video.
‘Come in, Dr Wilde,’ Khoil called from the heart of the display. Tandon directed her to a gap in the screens. She blinked as she entered,