Nina jumped. ‘What was that?’
‘Vehicle maintenance, SAS-style,’ Eddie replied, with distinct glee. ‘Amazing what you can do with some rewiring and a few cans of petrol.’
‘It will not stop them, though,’ said Roland. ‘They will get to the lake even if they have to march.’
‘They can’t take much with them, though,’ said Nina.
Eddie had an unwelcome thought. ‘Unless they let the train take the strain…’
‘Mein Führer,’ said Rasche. The Nazi leader had opened the vault from inside, and two of his men were helping him out. ‘You are still alive. I am relieved.’
‘Yes, of course you are,’ Kroll growled, catching his subordinate’s greedy glance over his shoulder at the pithos. He gestured at Banna. ‘Secure the Arab; I want him under constant guard. Have you caught them?’
‘Not yet. Walther is leading the search, but there has been no sign of them in the compound. They must be making a run for the outer perimeter.’
‘They’ll head for the town. Send men to intercept them.’
Rasche looked pained. ‘The jeeps have been… sabotaged. So have the trucks.’
‘Sabotaged? How?’
‘They exploded.’
Kroll responded in much the same way. ‘Exploded?’
‘Yes. The man who attacked the rally, Wilde’s husband — he rigged them to detonate when the engines were started. We lost ten men in the fire. We can reach the airstrip on foot, of course, but we won’t be able to take anything large or heavy.’ Another look at the vault’s contents, this time with concern. ‘The jar — even with most of the water gone, it still weighs almost ninety kilos. And then there is the remaining gold—’
‘We don’t need it any more. We have millions of dollars.’
‘Leitz has millions of dollars. Do you trust him that much?’ The bald man’s lack of an immediate answer spoke volumes. ‘Until the money is secure in our own accounts, we still need the gold. Perhaps we should divide our forces? You lead a contingent to Iran to search for the spring, while I evacuate a small group with the treasure and the water—’
‘We stay together, Rasche,’ said Kroll, threat clear in his voice. ‘This is a key moment for the New Reich. If we falter now, we will fail — so we will continue exactly as planned. We will travel to Iran, find the Spring of Immortality — and take it for ourselves!’
Rasche tried to contain his frustration. ‘But how will we transport everything we need?’
‘The train,’ Kroll snapped. ‘We’ll use the train.’
‘But it hasn’t run for, what, two years now? It might not be safe.’
‘Put the men, and as much equipment as will fit, aboard the train. Fire it up.’ When Rasche did not respond at once, he bellowed: ‘That is an order! Obey it, now!’
Rasche brought up his arm in an angry salute. ‘Yes, mein Führer.’ He stalked from the room.
Kroll glared after him, then turned. Banna had been watching the German discussion in fearful incomprehension. ‘Now, Dr Banna,’ the SS leader said in English, ‘you will take us to the Spring of Immortality.’
29
Nina woke with a start. She had not imagined that she could fall asleep, her body still churning with fearful adrenalin, but in the darkness beneath the barn it had come upon her with surprising swiftness. It had been anything but restful, though, a swirl of nightmarish images. ‘What—’ she gasped, before remembering the need for quiet. ‘What’s happening?’ she whispered. ‘How long was I asleep?’
‘A few hours,’ said Eddie. She was lying against him, his arms around her. ‘Seemed like you needed it.’
‘I guess I did.’ She put her hands over his and turned her head so their cheeks touched. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘For what?’
‘For not telling you how much I loved you when you left Egypt.’
‘Well, we had just had a fight.’
‘I know, but… When Kroll told me you were dead, I thought the last thing we’d ever said to each other was some stupid argument.’
‘Hey, I’m the one who should be apologising,’ he replied. ‘I acted like a complete knob. I’m sorry.’ He shifted position to kiss her. ‘I’m just glad you’re okay.’
‘I’m glad you came to find me.’
‘I always will, love.’
Nothing more needed to be said for each to know how deeply the other felt. Another kiss, then she looked around at a hissing noise. ‘What’s going on outside?’
‘It’s a steam train,’ he told her. ‘They’re going to use it to take everyone out of here.’
‘Yeah, I saw it,’ she said, remembering the rust-covered tank engine from her arrival in the Enklave. ‘It didn’t look like it had been used for years, though.’
‘They’ve been shunting stuff about, so it’s still got a bit of life left in it. Mind you, they’ve only got to get to the bottom of the hill and then they’re done with it. So long as the brakes work, they could just bloody freewheel it down there.’
‘We can’t let them escape. They’ve got Ubayy, and the Andreas relic — they’ll be able to find the spring.’
Zane was looking through a crack between the planks. ‘I agree, but it’s too dangerous to move right now. There are men everywhere. They’re clearing the place out — right now they’re taking things from Kroll’s house.’
‘Probably everything from the vault,’ said Nina. She gently loosened Eddie’s arms and shuffled across the low space to see for herself.
The view through the narrow gap was limited, but enough to show dawn breaking on the eastern horizon. Beyond the main dirt track running through the compound, the locomotive was now at the head of a train. A single passenger carriage was connected behind it, followed by a line of six wooden freight wagons. Men were loading the first and last of the trucks: assorted crates into the latter, boxed treasures and large metal drums into the former. The barrels were empty, but a flash from the top of one of them told her their purpose. The Alexander Romance described Andreas using a silver container, and the pithos in the vault had been lined with the precious metal; Kroll intended to store his new supply the same way.
She spotted the corpulent leader heading for the train. Instead of his SS uniform, he was now wearing an anonymous dark suit and overcoat. Most of his forces had likewise donned pale brown fatigues lacking any kind of military insignia. ‘Looks like they’re going to leave the country incognito.’
‘Well, marching through the airport in full Nazi regalia might be a bit noticeable,’ said Eddie, joining her.
An item of cargo caught Nina’s attention. Unlike the others, this had not been crated up for transport. ‘It’s the pithos,’ she said as two men carried the container across the road. ‘I knew that fat son of a bitch wouldn’t leave it behind.’ Kroll stood beside the first freight wagon, watching as it was lifted inside and secured with ropes.
Eddie was more concerned with what was being put aboard the last truck. ‘Ay up,’ he muttered, nudging Zane. ‘They’re ready for trouble.’ The Israeli whispered a curse as several long dark green wooden cases were loaded.
‘What are they?’ Nina asked.
‘RPG-7s,’ her husband told her. ‘Rocket launchers. As well as machine guns, explosives, a shitload of ammo…’
‘Oh, great. As if they didn’t have enough firepower.’ The soldiers were all armed with MP5s. ‘Wait, there’s Rasche.’
The tall Nazi joined his commander as a man brought a case from the house. Kroll summoned him over; he opened it. Morning sunlight glinted off bronze within. ‘They’ve got the fish,’ she said.