A monk appeared on the wall, bewildered by Amaanat’s arrival from an unexpected direction. The abbot called out to him. After a moment, the gates began to open.
‘The mercs’ll have a hard time getting through those,’ said Nina, panting as the slope became steeper.
‘Won’t keep ’em out for ever,’ Eddie countered.
‘Maybe not, but the monks are going to call for help on the satphone.’
‘And how long’ll it take to get here?’
‘You know, sometimes I hate being married to a realist…’
A noise rose behind them. Apparently responding to an order from Axelos, the helicopter descended towards the foot of the slope, aiming for a patch of relatively flat ground. The large Crucible still hung beneath it, the pilot slowing to lay it in the snow as gently as possible before sliding his aircraft sideways to land beside it.
As it touched down, the mercenaries emerged from behind the cliff — but by now, Amaanat and his companion had reached the safety of the monastery. The others passed the tethered yaks, which raised their heads in bemusement to watch them. ‘We’re going to make it!’ Nina cried.
Eddie was less exuberant. ‘Split up! They’re going to shoot!’
Nina let go of the Gurkha and darted clear, ducking. The monk was confused, but the flat thud of a bullet smacking into the snow a few feet away was more effective than any translation. The Yorkshireman pulled Jayesh from him to take the other man’s whole weight himself. His friend held in a gasp as his injured foot brushed the snow.
Another round kicked up a little fountain of powder beside them. ‘Nina, run!’ Eddie yelled. ‘Run!’
Nina rushed for the gate. Splinters spat at her face as one of the wooden doors took a bullet impact. She gasped, but then was inside, the monk following. ‘Eddie, come on!’
A Kalashnikov opened up on full auto as her husband struggled towards the entrance. Only the first couple of rounds landed anywhere close to the two men, the others going high and hitting stonework as the rifle’s recoil pushed the muzzle upwards.
But a single shot from Axelos’s P90 passed much closer, searing an inch above Eddie’s head to hit the door. And the mercenary leader would be refining his aim—
Jayesh realised the same thing, both men diving flat as one. The Gurkha let out a screech as his broken ankle hit the ground. A split second later, another round cracked over them. Had Eddie still been standing, it would have struck him squarely in the back of the head.
There was no time to celebrate. The Englishman scrabbled through the snow, staying flat. ‘Come on, crawl!’ he hissed, grabbing Jayesh’s arm. His friend cried out again, but managed to push forward with his uninjured leg.
More bullets struck the ground and walls, the mercs realising they were about to lose their prey — but the two ex-soldiers were now at the gate, hands helping them through. Other robed men pushed the doors shut. They met with a heavy boom, a thick wooden beam being dropped into place to bar them against a fusillade of thudding impacts on the other side.
Nina rushed to Eddie and hugged him as the gunfire stopped. ‘You made it! You’re okay!’
‘Yeah, except for my underpants!’ He spotted Amaanat. ‘Jayesh’s broken his ankle. Get him indoors, somewhere secure — everyone else too. Those tunnels where we ate, can you seal them off?’
‘Yes,’ the abbot replied. ‘The door can be locked. But we will not be able to use the satellite phone underground.’
‘We’ll do it,’ Nina told him. Both men regarded her questioningly. ‘I’ll call Seretse at the UN — he’ll be able to talk to the Nepalese government directly and get them to act a lot faster than by going through regular channels.’
‘But you will be trapped outside!’
She held up the Crucible. ‘This is what they want. If they come after us, they’ll leave you alone.’ There was a large pile of straw near the gate; she shoved the crystal into it.
Eddie gave her a dubious look. ‘Yeah, that’ll keep it safe.’
‘They’ll never think to look for it there, and I’ll be able to move a lot faster if I don’t have to carry the damn thing!’ A monk ran up and presented Amaanat with a chunky and outdated telephone handset with a long, fat antenna. Nina turned back to the abbot. ‘Look, if I call the United Nations, they might get help here before those guys can even break through the gate. Please, let me try.’
Amaanat handed her the phone. ‘Very well. Do you know how to use this?’
‘Yeah, no prob—’
A monk on the tower by the gate shouted in alarm. Ripples of panic spread through his brothers. ‘What was that?’ Eddie asked.
‘They are outside the doors,’ the abbot said. ‘He says they have… bombs?’
Nina blinked in surprise. ‘Bombs?’
‘Not bombs,’ Eddie said sharply. ‘Grenades! Everyone take cover, now!’
Amaanat shouted in Nepalese. The monks scattered, some heading for small outbuildings around the courtyard while the majority hurried for the debate house. Nina and Eddie followed the latter group. The Englishman looked back, expecting to see grenades arcing over the gate — but instead he heard several metallic clunks as objects hit its outer side. ‘They’re gonna blast their way in—’
The gate blew apart.
16
Eddie dived on top of Nina to shield her from the explosion. He looked up as the echoes faded to see that a car-sized chunk of the wooden barrier had disintegrated. A monk was screaming, a deep bloody gash in his side where flying debris had speared into him. ‘Get up, go!’ the Yorkshireman yelled, shoving him into the arms of one of his fellows. ‘They’re coming!’
Nina helped another dazed man to his feet. ‘I’ve got to call Seretse!’
‘Do it on the move,’ Eddie told her as they ran to the debate house. Most of the monks had now made it inside, Amaanat and those bearing Jayesh among them. ‘Hope you remember his number.’
Gunfire crackled behind them as they reached the door. Eddie whirled to see a man crouching at the hole in the gate, firing up at the watchtower. Its occupant toppled from the wall. Another mercenary appeared alongside the first, aiming at the stragglers fleeing into the debate house—
The couple flung themselves through the doorway, landing hard on the wooden floor as the injured monk and his helper were cut down on the steps. A shriek came from outside as bullets ripped into a third monk.
More rounds tore through the entrance and smacked off the statue of the Buddha. ‘Get behind it!’ yelled Eddie. He and Nina rolled and jumped up, skirting around the sitting figure as the last monks piled into the tunnels. One waved urgently for them to follow, but Nina signalled for him to retreat. The man slammed the thick door shut as she and Eddie ran across the room.
The Yorkshireman kicked open the other exit. The hall of prayer wheels stretched out before them, countless candles glowing along each wall. Nina ran down the red carpet as Eddie closed the doors, looking for anything he could use to wedge them. Nothing presented itself. He cursed, then followed his wife towards the exit—
The doors behind them burst open.
Nina leapt for cover between the ornate cylinders. Eddie did the same a few paces behind her, thudding against the wall beside one of the racks of miniature prayer wheels. Metal clanged off metal in a discordant cacophony as the attacker hosed a wild spray of gunfire down the hall, sending the damaged wheels spinning furiously.
The onslaught stopped. Another man shouted in Nepalese — and hurled a grenade.
The olive-green sphere thumped to a stop on the carpet just past Eddie. ‘Oh, fuck!’ he gasped. It was out of his reach, and scrambling from cover to throw it would leave him exposed—