The Secret of Excalibur

them through it. Rank upon rank of boxes and crates displaying high-end Western brand names: big-screen TVs, computers, designer clothing, whisky, cigars, watches . . . an emporium of riches.

‘And I bet he doesn’t have a receipt for a single one of them,’ Chase said disapprovingly as they reached an office at one side of the packed space.

Waiting for them was Pavel Prikovsky, flanked by a pair of stunningly beautiful blonde women in short, tight dresses less than suited to the chilly environs. Slightly shorter than Chase, he was considerably broader, most of it round his waist. His figure wasn’t flattered by the bulky fur coat draped over his shoulders. A fat Cuban cigar was jammed between his grinning lips, and the amount of gold jewellery he sported couldn’t help but make Nina think of Mr T.

‘Eddie Chase!’ he boomed. ‘Come here, let me kiss you!’

‘Let’s just make do with a handshake, eh?’ Chase replied. Prikovsky cackled, then stuck out a hand so hairy it blended with the coat’s cuff. Chase shook it with rather less enthusiasm than the Russian was showing.

‘So, can I get you anything?’ Prikovsky said. ‘Cigar? Cognac?’ He leered at one of the women. ‘Companionship?’

Chase put an arm round Nina’s shoulders. ‘No thanks. I’m sorted.’

‘No, you never did have any trouble with the women, hmm? No money, that face - how do you do it?’ He cackled again. ‘And a celebrity, too! Dr Nina Wilde, I believe? Welcome to Moscow! I’ve heard all about your discoveries, Atlantis and Hercules. But you made a mistake.’

‘Oh yeah?’ said Nina suspiciously. Despite the Russian’s seeming friendliness, everything about him made her want to cringe away.

‘Yes, you went and told the US government rather than keeping the secret for yourself. Just think how much money you could have made from selling all that treasure!’

‘It wasn’t about money,’ she said icily.

‘Everything is about money, in the end.’ He took out the cigar and jabbed it at Mitchell’s briefcase. ‘Like how much your friend here is willing to pay me to help you. So, what are you? CIA? DIA?’

‘DARPA, actually,’ Mitchell told him.

Prikovsky’s face twisted into a gargoyle-like expression of disbelief. ‘Really? I would have put money on you being in intelligence. I can usually spot my own kind.’

‘Your kind live under slimy rocks, Pavel,’ said Chase. Prikovsky didn’t seem offended; if anything, he appeared amused. ‘You want to do business, or what?’

‘Oh, I always want to do business.’ He clicked his fingers and said a single word in Russian, at which the two blondes turned on their high heels and left the room, closing the door behind them. ‘You said you wanted to talk about Leonid Vaskovich.’

‘That’s right. He’s having a party tonight, at his mansion. I want to be there.’

‘And you think I can get you an audience with one of Russia’s richest men?’ Prikovsky asked in exaggerated surprise. Chase just stared at him. ‘Ha, of course I can!’ he boasted after a moment. ‘My girls, they will be there tonight, and plenty of others too. When anyone in Moscow wants to party - anyone who matters, anyway - they come to me. Pavel Prikovsky always has whatever they need! I can get you an invitation, no problem.’

‘I don’t mean as a guest,’ Chase said. ‘I want to get in without anyone knowing about it.’

Prikovsky instantly became wary. ‘Okay, now that is not so easy.’

‘I know the layout of the building and the security system,’ said Mitchell. ‘I’ve been there. All we need is for someone to shut down the cameras long enough for Eddie to cross the grounds. Thirty seconds, tops.’

‘My girls are not spies,’ Prikovsky protested.

‘I can tell them what to do through an earpiece—’

‘No, no! Do you have any idea what would happen to them if they were caught? Vaskovich is a hard enough man, but his lieutenant, Kruglov, is a psychopath! He would kill them!’

‘Yeah, we’ve met Kruglov,’ said Chase. ‘And I wouldn’t mind meeting him again. One on one.’

‘Then go to the front gate and ask for him! But I won’t put my girls at risk. It’s too dangerous - and not just for them. Do you know what would happen to me if they found out I had helped you?’

Chase gave him a cold smile. ‘Nothing you don’t deserve.’

This time, Prikovsky was not amused. ‘I agreed to see you out of, shall we say, professional courtesy, Chase. But this is not something I will help you with, however much money your friend has.’

‘Then send me,’ said Nina.

Chase wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. ‘What?’

‘I’ll go,’ she said, Mitchell and Prikovsky regarding her with surprise. ‘This whole thing’s my fault - if I hadn’t been suspicious of Jack in London, we wouldn’t even be here.’

‘No,’ said Chase firmly. ‘No fucking way.’

‘Eddie, I don’t want to do it, but it’s the only way to get you inside. Unless Jack knows another way to shut down the security system?’ Mitchell shook his head. ‘I could go in with Pavel’s other . . . girls, pretend to be one of them. Once I’m inside, Jack can guide me to where I need to go, and then I’ll just hide until he’s ready to pick us up in the chopper.’

‘You are using a helicopter?’ Prikovsky exclaimed. ‘Expensive, dangerous, a high risk of disaster - I can tell this is an American operation!’

Chase ignored him. ‘Are you out of your fucking mind? I’m not gonna let you do it.’

‘We don’t have any choice,’ Nina insisted. ‘If there isn’t somebody on the inside, you won’t be able to get in without being seen - and you’ll be killed.’

‘Better me than you.’

‘No. No, Eddie, it’s not. You don’t want to see me get hurt? Well, I don’t want to see you get hurt.’ She took his hands in hers, looking into his eyes. ‘Eddie, we’re getting married, we’re going to be doing everything together - which means we share the risks. Either we both do this, or neither of us do. And if we don’t do it, Vaskovich wins, and all the people who’ve died trying to stop him will have died for nothing. I know you won’t let that happen. Well, I won’t either.’

She could tell he was angry - but also that he was considering her words. Mitchell seemed about to add something, but she gave him an almost imperceptible shake of the head. This was a decision only Chase could make.

Finally, he looked at Prikovsky. ‘If we did this - if we did it - could you get her in?’

‘Yes, I can get her in,’ said the Russian. ‘It is getting her out that will be hard!’

‘What about you, Jack? Can you get her to where she needs to go?’ Mitchell nodded. ‘And then get her out again?’

This time, his head remained still. ‘I can’t give you any guarantees, Eddie. But Nina’s right - it’s the only way to get -’ he glanced at Prikovsky - ‘the item back before Vaskovich takes it to his facility.’

‘And there’s no way we could get it back from there?’

‘No. It’s an old submarine base - but it’s still in a closed military zone, and Vaskovich has very good connections with the Russian military. The only option would be to send in a SEAL team by submarine, and if they got caught, the state relations are between the US and Russia at the moment . . .’

‘Shit,’ muttered Chase. He looked at Nina. ‘I don’t want you to do this.’

‘I don’t either, but I’m going to have to. Because there’s nobody else who can.’

‘Then I’m going to have to let you, aren’t I?’ He let out a long, unhappy sigh. ‘Buggeration and fuckery.’

‘I know,’ said Nina, squeezing his hands.

‘If she is caught, I will tell Vaskovich that I knew nothing of this,’ Prikovsky said quickly. ‘Or that you held me at gunpoint and threatened to kill me. He would believe that, I’m sure. And by the way,’ he added to Mitchell, ‘I would like my money up front. All of it.’

‘How much do you want?’ Mitchell asked.

‘I just told you - all of it! Everything you have brought - in your case and in your truck. In fact, I will have the truck as well! Tell your driver to take a taxi.’