The Secret of Excalibur

refrigerators filled with hundreds of bottles of champagne, more crates of vintage Dom Perignon and Krug waiting to be chilled. There was another door at the back of the room; it was ajar, darkness beyond.

Nina slipped free of the man and entered the storeroom, taking a bottle from one of the fridges and sliding a suggestive hand up and down its neck. The man chortled, downing the contents of his glass in one swig. She indicated the darkened room. He waddled to the door and shoved it open. Nina followed him inside—

There was a flat dunk as the champagne bottle came down on the back of his head. The Russian pitched forward and collapsed on some cardboard boxes. Nina hurriedly checked his pulse, finding it steady, then put the bottle down next to him. ‘The pleasure was all yours,’ she told him as she left. ‘Okay, Jack, I’m alone. Finally. Where do I go?’

His voice crackled in her ear. ‘Find the kitchen entrance, but don’t go in - go past it. There’ll be a door on your left when you reach a right turn.’

‘Got it.’ She strode through the hallways, waiters checking her out as they passed but doing nothing to stop her. Swinging double doors and the sizzle of cooking meat marked the kitchen entrance; she continued onwards until she reached the promised right turn. ‘Okay, I’m at the door.’

‘Go inside.’ She did, finding herself in a small and chilly room with a heavy wooden exterior door opposite. A metal cabinet on one wall hummed ominously. ‘There should be a junction box.’

‘Got it. Won’t it be locked, though?’

‘Why?’ Chase asked. ‘It’s the guy’s own house.’

She tried the handle, and the cabinet indeed opened without any trouble. ‘Huh. Okay, I see loads of complicated electrical stuff.’

‘You need to find the switch that controls the security cameras,’ said Mitchell. ‘Don’t worry about the labels being in Cyrillic, just look for one with the number 201. Don’t push it yet.’

‘How do you know all this stuff ?’ Nina asked as she scanned the ranks of switches and fuses.

‘The company that installed the system emailed the plans to a subcontractor. We snagged them on the way. DARPA created the Internet, remember.’

‘I’d better be more careful about what sites I look at while Nina’s out, then,’ said Chase. Nina wasn’t entirely sure he was joking, but forgot about it when she found the right switch.

‘Two-zero-one, got it,’ she said. ‘Now what?’

‘Okay, here’s what’ll happen,’ Mitchell told her. ‘Pushing that switch will cut off power to part of the security grid. But the system’s not stupid - if there’s a fault, it runs a diagnostic and tries to reboot the affected sections. If they’re not back up after thirty seconds, it goes into alert mode. So Eddie has twenty-nine seconds to get over the wall, cross the grounds and get inside the mansion - without being seen by any of the guards - before you push the switch back.’

‘Two hundred metres in twenty-nine seconds?’ said Chase. ‘Piece of piss.’

Nina wasn’t so certain. ‘Eddie, are you sure you can do it?’

‘I’ve got to, don’t I?’ he replied, more serious. ‘I’m not leaving you alone in there.’

‘Do you know the routes of the guards in the grounds?’ Mitchell asked.

‘What do you think I’ve been doing for the past ten minutes? I’m not watching films on my iPod here. I’m freezing my bollocks off in a tree!’

‘Well, get ready to warm them up. Eddie, soon as you’re clear to go, count down from three. Nina, when he reaches zero, throw the switch. I’ll count down the seconds. Up to you, Eddie.’

Nina nervously raised her finger to the switch as Chase spoke. ‘I can see the door, and the nearest guy’s about to go round the corner.’ She heard a rustling noise as he changed position. ‘Okay, get ready. Three, two, one . . . go!’

She pushed the switch.

Chase sprang from the branch. The wall was topped by razor wire; his leading foot landed not on the brickwork but one of the metal supports for the bladed coils. It bent under his weight, the wires hissing metallically, but by then he had already jumped, flying through the air with his legs kicking.

He hit the ground—

And stumbled.

The earth was uneven, impossible to see in the low light. Momentum carried him forward, about to pitch him on to his face . . .

He threw out his hands. His fingertips hit cold ground, pain crackling through every joint as they took his weight for an instant. Then he launched himself forward like a sprinter at the starting line, still staggering but no longer falling. Two strides, and he regained his balance. How much time had he lost?

‘Twenty-four. Twenty-three . . .’

Mitchell’s voice in his headset pushed him onwards like an explosion. Over a hundred and eighty metres to go, no margin for error.

He was sprinting now, arms pumping like pistons. Nina had opened the back door for him, a dim rectangle of light. The lawn rolled past beneath his feet. Look to the right. No guard. Left—

Shit!

A figure at the corner of the building. Looking away from him - but for how long?

‘Fifteen. Fourteen . . .’

Not even halfway. A hundred metres in twelve seconds. Could he do it?

In theory, yes, but this wasn’t a running track—

The guard was still facing the front lawn. Despite the cold, Chase now felt heat racing through his entire body, exertion and adrenalin and fear.

‘Seven . . .’

Fifty metres, forty, the ground just a blur. He pushed harder, harder, lungs burning.

‘Three . . .’

Left. The guard was turning, about to walk down the side of the mansion.

Towards him—

‘One—’

No time to slow. Instead Chase dived through the door, landing hard on the tiled floor at the instant Nina closed the switch. He skidded across the room and slammed against the far wall.

‘Zero,’ said Mitchell. ‘Did you make it? Eddie, Nina - answer me, dammit!’

‘He’s here, he’s here!’ Nina gasped. ‘Eddie, are you okay?’

‘Shut the door,’ he panted, weakly waving a hand. Nina closed it. ‘Bloody hell, I must be getting out of shape. Two hundred metres never used to take me that long.’

‘Did anyone see you?’ she asked, dropping to her knees to help him sit up. His heart was racing; she could feel it pounding even through his layers of clothing.

‘Give it five seconds, we’ll know.’ He took out his Desert Eagle, hand shaking as he pointed it at the door.

Five seconds passed. Ten. Nothing happened.

He let out a long, relieved breath. ‘Guess we’re okay. Jesus.’ He pushed himself to his feet, Nina assisting.

She kissed him. ‘God, I’m so glad to see you.’

‘Glad to be here. Oh, you’ve . . .’ He indicated her red lips. ‘You’re smudged it a bit. Still, suits your cover - like you just gave someone a blow job.’

Nina decided not to tell him that he now had on almost as much lipstick as she did. ‘I think Eddie’s fine, Jack,’ she said testily. ‘What now?’

‘For you, the best bet is to hide in plain sight - go back to the party. Eddie, I’ll guide you up to the top floor.’

Nina peered out into the hallway. Nobody was in sight. ‘Okay, it’s clear.’ She looked back at Chase. ‘Good luck.’

Chase stroked her arm as he passed. ‘See you soon.’

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