The Covenant of Genesis

their way round the far end of the ravine and through the jungle; by retracing the route, he could reach the tunnel before the bombs hit.

He tossed all but one of the grapnels over the edge of the cliff, taking hold of the remaining line and rappelling down it. Once at the bottom, he shook the line until the grapnel came loose, clanking down the rockface. On the extremely slim chance that anybody was still alive, they now had no way down except by the long and precarious path behind the statue.

They wouldn’t even have time to get halfway. He reactivated the radio. ‘Abaddon, Abaddon, this is Archangel.’

‘Archangel, we copy,’ the B-2 pilot answered.

‘Give me your current estimated time to initiation.’

‘Estimate ten minutes, Archangel. But we are still in a code alpha hold. Do you wish to resume operation?’

Callum ran to the nearest Humvee. ‘Confirm, Abaddon. Resume operation. Take this place out.’ He started the engine, and set off in a spray of soil.

39

‘Well,’ said Chase, ‘this is cosy.’

‘Three’s a crowd, though,’ Nina replied, horribly aware despite the total darkness that she was lying on top of a headless corpse.

The crack of the grenade explosion and the boom as the sarcophagus’s stone lid slammed down had come simultaneously. The body’s ribcage had collapsed beneath them with an unpleasant crunch, stubs of bone poking at Nina’s chest.

‘Depends who the third one is. But it’s definitely not this bloke.’ Chase shifted, trying to arch his back against the stone slab. ‘Let’s get this open.’

He strained, pushing himself up. There was a faint rasp from the lid, but no light entered the sarcophagus. ‘Bollocks,’ he muttered. ‘Shift over a bit, I need more room.’

Nina tried to move, but to one side was nothing but solid stone, and on the other a rattling collection of dry bones. ‘Sorry . . .’ She instead attempted to push herself up underneath Chase to give him an extra boost.

‘Yeah, that’s hot,’ he said, pushing again, ‘but . . . nnrgh! Not much help. Can you turn on your back?’

‘Eddie, I can barely turn my hands over in this space.’ She tried anyway, but was unable to do more than twist a little.

‘Have to make do, then. When I say, push up against me as hard as you can. Ready?’

‘Just a sec, I’ve got a bone stuck in me.’

‘That’s my job.’

‘God, Eddie!’ She fidgeted until the offending fragment dropped away. ‘Okay, ready.’

‘All right . . . Push!’

They both forced themselves upwards. The rasp was louder this time, the heavy cover moving slightly, but still not enough. Chase leaned as far as he could towards the side opposite the hinges and pushed even harder. The lid grated again, for a moment a thin line of pale light appearing along its edge . . . before the sheer weight forced him down again. In the confined space, he couldn’t get enough leverage.

‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ he spat. ‘I almost had it.’

‘It took three of us to open it before,’ Nina pointed out.

‘Maybe we can call Callum back,’ replied Chase, pain flaring in his knees as he pushed again. The faint line of light reappeared, widening slightly before wavering, then narrowing once more. ‘Shit, come on, come on!’

The light became a razor-thin slit, then vanished . . .

And suddenly widened again.

Nina and Chase both gasped as some of the pressure on their bodies was released, the lid rising by several inches. Chase slid one knee forward, able to brace himself and push harder. He shoved an arm through the gap, working his head and shoulders after it . . . to see Vogler, face twisted and sweating, holding up the stone slab.

He didn’t have time to ask for an explanation. Instead, he pushed up with all his might. Vogler cried in agony and slumped against the sarcophagus as the lid passed the tipping point - but instead of coming to a stop as before, kept going. There was a nerve-scraping crunch as the hinges broke, and the lid crashed to the floor, one corner breaking off.

Chase slumped, breathing heavily. ‘Nina, get out.’ She clambered from the sarcophagus, looking at Vogler with puzzlement - and suspicion. Chase did the same. ‘All right, I’ll bite - why’d you help us?’

Vogler pressed a hand against his bullet wound, the agony on his face easing slightly. ‘Dalton betrayed the Covenant,’ he said, voice little more than a choked whisper. ‘So did Ribbsley. Somebody’s got to tell the Cardinal what happened. I don’t think I’m going to make it out of here.’

‘I don’t think we are, either,’ Nina said, looking at her watch with dismay. ‘Nine minutes! It’ll take us longer than that just to get down to the temple!’

‘We need a quicker way,’ said Chase, climbing out. ‘Those grappling lines - no, shit, Callum’ll have chucked them.’

‘Could we jump into the lake?’ Nina suggested.

‘We wouldn’t be able to jump far enough.’ His eyes widened. ‘Unless we get a boost!’ He rushed round the sarcophagus to the fallen lid. ‘Vogler! Are you going to die any second, or can you help us kick Callum’s arse?’

Vogler gave him a strained rictus grin. ‘What do you want to do?’

‘This lid - we need to get it to the statue, fast as we can!’

Nina looked at the cracked slab. ‘What for?’

‘Quick way down. Nina, give him a hand.’

‘He’s . . . he’s kinda got blood squirting out of his stomach, Eddie.’

‘I can do it,’ Vogler rasped, moving stiff-legged to the lid.

‘Okay,’ said Chase. ‘I’ll lift this end; Nina, get that end as high as you can so he doesn’t have to bend down too much. Soon as you’ve got it, we move and don’t stop until we get to the statue!’

Nina, still uncertain what he intended, crouched and took hold of the broken corner. Neck muscles bulging, Chase let out a strangled roar as he lifted the slab. Her end lighter because of the missing corner, Nina managed to do the same, but it was still heavy enough to hurt. ‘Can’t - hold it!’ she gasped.

Vogler stepped forward and gripped the slab - and screamed in pain.

‘Put it down, put it down!’ Nina begged, seeing more blood gush from his wound.

‘No!’ Vogler croaked. His whole body shuddering, he twisted to push one of his elbows against his abdomen. Another noise of agony escaped from his mouth - but he kept hold of the slab.

‘Okay, go!’ Chase shouted. Step by clumsy step, they swung the lid round and carried it through the doorway into the outer chamber.

‘You holding up?’ Chase called. Vogler gurgled something that might have been an affirmation, but Nina could tell that he was close to breaking point.

They couldn’t stop, though. They were running out of time.

They reached the entrance and moved out amongst the flowers. No chance to appreciate their beauty one last time as they trampled them, weaving to avoid the gravestones. The back of the statue loomed ahead, the little bridge leading to its shoulders. ‘Okay, get it across,’ Chase grunted.

Nina looked down. The switchback cliff path dropped vertiginously away below. ‘Hope it can take the weight.’

Chase went first, shuffling on to the narrow stone crossing. Nina shifted position at the other end of the slab so she and Vogler could both fit on the bridge at once. Her arm and shoulder muscles were ablaze, but she tightened her grip and moved step by step after Chase.

He was halfway across. Two-thirds. The surface of the bridge was covered in dirt and bird droppings. Detritus fell from the edges as he advanced, some dislodged by his feet - and some shaken loose as the stone blocks rocked