The Covenant of Genesis

murdered to get you out of jail? No, of course you don’t. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.’

‘Except him, apparently,’ Chase said, pushing Ribbsley into a corner. ‘Why’s he so special, Sophia?’

‘Why do you think, Eddie?’ Sophia asked. ‘He loves me. He has done for years, ever since I was his student at Cambridge.’

‘Eddie?’ said Ribbsley, regarding Chase with a look now less of fear than of distaste. ‘Eddie Chase?’

Chase grinned at him and nodded. ‘’Ow do?’

‘This?’ Ribbsley cried, his Rhodesian accent growing stronger as he became more agitated. ‘This is the man you left me to marry? This, this . . . thug?’

‘Prefer “yob” myself,’ said Chase mildly.

Ribbsley ignored him. ‘I cannot believe this, Sophia! What on earth could you possibly have seen in him? He’s just some crude, uneducated, loutish . . . Neanderthal!’

‘Hey!’ Nina snapped. ‘You’re talking about my fiance, asshole!’

He sneered at her. ‘Ah, that famous New York charm. That explains what you see in him, I suppose. You’re about on a par in terms of class.’

‘Oh, do be quiet, Gabriel,’ Sophia chided. He looked stung. ‘Nina, I assume you’re here looking for the same thing as Gabriel and the Covenant - the lost civilisation of the Veteres.’ She sighed. ‘Such a pretentious name. But the thing is, Gabriel has a rather considerable advantage. He knows their language, and you don’t. But if you free me . . . I can give you a way to negate that advantage instantly. Because I know it too.’

‘Sophia!’ said Ribbsley, horrified. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Sorry, darling, but I need to put my best interests first.’ She looked back at Nina and Chase. ‘There’s another reason why I’d prefer you to find it before the Covenant. The moment Gabriel’s job is done . . . they’ll kill me.’

‘She’s right,’ said Chase. ‘I heard that white-haired bloke talking about it.’

‘Wouldn’t that be a shame,’ Nina muttered.

‘They won’t,’ said Ribbsley, pushing out his chest. ‘I won’t let them.’

Sophia sighed. ‘For God’s sake, Gabriel. Are you really that full of yourself ? If it ever got out that I’d been spirited from Guantanamo and was still alive, it would spark the biggest witch-hunt in American history. And you know where it would end.’ She gave him a meaningful look. ‘So once you find what the Covenant are looking for, Callum will kill me.’

‘Callum!’ Nina exclaimed, the memory finally coming to her. ‘I knew I’d seen him before. Eddie, don’t you remember? At the US embassy in London - he was one of the guys working with Jack Mitchell!’

The name and face connected for Chase too. ‘But I thought he worked for DARPA?’

‘Jack lied about working for them, so maybe this guy did too.’

‘You already know him? My my, such a small world,’ said Sophia sarcastically. ‘But no, he doesn’t work for DARPA. His name’s Michael Callum, and he handles very, very black operations for certain parts of the American government. But now you see why I’m extremely motivated to help you. I’m already officially dead - I’d prefer not to be that way for real.’

Nina almost laughed. ‘Do you seriously think that I want to help you? You tried to kill us and nuke New York!’

‘Oh, you’re not still holding a grudge about that, are you?’ Sophia sighed. ‘Besides, you need me. Do you want to spend fifteen years puzzling out the Veteres language, like Gabriel did, or would you like a head start?’

‘Sophia, don’t do this,’ Ribbsley warned. Chase shoved him back against the wall. ‘I can protect you!’

‘Sorry, Gabriel, but Eddie can do a much better job.’ She addressed Nina again. ‘I can also tell you everything I know about the Covenant. I can help you . . . if you help me.’

‘Bollocks to that,’ said Chase. ‘We can’t trust you. Besides, Nina’ll be able to figure all this out without any help.’ He glanced over his shoulder at her. ‘Nina?’

She stood in silence, regarding Sophia with a calculating expression. ‘Nina!’ Chase repeated. ‘Hang on, you’re not seriously thinking about saying yes, are you?’

‘She . . . has a point,’ Nina admitted reluctantly. ‘I can’t translate the language.’

‘You worked out enough to find this place.’

‘Those were numbers, Eddie. All I did was follow a map. But the inscription in that chamber is a whole lot more - and I won’t be able to work it out without help.’

‘Yeah, but her help?’ Chase objected. ‘First chance she gets, she’ll stab us in the back!’

‘Then we don’t give her the chance.’

‘What?’

‘We need her, Eddie.’ Nina moved closer to the bed, looking Sophia in the eye. ‘Okay. We’ll take you with us. But let me make this perfectly clear - you do exactly what we tell you, and if you try to screw us over in even the tiniest way, we’ll dump you on the doorstep of the US embassy so you can go straight back to Guantanamo Bay . . . or I might even kill you myself.’

Sophia raised an eyebrow. ‘You’d kill me?’

‘You’d be surprised what I can do when people piss me off.’

‘Ah, yes. That redhead temper again.’

Nina gave her a smile devoid of all humour. ‘You better believe it. Do we have an understanding?’

‘We do indeed,’ said Sophia, nodding. ‘I’d shake hands, but . . .’ She jingled the chain holding her cuffed hands.

‘Well, Professor Ribbsley,’ said Nina, turning to him, ‘I take it you’ve got a key. Unless this is some sort of personal kink I’d rather not know about.’

‘You don’t know what you’re doing,’ Ribbsley said. ‘You have no idea just how powerful the Covenant really is.’

‘But I soon will, won’t I? The key? Unless you want Eddie to find it for me.’

Ribbsley hurriedly delved into his trouser pocket, producing a key ring. Nina took it and went to the bed, Sophia turning to let her reach the chain. The first lock came away, the chain clinking on to the pillow; after another moment, one of the ratchets was opened, allowing Sophia to bring her arms out from behind her back.

‘Oh, that’s such a relief,’ she said, massaging her newly freed wrist. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind opening the other one . . .’ She held up her arms.

Nina had other ideas. ‘Actually . . .’

‘Wait, what are—Hey!’ Sophia protested as the open bracelet rasped shut around her wrist once more.

‘You seriously think I’m going to let you run around loose?’ She moved back to the door. ‘While we’re at it, it’ll slow the Covenant down if Ribbsley doesn’t have his notes. Where’s his laptop?’

‘We can’t waste time, we need to get out of here,’ said Sophia. ‘The Covenant takes a very military approach to things - they won’t be eating for much longer.’

‘What about loverboy here?’ Chase asked, indicating Ribbsley. ‘We can’t drag him along as well.’

‘Knock him out,’ Sophia suggested. Ribbsley’s eyes bulged wide in fright.

‘Not kill him?’ asked Nina mockingly. ‘Very generous of you.’

‘He did get me out of Guantanamo, so I owe him that. As I said, I don’t want to see him get hurt.’ A look at Chase. ‘I’m sure you can do something relatively painless.’

‘No!’ Ribbsley cried, close to panic. ‘Sophia, please, don’t do this!’

Chase shoved him back against the wall, hand gripping his throat. Ribbsley gagged. ‘Keep your bloody voice down!’

‘The laptop,’ Nina insisted. ‘Where is it?’

‘Oh, very well,’ Sophia said. ‘It’s—’

A noise from outside, boots crunching on sand and stone. Right at the door.

‘Professor Ribbsley?’ said a voice. Zamal. A long silent moment, tension rising . . .

Ribbsley suddenly kicked at the fallen bucket. It flew up to clang noisily against the wall in a shower of flying