The Covenant of Genesis

It was to distract the other man, forcing him to switch to a more dangerous target.

Chase.

Click. Empty magazine.

The rider changed his aim—

Chase dived to the floor as a burst of rifle fire ripped through the remains of the windscreen. ‘Hit him!’ he roared.

The gunman saw that he’d missed, switched back to his original target - and realised that she was driving the massive RV right at him.

Nina cringed in her seat, shutting her eyes—

The gunman hurled himself aside as the Winnebago’s flat nose slammed into the quad bike like an express train, smashing it apart. There was a jolt as the front wheel ran over something, followed a moment later by another as the rear wheel did the same.

‘Oh God, oh my God!’ Nina shrieked, flapping her hands in near-panic. ‘I ran him over!’

‘No, he got out of the way,’ said Sophia, looking back. ‘Although I don’t know why you care. He was trying to kill you.’

‘Maybe because I’m not a psycho?’ She took the wheel again and checked the mirrors. More lights, some distance behind - but closing. Full-size 4x4s racing after them. ‘Eddie! How much further to our jeep?’

Chase looked ahead. ‘Not far.’ He jumped up. ‘Nina, let me drive!’

‘What’re you doing?’ she asked as they traded places.

‘I’m gonna find out if you can drift a Winnebago!’ The ground ahead was littered with large rocks, the track dropping into the gully. ‘Hang on!’ Nina looked dismayed, but grabbed the bullet-ripped passenger seat.

Chase kept his foot down hard on the accelerator as the Winnebago reached the gulch - then sharply raised it. The RV’s front end dipped heavily with the sudden loss of power . . . as he turned hard and yanked on the handbrake.

With a shuddering crunch of gravel and sand beneath the tyres, the Winnebago skidded round in a handbrake turn, moving practically sideways as he dropped into the gully. The burning RV’s rear end clipped the steep wall. It stopped abruptly, almost throwing Chase and Nina from their seats. Chase looked up to see the other wall of the gulch barely a foot beyond the windscreen. ‘All right!’ he crowed. ‘Thank you, action movies!’

He kicked open the driver’s door, waving for Nina and Sophia to follow. ‘Okay, so you’re fast and furious,’ said Nina, confused, as they ran through the gulch. ‘But how does that help us?’

‘’Cause that thing’s going to blow up—’

There was a bright orange flash and a loud whump of igniting fuel, followed a second later by a much more violent explosion as the Winnebago’s propane tanks detonated, knocking them to the ground.

‘Any second,’ Chase finished. Behind them, the huge RV was engulfed in flames, completely blocking the gully. ‘They’ll have a job getting through that - and they’ll have to go a long way round to get past those rocks.’

‘Where’s your truck?’ Sophia asked.

‘Just up here.’ The Land Rover was parked off one side of the track. They ran to it and piled in, Chase quickly swinging the 4x4 round to race back towards the distant highway. He checked the mirror. The pursuing vehicles had indeed been stymied by the blazing hulk of the Winnebago, and it would take several minutes for them to skirt the field of boulders. ‘Don’t think they’ll catch up.’

Sophia held up her cuffed hands. ‘In that case, perhaps you could take these off ?’

Nina toyed with the key. ‘Once we’re out of here. And once we find out what the hell’s going on.’

‘I’ll tell you everything I know. When we’re safe.’

‘How often does that happen?’ said Chase, driving the Land Rover off into the night.

Zamal’s seething rage came to a boil as he limped back to the camp, his jaw aching from Chase’s punch. He had been opposed to bringing Sophia Blackwood along from the very beginning, but to his disgust Vogler and Hammerstein had caved in to Ribbsley’s lust-driven demand, arguing that without him they would be unable to take advantage of the chart Nina Wilde had discovered.

Pathetic! Considering how much money Ribbsley had taken from the Covenant over the years he had been translating Veteres texts for them, he should have been grateful not to have been dragged from his Cambridge home and forced to do the work at gunpoint.

And now the decision had backfired horribly: Blackwood had escaped. With Nina Wilde!

Zamal blamed Vogler; he might not have always agreed with his predecessor, Jonas di Bonaventura, but he respected him - and knew he would not have given in to Ribbsley. The protege did not match up to his mentor.

He reached the encampment and found the others waiting for him. ‘I don’t care what deals you made,’ he snarled at Ribbsley. ‘When I catch your woman, I’ll kill her.’

‘She’s got to be found,’ said Callum. ‘If anyone realises she’s still alive—’

‘Blackwood is your problem,’ said Vogler dismissively. ‘Not ours. Dr Wilde is our biggest threat. We can assume she saw the inscription.’

‘Then we have to eliminate her before she translates it.’ Hammerstein shot Vogler a cold look. ‘If those pirates you hired had actually done their job and killed everyone on the Pianosa—’

‘Blaming each other isn’t helping us find them,’ said Callum, stepping into the centre of the group. ‘We need to get organised, right now—’

Zamal grabbed him by the collar. ‘Do not tell us what to do, American,’ he snarled, before pushing him back. ‘You are only here because we allow you to be. Do not forget who is in charge.’ Callum said nothing, regarding him with an expressionless, basilisk gaze.

‘He’s right, though,’ said Vogler. ‘We have to find them. And we’ll have to destroy this site, tonight. Professor, have you got all the information you need from the chamber?’ Ribbsley nodded. ‘Good. Then keep working on it. And Professor . . .’ An almost apologetic look. ‘I’m afraid that Ms Blackwood is now a threat to the Covenant. She can’t be trusted.’

‘I’m glad we agree on something,’ Zamal hissed. The three Covenant leaders walked away, Callum following.

Ribbsley remained still, however, looking down at the object in his hands - the briefcase. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t say she can’t be trusted,’ he said to himself with a hint of a smile, opening it. Inside was his laptop.

Containing all his research.

Sophia had known full well what was in the case - and deliberately kept it from Nina and Chase. The smile became a full one. ‘I wouldn’t say that at all . . .’

17

‘So,’ said Nina to Sophia, ‘what’s your story?’ ‘Yeah,’ Chase added. ‘And what the hell did you do to your hair?’

After reaching the highway, they had driven towards Perth for some distance before turning off the main road and back towards the coast. It was a slower, less direct route south, but also one with - they hoped - less chance of anyone looking for them.

Now, not long after sunrise, they were the morning’s first patrons of a small truck-stop diner. The only other person in the ramshackle building was the middle-aged waitress, who after serving coffee to the new arrivals retreated behind the counter to read a romance novel to the scratchy accompaniment of an old jukebox in one corner.

‘Not my idea, I can assure you,’ Sophia said, running her hands through her spiky hair. Both handcuff bracelets were now fastened round one wrist so as not to attract attention. ‘Blonde really isn’t my colour. Though it could have been worse.’ She glanced at Nina’s red hair. ‘But Callum insisted, on the off-chance that some random outback passer-by might see my real hair and go, “Wait a minute, that’s the sheila who tried to blow up New York! I thought she was dead!” ’

‘But, unfortunately, you’re not,’ said Nina.