chamber. Shaban ducked and Hamdi screamed as it flew between them.
Eddie hurled his useless weapon at Gamal. He hoped the other man would make the mistake of trying to deflect the heavy piece of machinery with the chainsaw and knock his own blade back into his face, but the security chief spun out of the missile’s way and faced his target again.
His
The chainsaw swung, forcing Eddie back against the light stand. Gamal grinned, driving the saw straight for his chest—
Macy pulled the other cable.
The unexpected tug was just hard enough to throw off Gamal’s aim. The blade’s tip slashed through the shoulder of Eddie’s leather jacket, drawing blood - but the wound wasn’t enough to stop Eddie from grabbing his unbalanced enemy and flinging him round—
Into the light stand.
The chainsaw carved through the high-powered bulbs - and their power lines. Glass exploded and crackling blue flashes arced as Gamal took the full force of the electricity through his body. Muscles paralysed, unable even to scream, he crashed on to the tripod. Smoke coiled from his nostrils and eye sockets as he was cooked from the inside out.
Eddie jumped clear. ‘Bright spark,’ he said as he pulled the horrified Macy upright. ‘Come on!’
Nina ran through the dark rooms. In the glow from his dropped flashlight she saw Broma woozily pushing himself up - and stomped on his back as she vaulted the fallen pillar, slamming him back down.
She reached the short passage. Shaban was by the royal entrance across from her, Hamdi leaning breathlessly against a nearer pillar, ghost-pale. He saw her, and reacted in shock. ‘Dr Wilde?’
‘Dr Hamdi,’ she replied. ‘I think you’ve got some explaining to do.’
He came towards her. ‘If you think you can—’
She punched him in the face and continued towards Shaban, leaving the Egyptian official squealing and holding his nose. A crowbar was propped against a pillar; she picked it up, holding it like a sword. Shaban seemed unconcerned, a slight smirk twisting his scarred lip. ‘Dunno what you’re grinning at,’ she said, indicating the case. ‘You’re not taking that out of here.’
He didn’t answer, but his brief glance to one side warned Nina that something was wrong. She turned her head towards the western exit - and saw Diamondback returning.
Aiming—
A bullet blew a chunk from a pillar as she leapt past a light stand to take cover behind the ornate column. ‘Kill her,’ Shaban ordered.
In the second dark chamber, Eddie heard the shot. ‘Hide in here,’ he told Macy before running into the first unlit room. Broma was struggling to rise again, so he trampled him back down, then saw his knife glinting in the spill of torchlight and snatched it up.
Nina kicked the light stand. Top-heavy, it crashed to the floor, the bulbs shattering and plunging the room’s eastern end into darkness. She ran to another pillar near the sealed entrance. Diamondback jogged towards her. Behind him, Lorenz stumbled into the room, blood on his face. The shadows wouldn’t hide her for long . . .
Eddie ran in, guessing Nina’s position from where Diamondback was pointing his gun. ‘Oi!’ he yelled. Diamondback saw him, spun, fired - as Eddie ducked behind a column, the wall cratering just behind him.
‘Get the zodiac out of here!’ Shaban ordered, waving Lorenz over. Hamdi scurried to join him.
Diamondback closed in. Back pressed against the column, Eddie raised the knife. The American’s revolver fetish meant he only had two shots remaining in his Colt Python. Even with a speedloader, it would take him several seconds to re-arm once they were gone, leaving him open to a counter-attack.
But he had to use up the remaining bullets first.
A sound from the nearby doorway. Broma had recovered, face gnarled with anger. He lumbered towards Eddie. Shit! That left only one direction he could retreat - and Diamondback was waiting—
From the shadows, Nina saw Diamondback’s face light up with the anticipation of a kill. ‘Eddie!’ she cried, flinging the crowbar as hard as she could at the gunman.
It hit his shoulder. The .357 Magnum boomed as his finger flinched on the trigger. Broma jumped back from the bullet impact on the column - and Eddie ran into the darkness to Nina.
‘Broma! Lorenz! Take the zodiac!’ Shaban shouted, angry impatience rising. Broma hesitated, then crossed the chamber to pick up one end of the case. Lorenz took the other. Hamdi turned and fled up the tunnel, holding his nose. The two men carried the case after him.
‘Dammit!’ Nina said as she watched the zodiac disappear, before looking at Eddie. ‘What, you brought a knife to a gunfight?’
‘He’s only got one more shot,’ Eddie countered. ‘Then he’ll have brought fists to a knife fight!’
Diamondback was closing on them, but Shaban shouted to him. ‘Bobby! Come on!’
‘What about these two?’
‘The zodiac is all that matters - go! We’ll collapse the tunnel and seal them in!’
Nina and Eddie shared an anxious look. ‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ they said as one.
Shaban entered the tunnel. Diamondback followed him as far as the entrance, holding position beside the stone block with his gun raised, daring the couple to show their faces.
‘Give me one of those pots,’ Eddie said.
Nina grimaced at the thought of another priceless artefact’s destruction, but handed him a container. He hefted it.
Shaban’s voice echoed down the tunnel. ‘Bobby, move!’ Diamondback’s gaze flicked towards to the sound, just for a moment—
Eddie sprang out and hurled the pot.
He was already rolling for the cover of the next pillar as Diamondback fired - and hit the container in mid-air. It exploded like a clay pigeon. Some of the pieces struck Eddie, but he ignored them, only one thought in his mind.
He jumped up, hoping he hadn’t misidentified the revolver and that Diamondback wasn’t carrying a
He wasn’t. The American turned and sprinted up the tunnel.
Eddie pursued him, light bulbs flashing past.
Too late, he realised Diamondback was carrying a
Eddie tackled him. Both men hit the floor beside the chugging generator. Diamondback raised his gun, but Eddie swiped it from his hand. The lank-haired gunman tried to scramble after it, only for Eddie to slam a sledgehammer punch into his kidney, dropping him flat.
But Diamondback wasn’t out of the fight, wrenching himself round and smashing an elbow into Eddie’s chest. Eddie gasped at a stab of resurgent pain where his rib had been broken seven months earlier.
Diamondback saw the weakness and lashed at the spot again. Eddie thumped back against a support beam.
The American pulled free, trying to get up, but Eddie kicked him hard on the backside. Diamondback stumbled before falling again . . .
At Shaban’s feet.
Eddie looked up. Shaban had retrieved the revolver.
And was pointing it at him—
He rolled behind the generator as Shaban fired. The first shot smacked off the floor and ricocheted down the tunnel - but the next hit the generator. The machine jolted, mechanism grinding. The lights flickered. Another shot - and the fuel tank burst open, petrol gushing out.
‘Get back,’ Shaban told his henchman, a cruel smile forming. Diamondback stood with a sadistic half-laugh. Both men retreated.
‘Oh, shit,’ Eddie whispered. He had a choice of death by bullet - or death by incineration.
Shaban fired. Hot lead ignited the fuel vapour, flashing it into fire.
