The Sacred Vault

‘By destruction.’

‘So that a new cycle can begin. A new Satya Yuga, a time of enlightenment and bliss. And the Shiva-Vedas will make it happen.’

‘How?’

He ignored the question. ‘The Talonor Codex proved that the Shiva-Vedas were in existence at the same time as Atlantis, around nine thousand BC. Yes?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Then they must come from an earlier yuga - at the latest, the Dvapara Yuga. The Hindu calendar is very old, and we know the exact date when the Kali Yuga began: 3102 BC. Specifically, January the twenty-third, in Gregorian dating. Because the words written in the Shiva-Vedas are from an earlier yuga, they are by definition more pure, more enlightened, than anything created in the corrupt Kali Yuga. They will form the cornerstone of the new era when it begins - when I make it begin.’

‘What, you think you’re Shiva now?’ said Nina, aghast.

‘No, I am just carrying out his will. But to end the cycle, I must have the Shiva-Vedas. They are the key to humanity’s salvation. Without the teachings of Shiva himself from a more enlightened time, the world will fall back into corruption, and everything I have achieved will be wasted. So to get the Shiva-Vedas I must find and enter the Vault of Shiva - and to do that, I need the Talonor Codex.’

‘But you’ve got the translations. Why do you need the Codex itself?’

‘For the key, Dr Wilde. The key the priests showed to Talonor - the key impressed on the cover of the Codex. From the impression, I will be able to make a duplicate. And I will use it to open the Vault.’

‘You need more than just the key, though,’ she pointed out. ‘The priests told Talonor that “only those who know the love of Shiva” can use it.’

‘But I do know the love of Shiva,’ said Khoil. ‘For all my life. Shiva does not care about castes. My wife and I are both Dalits - the “scheduled castes”, as the government calls them . . . or the “untouchables”, as you probably know them in the West. The lowest caste, oppressed and scorned for nothing more than an accident of birth and the professions of their ancestors centuries ago.’ Bitterness entered his voice. ‘Even now, Vanita and I still experience prejudice - from people whose businesses, whose lives, we could buy and sell on a whim.’

‘Ah, so everything you’re doing is to benefit the class struggle, is it?’ said Nina mockingly.

‘In a way,’ Khoil replied, her sarcasm once again failing to make it through his shield of literalism. ‘I believe in empowering the powerless, whether through free access to information - or by more direct means.’

She gestured at the trio of bodyguards. ‘Like paying them to do your dirty work?’

‘Some problems cannot be solved by discussion. Like Urbano Fernandez, who would have made a deal with Interpol if Madirakshi had not silenced him.’ The tongueless man gurgled something, Khoil replying in Hindi. ‘Poor Madirakshi. She was a loyal servant.’

‘Yeah, Eddie told me how loyal. She killed herself rather than be arrested.’

‘She was excellent at her work. Her eye was cut out by a drunk who took her for a prostitute. Vanita and I learned of her through our charitable foundation and paid for her facial reconstruction - and then we used Qexia to trace her attacker. He became the test subject for her . . . secret weapon, you might say.’

‘You’re a real humanitarian,’ said Nina. She regarded the three men. ‘So you’ve got Bollywood Bruce Lee here,’ she said of Tandon, who seemed amused rather than annoyed by the insult. ‘What are this pair’s stories?’

‘Dhiren Mahajan,’ said Khoil, indicating the bearded giant, then gesturing to the man with the filed-down teeth, ‘and Nahari Singh. Nahari used to compete in illegal street fights, but not through choice - he was bonded into it through debts his family owed. He was not the biggest fighter, so his owners gave him an advantage.’ Singh grinned spikily at her.

‘Your employee welcome package didn’t include dental, then?’

‘His choice. The mutilation can be useful. As you discovered.’ Nina rubbed irritably at her bandaged arm. ‘As for Dhiren, he was an enforcer for a gangster, until he became too friendly with the man’s girlfriend. An ancient punishment used by the Brahmins, the highest caste, was to put a red-hot nail in the mouth of transgressors. The gangster thought it would be amusing to resurrect the tradition.’

Nina looked at the bearded man in dismay. ‘Jesus. So the gangster, the “owners” - I’m guessing they’re not around any more.’

‘They have moved on to their next cycle of existence, yes. But Dhiren and Nahari and Chapal are not simply my servants - like myself and Vanita, we are all servants of Shiva. My faith in him has brought me to where I am today. And now, I am ready to repay him by bringing humanity into a new cycle.’ He stepped towards the front of the drone. ‘So, Dr Wilde. Now you know my intentions, I shall ask: will you help me find the Vault of Shiva?’

Nina folded her arms across her chest. ‘Because of you, my friend is dead - and so are a lot of other people. Do you seriously think I’d voluntarily do anything to help you?’

‘No, not really.’ A slight shrug. ‘Twelve per cent was only a small chance, after all. But I had to try.’

Vanita called to him. ‘I’m going down to the infirmary to watch the operation.’ She started for an exit, her two facially mutilated bodyguards following.

‘I will see you at the palace,’ Khoil said, shifting position as he turned to watch her leave . . .

Moving directly in front of the drone.

Nina lunged at the machine. She grabbed for the dart gun’s trigger, and pulled it. The weapon bucked in her hand with a thump of high-pressure gas, the steel dart exploding from the barrel—

And stopping an inch short of Khoil’s chest. As fast as a blink, Tandon snapped out his hand and caught it.

Khoil flinched away from the line of fire, eyes wide behind his glasses as Tandon dropped the dart at his feet. ‘That - was very foolish, Dr Wilde,’ he said, regaining his composure.

Vanita’s reaction was more nakedly emotional. She rushed towards Nina, screaming ‘Get her!’ to her companions. Nina tried to dodge away from them, but was quickly cornered. The huge bearded man grabbed her, twisting her arms up behind her back. She tried to hack at his shins with her heels, but he wrenched harder. Her shoulder joints crackled agonisingly, ending any further thoughts of resistance.

Vanita stepped closer, holding out one hand as she spoke in Hindi. The shark-toothed man came to her. For a moment Nina feared she had ordered him to bite her again, but instead he took something from a pocket and placed it in Vanita’s hand.

Click. The object was a switchblade, a glinting steel knife four inches long springing out of the handle. Vanita savagely yanked at Nina’s hair, taking hold of her right ear and pressing the blade’s sharp edge against it. Nina froze.

‘The only reason you’re not dead already is that we need you as leverage over your husband,’ Vanita hissed. She slid the knife across Nina’s earlobe, just hard enough to cut the skin. Nina gasped in pain. ‘But if you do anything like that again . . .’

The knife jerked back sharply. Nina screamed as it sliced into her ear.

‘You’ll die in pieces,’ Vanita finished, stepping back. ‘Chapal, come with me.’ She returned the bloodied knife to its owner and, shooting a final look of loathing at Nina, strode imperiously away, Tandon following.

‘You crazy bitch!’ Nina yelled after her, feeling hot blood running down her neck.

Khoil regarded her wound almost curiously, as if examining a laboratory specimen. ‘Nahari, tend to that,’ he ordered. The smaller of the two bodyguards gave Nina a mocking flash of his jagged teeth as he went to get a first aid kit. ‘Dhiren, release her.’

The giant let go of Nina’s aching arms. She put a hand to her ear, grimacing at the sting when she touched it. The knife had gone deep enough to slash cartilage. ‘Jesus Christ!’ she cried. ‘Fucking psycho!’

‘I hope that will teach you not to underestimate us,’ said Khoil.

‘Do not make the mistake of thinking I am just a computer nerd.’ The word sounded strange in his affectless voice. ‘I grew up in the slums. I fought every centimetre of the way to be where I am today. And I did whatever was necessary to achieve my goals.’

Singh returned with a Band-Aid and prepared to apply it to Nina’s ear, but she snatched it from him. ‘I’ll do it,’