parallel - it’s just going to slip all the time.’
Eddie switched off the magnet. ‘Bollocks. Thanks for trying, anyway.’
‘Oh, I’m not done yet, mate!’ Matt retrieved the magnet, replacing it with another device. ‘This might work better.’
‘A suction cup?’ said Eddie, turning it over in his hand. The flattened black rubber dome was about five inches in diameter, a
U-shaped hinged metal handle attached. ‘Now we really
‘There’s a lever under the handle - you push the handle up, move the lever across and pull the handle back down to create the vacuum. When you want to release it, just shove the lever back the other way.’
Eddie tested it, air hissing from the cup as he drew back the handle. Pulling himself further into the duct, he was relieved to find that unlike the magnet, the suction device held firm. He released it with another hiss, moved it along, then clamped it down again. Pull—
‘Hrmm,’ said Mac, as Eddie’s backside wedged against the top of the duct. ‘You may need to lose a few pounds there.’
‘Eddie got back,’ sang Lola, giggling, then blushed. ‘Sorry. It’s not funny.’
Karima crouched for a closer look as Eddie wriggled in an attempt to clear the obstruction. ‘She has a point, though. It’s not so much the size of your bottom—’
‘You saying I’ve got a fat arse?’ came an echoing complaint.
‘—as what you’re wearing. Your clothes are catching on the edge. You won’t be able to do this in jeans; you’ll need something tighter.’
Mac put a palm on Eddie’s butt and pushed down. Eddie hauled himself further inside. ‘I hope that was Karima’s hand.’
‘Of course,’ said Mac, winking at her.
Now that he was fully inside, Eddie was able to advance. It was still horribly tight, but using the suction cup he reached the other end in fairly short order. Matt and Rad pulled him out. ‘Jesus. I’m not claustrophobic, but that might get me started.’ Just traversing the short distance had left him sweating. How would he manage in the vault’s much longer duct?
Mac had the same thought. ‘Eddie, you look knackered, and that was only six feet. And when you do it for real, you’ll have equipment with you. We’ve got to find a way to make it easier.’
Eddie wiped his brow. ‘Okay, Matt - you’ve got until tomorrow to invent a shrinking ray.’ The joke produced a little levity in the room - which instantly vanished at the rasp of the entry buzzer. ‘Shit, that’ll be Zec. Mac?’
Mac drew a revolver and took up position in the study as Eddie buzzed Zec into the building. ‘Okay,’ said Eddie to the others, ‘stay cool and I’ll handle this.’ He was about to go to the door when he noticed a cup from which Mac had been drinking, and hurriedly took it into the kitchen. The fewer people Zec knew were involved, the better.
A knock on the door. Eddie let the Bosnian in. Zec was carrying an impact-resistant plastic box the size of a briefcase, as well as a holdall. He took in the hostile faces with a dismissive eye before regarding the ducting. ‘This is the size of the vents in the UN?’
‘Yeah,’ said Eddie.
He put the box down at one end of the duct, pushing it into the opening. It fitted - just. ‘Lucky. You will need to take this with you.’
‘What is it?’
Zec pulled the box back out and opened it, revealing a piece of equipment that looked like the guts of a desktop scanner mounted above a transparent plastic tank some five inches deep. ‘Portable rapid prototyper. Fill with—’
‘I’ve used these,’ Matt cut in. ‘There are two lasers in the scan head, and where the beams cross they turn the medium in the tank solid. They build things up layer by layer, like a 3D fax machine. Once whatever you’re making’s set, you just lift it out of the tank.’
‘So what’s this one going to be making?’ asked Eddie.
Zec smiled sardonically. ‘Your wife’s hand. I will give you a memory card with her handprint tomorrow.’
Matt regarded the prototyper dubiously. ‘What’s its resolution? The ones I’ve used haven’t been accurate enough to copy fingerprints.’
Zec took a moment to remember the answer. ‘Sub-millimetre, whatever that means. It will be good enough.’
‘It’d better be,’ rumbled Eddie.
Matt had more technical questions. ‘What about the base medium - is it a photopolymer or a thermoplastic powder? How long will take to make the handprint?’
The mercenary frowned. ‘Ten minutes, and the liquid is in the bag - what it is does not matter!’ He faced Eddie. ‘All you need to know is that it will work. But once the handprint has been created, you must wait until it cools to the right heat before you use it.’ He opened the holdall and took out a digital thermometer. ‘The security scanner checks body temperature as well as handprints.’
Eddie kneaded his forehead. ‘Great, one more thing to worry about.’
Zec looked at the blueprint. ‘How is your plan coming?’
‘It’s getting there. But it’d be getting there faster if we could actually work on it. You’ve delivered your little toy, so fuck off and leave us to it.’
Unbothered by the insult, Zec headed for the hall. ‘You have until tomorrow night to bring me the Codex. I will be waiting.’
‘Yeah,’ Eddie said coldly. ‘So will I.’ He waited until Zec had departed, then locked the door.
Mac emerged from the study. ‘Bastard. I had a perfect shot at him the whole time, too - I would have put a bullet in his head if you’d given the word.’
‘Not just yet,’ said Eddie. ‘Can’t do anything to him until Nina’s safe.’
‘You know that he’s almost certainly been told to kill you the moment you hand over this book? And they probably intend to kill Nina too?’
Eddie smiled grimly. ‘Course I do. That’s where Plan B comes in.’
11
India
A sharp rap on the door jolted Nina out of her boredom.
She had been a prisoner in her suite since the previous day; meals had been brought to her, but there was always a guard in the hallway outside. She had considered escaping via the window, but it was too high for her to jump down - and she was still constantly being watched electronically, the guard entering within seconds to order her to close it. Sullenly, she sat up. ‘What?’
Tandon entered. ‘Mr Khoil wants to see you.’
She had no interest in seeing him, but decided it would at least alleviate her cabin fever. Besides, anything more she could find out about his plans might be useful. ‘Okay, lead on.’
Tandon took her through the palace to a large, high-ceilinged room. For a moment, she wondered if she had been brought to some bizarre high-tech disco: the room was dark, lights flickering inside a tall dome-shaped framework at its centre. The illumination came from dozens of large flatscreen monitors, arranged inside the frame to form an almost 360-degree wall of video.
‘Come in, Dr Wilde,’ Khoil called from the heart of the display. Tandon directed her to a gap in the screens. She blinked as she entered, the view from inside the dome almost overwhelming. Each screen seemed to be showing something different - broadcasts from TV networks all over the world, web pages, complex computer- generated graphs and charts, all of them constantly changing.
Khoil stood before a slim stand resembling a lectern in the middle of it all, looking up at one particular cluster of screens. He raised a hand and made a pinching gesture with his thumb and forefinger. The information spread
