The Sacred Vault

‘Hold together,’ Eddie begged the ancient flying machine as the creaks from the wounded wing grew louder.

‘They’re firing!’ Nina wailed. More tracers streaked at them, bullets smacking against rock just ahead of the glider—

A huge surge of wind suddenly seized the vimana and propelled it up the cliff with a terrifying rush of speed. Gale-force air currents were sweeping upwards, giving the flag cloud its distinctive appearance - and carrying them into its heart.

Visibility dropped to nothing as the screaming wind battered them. All Eddie could do was hope he was pulling the controls hard enough to keep the glider from ploughing into the mountain.

The cracks from the wing were joined by an almost explosive bang as another spar gave way. The vimana was disintegrating—

They burst out of the flag cloud - almost close enough to reach out and touch the cliff as it blurred past. Eddie forced the glider into a steeply banking turn away from the rockface. They were losing speed even with the boost of the wind from below, threatening to stall . . .

A shriek of engines and whirling blades - and the MD 500 blasted out of the cloudbank after them.

It too had been swept upwards by the wind, but while the vimana’s wings had carried it practically parallel to the steep cliff, the helicopter had emerged too close to the unforgiving rock—

Its rotors smashed into the mountainside and shattered. Instantly losing all lift, the fuselage hit the cliff face. The gunner, leaning out to find his quarry, was smeared up the rock in a long red line. Tumbling, breaking apart, the MD 500 blew to pieces, streaks of liquid flame raining back down into the stormcloud below.

One danger gone - but they were still in the grip of another. The wind howled past the vimana, the torn wing flapping angrily. Eddie hooked one foot over Kit’s ankle to help hold him in place as he aimed the glider back down the mountain. ‘Okay! Let’s hope this thing doesn’t fall apart!’ he shouted as he levelled out.

Nina looked ahead. Past the cloud, she made out the village nestling at the head of the valley. ‘How far is it?’

‘About three miles - but I’m going to get as far down the valley as I can - ah!’ The vimana dropped sharply, emerging from the gusty updraught into calmer air.

‘You, uh, might have to rethink that,’ said Nina.

‘After everything we’ve just been through, I’m not going to die in a sodding plane crash.’ He yanked back the levers. ‘Maybe we can catch an air current.’

‘Or we could just, y’know, land,’ she countered.

‘We just need a bit more height, then we can fly right down the valley.’

‘The valley that was full of boulders and rivers and other things we don’t want to hit?’

‘Picky, picky!’

‘I’m in favour of the “landing immediately” plan,’ Kit piped up.

‘And walk all that way on one leg?’

‘Better than on no legs!’

The wind picked up as they drew closer to the valley. Eddie raised the vimana’s nose; it slowly began to climb. ‘See? I know what I’m doing - I’m not just a pretty face!’

‘God, I hope you’re right,’ said Nina.

He huffed. ‘Name one time when I’ve been wrong.’

‘When you went to Switzerland to rescue Sophia and accidentally ended up helping her steal an atomic bomb?’

‘Yeah, I thought that might come up,’ he muttered, nudging Kit.

‘See, this is the problem with getting married. Wives remember every bloody little thing . . .’

‘I’ll remember that if I live to get married,’ Kit replied.

Eddie grinned, then turned his full attention to the delicate balancing act of keeping the glider in the air. He had to trade airspeed against altitude, risking a stall every time he climbed.

The village drifted past below, the winding line of the river heading down the valley. He made a gentle turn to follow it. ‘See? This is better than walking.’

‘We’ve still got eight miles to go,’ Nina reminded him. ‘And we’re getting lower.’

‘So’s the valley.’

‘We’re going down faster.’

‘Thought you liked it when I go down fast?’

‘Eddie!’

‘We’ll make it,’ he assured her.

But they had already lost almost half their initial height. Eddie angled upwards, the wind’s whistle dying away as they slowed. There was a roller coaster feeling of weightlessness as he levelled off, then they began to drop again.

More quickly than before. A faint hiss of tearing fabric came from the damaged wing, and the vimana listed. Eddie quickly compensated, but it took more effort than before. ‘Okay, maybe only some of the way.’

Nina searched for potential landing sites. They were past the relatively easy upland approach to the village, floating above rugged slopes through which the river had cut a gorge. ‘How long have we got?’

‘I dunno - two miles. If we’re lucky.’

‘Okay, okay,’ said Nina, forcing herself not to panic. ‘Keep over to the right, away from the river.’ She squinted into the distance, seeing dark shapes taking on dimensionality against the snowscape. They were down to an altitude that could support more varied plant life than tough grass. ‘Eddie, those bushes - if we fly into them, they’ll cushion our landing.’

‘Hopefully,’ he replied. If they were moving too fast, they would tear straight through them - pitching the vimana’s passengers into the gorge. ‘Hold tight!’

They flew down the valley, the rough ground undulating beneath them - but drawing inexorably closer. The bushes were spattered across the valley floor like specks from a paintbrush. Eddie found a fairly dense patch, and judged the distance to it. If he pulled up almost into a stall, then descended sharply, it should catch them before they built back up to a dangerous speed.

Should being the operative word.

He made a final course adjustment. ‘Okay, here we go.’

Kit regarded the approaching vegetation with an increasingly unhappy expression. ‘What if it doesn’t stop us?’

‘Then we’ll find out which religion’s right! Ready, ready . . . hang on!’

He hauled the controls back as hard as he could. The vimana pitched up sharply, the wood groaning. They were gaining height, but slowing, slowing . . .

‘Now!’ He shoved the wooden levers forward. The nose dipped—

Too late. They had lost too much speed - and stalled, the vimana plunging almost vertically. ‘Oh, shit, shit!’

He yanked desperately at the controls. Something in the wing snapped. The ground rushed at them—

With a whump, the fabric of the wings filled with air and pulled taut one last time. The vimana shot forward like a daredevil bird swooping out of a dive just short of the ground. Nina shrieked and shielded her eyes as it crashed through the bushes in a burst of snow, stubby branches whipping at her face.

But they didn’t stop.

The vimana ripped the bushes right out of the ground. For a moment it seemed that it was going to take off again - then with a huge crack the wings finally collapsed, broken spars and shredded silk trailing behind the glider as it crashed down on its runners.

And still it kept going. It had turned from an aircraft into a sledge, slithering downhill at an ever-increasing pace.

Nina hurriedly unwound her wrists from the leather straps as she saw what lay directly ahead. ‘We’re gonna