.
Her assumption that the Khoils were using the Cold War bunker as an operations centre had been wrong. They had found a more spectacular use for it - the chamber had been turned into their own personal museum, a display of some of the world’s greatest treasures. Eddie moved past her to investigate some doors in the far wall, but Nina’s eyes were only on its contents.
The statue of David dominated, but the marble figure was surrounded by other artefacts of equal - perhaps even greater - value. A quartet of terracotta warriors stood guard on each side, stolen from the vast archaeological dig at the tomb of the First Emperor in Xi’an. Before them, mounted on a stand, was a sculpted piece of polished silver standing roughly four feet high. At its centre, an oval orifice contained a large piece of what appeared to be dark glass. The Black Stone, the sacred Muslim artefact set into place in Mecca by Muhammad himself.
She recognised numerous other treasures as she entered the bunker. The Standard and Mantle of Muhammad stolen from Topkapi Palace in Turkey, the Antikythera mechanism from Athens . . . There were even artefacts she didn’t recognise, which the Khoils had presumably decided met their personal criteria for ‘protection’ - a painting on silk of a woman in feudal Japanese dress; some kind of stone altar carved with an unfamiliar script—
‘Holy shit!’ she gasped.
Eddie returned from his explorations, having found extensive living quarters beyond one of the doors. He regarded the incredible collection. ‘Took the words right out of my mouth. Not a bad lot at all.’
‘No, I mean - look at this,’ she said, hurrying to one item on the periphery of the display. A crude figurine, carved from an odd purple stone . . .
‘They nicked Prince out of your office?’ asked Eddie. ‘Cheeky bastards!’
‘It’s not the same one,’ Nina said. The figure was in a different pose from the primitive sculpture discovered in the Pyramid of Osiris. There was nothing to indicate why the Khoils considered it important enough to steal, or even from where it had been taken. It seemed as out of place amongst the incredible treasures around it as its near-twin had in the Egyptian god-king’s tomb . . . but the mere fact of its presence suggested there was more to the figurine - to both figurines - than met the eye.
But it was clear which treasure the Khoils thought most valuable. The centrepiece of the fantastic display was the chest from the Vault of Shiva. It was closed, but Nina found when she lifted the lid that all the stone tablets were still inside. No doubt the ancient texts had already been scanned, translated and analysed by Qexia. The Khoils had what they needed to spread their own warped interpretation of their god’s word.
She backed away. ‘We found everything - so now we need to make sure they get back to where they belong.’
‘We need to wreck that radio jammer first,’ said Eddie.
‘Sounds like your area of expertise. We’d better get moving.’ They left the vault, heading back past the unconscious guard. ‘Although I’m really not looking forward to climbing back up that ladder.’
Eddie gave her a weary smile. ‘Have to admit, I’m coming round to the idea of using the lift—’
Someone had beaten them to it.
One set of elevator doors rumbled apart - revealing Zec and Tandon. Both men pointed handguns at them, fingers tight on the triggers.
Neither Eddie nor Nina had their weapons raised. They froze. ‘Cock,’ Eddie muttered.
‘Drop the guns,’ said Zec. A half-smile as they obeyed. ‘You are really incredible, Chase. What does it take to kill you?’
‘A bullet to the head should do it,’ Tandon said, kicking the fallen MP5Ks away. He pushed his gun against Eddie’s temple. The Englishman tensed, Nina drawing in a sharp breath of fear. ‘But . . . Mr Khoil wants to see you first.’
‘Lucky us,’ said Eddie as the gun withdrew. ‘How’d he know we were here?’
Zec nodded towards the laptop. ‘It has a webcam connected to the security office. As soon as I saw the guard was not at his station, I rewound the stream. And there you were.’
‘Move,’ Tandon ordered. ‘Into the lift.’
The elevator was a wide square platform, surrounded by railings but otherwise worryingly open. Nina and Eddie unwillingly stepped aboard. While the Indian kept them at gunpoint, Zec dragged the unconscious guard into the lift. Once both men were inside, Tandon pushed a button and the doors rattled shut. With a whine of motors, the elevator began its long journey to the surface.
The ride ended at the lowest floor of the composite building. Two more armed men were waiting as the doors opened. One picked up the guard and carried him away as Zec and Tandon ushered Nina and Eddie out. ‘Up the stairs,’ said Zec, gesturing to a staircase.
The utilitarian, military-drab environment of the bottom level gave way to considerably more high-tech surroundings as they ascended. Two entire floors of the old radar station had been gutted and replaced by massive data centres, rank after rank of computer servers processing information.
‘Christ,’ said Eddie as they kept climbing. ‘All this just to play
‘It’s part of their plan,’ Nina realised. ‘Pramesh said he had archives storing information so it wouldn’t be lost when civilisation collapses. This must be one of them. He’s recording every bit of data that passes through the internet.’
‘Yeah, ’cause that’s what the world’ll need after the apocalypse - funny pet videos and porn.’
‘I’m sure he’ll be very selective about what survives and what “accidentally” gets lost to history.’
Zec gave them an odd look. ‘What do you mean, the apocalypse?’
Nina and Eddie exchanged glances. ‘Taking a dump during the briefing, were you?’ Eddie asked. ‘Or did they just not tell you that part?’
‘You’ve been told everything you need to know,’ Tandon said firmly to Zec as they continued upwards. The next level appeared to be living areas; the one above was the same, but more expensively appointed - the Khoils were reluctant to give up the comforts of wealth, even in the Arctic.
The stairway ended here, but they still had higher to climb. Nina and Eddie were escorted along a short hallway to another set of stairs, this one spiralling upwards through the building’s central core to the giant dome. It took them via a distinctly industrial level, large - and from their appearance, Cold War vintage - electrical transformers emitting menacing hums. They had once fed power to the giant radar antenna; now they supplied energy to the 360-degree lightshow that had replaced it.
‘Dr Wilde!’ called a familiar voice as they trooped into the infotarium. ‘And Mr Chase, too.’ Pramesh Khoil stood with his wife atop a circular platform at the dome’s centre.
Vanita regarded them with disgust. ‘Why are they still alive?’
‘They have gone through a lot to be here, Vanita,’ said Khoil. Smug pride blossomed on his face as he waved a theatrical hand at the giant projection displays. ‘Bring them to the walkway. We may as well let them witness the end of the Kali Yuga.’
‘You are showing off,’ she said in a scolding tone as Zec, Tandon and the guard marched Nina and Eddie up to the circular walkway. ‘We should just kill them.’
‘Soon, my beloved, soon,’ he replied, looking up at the two screens displaying the view from the aircraft. The city lights drifted across the picture as the plane continued its long circle. His gaze shifted to the news feed. ‘But it is almost time to begin - the G20 leaders have all arrived.’
‘That’s your plan?’ Nina asked, appalled. ‘You’re going to crash a plane on to the summit?’
‘You won’t have a chance,’ said Eddie. ‘Twenty world leaders in one place, including the American, Russian and Chinese presidents? If there’s a fucking
‘That
‘You’ve got a
‘There are advantages to owning a stake in a military aircraft company. Stealth is a major area of research. I have access to that research, and have put it to better use than any government project.’
Nina remembered what she had seen at the Khoils’ palace. ‘Wait, this plane of yours - dark grey, propeller at the back, weird-looking? ’
‘Yes. I was test-flying it at night.’ He raised one hand, palm flat, and tilted it to the left; the airborne images
