'You can, Ross, and you must. This is important. Promise me.'
He tries to argue with her but it makes no difference. Deep down, after self-interest and self-delusion have been stripped away, he knows he has no choice. 'I promise,' he says.
Suddenly he's choking. He can't breathe. A wave of panic rushes through him. He tries to open his eyes but they sting as though bathed in acid. A reflex makes him swallow. He retches and sits upright, gasping for air. He opens his eyes again and the stinging is gone. He is sitting in the pool in the middle of the chamber. And he is alone.
He looks up at the looming hydra and crystalline monolith, then down at the pool. There is a strong mineral taste in his mouth. The water is less cloudy than before, almost clear, and it is no longer bubbling. He has no idea how long he has been lying there but as he looks down at his chest he knows one thing with cold certainty: he is no longer dead. Or dying.
He feels his chest, unable to find any trace of where the bullet entered his body, pierced his heart and exited his back. Sister Chantal claims to have subsisted for centuries by visiting the garden's lake, and taking away crystals from the tunnel. These by-products of the Source have limits, though: Weber died, even though he was immersed in the lake. Ross, though, has supped directly from the source of life. It has brought him back from death. He is sure of it.
He stands up, as naked as the day he was born, and climbs out of the pool. Studying where the water flows into the chamber, his caving experience tells him it will lead eventually to the surface. His clothes lie beside the pool and he can see samples of healing crystals everywhere. Though inferior to the Source, they appear brighter than those in the tunnel, which Sister Chantal is confident can cure Lauren. He can easily take one, climb out and escape. Within weeks he will be at Lauren's side with the means to save her and their child. He can have everything he wants, everything he dreamed of when he embarked on this insane quest… Nevertheless, as Ross emerged with the others from the dark passageway into the relative light of the caves behind the ante- chamber, he knew he had received the gift of life so that he could fulfil the vow he had made to Lauren when he had died – if that was what had happened to him. Even if it had been only his conscience speaking, he knew that his vow reflected Lauren's thoughts and desires. He stopped chanting and Zeb touched him as if to check he was real. 'What happened to you?' she whispered. He heard the awe in her voice. 'The Superior General told us Marco shot you through the heart.'
'He did.'
'He said you were dead,' she said.
'I was.'
'I don't understand,' said Hackett. 'They said the nymphs fed you to the worms.'
Ross pointed to the white shapes flitting in the shadows. 'They took me to the Source.'
Sister Chantal smiled. 'It brought you back.'
'Yes.' As Ross led them to the antechamber he explained all that had happened to him. 'When Torino entered the chamber I slipped out of the back exit into the dark passageways, which eventually led to you.'
There was a pause, then Hackett said, 'You could have escaped. You could have got out and saved your wife. Why didn't you?'
'Too much unfinished business here.'
'But you could have cured Lauren,' said Sister Chantal. She sounded angry. 'That was why I brought you here. So she could be the new Keeper.'
'The Keeper of what?' said Ross. 'By the time I got to Lauren's bedside, the Superior General would have killed all of you and gained control of the Source.' He turned in the gloom and put his face near the nun's. 'And he'd have destroyed the garden. Wiped it off the face of the Earth.'
'What?' said Sister Chantal, horrified. 'He wouldn't do that.'
'Why not? You yourself said it embarrassed the Church, raised too many questions. The point is, Lauren would never forgive me for letting that happen. I led Torino here. I'm responsible. I must stop him.'
'You sure he's going to destroy the garden?' said Zeb.
'Not just the garden. Every living thing, except the Source. Those yellow parcels the soldiers brought are incendiary devices – firebombs. I've seen stuff like that used to clear ground for oil exploration.'
Hackett frowned as they passed the ledge by the magma pool and the broken bridge. 'I can see how he might napalm the garden and kill everything in it. But how's he going to kill the nymphs and rock worms – and those?' He pointed at the tubular tentacles running along the walls.
'His soldiers just need to place a few incendiary devices throughout the tunnels. Thermite generates huge temperatures – over a thousand degrees – and in these confined spaces a fireball would destroy everything. Now they've thinned out the worms they could conceivably get close enough to do the same thing with them. The Source would be untouched but everything else would be purged.'
Sister Chantal shuddered. 'So what do we do?' she said.
He smiled at her. 'It's time to stop being the passive Keeper of the Garden and waiting for the cavalry to come. We are the cavalry. It's up to us to stop Torino abusing this place – particularly the Source.' He turned to Hackett and Zeb. 'What about you guys? I know it's not really your fight-'
'Bollocks,' said Hackett. 'Of course it's my bloody fight. I'm not letting some arrogant priest control what I saw up there. Count me in.'
'Me too,' said Zeb. 'You're not having all the fun, Ross, just because you finally jumped on the conservation bandwagon. I've always been on it.'
73
As they headed for the glow of the antechamber, a throng of nymphs appeared, silhouetted against the light. Ross heard an electronic crackle and a man's voice. He gestured for the others to be quiet and pushed them into a recess. Although they were together again, united behind a single purpose, he still wasn't sure how they could stop four trained, armed killers and a fanatical priest convinced he was on a mission from God. Peering out, past the nymphs, he saw a soldier talking into his short-wave radio. He was alone, laden with a flame-thrower and a bulging backpack. 'There are about ten of them,' the soldier was saying. 'Probably more in the tunnels behind them. Over.'
'Disperse them with the flame-thrower, Gerber, then place the charges,' said a crackly voice. 'Don't worry. So long as you have the flame-thrower, you're safe.'
'I can handle them,' said the soldier, curtly. 'Over.'
'Then handle it. Out.'
There was a click, then a roar of flame. The man laughed as the nymphs turned and ran. The one with the red flowers tore past Ross in a blind panic, heading for the dark tunnels. The soldier followed, throwing out bursts of flame. 'Run, you fuckers,' he shouted. 'Pest Control's here. You can run but you can't hide.'
Ross and the others pressed themselves deeper into the recess. As the soldier passed, Ross held his breath. He didn't allow himself to think about what he was going to do next. He just acted. He leapt on the soldier's backpack and pulled back with all his weight and strength. The other man was strong and for a few seconds he supported Ross's weight as well as the cumbersome backpack and the flame-thrower fuel canisters.
Then he grunted and fell on to his back.
Hackett leapt on him and wrestled the flame-thrower nozzle from his hands. Zeb grabbed for his radio and pulled it from his fingers. Even Sister Chantal held down one of his legs. Between them they peeled off the backpack and flame-thrower. The soldier struggled and cried out but when he saw Ross take his gun he froze. 'You're dead.'
Ross levelled the pistol at the man's head. 'Apparently not.'
'But the Superior General saw you die. He said the nymphs took you to the worms.'
'You can't trust everything he says. By the way, where is the Superior General, Gerber? And where's Marco Bazin and the other soldiers?'
Gerber spat at him. 'You're all going to die.'
Zeb kicked him hard in the genitals. He doubled up and she cocked her leg ready to kick him again. He
