The Valhalla Prophecy

13

Eddie emerged from a tent, rubbing his hands rapidly up and down his neoprene-sleeved arms. ‘Buggeration and fuckery! It’s a bit nippy.’

‘I told you that you don’t need to do this,’ said Nina. She gave the tight-fitting drysuit a cheekily approving look. ‘But you know, you look rather good in that.’ Even though her own fitness regimen had started to slide of late, her husband worked out enough to keep himself in solid shape, muscles visible even through the layers of cold-water gear.

A smirk spread across his face. ‘I’ve been saying you look good in tight rubber for years. If you weren’t such a bloody prude, you’d buy that dress with holes in all the right places.’

Nina blushed as she realised they had an audience; Matt and Tova had just rounded the tent. The Swede widened her eyes, while the Australian’s response was little more than a heard-it-all-before shrug. ‘Ignore him, he’s just joking,’ she hurriedly said.

‘No, no, it is quite all right,’ Tova replied. She smiled at the couple. ‘It is healthy to discuss your sex life — and keep it interesting.’

‘Mm-hmm,’ said Nina, blushing even more. Eddie cackled.

‘So, aaaanyway,’ Matt said, keen to change the subject, ‘we’ve got all the IBUs ready. Nelson’s waiting in the hole in the ice — once you and the other divers load up his topside rack with the gear, you can just grab on and he’ll tow you to the dig site.’

‘You noticed how everyone says “the hole in the ice” and not “the ice hole”?’ Eddie remarked, still grinning as he tugged the drysuit’s hood up over his head. He put on his best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. ‘Fuck you, ice hooole.’

It got a smile from Matt, at least, but Tova didn’t seem to understand what he had said, and Nina just gave a weary sigh. He snorted. ‘Well I thought it was funny. So we’re ready?’

‘No time like the present,’ said Nina. Even though it was only early in the afternoon, at this latitude and time of year they only had a few more hours of daylight. She started for the shoreline, the others following.

‘Keep that burning,’ Eddie said as they passed a campfire that Mikkel had started. ‘I know we’ve got heaters in the tents, but sometimes a big roaring pile of wood’s the best thing you can have.’

‘Oh, don’t you worry,’ Nina told him. ‘I’m going to spend the rest of the day sitting by it while you work. I may even toast some marshmallows.’

Eddie collected his nitrox tanks and a small toolbox. ‘Yeah, right,’ he scoffed. ‘I know you better than that. You’ll be looking over Matt’s shoulder and getting annoyed that you can’t micromanage us the whole time.’

‘The man knows his wife,’ Matt said, laughing.

Nina pouted. ‘Shut up. Although yeah, he’s totally right,’ she admitted to Tova. The older woman grinned.

The group set out across the ice, joining Mikkel and the two IHA divers waiting at the hole. Eddie donned his breathing gear, weights and flippers, then attached the toolbox to his belt. Nina noticed that neither of the other divers had anything similar. ‘What’s in that?’

‘Just some bits and bobs in case I need ’em,’ came the non-committal reply.

‘Like what?’

‘Like the kinds of things you normally find in a toolbox. You know, tools?’

‘Okay, jeez,’ she said, a little taken aback by his waspish sarcasm. ‘I just wondered.’

He didn’t respond, instead pulling down his goggles before giving his mouthpiece one final check. ‘Okay, I’m set.’

‘We are too,’ Mathias told him.

Eddie gave him a thumbs-up. ‘Stand back if you don’t want to get splashed,’ he warned, before putting the rebreather into his mouth and hopping into the water. His head popped back above the surface a couple of seconds later, his wide-eyed grimace giving those above a clear indication of the temperature.

‘You okay?’ Nina called to him as the two other divers also dropped into the lake.

He gave her another thumbs-up, which then drooped to a more uncertain angle, but his expression assured her that he was not serious. The three men checked each other’s gear to make sure the watertight seals were secure, then, with the aid of those still on the ice, loaded the buoyancy units on to the submersible. Once everything was secured, Matt headed back to his little shelter on the shore, Tova following him.

Nina stayed to watch her husband go. ‘See you back here soon,’ she said. His hand broke the surface to wave at her. ‘And don’t get cold — oops, too late.’ The hand rotated to give her a two-finger salute. She laughed. ‘Go on, get going,’ she said, waving back. Eddie dipped beneath the surface, the two other men following suit. She watched them disappear into the darkness below, then returned to the shore.

‘Jesus, Eddie was right,’ Matt complained. His tone was light, but there was still an edge of genuine irritation.

Nina was indeed watching over his shoulder, gazing intently at the images from the ROV’s cameras. ‘Sorry, sorry,’ she said, moving back — a few inches. ‘It’s just frustrating not being able to communicate with them.’

‘Not being able to boss ’em around, you mean.’

‘Well, yeah.’ They shared a chuckle.

The main screen showed the runestone poking up from the lake’s bottom, pinned by the hovering submersible’s spotlights. The three divers had cleared away some of the silt, exposing more of the monolith — but while Nina and Tova’s interest was in what was inscribed upon the stone, the men at the site were concerned only with securing high-tensile ropes around it. Three sets of lines connected by nylon webbing now encircled the slab; each line would have two lifting bags attached, which based on the weight of its counterpart would be more than enough to raise it to the surface.

One of the divers attached a hook to the ropework, then gave two thumbs-ups to the camera. ‘Either they’re ready, or Eddie’s just seen a really good movie,’ said Nina.

‘Probably not one of Grant Thorn’s, then,’ Matt said; he too was acquainted with the Hollywood star. He zoomed in the camera, taking a closer look at the rigging. ‘Well, Mathias and Peder know their knots, and I’m guessing Eddie does too, so all that seems nice and tight.’

Tova was still nervous. ‘Is there any danger that the stone might be damaged?’

‘Riskiest parts are going to be the moment it’s actually pulled clear of the hole it’s been stuck in for however many hundred years, and when the crane brings it out of the water,’ Matt told her. On the screen, the divers swam to the ROV, then passed above its camera to reach the equipment rack. ‘If it’s going to break, that’s when it’s most likely to happen. But,’ he went on, seeing her now decidedly worried expression, ‘it looks pretty solid — there aren’t any obvious cracks or anything. I don’t think we’ll have much trouble.’

‘I hope not!’ she replied, still not entirely reassured.

‘They’ve done this sort of thing before, don’t worry,’ said Nina. All the same, she was feeling a degree of tension herself. It would not even take major damage to end their mission; if a small but crucial piece of the carved text sheared away and was lost on the lake bed, the search for Valhalla would end before it had even begun.

She watched as the divers reappeared on the screen, each now carrying an Inflatable Buoyancy Unit. In their empty state, the IBUs resembled bright orange sports bags with compressed air cylinders attached; once filled, they would balloon enormously into sausage-shaped cylinders. They hooked them to the webbing, then returned to Nelson for the second set. Before long, these too were attached.

‘Okay, they’re ready,’ announced Matt on a signal from one of the men, but Nina had already seen it; she had returned to her former position, peering over his shoulder like a pirate’s parrot. He shook his head, then flashed the ROV’s lights to indicate that the message had been received. ‘Let’s bring this thing up.’

The divers opened the valves on the air tanks. The IBUs unfurled, the creases in the tough PVC quickly smoothing out as they expanded. They rose in the water, the lines to which they were connected taking the strain.

Nina switched her attention to the lake bed. ‘Matt, can you zoom in on the bottom of the stone?’

He did so. As they watched, the glutinous silt shifted. ‘It is coming up,’ Tova said, excited — but also tense. Nina felt the same.

‘Not yet,’ Matt told her. ‘They’ve only got three two-fifty-kilo bags inflated at the moment, so it won’t be enough to lift the thing. It’ll take the weight off it, though. When they inflate the next three, that’s when it’ll really shift.’

‘It’s not going to pop out of the ground and shoot up to hit the ice, is it?’ Nina asked.

Matt laughed. ‘That’d be a hell of a sight, but no. They’ll get it to neutral buoyancy so Nelson can tow it to the hole.’

‘Great.’ Reassured, she turned her attention back to the screen. Matt zoomed out again to follow the divers’ progress. With the first three bags now pulling hard on the lines, they began to inflate the second set.

Before they were even half full, the lake bed surrounding the stone bulged visibly. ‘It’s moving, all right,’ Matt said. ‘The thing’s going to come right out like a bad tooth. And speaking of teeth, will you stop doing that?’

Nina realised she had been grinding hers. ‘Sorry,’ she said, moving away from the Australian’s ear.

Two of the men adjusted the IBUs’ valves to slow the inflation. The third — Eddie, Nina realised — did nothing, until one of his companions gestured firmly for him to turn his own tank down. He did so… with what she couldn’t help thinking was a degree of reluctance. ‘What’s the rush, Eddie?’ she said to herself.

She was still close enough for Matt to hear. ‘Maybe because it’s bloody freezing down there?’ he said with a grin.

‘Well, there is that.’ But she still felt there was something… odd about Eddie’s response.

The IBUs kept swelling. Fissures appeared in the bulges on the lake bed, spreading outwards. Tova put a hand to her mouth, whispering in Swedish before adding, ‘Oh, please be careful…’

‘It’s coming — it’s coming!’ Nina gasped. Part of the ground around the runestone’s foot finally split apart, a wash of swirling particulates blotting out her view. The entire monolith shifted sideways — and then upwards.

‘They’ve got it,’ Matt reported. The two IHA divers made further adjustments to the valves. The runestone’s ascent slowed, then stopped. ‘They’ll check there aren’t any obvious stress fractures, then if everything looks okay they’ll bring it up.’ He looked round at Tova, whose expression was caught somewhere between panic and elation. ‘Don’t worry, should all be plain sailing from now.’

‘Let’s hope,’ said Nina. She turned to Tova. ‘We did it, though — you found the second runestone, and it’s intact. It’s an amazing discovery.’

‘No, no, we found it,’ Tova insisted. ‘I couldn’t have done it without you and the IHA.’

‘And the OSO,’ Matt added pointedly. ‘It’s not all about the archaeologists!’

‘And the OSO too, thank you. But it is a joint effort.’

‘It all started with you, though,’ said Nina. ‘It was your research, your find. I just helped out.’

‘Well… okay, if you insist,’ Tova said, finally breaking into a smile.

Nina looked back at the screen. ‘Matt, if you get the sub in closer, we can take some photos of the runes. Just in case.’

Matt took the controls, flashing the spotlights to warn the divers that the ROV was about to move. Two of them swam clear, but the third stayed in front of the floating runestone. ‘Come on, mate, shift your backside,’ he said, with another flash of the lights.

Nina saw the toolbox attached to the man’s belt. ‘It’s Eddie. Why isn’t he moving?’ Her husband appeared engrossed in checking one of the IBUs. ‘Come on, honey, you’re blocking the cameras!’

‘I could extend one of the arms and bat him out of the way,’ Matt suggested, less than seriously.

‘Don’t tempt me.’ Eddie remained still. Matt brought Nelson closer and flashed the spotlights once more. This time, it got a response — though not the one Nina was hoping for. Eddie turned and waved sharply for the submersible to pull away.

‘He must be worried about something,’ said Matt. ‘I’ll back off to be safe.’

‘Worried about what?’ Nina complained. As far as she could tell, all the lines were holding firm, and the runestone itself seemed unharmed despite its extraction.

The Australian gave her an apologetic shrug. ‘He’s there and we’re not — he’s got the best view. Better safe than sorry, eh?’ The image of Eddie and the runestone slowly shrank as he guided Nelson into a retreat.

Nina knew it was sensible not to take any chances, but she was still irritated. ‘He could at least have moved so we could take a couple of pictures, dammit.’

All she could do now was watch impatiently as the divers prepared to bring the runestone up to the surface. They gradually pumped more air into the IBUs, using their own drysuits’ buoyancy compensators to rise with them, until the ancient stone was about six feet beneath the ice covering the lake. Matt turned the ROV around so tow lines could be attached, then started the laborious trek back to the hole.

Nina checked her watch, then briefly pulled back the tent’s flap to look at the sky. ‘The sun’ll be down by the time we get it out of the water,’ she lamented.

‘So long as it’s on the crane by then, it’ll be fine,’ said Matt. ‘We’ve got plenty of lights, so they shouldn’t have any trouble loading it on to the flatbed.’

‘Yeah, but it’ll be even colder than it is already.’ The brief exposure to the outside air had been enough to make her shiver.

‘Don’t know why you think it’s so bad. You’re from New York, you’re used to cold winters. I’m an Aussie — anything below twenty Celsius is like freezing for us!’ Nina grinned, then resigned herself to a long wait as the overhanging ice slowly crawled past the camera.

It took well over an hour before the submersible and its cargo finally reached the hole in the ice. The sun was edging down to the western horizon, the sky reddening. Nina reluctantly left the shelter’s warmth to watch the recovery operation as Mikkel and his team moved back on to the lake. They first used the crane to lift the ROV from the water and return it to the pickup on the shore, Matt reconnecting it to the controls in his tent so he could perform systems checks. Then they took the truck back to the hole. The runestone was manoeuvred to a position beneath the opening, and the divers pumped more air into the IBUs, little by little, to bring it up.

At last, the bright orange airbags broke the surface. The runestone’s upper end followed, a rime filling in the inscriptions. Tova joined the group and peered expectantly down at the ancient text, trying to read it. ‘It is so close! This is very exciting.’

Mikkel waved to the crane truck’s driver, who extended its arm out over the hole. ‘It should not take long to bring it out of the water,’ he told the two women.

‘Good,’ Nina said, though her attention was now on the divers as they breached the surface. A familiar face swam to the edge.

‘Fuck me, it’s cold down there,’ said Eddie, pulling off his goggles. He rubbed at his cheeks with a gloved hand. ‘Can’t feel a bloody thing!’

‘We kept the fire going for you,’ Nina told him, kneeling. ‘What were you doing down there?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I wanted Matt to get some photos of the runestone, but you waved back the sub.’

His eyes briefly flicked away from hers. ‘Didn’t want it to get too close in case its backwash knocked the bags around.’ He paddled back to the nylon nest between the IBUs. ‘Just got to hook it to the crane and lift it out, and you can take as many piccies as you want.’

The operator got out of the cab and worked the crane’s controls to lower the steel line. The hook on its end used to lift the submersible had been replaced by several chains, which the divers attached to the lines around the runestone. ‘Okay, everything’s secure,’ Eddie called. Peder and Mathias swam to the edge of the hole and climbed out.

Eddie stayed in the water. ‘Aren’t you coming?’ Nina asked.

‘Just going to give this a last look over. You should get back to the shore before they start winching it up, though.’

‘He is right,’ said Mikkel, to Nina’s disappointment — and also Tova’s. ‘We don’t know exactly how much the stone weighs, so it is dangerous to be too close to the crane. The ice should be strong enough to support it, but you never know for sure.’

‘I’ll see you back there,’ said Eddie as he re-donned his goggles. ‘Chuck a few extra logs on the fire for me, will you?’

‘Will do,’ Nina replied. Still struck by the nagging feeling that there was something not quite right, she followed the others back to the shoreline. The crane driver put on a lifejacket, then on a nod from Mikkel activated the winch. The chains pulled taut, and the runestone began its slow ascent into open air.

Eddie arrived at the camp soon after Nina, having jogged across the ice. Frost crystals glinted on his drysuit in the light of the setting sun. ‘The heater’d better still be on in that tent,’ he said as he unhooked his breathing apparatus and set down the nitrox cylinder.

‘Nah, mate, we turned it off to save power,’ said Matt with a smirk. ‘Gave your underpants a soak in some nice cold water too. That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?’

‘Ice hole,’ Eddie retorted. He pulled off his gloves and warmed his hands over the fire, then detached the toolbox from his belt and dropped it to the ground with a hollow clatter. ‘I’ll be back out once I’ve got all my kit on,’ he said to Nina as he opened the tent — then added, almost in warning: ‘Don’t go on to the lake.’

‘See you soon,’ she said, before turning to Tova. ‘Did you manage to read the runes?’

‘A few lines,’ the Swede replied. ‘I cannot wait to see the whole thing, though!’

‘Me neither.’ She looked back across the lake, watching the runestone’s recovery. The orange sausages of two IBUs had risen above the surface, but the truck blocked most of her view.

Leaving Tova near the fire, Nina tramped a short way along the shore in the hope of finding a better angle, but the result was little better. ‘Mikkel!’ she shouted. The Norwegian, who was keeping watch on the ice beneath the truck, looked around. ‘Is it safe?’

‘It is okay so far,’ he answered, ‘but don’t get too close to the truck.’

Keeping a cautious eye on the frozen surface, Nina made her way towards the hole, circling around well clear of the crane to get a view from the side. The runestone’s top was a couple of feet above the water, encrusted with frost. She could pick out some of the ice-filled runes.

What did they say? What was the secret they had been hiding for over a thousand years? She moved closer for a better look, wishing the crane would go faster.

More of the runestone emerged. One of the now unsupported IBUs drifted in front of the monolith; Nina moved again to keep the runes in view, now almost directly opposite the crane. Something glinted — a metal cylinder the size of a shampoo bottle, held in place against the black circle of the sun compass by the nylon mesh. She almost dismissed it as part of the rigging…

A frown. It looked more like it had been pushed into place after the stone was secured, the webbing stretched around it. What was it?

‘Nina!’

Eddie’s voice from the shore, urgent. He had changed back into his clothes — and was running past the startled onlookers on to the lake, waving his arms. Mikkel also heard the commotion and turned, surprised. ‘Get away from it, get back!’

The Norwegian gestured sharply to the crane operator, who immediately stopped the winch and scuttled away from the truck. Mikkel retreated, eyes scouring the ice for cracks.

But he saw none. Neither did Nina. With the winch halted, an eerie silence had descended — with no alarming noises from the ice. As far as she could tell, everything was solid and stable. So why was Eddie nearly in a panic?

‘Nina, get back!’ he screamed again as he sprinted across the ice. Now suddenly scared, but unsure what to be afraid of, she edged away from the hole. ‘No! Not that way, the other—’

His conflicting instructions caused her to freeze. He broke off in frustration, changing direction as he passed the two Norwegians to head for the crane truck. Nina watched in astonishment as he ran past it — and made a flying leap from the edge of the ice, arms windmilling, to land with a heavy thump on the runestone.

The chains clattered as he grabbed them, the truck lurching with the extra weight. Frigid water sluiced up around the stone — and the Englishman’s boots. He hauled himself higher and clawed at the metal cylinder. ‘Nina, get to the shore! Run!’

‘Eddie, what are you doing?’ she cried.

‘It’s a bomb! Go, go!’

He pulled the object free and hurled it out towards the centre of the lake. Nina was still confused — but the word bomb cut through her bewilderment and she broke into a run.

Eddie leapt after her — but the unstable surface and lack of a run-up made him fall short. He hit the edge of the hole hard, legs splashing into the water. Gasping in pain, he clawed at the ice…

His gloved fingertips couldn’t get a firm grip. He slid back into the lake, up to his thighs, his waist—

Nina skidded to a stop, then turned and raced back to him.

‘No!’ he yelled. ‘Get out of here, go!’

She ignored him, grabbing his wrists and pulling. Her boots scrabbled for grip on the slick surface. Eddie kicked as she hauled him higher, managing to get one knee over the edge. He scrambled out. Nina almost stumbled as she released him. ‘Are you okay?’

He jumped to his feet. ‘Yeah — now fucking leg it!’ he shouted, pulling her after him as he ran for the shore—

The deep crump of an explosion echoed around the lake.

Nina and Eddie both dived flat as churning water and chunks of shattered ice were blasted high into the air. They looked at each other in a mixture of shock and relief as they found they were unhurt — then shielded their heads as frozen debris hailed down around them.

‘What the hell was— Ow! Son of a bitch!’ Nina yelped as an icy lump bounced off her arm. She rubbed it, then fixed her husband with a look as cold as their surroundings as realisation sank in. ‘You knew that bomb was there.’

He didn’t reply, instead pulling her up. ‘We’ve got to get off the ice. It might not be safe.’ Mikkel and the driver were already hurrying towards land.

‘I’ll tell you what’s not safe,’ she snapped as they started back to the shore, giving the hole a wide berth. The runestone was still swaying on its chains, sending ripples across the slushy water. ‘Bombs!’

‘If you’d run when I told you, it wouldn’t have been a problem.’

She gave an incredulous laugh, pointing back to the site of the explosion. The blast had ripped a ragged opening in the ice almost six feet across. ‘You think that’s not a problem? If that had gone off on the runestone, it would have blown it apart—’ She broke off abruptly, fragments of memory suddenly clicking together to tell a story.

The toolbox on Eddie’s diving belt, empty as he discarded it; his blocking of the camera; then staying in the water to do something to the stone while everyone else left…

Nina stopped. Eddie continued for a couple of paces before realising she was no longer beside him. ‘What’re you doing?’

‘I could ask you the same thing,’ she said with barely contained anger. ‘You didn’t just know the bomb was there. You put it there.’

Hiding his feelings was hardly one of her husband’s strengths, and she could see the conflict in his eyes. But the side that won was not the one she had hoped for. ‘Dunno what you mean,’ he said.

‘Eddie, I know you did; it’s the only possible explanation! You had it in that toolbox — it’s the only way it could have gotten there. You put the bomb right over the sun compass so you could be sure it would be destroyed. And you deliberately blocked us from taking photos of the runes.’ Her voice rose as the truth hit home. ‘You’re trying to make sure we can’t use it to find Valhalla! Why?’

A strained shake of his head. ‘I can’t tell you.’

‘Why not?’

‘I made a promise.’

‘To whom?’

Still conflicted, he opened his mouth as if about to confess… then turned away and resumed his walk back to the shore, head bowed. Nina followed, barely able to hold back her fury. ‘Eddie? Dammit, Eddie! Talk to me! What’s going on?’

‘I’ve said as much as I can.’

‘What is it? Some military secret? I know you won’t talk about that stuff, but how can a Viking runestone have any connection…’

Nina suddenly saw that the people on the shore were reacting to something, looking west along the lake. As she fell silent, she registered a sound breaking the quiet of the snow-muffled forest. A rumble, getting louder, closer…

Eddie heard it too. His head whipped around to hunt for the source. ‘Choppers,’ he said. ‘You didn’t call ’em in?’

‘No.’

‘And they wouldn’t have, so…’

‘Who’s “they”?’ she demanded.

Again he didn’t answer. ‘Come on, quick!’ he said instead. He grabbed her hand and ran.

‘Eddie, what’s going on?’ She looked down the length of the lake. The sun was a red sliver on the western horizon — and silhouetted against it were two dark shapes, the bright stars of spotlights beneath them. The helicopters were heading straight for the camp. ‘Who are they?’

‘Probably Berkeley’s lot! They got the first stone — and now they want the other one.’ A glare. ‘And you bloody found it for them!’

‘What? Don’t you try to—’

‘They killed that security guard, and they’ll kill us too to get what they’re after!’

They crossed the shoreline and ran to the waiting vehicles. The other members of the team were milling about, the combination of the explosion and the arrival of the helicopters throwing everyone into confusion. ‘What is going on?’ asked Tova, worried.

‘Trouble,’ Eddie told her, before raising his voice. ‘Everyone into the trucks, now! We need to get out of here—’

Too late.

One of the pickups jolted with a harsh metallic thunk as something hit it, scabs of paint scattering like sharp-edged snowflakes from a thumb-sized hole in its bonnet. The echoing boom of a large-calibre rifle caught up with the supersonic bullet a moment later. A second shot followed, another truck taking a hit that ripped through its engine block.

‘Cover! Get to cover!’ Eddie yelled. ‘Into the trees!’

The helicopters split up, one swinging out over the lake while the other swept along the shore. More shots came from the latter — the chatter of automatic fire. A couple of team members who had started to run for the forest hurriedly reversed direction as a fountaining line of bullet impacts stitched across their path. A third vehicle jerked on its suspension as a sniper round punched into its engine compartment.

‘Shit!’ shouted Eddie, looking in desperation for anything he could use as a weapon. Nothing presented itself. ‘Mikkel! Where’s your gun?’

The Norwegian had brought a .22-calibre hunting rifle to ward off bears and wolves. ‘In the truck!’ he replied, pointing — at the vehicle farthest from them. Anyone trying to reach it would have to run the gauntlet of gunfire.

Nina cringed as one of the choppers, a Jet Ranger, made a low pass overhead, kicking up a whirlwind of ice crystals. It slowed to a hover, turning to let the gunman leaning from one of its doors keep the expedition in his sights as it descended. The other aircraft, a larger Eurocopter EC175, swept over the hole in the ice as if checking that the runestone was safe, then it too moved in to land. The sniper kept his rifle raised, his targets now human, not machines. ‘What do we do?’

Eddie gave her a grim look, then turned as if about to run for the trees — but Mathias set off first, only to stumble as another burst of fire crackled out. Nina gasped, thinking he had been shot, but then he recovered and scrambled back the way he had come. The shots had been a warning. The attackers didn’t want them dead.

At least… not yet.

The two choppers touched down at opposite ends of the camp. The doors opened, men scrambling out to surround the expedition. All were armed.

Almost all, Nina corrected herself. The last man to emerge from the EC175 carried a briefcase rather than a weapon. He winced at the cold and tugged up the hood of his thick coat, then followed his companions to the little encampment.

Nina recognised him at once. ‘Hello, Logan,’ she said with undisguised disdain as he reached her.

Logan Berkeley sneered contemptuously back at her. ‘Nina. I can’t exactly say it’s a pleasure to see you again.’

Eddie, meanwhile, was focused on the sixteen gunmen closing in around the group. His gaze suddenly snapped on to one in particular. Tall and wiry, with deeply sunken cheeks and a weathered tan…

The new arrival grinned malevolently, locking his gun on to the Englishman. ‘Well now, there’s a face from the past,’ said Carl Hoyt.