The Eye of Shiva

CHAPTER 65

Nick, Selena and Lamont had worked their way to within twenty yards of the staging area. They watched the second transporter line up behind the first. A man dressed in a black uniform climbed onto the first unit and sat down at the operating console. He set a series of switches on a panel in front of him and then began entering commands on a keyboard.

"What do you want to do?" Lamont said.

"I make it five men, plus Cobra," Nick said. "We take them out, starting with the guy on the truck."

The ramp began to rise on the transporter. In seconds, the missile was aimed at the sky.

"Don't forget the three who went past us," Lamont said.

Nick's ear began itching. Harker's voice sounded in Nick's headset.

"Nick, there's a Reaper on the way. Don't get hurt."

"How soon?"

"Soon. What's your status?"

"There are two missiles out in the open. One's ready. It looks like there's only one guy who knows what he's doing. He finished with the first and now he's gone to the second to set that one up. That one is still down on the bed of the transporter."

"Nick, whatever happens, that missile can't launch."

"Yeah, I know."

"Wait. If the drone doesn't get there in time, stop it any way you can."

"Copy that."

"Good luck."

"Yeah."

Nick looked at the others. "You heard Harker. We'll wait. If it looks like they're going to push the button, concentrate your fire on the guy at the console."

"We'd better move back some," Lamont said. "They're likely going to drop a 500 pounder or two. We're too close."

"All right. As long as we keep line of sight on that console."

They moved back into the trees.

"That's far enough," Nick said. He looked at his watch. "Can't be more than a few minutes, now."

Sudden shots splintered chips of bark from trees nearby. The three sentries had found them. Selena moved behind a tree just as bullets kicked up dirt where she'd been standing. She reached around the trunk and fired blind at the shooters. Nick and Lamont opened up. The afternoon quiet vanished in the sharp explosions of automatic weapons.

Up on the staging area, Rao and Ijay heard the shooting. Rao ran over to where Ijay's man was working on the second missile.

"Is it ready?"

"Not yet. The other one is."

"Leave this. Get over to the other. Here."

Rao took the card Krivi had given him with the codes and programming for the missile out of his pocket. It went into a slot on the console. Once loaded into the computer, the flick of a switch would send the missile on its way.

"You know what this is?"

"Yes, sir."

"Use it. Fire as soon as you can." He gave the card to the soldier. "Hurry up."

The man ran over to the transporter and climbed up onto the back, the card in his hand.

Ijay signaled his men away from the launch. Rao moved to the safety of the tunnel. It wasn't a good idea to be near the tail of the missile when it ignited.

Nick fired at one of the soldiers shooting at them and brought him down. He looked around and saw Ijay's man climbing onto the truck. He swiveled and fired and an empty casing caught in the ejection port. The gun jammed.

On the truck, the operator inserted the card and activated the firing sequence. He got up to leave the unit for cover. Nick cleared the jam, aimed and fired and the man fell off the truck.

Seconds later the Agni III came to life. Flame and smoke erupted from the base of the missile.

"Fire at the missile and the control panel," Nick yelled.

Selena and Lamont turned. The three of them stood and emptied their magazines at the console and the missile. Nick saw holes appear in the white body. It began to rise. Nick dropped a magazine, jammed in another, and emptied it at the console with it's switches and gauges. He could see fragments fly off where the bullets hit.

Ijay's men were still shooting at them. A bullet plucked at Selena's sleeve. She turned and shot another man. One man still came on. She shot him too. He fell to the ground, clutching his gut and screaming. She couldn't hear him over the roar of the rocket engine. She turned back to watch.

The missile climbed toward the sky on a column of orange fire and billowing white smoke. It began to pick up speed. The noise was deafening.

"Too late," Nick said. "We were too late."

Then the missile slowed. It tilted to the side and fell back toward the launching site, the rocket engine belching flame.

"Jesus," Nick said.

They dropped down flat. Selena covered her head with her arms.

The missile hit the ground and exploded. Flaming bits and burning fuel fell back to earth in a hellish rain.

Then the Reaper struck with a 500 pound bomb.

The explosion ripped branches from the trees and sent them flying through the air in a lethal storm of splinters. Selena covered her ears. The shock lifted her body from the ground. A huge, burning tire from one of the transporters crashed into the dirt a foot from her head and rolled away down the hillside.

She lay there, waiting. There were no more explosions. Slowly, she stood and looked around. Everything was muffled, as though her ears were stuffed with cotton.

Fires burned in a dozen places. It wouldn't be long before the forest of pines where they stood would be in flames. The staging area had been destroyed. The transporters and helicopters were twisted hulks of charred metal. A breeze brought an unpleasant odor of burning rubber.

"We'd better get up there before these woods go up," Nick said.

They climbed the rest of the way to the top. The fire spread through the trees below. Small fires dotted what was left of the staging area. The bomb had left a gaping crater in the smooth surface.

A body lay near the tunnel entrance on its back, eyes staring toward the sky. The dead man's face was marked by birthmarks that looked like spots. Debris smoldered in front of the tunnel. It looked as though the interior of the complex was intact.

Lamont brought his rifle up. "I saw movement in the tunnel."

"We have to go in," Nick said. "I'll take point."

They entered the cavern. Scraps of metal and smoking bits littered the first ten yards. The remaining missiles lay silent at the back of the cavernous space. There were bodies on the floor, one in the uniform of a ranking officer. It was dark inside except for light from the entrance and the window of one office. They heard someone singing to himself.

They kept up against the wall and reached the office. Nick took a quick glance through the window and ducked back.

"It's Cobra," he said. "He's sitting at a desk. He has a pistol in his hand."

"How you want to do it?" Lamont said.

"He's the only one left," Nick said. "I want to try and take him alive. Ready?"

Without waiting, Nick stepped into the door of the office and pointed his M-16 at Rao.

"Game's up, Rao. Put the gun on the desk and your hands behind your head."

Rao swiveled in the chair, the pistol coming up as he turned, but it wasn't pointed at them. He held it in his right hand, the barrel pressed against the side of his head. In his left, he held a great, red stone.

For a second, Rao's face was a mask of anger. Then he smiled.

"Carter," he said. "How did you know?"

"We've been listening to your phone calls," Nick said. "Put down the gun. Slowly."

Rao held up the stone. It blazed with color under the lights.

"Do you know what this is?" he said.

"It's pretty," Nick said. "Put down the gun."

Rao laughed. It trailed off to a giggle. Selena and Lamont looked at each other. Lamont twirled his finger by his head.

"Pretty," Rao said. "You are looking at the soul of Mother India and all you can say is it's pretty."

"Why don't you tell me about it," Nick said. "I'm willing to learn. But put down the gun."

Rao ignored him. "I think the lady knows what I'm holding. Don't you, Doctor Connor?"

"You know who I am?" Selena said.

"Of course. And Mister Cameron, AKA Shadow. Unfortunate about Sergeant Peete, wasn't it? Did you know he died this morning?"

"You son of a bitch," Nick said.

Selena knew he was going to shoot. "Wait, Nick," she said. "He's lying. Elizabeth would have told us."

"Maybe." But he relaxed, just enough.

"So, Doctor Connor?" Rao held up the jewel.

"If I'm right, it's a jewel called the Eye of Shiva," Selena said. "No one has seen it for centuries."

"Very good," Rao said. "Doctor Connor, are you an honorable person?"

"What do you mean?"

He's nuts, Nick thought. I should shoot him. He watched Rao's gun.

"Are you honorable? Do you keep your word?"

"I believe in keeping my word. I guess that makes me honorable."

"If you give me your word about something, I will put down the gun."

"What is it?"

"I want you to take the Eye back to where it belongs. To the temple of Shiva, off the Peshwa Road in New Delhi. Anyone can tell you where it is. Give me your word that you will give it to the priests there. They'll know what to do."

"If I give you my word, you'll put down the gun?"

"I will."

"All right," Selena said. "You have my word. I'll take the Eye back to the temple."

Rao sighed. "I would have liked so much to bring it myself. Not much chance of that, now."

He leaned forward. The gun never wavered from his head. Rao slid the jewel across the desk.

"Pick it up," he said to Selena.

"Careful, Rao." Nick said. His M-16 was aimed at Rao's head, his finger on the trigger. "I'll shoot if you blink wrong."

Rao smiled again. Selena moved forward, keeping out of Nick's line of fire, and took the stone. It felt cool. The jewel was heavy in her hand. She stepped away from the desk.

"Islamabad would have been destroyed," Rao said.

"Put down the gun," Nick said. "I won't tell you again."

"I miss Lakshmi," Rao said. His eyes looked sad. Then he smiled. "It's not over."

He pulled the trigger. The side of his head blew out in a geyser of blood and tissue. The body slammed back and fell from the chair.

"Shit," Nick said. He lowered his rifle.

"What did he mean, it's not over? Who's Lakshmi?" Selena asked.

"I don't know," Nick said. "Let's get out of here before the whole Indian Army shows up."

"I hear a helicopter," Lamont said. "Might be too late."

They ran outside. The forest was burning all along the side of the mountain. Thick clouds of brown and black smoke billowed upward. Tongues of red and orange flame leapt high into the air. The heat was intense. Pieces of metal wreckage lay scattered in every direction. The crumpled black nose cone from the missile lay in the path of the advancing fire.

"How come it didn't go off?" Selena said. She gestured at the warhead.

"It was probably set for an altitude burst," Nick said. "There's a firing sequence that has to happen or it won't detonate. It's the way they're designed. A way to keep them safe."

"Safe. Who are they kidding? Lucky for us," she said.

Akron's Huey circled in and set down near the edge of the crater. They ran to it and climbed in. Seconds later they were airborne. Nick settled into the co-pilot's seat.

"Figured you might want to get out of Dodge," Akron said.

"You got that right."

"You don't mess around, do you? You should have seen that from over there by those ruins. Biggest Roman candle I've ever seen. If I had that on film, I could sell tickets."

"Yeah. Take us back to Srinagar."

"I got a feeling it might be better if we took the long way around," Akron said. "Might get a little bumpy."

"Just get us back without getting shot down," Nick said.

"Roger dodger, Captain."

They lifted off in a steep bank. Nick grabbed for whatever he could find. Lamont uttered a string of obscenities in the bay behind him. Akron headed away from Srinagar.

"Where are you going?" Nick said. "The city's that way."

"So is the Indian Air Force. Trust me."

Akron flew at fifty feet above the highway for a few minutes. Then he banked to the right and flew into a narrow canyon that disappeared into the mountains. The walls of the canyon seemed inches away from the spinning blades. Akron was whistling as he flew, twisting and turning along the torturous route of a river below. It would be almost impossible for the Indians to find them here, unless they knew where to look.

Akron looked over at Nick. "Yesssir, you folks put on quite a show," he said. The chopper came close to the canyon wall.

"You mind watching where you're going?" Nick said.

Akron looked hurt. Nick called Harker.

"Director, we're on our way back."

"What happened?"

"Rao shot himself. We brought down the missile, but it was a close thing. The launch site is unusable and there's a hell of a fire burning. Rao had this big ruby. He made Selena promise to take it back where it came from."

"The Eye of Shiva," Elizabeth said.

"Right."

"Where are you?"

"On the way back to Srinagar."

"The Indians are kicking all foreign journalists out of Kashmir," Elizabeth said. "You qualify, as a documentary crew making films. The plane has been released, along with your passports. Get back and get out of there."

Nick remembered what Rao had said. He had to know. "How's Ronnie doing?"

"No change."

Nick took a deep breath.

"Nick, that jewel is important. It has to go to the government. You can't take it back."

Nick looked back at Selena. She was watching him, listening to the conversation. They all had ears on the link.

"Why not?" Nick asked.

"It's a national treasure. Bring it home and we'll return it with the proper diplomatic protocols."

"What?" Nick said. "You're breaking up." He made rasping noises.

"I said…"

Nick made crackling and hissing sounds."…up. Can't…what…say…"

He ended the connection and turned back toward Selena.

She smiled at him and his heart missed a beat. Her violet eyes were bloodshot. Her face was scratched and streaked sweat and dirt. Nick thought she'd never looked more beautiful.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome."

The adrenaline surge was long gone. Nick was exhausted. The journey back to Srinagar passed in a blur. Once they saw a flight of six military helicopters go past in the distance, headed for the missile complex.

At the hangar, they gave Akron back his guns.

"Thanks," Nick said. "You did a good job with that bird."

Akron said, "Wouldn't have missed that for anything. I haven't had that much fun in a long time, but I admit it could have turned out different. Tells me it's time to pack it in. I'm going back to the states."

"What about this?" Nick gestured at the Huey, the hangar.

"Doesn't matter," Akron said. "It's mostly junk. My guess is the Indians are going to figure out that was my bird out there. I don't want to be around when they do. I'm out of here." He turned to Selena. "Sorry I got you mad at me, Sweet Pea."

He grinned at her and walked away.

"What an ass," she said.

"Yeah, but at least he's a consistent ass," Nick said.