The Hunt for Shambhala

16

“Can’t you make this thing go any faster?” Selena said, her arms still wrapped tightly around Decker’s waist.

“I wish I could make you go away faster,” he muttered under his breath. “Does that count?”

“What was that?”

“I said I only wish I could make it go faster.”

“Of all the pilots in the world…”

“What?”

“Just saying how lucky I am to have you here.”

“You make your own luck, lady.”

He twisted the throttle again and the quad shot off through the complex. Zooming along a paved walkway and smacking down off the kerb they swerved and skidded on the asphalt for a few seconds before Decker regained control. He looked down at the gauges and shook his head. “She’s nearly out of gas!”

“Look out!” Selena yelled.

Decker looked up. “Holy crap!” An old man was leading two water buffaloes across the street. Only in India.

“Go around!” Selena said.

“You think?”

Decker yanked the wheel to the left and dodged the second buffalo by a few inches, causing their handler to turn and raise his stick in the air and shout a string of profanities at them.

“Just a small cargo business!” Decker said. “Something to retire on.”

Selena ignored it. “There!”

Up ahead, Riley fired his gun and blew out the right rear tire of Kaleka’s quad slowing him but not by much of a margin. Encouraged by the successful shot, the Australian aimed his weapon again. As with the first shot he was more cautious than usual because of the presence of Diana Silva on the quad. Her body was shielded behind the enormous bulk of Kaleka, but if a nine mil hit the wrong part of the Indian it would drill right through him and plough straight into Diana. He’d seen it happen in combat.

“For Christ’s sake be careful, Riley,” Selena said.

Riley was too far away to hear her warning, and the roar of the quads’ engines would have drowned her out anyway. Now, he slowed his breathing, aimed and fired again and took out the other rear tire. For a few seconds it looked like he’d won the day as Kaleka struggled to control the wounded quad. Showers of sparks burst out in a shower behind him as the steel wheel rims ground against the concrete paving.

“Good shot,” Decker said.

“He could have killed Diana!”

“That’s why it was a good shot.”

With the loss of buoyancy, Kaleka’s quad was slowing now and both Riley Carr and Decker and Selena were almost on his tail. The Indian drove the trashed quad the last few hundred yards right through the middle of the tourists drinking around the pool. He was doing it in purpose to use them as human shields. Skidding to a halt at the gates he ordered Diana off the quad and grabbed hold of her, roughly pulling her slender frame in front of him and pinning her against his muscular body with his powerful arms. With his other hand he pushed the muzzle of his gun into her throat and began to walk backwards toward a Jeep Compass that skidded to a halt in front of them.

“Get back or I put a bullet through her neck!”

Riley waved Decker and Selena back. “Do as he says!”

“But…”

“Just do it!”

Kaleka opened the rear door and manhandled a sobbing Diana Silva into the large black SUV. Climbing in behind her, he slammed the door and a second later smoke poured from the rear wheel arches as the driver floored the throttle and spun the squealing tires.

Decker and the others were helpless as they watched the Compass racing away down the narrow road. At the end of it, the Jeep swerved hard and disappeared from sight altogether.

“Damn it all!” Selena cried out. She turned around in a circle and clasped her hands to her face. “I can’t believe we let them get away with Diana and the journal!”

“There’s nothing we can do here,” Decker said. “We need to check Charlie’s okay.”

They began the long walk back to Charlie at the other end of the beach. “He’s not going to believe we screwed this up,” Selena said.

“And what the hell do we do now?” Riley said. “She could be anywhere.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Decker said. “That Kaleka guy — he said something about returning to Jambudvipa — is that right?”

“Shit — you’re onto something there, mate,” Riley said. “Jambudvipa — that’s what he said, all right.”

Decker turned to Selena, but she was already on her iPhone.

“What is it with babes and iPhones?” Riley said.

Selena stopped and looked at him. “I’m sorry, I missed that.”

Riley looked sheepish for a second. An experienced commando he surely was, but he was also a young man who never knew when to shut up. “Er… just sayin’ you’re sort of addicted to the thing and I wonder what you’d do if there was no signal. Cold turkey or something?”

“I know somewhere around here where there’s no signal. Would you like me to ram it up there to test your hypothesis?”

Decker cracked a smile but looked away.

“Sorry, Lena,” Riley said.

“Apology pending review,” she said sharply. “And in the meantime, looky-here.”

She held up the phone and showed them an image of the biggest yacht any of them had ever seen.

“What the hell is that?” Riley said. “A floating palace?”

“Pretty much,” Selena said. “This is the world’s biggest superyacht — Jambudvipa… apparently it’s from an old Sanskrit word meaning island or continent.”

Decker shook his head. “Modest. I like that.”

“I thought that was the Azzam?” Riley said. “Owned by the President of Qatar.”

“No,” said Selena. “Apparently not, and according to this the Azzam is owned by the President of the United Arab Emirates, not Qatar.”

The Australian shrugged “A bloke can’t know everything.”

“The Azzam is nearly six hundred feet long, but the Jambudvipa is six-hundred and fifty feet long. That makes this guy the lucky winner of the world’s biggest yacht.”

She held up the phone again and showed them both a picture of a man in a black tuxedo. He was at some kind of official event, standing on a red carpet and offering the camera an obviously fake smile.

“Who the fuck is that?” Riley said. “Talk about wooden — I’ve seen more life in an animatronic Disney dinosaur.”

“Allow me to introduce you to Rakesh Madan.”

“Wait,” Decker said. “I know that guy — I recognize the name but not the face. Isn’t he some kind of steel magnate or something?”

“No,” Selena shook her head. “He’s a tech guru — famous for satellite design, apparently. He also happens to be one of the richest men in India, and by extension, the entire world.”

Riley scratched his head. “And this arse-munch is the guy yanking Kaleka’s strings, am I right?”

“This arse-munch, as you put it, is the owner of Jambudvipa, so my guess is yes.”

“Jesus. Where’s she moored?”

“In the Gateway to India marina in Mumbai.”

As they walked the final few steps up to the hospital, Selena slipped her phone into her pocket and turned to the American. “Mr Decker, I have a miniscule, trifling favor to ask you.”

“Oh, God… not again.”

“Just to Mumbai — that’s all.”

As she spoke, Charlie Valentine walked out the door with a big smile on his face and his arm tied up in bandages. “Evenin’ all!”

Decker looked at Charlie, and then glanced back to Riley and finally to the proud face of Selena Moore. He put his hands in his pocket and focussed on the horizon for a second or two and then gave a deep sigh. “Just to Mumbai, and no farther.”