The Hunt for Shambhala

32

When they reached the surface it was to see both of Madan’s Bell LongRangers swooping away from the riverbank and turning south toward the Yadong Valley.

Decker was all fight. He rolled up his sleeves and sprinted down to the RIB. “We’re not stopping now!” he called back over his shoulder. Moments later they were speeding the rigid inflatable south along the river — this time in the direction of flow so they were going much faster.

Riley greedily snatched up the Remington and began loading it. “I’m feeding bitch till its guts burst!”

“He has a real way with words, doesn’t he?” Decker said to Selena.

“He has a big heart though,” she said.

“A big heart is an easy target,” said Decker.

Madan’s choppers were staying low so they could take pot-shots at the Avalon crew and now Kaleka turned in the rear seat of his helicopter and leaned half out the open door. In his hands he gripped a submachine gun and he was bringing it into the aim. He pushed the stock into his shoulder and fired a long burst of fire at Decker’s RIB. Bullets ripped through the surface of the rushing water as the Indian’s line of fire danced devilishly closer to the RIB’s bow.

“Get down!” Decker yelled.

Riley lifted the Remington and returned fire. The rushing rapids softened the sound of the shotgun blasts as they echoed off the canyon walls either side of their boat, but they were moving too fast and his shots missed the target.

Kaleka corrected his aim and now his bullets struck the bow and ripped along the portside gunwale. Diana screamed and buried her head in her hands and Charlie loosed a string of curses.

Decker was trying to steer the boat and keep his head below the firing line at the same time, and then Riley suddenly stopped firing and swore loudly.

“What’s the problem?” Decker said, keeping his eyes fixed on the river.

“Jammed!” Riley un-jammed the gun and returned fire. Empty shells flashed in the sunlight as the ejector port spat them out over the side of the RIB. A few seconds later he swore once again, this time even louder. “Damn thing’s not extracting properly!” Riley said

“What?” Selena said.

“Ejector’s jammed. Give me a second.”

Riley dropped to the floor of the boat while Charlie and Johar covered him with their pistols. He removed the barrel lug and took the barrel off the stock. Then he removed the bolt and the extractor and cradled it in his hands while he pulled a Swiss Army Knife from his back pocket.

“How long, Riley?” Charlie said. “I can’t keep these guys busy with a pistol for long.”

“Not long.”

“Thank God,” Johar said.

He pushed down on the extractor depressor plunger with the screwdriver in his pocket knife and pushed the extractor spring back until the lug came up under it. He took out the extractor and wiped the packing grease from it and gave it a quick polish.

“That’s the bolt sorted,” he said.

“Hurry up, Riley!”

His hands worked fast.

“You’ve done this before,” Diana said.

“Looks like a second he got cheap,” he said, shooting Decker a quick glance. “But yeah.”

“That was money well saved,” Charlie said. “We nearly got killed!”

Riley spun around and raised the shotgun, firing a second later. The round struck the side of the second chopper and shattered the cockpit window. “Need to polish the chamber when we get back too,” he said casually.

The pilot in Madan’s back-up chopper struggled to see through the shattered glass which gave Riley another chance. He seized it with both hands, firing round after round in rapid succession at the blinded helicopter hovering above them.

Striking the side of the chopper, the pilot spun around in an evasive manoeuvre but in his panic he hit the side of the canyon with the tail boom. The tail rotor scrapped into the rock and jammed up and then the whole bird spun wildly out of control and fell sharply out of the sky. It piled into the side of the river at the bottom of the canyon in a crumpled heap of twisted metal and bent rotor blades.

Decker screeched past the wreckage a second later, still swerving and dodging the fire raining down from Kaleka’s submachine gun up in Madan’s lead chopper. They passed the crippled helicopter on the river bank and saw the men inside desperately clambering their way out. A heartbeat later the helicopter exploded in a fierce fireball. Some of the crew were still trapped inside and they heard their screams receding into the rushing noise of the rapids as they continued on their way down the river.

Ahead of them, Madan increased speed and swerved violently to the left to miss an outcrop jutting over the edge of the canyon. They watched as he narrowly missed the obstacle and Kaleka leaned out once more with his freshly reloaded weapon.

“Rocks!” Selena yelled.

Decker looked from the chopper above his head down to the river and saw a pile of jagged, razor-sharp rocks protruding from the center of the river. He spun the wheel over to the right and the boat turned fast, almost tipping them out into the fast-moving water. “Thanks for the advanced warning!”

“I did my best, Mr Decker,” Selena called back. “I’m a museum curator not a ship’s lookout.”

As she spoke, they all heard a low, grinding noise coming from the bottom of the RIB and then a long, thin crack appeared on the starboard side of the boat. “Thanks,” the American drawled. “I think you just made your point.”

Charlie dived down to get a closer look at the crack. “It’s not great news but it’s not big enough to sink us… for a while.”

Carried fast down the river by the speeding white water, they watched helplessly as Kaleka emptied his magazine at their wounded boat and drilled the side of the hull full of holes. Then Madan spun the chopper around and flew up out of the canyon, vanishing over the edge and leaving nothing behind except the gently fading echo of the rotors as it reverberated off the rock walls beneath.

Their boat was sinking fast, so they swam ashore, soaked to the skin and all their weapons and ammo dripping with river water. Like so many drowned rats, they crawled up onto the gravelly riverbank and heaved the air back into their lungs.

“That’s just bloody fantastic!” Selena managed to say in between gasps.

“You’re telling me,” Riley said. “Bastard’s got clean away with the magic nuke potion and us silly buggers are literally up the creek without a paddle!”

“It’s only an hour to the Avalon,” Decker said, tipping water out of his hat and sighing. “If we get our asses in gear we still have a shot.”

“You think we can catch him?” Diana said.

“I think we can get to the authorities in time to tell them about his plans, sure.”

Charlie was first to his feet. “That’s presuming his men don’t find the Avalon and blow her to matchwood.”

“Yes,” Decker said sullenly. “Presuming my plane isn’t about to get turned into matchwood.”