The Hunt for Shambhala

35

The team attacked in the measured, deadly fury that was the hallmark of Special Forces the world over. Decker and Selena were starting to know what each other was thinking, and thanks to Inspector Banerjee they were now kitted up with tactical headsets and had a team of men from the West Bengal Anti-Terrorism Squad fighting alongside them.

Breaking through the perimeter fence had been easy in the dusk. The heated alloy jaws of the pro bolt cutter made short work of the job and soon their truck was through the hole and they were racing across the field. Security was mainly focused on the launch pad so when the team stormed the Control Center five kilometres to the west they knew they had the advantage and were ready to take Madan’s guards by surprise.

For Decker, all of this brought back memories of the conflicts he had fought in as an officer in the US Marines — memories he thought would never resurface. Like loading the gun, he guessed, there were some things you just couldn’t forget about or walk away from, no matter how hard you tried.

Closing in now, and shadowing Banerjee and the other soldiers, Decker reached for his gun and drew it from the holster. Rounding the corner of the staff parking block, they crouch-walked across the open service area. A jumble of support buildings were dead ahead and now they weaved in and out of the shadows as they drew closer to the main launch control center.

Inside now, they sprinted for the control room with Charlie, Banerjee and his men making for the south entrance while Gurung led Decker, Selena and Johar to the north.

Decker and Selena sprinted down the corridor leading to the north entrance, a few paces behind Gurung, when a man in a black boiler suit emerged from a doorway halfway along. A submachine gun was over his shoulder, and when he saw the invading force he reached around for it.

Gurung lunged forward and grabbed him, wrenching the gun away and throwing it to the floor before drawing a combat knife from his belt and forcing it hard into the man’s ribcage.

Selena gasped and turned horrified eyes on Decker as the man slid to the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

“Move on!” Gurung ordered.

“Come on!” said Johar, sensing Selena’s fear.

They got to the end of the narrow corridor and reached the entrance to the control room. It was serviced by a short flight of steps and also a shallow ramp. Gurung sprinted up the steps while Decker, Selena and Johar ran up the ramp, but before they reached the door they all heard the sound of gunfire emanating from inside the room.

“Banerjee’s made his assault!” Gurung said.

“Hold it right there!”

They spun around to see another man in a similar boiler suit. He was standing in the same doorway where the first man had exited, and was holding a pistol.

Decker, Johar and Gurung obeyed and dropped their guns, but they were standing in front of Selena. All three men slowly raised their hands. The American lowered his voice to a whisper so only Selena could hear him. “When I drop, you fire.”

“Got it.”

A tense moment followed and then Decker dropped to the ground.

Selena fired, and gasped when the gun’s recoil flung her arm back. She struck the man in the chest and he dropped like a sack of rocks. She gasped. The noise and power of the thing, plus the smell of the burned powder and gun oil was still new to her.

And she didn’t like killing the man, but there was no time to think. A third man leaned out of the doorway and raised his gun into the aim.

Selena fired her gun again, this time braced for the recoil. She missed, but the bullet hit the doorway and blasted a shower of plaster all over the man who ducked back inside for cover.

Decker, Johar and Gurung had time to snatch up their weapons and return fire on the man, peppering the doorway with rounds as they retreated into the north entrance of the control room.

Inside the vast space the fighting was fierce but contained to the area around the south entrance. Madan was standing on a mezzanine above the chaos, and making final preparations for the launch while a small army of men were pinning Banerjee and Charlie down behind a steel staircase near the door.

One of Madan’s men threw a grenade at them. The explosion blasted Inspector Banerjee off his feet and hurled him into the far wall, smashing his skull into the concrete and killing him instantly. Charlie was also flung back but he survived the blast. He staggered up to his feet and blood surged through his shirt as he looked down to check the shrapnel wound.

Seconds later the area was swarming with Madan’s men. One of them struck Charlie on the head and knocked him out.

“Charlie!” Selena cried out. She started to rush forward but Decker grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“Wait — Madan’s armed!”

Gurung charged forward to avenge his superior, but he had failed to notice that Madan himself was now armed high up on his balcony.

“Gurung! Decker yelled. “Look out!”

It was too late. The Indian billionaire had pulled a revolver from one of the control desks and now fired all six bullets into the counter-terror agent as he tried to sprint up the steps leading to the mezzanine.

The bullets raked across Gurung’s chest and fired out of his back, tearing through him as if he were made of papier maché. He collapsed back over the banister rail and slid down a few steps before stopping grimly halfway down the staircase, flopped over like a bloody scarecrow.

“He’s dead!” Selena said.

“As are you…”

Kaleka was at their backs now, flanked by two men and all three of them were holding automatic weapons aimed at the intruders. “Lower your guns!” he yelled.

Decker, Selena and Johar looked at Gurung’s dead body, hanging limp over the rail and shared a glance of fear before slowly complying.

“Bring them here!” Madan ordered. “I want them to see this.”

As they trudged up the stairs, they met the goons dragging the unconscious Charlie Valentine the other way, and when they were assembled at the top, with at least ten guns trained on them, Madan lowered his revolver and smiled.

“Good,” he said. “You impress me with your ability to cheat death, but I think this time you have run out of luck…”

“You murdering son of a bitch, Madan!” Decker said. “You just brought down two good men!”

“If you think that’s impressive, just wait until I bring down your civilization.”

“You’re forgetting about Kuan,” Selena said calmly. “You think what you love is safe because your targets are America, Europe and the Far East — but Kuan’s going to detonate that weapon in Varanasi.”

Madan turned to face her. “I have my best men in pursuit of Lee Kuan,” he said coolly. “They will get to him before the authorities. Their orders are to execute him for his treachery and return the nuclear device to me here. Kuan concerns me not at all. The only destruction caused today will be ordered by me when I annihilate everything you have ever known.” He turned to the men at the control desks. “Initiate the launch sequence at once!”