Andy Mcdermott - Temple of the Gods

The elder Chase dropped down with a grunt as Nina and Eddie entered the lava tube. It was smaller and steeper than the one through which they had entered, the air within as choking as a poisonous sauna. But it was their only hope of survival. Eddie recovered his torch from a pocket and shone it ahead. The tunnel wormed away into darkness. ‘Can’t tell how long it is,’ he said.

‘It goes up, that’s the main thing,’ Nina replied. ‘How fast can you move?’

‘Faster than that fucking lava, I hope.’ He set off in a limping half-walk, half-run, Nina supporting him by his uninjured arm. Larry caught up and they hurried along the passage, which shuddered around them. Ominous crunching sounds came from the walls and ceiling, dust and grit dropping from newly formed cracks.

‘This whole place is going to come down!’ said Larry between coughs. ‘We’ll never make it.’

‘Oi!’ snapped Eddie. ‘Less of that — we will bloody make it. Know why? ’Cause I’m not having my niece go to three funerals on the same day!’

Abashed, Larry picked up the pace. Nina looked ahead. ‘I can see daylight!’

‘And I can see stuff falling in front of it,’ said Eddie in alarm. Larger pieces of rubble were dropping from the ceiling. ‘Both of you, run! Go on, get out!’

‘We’re not leaving you,’ said Nina — at the same moment as Larry. They exchanged looks, then carried Eddie between them towards the oval of light ahead.

A loud boom echoed up the tunnel as part of the ceiling caved in. There was a sharp crackling noise like the opening of a gigantic zipper — and suddenly they were inundated by dust as a gash split open along the length of the roof. ‘Oh, fuck!’ yelled Eddie, the pain in his leg forgotten as he broke into a panicked run. ‘Go, go, go !’

Nina and Larry didn’t need to be prompted. All three charged for the exit. More ground-shaking thumps like a pursuing giant’s footfalls came from behind as the entire tunnel collapsed section by section, displaced air shrieking past. A rock hit Nina hard on one shoulder, but she kept running for the light.

They reached it — and found nothing under their feet as they burst from the tunnel.

It opened on to a steep slope near the volcano’s summit, another landslide having torn away the barricade the Atlanteans had built to block it. Flailing and wailing, the trio arced through the air amidst flying debris before hitting the ground. Larry immediately tripped, Eddie managing a few loping steps before he too stumbled. Nina lasted longest, but even she couldn’t keep her balance on the treacherous surface. They rolled down the hillside before finally slithering to a stop on a shallower ledge.

Nina groaned as a dozen new bruises made themselves known. She sat up and discovered that her camera had caused at least one of them. Its lens had broken off, black dust trickling out of the body. She looked round at a moan from nearby. ‘Larry?’

He lay on his back, one hand over another cut on his head. ‘I’m — I’m all right,’ he mumbled. ‘But I think I’ll just stay here for a while.’ The ground shook, loose stones rattling. He hurriedly sat up. ‘Or maybe not.’

‘Where’s Eddie?’

‘Over here.’ She turned and saw her husband sprawled against a large rock. He gave her a pained grin. ‘Give us a hand, will you?’ As she helped him up, he looked towards the summit. The plume of steam that had been rising from the crater when they arrived was now much bigger — and darker.

‘You were right,’ said Larry as he stood. ‘We made it!’

Another tremor rocked the mountainside. ‘Yeah, but we’re still standing on a volcano that’s about to go Krakatoa,’ Eddie reminded him. ‘We can’t be too far from where we went in, so the Land Rover should be that way.’ He pointed downhill.

‘If your ex hasn’t taken it,’ said Larry.

Nina started down the slope, Eddie following. ‘How would she know where we left it?’ he said.

‘We landed right next to it,’ Larry replied.

‘You came in a chopper?’ Eddie asked. His father nodded. ‘Did the pilot stay with it?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Saves us a drive, then.’

‘Again, if Sophia hasn’t taken it,’ Nina added. She pocketed the memory card before abandoning the broken camera. At least pictures of the Temple of the Gods would survive… if they could escape the eruption.

The ledge where they had left their vehicle came into view below; as Larry had said, the AW101 that had ferried the Group into the desert was waiting. The 4×4 itself, however, was not. ‘There!’ said Nina, pointing. The Land Rover was heading downhill. It dropped out of sight as it picked up speed.

‘Shit!’ Eddie spat. ‘That bitch took our ride!’

‘At least she left us the chopper…’

The helicopter’s rotors began to turn.

‘Damn it!’ said Nina. ‘I have got to stop with the fate-tempting!’

‘We can still make it!’ Larry said, overtaking the couple. ‘It took ages to get up to takeoff speed when we flew here.’

Eddie winced at the resurgent pain as he took his hand from his thigh to draw the gun. ‘I’ve got our boarding pass.’

Nina still supporting Eddie, they hurried towards the helicopter. Its rotors picked up speed, the shrill whine of its three Rolls-Royce engines rising. The rear ramp was still open; the pilot had apparently decided that getting off the ground before the volcano erupted outweighed standard operating procedure. ‘Come on, quick!’ cried Larry as he ran for the gaping entrance.

‘Dad, watch out!’ Eddie shouted. He was sure the pilot would be another of Stikes’s mercenaries — and unwilling to accept stowaways. He pulled free of Nina and raised the gun.

Larry reached the metal ramp and hurried up it. The passenger seats were all empty, tarpaulins bundled over the expedition’s supplies behind them.

The pilot was at the controls at the far end of the cabin. He looked back—

And drew a pistol.

Fear froze Larry’s muscles as the gun came round…

Eddie dived at him, knocking him down — and unleashed four shots in mid-air. Two punched through the cockpit windows … but the others hit their target. The pilot slumped over the console, making the helicopter lurch as the cyclic control stick was pushed forward beneath him.

Nina reached the foot of the ramp, seeing from the splatter of blood and brain matter on the windows that the pilot was no longer a threat. She vaulted the two men and hurried up the aisle to pull the dead mercenary back upright. The AW101 jolted again as the stick returned to the neutral position. ‘Are you okay?’ she called down the cabin.

Eddie pushed himself off his father. ‘Are you?’ he asked.

‘I… I think so,’ said Larry, breathing heavily. ‘My God! You…’ He regarded his son, wide-eyed. ‘Eddie, you saved my life. Thank you.’

Eddie feigned a casual shrug, but was unable to keep an appreciative smile off his face. ‘All part of the job. Come on.’ He stood, helping Larry up. The smile quickly faded as he regarded the red-tinged cockpit windows. ‘Buggeration and fuckery. Don’t suppose you know how to fly a chopper, do you?’

‘Well, er, funnily enough…’

‘You do ?’ Now it was the turn of Eddie’s eyes to widen. ‘Shit, come on! You’ve got to get us out of here!’ He pushed his father down the aisle.

Larry was already having second thoughts. ‘Okay, I’ve been at the controls of a chopper. The real pilot did all the hard stuff. Like taking off. And landing. I’ve only had about two hours’ experience in total.’

‘That’s two hours more than me and Nina. Do what you can.’ He guided his father to the empty co-pilot’s seat.