Andy McDermott - The Tomb Of Hercules

Chase could see the station now off to the right, the metal and glass facade of the terminal building in front of the huge elevated steel tube housing the actual platforms. The helicopter drifted sideways from the road, descending towards the concourse.

Last chance-

He revved the struggling engine and peeled away between the stalled vehicles, Sophia’s arms tight around his waist. The helicopter kept the spotlight pointed at them as they reached the approach to the station. The main entrance was at the base of a convex glass wall halfway along the building-but the chopper was now hovering right in front of it, blocking their way.

“Whatever you do,” Chase shouted to Sophia, “keep your head down!”

He changed direction, heading away from the entrance, straight for the wall of the terminal-and pulled out the gun to fire at the windows.

The glass burst into a billion fragments and cascaded downwards like jagged rain just before the moped hurtled through it.

Chase found himself in an office, most of the desks empty but some night workers still screaming and flinging themselves clear as he raced past.

Another window at the far end-

He pulled the trigger again-and got only a dry click .

“Hold on to me!” he yelled as the moped rushed at the window. Sophia’s grip tightened. “Jump!”

They dived off the bike, Chase taking the brunt of the impact as he hit the floor with Sophia on top of him. The riderless moped crashed through the window and skidded across the enclosed concourse beyond before finally toppling over and coming to a halt.

“You okay?” Chase asked.

“Yes, I think so,” said Sophia, standing and brushing off a few stray splinters of glass.

Wincing in pain, Chase staggered upright. He glanced down at Sophia’s bare feet, then before she could protest hoisted her over his shoulder once more and lumbered through the broken window.

They emerged on the far side of the passenger turnstiles, station staff looking on in astonishment at the wrecked moped and shattered glass. Chase reached into his jacket with his free hand. “Got my tickets here, no need to check them!” he shouted, waving them in the air. He hurried up the nearest escalator to the platform before anyone thought to try to stop them.

A train was waiting, a long gleaming metal caterpillar. There were no wheels, the whole thing floating just above the track, levitated by a magnetic field. The Shanghai maglev was currently the longest railway of its kind in the world-and it was also the fastest passenger service of any kind in the world. The nineteen-mile journey between the Shanghai terminal and Pudong airport southeast of the city took just seven minutes, at its fastest the monorail hitting 430 kilometers per hour.

Faster, Chase knew, than any helicopter.

He hurried to the nearest door, just behind the blunt curve of the train’s rear cab, and put Sophia back down on her feet before ushering her inside. The doors closed behind them. They attracted more than a few curious looks from other passengers as they moved up the car to find seats. Looking down at himself, he realized that his tuxedo was smeared with mud, its sleeves ripped and glinting with fragments of glass.

“So much for my James Bond look,” he said sadly as the train began to move.

Sophia squeezed his hand. “You’re far better than James Bond,” she assured him with a smile. He smiled back, then looked out of the window. Even though it had only been in motion for a matter of seconds, the train was already emerging from the steel cocoon of the station, accelerating with an almost unsettling smoothness, literally gliding along the track.

And rising up alongside the elevated track was Yuen’s helicopter, the spotlight sweeping along the length of the train. Hunting for them.

Finding them. Locking on…

For just a moment. Then the train began to draw away, outpacing the chopper despite the pilot’s best efforts to keep up.

Chase used one hand to block out the spotlight, making out Yuen in the copilot’s seat. He gave him a cheerful wave. Even as the helicopter fell back, Yuen’s expression of fury was clear.

But there was nothing he could do to stop them now, short of opening fire on the maglev. And however big Yuen’s business, however many friends he had in the Chinese government, riddling the country’s most prestigious technological wonder with bullets was not something he could easily brush off.

The train kept accelerating, glowing green LED displays in the ceiling of the car giving its speed. Already past 150 kilometers per hour, 200, and still rising fast.

The glare of the spotlight disappeared; Yuen’s helicopter had been left eating dust.

Chase turned back to Sophia. She had come through the experience in better condition than he, grass stains on her dress and a few small cuts on her bare arms the only damage. “Are you all right?” he asked anyway.

“I’m fine.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Eddie. Thanks for helping me. I knew you’d come.”

“I couldn’t really say no, could I? But try not to make a habit of it.”

Sophia smiled. “I’ll try.” She sat back, looking out of the window as the outskirts of Shanghai whipped past in the darkness. “So now what?”

“Now? We get to the airport, I pick up the rest of my stuff from a locker, then we get on a plane and go back to the States.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. Working for the U.N. can be pretty boring… but there are some perks. Once we’re in the air I’ll call my boss at the IHA. Then we can find out just how deep in the shit your husband’s got himself.”

He thought about the flash drive in Sophia’s handbag. What did Yuen want with the IHA’s files, and what was his connection to the sinking of the SBX platform over Atlantis?

More to the point, what was Yuen’s interest in him-and Nina? He felt a brief flash of guilt for not having thought about her, wondering if she was all right.

She was probably fine, he decided. Whatever she was doing, it could hardly compare to what he’d just been through…

Nina picked her way as fast as she dared along the dark tunnel, cold water splashing up her legs. From the smell, she assumed that a sewer was leaking into the passage. Every so often she heard flurries of movement-rats scuttling away from her.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been running or how far she’d traveled from City Hall station-only that it wasn’t far enough. While the narrow tunnel twisted, it only went in one direction. Barred gates blocked every side passage, leaving nowhere she could hide from her pursuers.

And they were getting closer. By closing the hatch in the abandoned station she had given herself a little extra time as they checked the stairs… but realizing there was no way out, they hadn’t taken long to guess where she’d gone.

Her arms ached as much as her legs. The book was getting heavier, sharp edges digging into her flesh. But she couldn’t get rid of it even if she wanted to, couldn’t simply drop it so her hunters could take what they were after. It was still locked to her wrist.

Another turn. Nina rounded it, hoping to see an exit, or at least other passages to confuse the men behind her. But there was nothing except more feeble lights on the arched brick ceiling pointing her way further into the darkness.

And more water. The tunnel dipped before leveling out again, the stagnant pool at her feet becoming deeper. Somewhere ahead she could hear a low hiss of flowing water.

Running became harder, a layer of sticky ooze beneath the filthy surface engulfing her feet at each step. It felt like a childhood nightmare come to life, the sensation of trying to run through quicksand.