Andy McDermott - The Tomb Of Hercules

To their deaths.

The diamond mine’s processing plant was similar in function to the one in the secret uranium mine-only on a vastly larger scale.

The enormous trucks dumped their loads onto broad conveyors, which directed the hundreds of tons of rubble brought by each vehicle into a series of gargantuan crushers, each of which could swallow one of the house-size trucks with room to spare. Stone was smashed into smaller and smaller fragments at each stage, washed and shaken through ever finer filters, until nothing was left but dust…

And diamonds. The hardest naturally occurring substance on earth was the only thing able to withstand the relentless pounding of the machines. Under constant security, the precious stones were taken into a closed section of the plant for grading.

There was security at the crushers too-raw diamonds could simply be jolted loose from the rubble and drop onto the floor-but the guards normally on duty had been relieved on the direct orders of the mine’s owner. Any questions were forestalled by the promise of a bonus in the next paycheck. Whatever went on inside the huge building for the next few minutes, it was no longer their business.

Fang led the way into an elevator cage, which took the group to a gantry overlooking the crushers. By the time it reached the top, Chase was recovering from the blow to his head, though still groggy. “Are you okay?” Nina asked.

“I’ve been better.” He looked down as a truck tipped out the contents of its dumper, rocks and dirt rising up the conveyor before cascading into the jaws of the crusher. Car-size boulders exploded under the relentless pressure of the machinery within. “Going to feel a lot worse in a minute, though.”

Fang slipped his black cane under one arm as he took out a silenced pistol. “You have two choices,” he said as the guards carrying Chase dumped him on the gantry floor. “Either you can be shot in the head and then thrown into the crusher. Or,” he added as Nina helped Chase stand, “you can do something stupid, be shot in the stomach , and then thrown into the crusher. While you’re still alive.”

“How about option C?” Chase asked. “Holiday for two in the Caribbean, and not being thrown into the crusher?”

Fang smiled. “I’m afraid not. On your knees.”

The three other guards all had their guns at the ready, moving back just out of striking range. Chase woozily weighed the odds. The only person he had a chance of reaching before being gunned down was Fang, and it might be worth it just to take the ponytailed bastard into the crusher with him…

But that would leave Nina alone. And he didn’t want the last thing she saw to be his bullet-riddled corpse, the last emotions she felt to be grief and anguish.

He turned to her. “Nina. I…” The words he had in his mind didn’t want to emerge. “It’s been an experience,” was all that came out.

Nina shot him a disbelieving look. “Is that all you’ve got to say? They’re going to kill us, and the best you can manage is ‘It’s been an experience’?”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” He knew, but for some reason couldn’t speak the words.

Her eyes filled with sadness, even through the fear.

“Eddie…”

Fang moved to stand behind them. He raised his gun, aiming at the back of Chase’s head. His finger tightened on the trigger-

The head of one of the guards exploded , spraying the man next to him with chunks of jagged bone and brain matter. A moment later, the unmistakable crack! of a high-powered rifle reached them, the bullet having hit its target at supersonic speed.

Fang spun to hunt for the origin of the shot, hunching down behind one of the other men-

The back of a second guard’s head blew out in a pink mist as a bullet hit him precisely between the eyes.

Chase looked down the length of the huge building. No sign of the shooter.

A third shot. The man Fang was using as cover flew backwards, blood gushing from the wound that had blossomed over his heart. He tumbled over the railing to land in the crusher and burst apart like the pulverized rocks.

Realizing he was exposed, Fang dropped and grabbed Nina around the neck. He pulled her up, turning so she was between him and the unseen sniper. “Don’t try anything, Chase,” he warned, stepping diagonally across the gantry, cane squeezed under his gun arm. “Tell your friend to put down his gun, or I’ll kill her.”

“I don’t even know who he is!” Chase protested. He now had a good idea where the shots had come from, but still hadn’t seen the shooter.

Fang jammed the gun into Nina’s back. “Tell him, now, or-”

Nina grabbed the head of his cane, pulled-

And stabbed the sword back into Fang’s side.

Fang howled, reflexively writhing away from the pain as he pulled the trigger.

The bullet shot between Nina’s arm and her torso, hot gas searing her skin. But despite the pain she was already moving, releasing the sword and twisting at the waist to smash her elbow into Fang’s jaw. Dazed, spitting blood, he staggered back-

Chase punched him in the face. The blow was so hard that Fang’s feet actually left the floor before he crashed against the guardrail. He teetered for a moment, almost falling over the edge, then collapsed on top of one of the dead guards.

“You okay?” Chase asked Nina, picking up a fallen pistol.

“Yeah, but…” She looked at the bodies. “What the hell just happened?”

“Dunno, but I’m pretty fucking happy that it did!” He looked down the plant again, finally spotting the sniper silhouetted in a distant skylight. Tough angle, Chase realized-whoever he was, he was an outstanding shot.

The sniper moved. For a moment Chase got a look at him-a tall, muscular black man, glints of reflected sunlight from a row of piercings on his bald head-then he was gone.

Nina rubbed her aching elbow. “Ow. That move never hurt as much when we practiced it…”

“I’m just glad you remembered how to do it. Come on.”

She quickly followed Chase to the elevator.

The sound of rifle fire had carried all the way to the area behind the stage, where Yuen was talking to President Molowe and Minister of Trade and Industry Kamletese. Soldiers immediately surrounded Molowe and pushed him down, while others spread out, weapons raised, searching for signs of danger. Yuen’s own guards moved to shield their boss.

“What was that?” asked Kamletese, worried.

Yuen looked in the direction of the processing plant. “Some people were caught earlier trying to breach security,” he said, thinking fast. “I’d been told they were under arrest. Apparently, I was misinformed. Mr. President, you should stay out of sight until they’ve been dealt with. I’ll find out what’s going on.”

Molowe nodded, then with a human cordon around him went back to the marquee as Yuen and two of his men raced for the administration building. The president paused at the entrance to the tent. “Go with him, find out what’s happening,” he ordered Kamletese.

The portly politician blinked. “Me?”

“Yes, you! Go on!” Molowe disappeared inside the marquee, leaving the flustered Kamletese to stand there under the glares of the soldiers guarding the entrance before he hurried off in Yuen’s wake.

“What do we do now?” Nina asked as she and Chase ran towards the open end of the processing plant.

“We’ve got to find Sophia. Then we get the fuck out of here!”

“Can’t we, you know, do it the other way around?” Chase frowned at her in disbelief. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Yes! Yuen won’t hurt her, I could tell. You can get her later!”

“I’m not leaving her with that twat,” Chase insisted. They emerged into daylight, squinting at the brightness. “Okay, we need some wheels.”