Adam Baker - Juggernaut

‘Have we reached the end of the tunnel?’ asked Amanda.

‘Feels like we’ve been walking forever,’ said Toon. ‘There better be gold at the end of this fucking rainbow, Jabril. Don’t put me through this for nothing.’

They kept walking. The tunnel mouth. Dazzling light.

‘This is it, said Jabril. ‘Our destination. We’ve reached the valley.’

They walked out of darkness into fierce sunlight. Cool tunnel air suddenly replaced by intense oven heat.

They shielded their eyes from the sudden glare.

Voss lazed in the doorway of Talon . He pulled down the brim of his cap and lay the shotgun across his lap.

Gaunt and Raphael sat in the doorway of Bad Moon . They had stripped out of Nomex flight suits and dressed in camo gear. They sipped lukewarm bottled water.

‘Reckon he’s sleeping?’ asked Gaunt.

‘No. He’s wide awake. He’s watching us. Been watching the whole time.’

Gaunt fanned himself with his boonie hat. He dabbed sweat from his face with a handkerchief.

Raphael swilled and spat.

‘The man is a stone killer,’ said Raphael. ‘I can see it in his face. See that shotgun? See that big-ass knife? He’s a farm boy. Used to gutting. Used to slaughter. Butcher you up real good. Wouldn’t think twice.’

‘He won’t be a problem,’ said Gaunt. ‘Just have to pick our moment.’

‘You okay with this? You were in the corps. But did you ever whack a guy? Do it up close and for real?’

‘Don’t worry about me. My hand is steady.’

‘So how do you want to work this?’

‘Might as well wait for them to find the gold,’ said Gaunt. ‘Do the grunt work. Locate the truck and crack it open. Then we hit them fast. Don’t give them time to react.’

‘How do you know Koell won’t pull the same shit soon as we get back to Baghdad? Pop a cap in our ass soon as we deliver the goods?’

‘He jumped us once. I’m not going to let him jump us again. Next time we meet, he’ll be the fuck with a gun pressed to his balls.’

‘Damn,’ said Lucy.

Toon crossed himself.

‘The Valley of Tears,’ said Jabril.

A natural amphitheatre a mile wide. A bowl, like a vast lunar crater. An alien landscape. Wind had shaped the sandstone outcrops of the high valley walls into sinister ossiferous lips and knuckles.

A squat citadel dominated the valley floor.

Stillness and sun-blasted silence.

‘What the fuck are we looking at? A fortress?’

‘A necropolis. A sacred city dedicated to the worship of the dead.’

High ramparts surrounded a maze of temple precincts. Forecourts, toppled colonnades and crumbled cloisters. At the centre of the labyrinth of half-tumbled masonry stood a huge, pillared edifice resembling the Parthenon. The entrance to the temple complex was a breach in the perimeter wall flanked by two high guard towers.

‘What’s that big building at the centre?’

‘Some say it is the Temple of Marduk. A powerful Babylonian deity. God of gods. Creator of the universe.’

‘How old is this place?’

‘The temple might have been built in the reign of the Akkadian kings five thousand years ago.’

‘How come I’ve never seen pictures of this place?’ asked Lucy.

‘This desert has been a war zone since time began. It doesn’t attract many tourists. Maybe one day there will be toilets and a gift shop. Somehow I doubt it. Something about this place. Something oppressive. People will always stay away.’

‘So where’s the bullion?’

Jabril pointed towards the citadel. The hulks of innumerable military supply vehicles lay in front of the temple gateway. Trucks, Jeeps, APCs and civilian sedans. They were smashed and carbonised, buckled and burned black.

‘The bank truck was part of that convoy.’

Lucy refocused her binoculars.

‘Got to be two, three acres of scrap. Burned to a fucking crisp. What the hell happened?’

‘As I told you. The battalion was ordered to return to Baghdad and join the fight against the Americans. Some officers were anxious to obey. Patriots and party zealots. Others were less eager to die for a lost cause. They wanted to wait out the war. And they wanted the gold. They intended to sit by their radios, wait until they heard news of surrender and armistice, then emerge from the canyon. They could each return to their families rich men. There was a mutiny. People quickly took sides. Some swore to honour their oath of allegiance. Some tore up their party cards and stamped them in the dust. A civil war ensued.’

‘Looks like those trucks got hit by fucking napalm. Sure there wasn’t an air strike?’

‘The gun battle must have punctured fuel tanks and ignited gasoline. Tight-packed vehicles engulfed by a violent firestorm. Don’t worry. The gold will be safe inside the cash truck. Protected from the flames by thick armour plate.’

Lucy slung her rifle over her shoulder.

‘All right, then. Let’s go get rich.’

Doc ID:575JD5

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08/23/05

MEMORANDUM TO:Project Lead, D.Ops

SUBJECT:Spektr

Colonel,

We have received word that the incursion team have reached the SPEKTR site. The advance party entered Valley 403 at 15:00.

11th Recon Squad will provide Predator over-watch of the valley. We have eyes-on-target until nightfall. We should shortly have our first site assessment from our man on the ground.

I appreciate your concerns with regard to the possible spread of infection. Steps have been taken to ensure the virus does not escape the contamination zone. We are currently liaising with Technical Services and our flight crew at the clandestine logistics base in Sharjah. I am confident we have sufficient assets on standby to initiate the CLEANSWEEP protocol should radical containment measures be required.

I shall keep you fully informed, as per your orders.

The valley floor. Fierce sunlight. A wide basin like a lunar crater. Heat rippled from the rocks. The citadel rose out of shimmering mirage distortion, like an island city at the centre of a lake.

Lucy, Huang and Toon walked towards the citadel. Each footfall kicked up a plume of dust.

‘Might as well wave a fucking flag,’ said Toon.

‘Doing okay?’ asked Lucy.

Toon dripped sweat. He looked exhausted.

‘Fucking peachy.’

‘Smile,’ said Huang. ‘We could be kiss-my-ass rich by sundown.’

‘Let’s spend our last working day like professionals,’ said Lucy. ‘Thorough sweep of the ruins before we start messing with the convoy.’

They walked in the shadow of the high, buttressed perimeter wall. Lucy stroked the massive blocks with a gloved hand. She hit the pressel switch of her radio.

‘Jabril. You there?’

‘ I can hear you. ’

‘Where did they get the stone to build this place?’

‘ The only archaeological survey of this site was done in eighteen ninety-one by a German Assyriologist called HV Hilprecht. There’s a chapter in his Exploration of Bible Lands. The temple is granite. If it had been constructed from local limestone, it would have crumbled to powder centuries ago. Hilprecht says the stones were quarried five hundred miles south near Jalibah. It’s hard to comprehend the time and manpower involved. ’