Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

‘Bastards,’ Eddie growled. He surveyed the area, but the soldiers who had committed the murders were gone. ‘The guards must’ve evacuated.’

‘Yeah, but they’re coming back!’ Nina said in alarm. A large elevator shaft was cut into the room’s side — and the cables within were moving.

‘Everyone with a gun, with me!’ Eddie shouted, running towards it. The armed prisoners followed as Ock relayed the command.

‘What are we doing?’ asked Nina.

‘If anyone gets out of that lift, we’re screwed, so we make sure no one gets out of that lift!’ He looked up the shaft, seeing the descending car less than a hundred feet above.

‘How?’

‘You ever heard of anyone wearing bulletproof shoes ?’ He opened the elevator’s wide gate as the large rectangular platform came towards them. It would only be seconds before it dropped below ceiling level and the soldiers aboard would be able to see out—

Eddie pointed his gun straight up and pulled the trigger, stitching a weaving line of bullet holes into the elevator’s underside. Nina followed suit, the Korean prisoners joining in. Splinters rained down on them as the wooden platform was perforated by a storm of metal. The cacophony was deafening, but even over the thunder of the guns they heard screams from above — which were cut off as the onslaught continued.

Magazines ran dry. The shooters pulled back as the elevator reached floor level — and continued past it, the soldier operating it slumped dead over the controls. ‘Oh bollocks!’ Eddie gasped, jumping down on to the platform and navigating the two dozen or so bullet-torn bodies to drag the man off and shove the large brass lever to the neutral position. The elevator stopped with a squealing jolt. He pushed it the other way to bring it back up, stopping with another clash from the cables. A couple of corpses flopped out grotesquely. ‘Basement!’ the Yorkshireman announced. ‘Perfume, stationery and garden tools. Going up!’

‘That’s great,’ said Nina, stepping with trepidation over the lacerated soldiers, ‘but now we’re out of ammo.’

Eddie tossed away his empty rifle and replaced it with a slightly bloodied one from the lift’s deceased passengers. ‘North Korea really is an arms supplier!’ The floor was riddled with holes, but the wood still seemed intact enough to take everyone’s weight. He kicked out more bodies to make sure, then waved everyone on to the platform. ‘All aboard!’

The prisoners stepped on to the elevator, some reacting with fear or revulsion at the dead men before the hope of freedom took over. Eddie operated the lever. A whine of motors somewhere high above, the cables singing, then it began its ascent.

‘They’re probably waiting for us at the top,’ said Nina, peering up the shaft. Patches of light marked the levels above.

‘I dunno,’ her husband replied. ‘How long is it since they gave the evac order? Ten minutes, twenty? If it was a radiation alarm, that’ll have encouraged everyone to get their arses outside pretty damn quick.’

‘It was radiation,’ Ock confirmed. ‘First they gave the order for soldiers and technicians to get out. Then Bok said to kill the prisoners. The elevators could not take everyone fast enough.’

‘This place is like an underground Titanic ,’ Nina muttered.

To her surprise, Ock almost smiled. ‘ Titanic . It is a good movie.’

‘You’ve seen it?’

‘On a DVD, smuggled from China. I watched it with my wife.’ The smile disappeared. ‘I hope she…’

‘We’ll try and find her,’ Eddie assured him. ‘But you’re right, Nina — this place is like the Titanic . ’Cause it’s gonna go down.’

‘How?’ she asked. ‘I forgot to pack my iceberg.’

‘Remember where they were building the missiles, on the top level? They were making fuel for ’em too. And I just happen to know,’ a sly smile, ‘that North Korea uses kerosene and some stuff called red fuming nitric acid for fuel in its Scud knock-offs. If they come into contact with each other…’ He spread his hands apart to mime an explosion.

The elevator rose through the next level, which had also been evacuated. ‘You want to blow up the base?’

‘Saves someone else doing it, doesn’t it? Seeing as they really were using it to make nukes.’

‘The nukes,’ Nina echoed. ‘Damn it, they’re probably on their way out of here already!’

‘Yeah, along with Mikkelsson. And his money, and his gold, and probably the bloody Crucible too — the small one, anyway. Hopefully the big one got buried when the particle accelerator blew up.’

‘Great. They can just start the whole process all over again. We’ve got to stop him.’

‘Let’s worry about getting out of here alive first, eh?’ He looked towards the approaching top of the shaft. ‘Okay, this is it. Anybody wearing a stupid big hat with a red star on it, shoot ’em!’ He waited for Ock to pass on his instructions, then asked him: ‘You sure you don’t want a gun? Doesn’t look like these twats have exactly been treating you well.’ He indicated the lurid bruise on the Korean’s face.

Ock bowed his head. ‘No, I… I am not a soldier like you.’

‘I haven’t been a soldier for a long time now. Doesn’t stop me from protecting myself. Or people who need it.’

‘No, no. I cannot. I just… I just want to find my wife and go home.’

Eddie and Nina traded downbeat looks: the chances of Ock’s wife still being alive were vanishingly small. But they said nothing, instead watching the upper gate draw closer. ‘Everyone get ready,’ said the Yorkshireman, readying his gun. The action told the others what to do without the need for a translation. He took hold of the control lever. ‘And… now!’

He slammed it to the stop position, one of the unarmed workers throwing open the gate. Everyone rushed out.

Half a dozen soldiers stood by a truck at the end of the runway. Only a couple had time to react to the unexpected new arrivals before the prisoners opened fire, bullets tearing them apart. More rounds ripped into the truck’s cab, blood from the driver’s head splashing the splintering windscreen.

Another couple of soldiers were standing near the blockhouse. Both fell to sharp bursts from Eddie’s rifle. He checked the area. Nobody else in sight.

Nobody alive . There were large piles of rubble that had been brought up from below but not loaded for disposal. As before, the reason was appallingly clear. More workers lay still and bloodied amongst the debris, twisted in the frozen agonies of death.

Ock let out a keening cry, staring in horror at one of the bodies. He ran to the motionless woman and fell to his knees. Nina felt a deep dread. ‘Is she… your wife?’

The quivering man’s eyes filled with tears. He had to choke back sobs before being able to speak. ‘Yes…’

She regarded the dead woman with an almost overpowering sadness, knowing she would feel just as lost in the same situation. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’

He tried to reply, but couldn’t form the words. All he managed was a moan as he bent lower until his face almost touched the floor, gripping his wife’s still hand. The other prisoners looked on with sympathy, some offering whispered condolences. Finally a word in Korean escaped his lips — spoken not with grief, but with anger. He jerked back upright and repeated it in an enraged scream as tears rolled down his face.

Eddie looked on sorrowfully, then noticed something in the huge hangar beyond. Or rather, the absence of something. ‘Shit!’ The three missile transporters were gone — along with their cargo. But he could still hear the echoing roar of powerful diesel engines. With some of the prisoners following, he ran to the runway. The sound grew louder. He peered cautiously around the corner to look down the main tunnel.