Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

‘How?’ she protested. ‘I didn’t even know what they were until Amaanat showed me.’ The guard glowered at her again, but did not try to silence her. ‘And I definitely didn’t know there were two of them! Someone else did, though.’

‘That cannot be,’ said Amaanat. ‘The only outsiders who have ever seen the Midas Cave were Tobias Garde and his companions.’

‘Then someone connected to his companions talked.’ It occurred to her that in her desire to finish her mother’s work, she had overlooked a question she should have asked her grandmother: who else had been with Tobias?

But that would have to wait until she got back to New York — if she ever did. The more pressing question was: what were they going to do now?

‘If they try to airlift the big Crucible out of here,’ Eddie said quietly, ‘they’ll have a job getting close enough to drop a winch line.’ He glanced at the near-vertical rock face above the ledge. ‘When they actually pick it up, that’s when we’ll get our chance.’

‘To do what?’

Eddie didn’t reply, instead looking at Jayesh. The Nepali slowly rubbed his coat as if scratching an itch in his lower back. Eddie nodded.

‘Uh, okay,’ said Nina, surprised. The two former soldiers had somehow shared a plan without needing to speak.

‘There should be no violence,’ said Amaanat, but with resignation. ‘We do not need to—’

One of the guards barked at him in Nepalese. The abbot fell silent. Rudra gave the man a hostile glare, but did nothing.

Ten minutes passed before Axelos and the other mercenaries returned, straining to carry the larger Crucible by its metal cage. The Greek leading the way, they brought it almost to the edge of the flat ground before putting it down with relief.

‘We have the Crucible,’ Axelos said into the walkie-talkie. ‘Move in to collect it.’

The larger helicopter approached. The other aircraft held a watching brief, though close enough to show that there was another man in the cabin as well as the pilot. The AW169 carefully slowed to a hover thirty metres out from the ledge, then edged closer.

The rotor downwash blasted a biting whirlwind of snow from the ground. Some of the mercenaries shielded their eyes. Jayesh gave Eddie a meaningful look, but the Englishman shook his head almost imperceptibly: not yet . The guards were still watching their prisoners, weapons at the ready.

Nina realised that the chopper could not get close enough. The rotors were perilously near to the rock wall above, and she knew from experience that helicopters could become extremely unstable if they were hit by displaced air bouncing off a solid surface. The pilot quickly reached the same conclusion. The AW169 pulled back. A few seconds later, Axelos’s radio crackled. ‘I can’t get any nearer. It’s too dangerous.’

The Greek was not pleased. ‘We have to take the Crucible. Can you lower the cable and swing it to us?’

The pilot sounded incredulous at the suggestion. ‘If you want to risk being hit by it, sure.’

‘Do it.’

‘Okay, your decision…’

The helicopter’s side door slid open and a man leaned out, operating the winch controls. A steel cable with a large hook on the end was slowly lowered towards the ledge. As it drew closer, the pilot began to rock his aircraft gently from side to side. The heavy hook swung like a pendulum, each sweep wider than the last.

‘Get ready to catch it!’ Axelos ordered. As his men moved hesitantly towards the hanging line, the guards watched the spectacle unfold, distracted from their charges.

Eddie tensed, preparing to act. Jayesh brought his hand towards the hem of his coat…

The Greek added, ‘And watch them!’ He pointed at the prisoners. The Gurkha’s hand retreated as the four men returned their attention to their assignment. The Englishman muttered a curse.

Another swing, and the hook scuffed through the snow close to the Crucible. The winch operator shouted to the pilot as Axelos’s men hurried to grab it. The helicopter dropped a couple of metres, the line going slack, and the hook came to rest. The mercenaries surrounded it like hounds on a wounded animal. More cable played out, then the aircraft cautiously drew away from the mountainside.

Axelos slapped a hand on top of the Crucible’s metal cage. ‘Fix it here.’

The Nepalis attached the hook to the loop running over the top of the great crystalline sphere and locked a carabiner clip into place. Axelos tested that it was secure. ‘It’s ready,’ he said into the radio. ‘Take it up!’

‘Get set,’ Eddie whispered. Jayesh nodded; Nina took a deep, nervous breath, unsure what was about to happen but psyching herself up to react when it did.

Her gaze met Amaanat’s. He too knew that the two ex-soldiers were about to take action, and was silently begging her to stop them. But she couldn’t. While Axelos seemed interested only in the Crucibles, his men were now filled with a lust for the gold in the cave. There was no way they would let their prisoners live.

The old monk realised that violence was inevitable. For a moment Nina thought he was about to warn their captors… but then he gave her a look of almost infinite sadness, bowing his head and placing his palms together in silent prayer.

The pilot increased power. The helicopter slowly ascended, drawing the cable with it until it was almost taut. Axelos signalled to the winch operator, who worked the controls.

A shrill metallic twang came from the steel cable as it pulled tight. The Crucible lurched, slithering a few inches closer to the edge. The mercs hurriedly moved clear as the straining line vibrated like a plucked guitar string. If it snapped, the lashing end could easily decapitate someone.

Another look passed between Eddie and Jayesh. Their one chance was almost here…

Engines roaring, the helicopter tried to climb. The Crucible shifted again, rocking precariously on the cliff edge. The cable creaked, the ancient metal cage enclosing the strange artefact juddering under the stress, then the great sphere slithered off the ledge.

And swung outwards.

The helicopter was yanked down by the extra weight — but with the winch arm extending out from its port side, it also rolled unbalanced to the left.

Towards the mountain.

Those on the ledge reacted with sudden fear as the chopper veered at the cliff above them. The pilot frantically counteracted the movement, climbing and banking hard to starboard. But momentum was still carrying it closer to the looming rocks, closer—

The rotors came within inches of the cliff… then retreated. The Crucible swinging wildly beneath it, the AW169 lurched clear, its downwash blasting a hail of gritty debris over the ledge.

The mercenaries shielded their heads—

Eddie and Jayesh burst into action.

The Gurkha whipped both hands under the back of his coat. His kukri had been taken from him — but it was not the only blade in the scabbard. There were also two much smaller knives, a karda and a chakmak , used to hone the kukri itself to perfect sharpness. Yet they were still weapons in their own right — as Jayesh proved by stabbing them deep into each side of the neck of the inattentive guard.

The man let out a choked cry, spitting blood. Another mercenary whirled and fired, only for his comrade to take the bullet to his chest as Jayesh hauled his prey around as a human shield.

The dead man’s Kalashnikov fell from his hands. ‘Nina, go !’ Eddie yelled as he dived for it. He caught the weapon, rolling on landing and firing back at the attacker.

The AK-74 spat out a stream of bullets. The rifle’s fire selector was set to full auto, catching the Englishman by surprise; he hadn’t considered that the merc might actually be as amateurish as he had appeared. But the rounds still hit home, ripping a bloody swathe across his target’s torso.