Contract With God Part 47

'Father Fowler.'

'Huqan.'

Russell had positioned Kayn's limp body between himself and the priest, who was still aiming the rifle at Russell's head.

'It appears you have disposed of my men.'

'It wasn't me, Mr Russell. G.o.d took care of that. He turned them into dust.'

Russell looked at him in shock, trying to figure out if the priest was bluffing. The help of his acolytes was essential to the execution of his plan. He couldn't understand why they hadn't shown up yet and was trying to stall for time.

'So you've managed to get the upper hand, Father,' he said, going back to his usual ironic tone. 'I know how good a shot you are. At this distance you can't miss. Or are you afraid of hitting the unproclaimed Messiah?'

'Mr Kayn is just a sick old man who believes he is doing G.o.d's will. From my point of view the only difference between the two of you is your age. Drop the gun.'

Russell was clearly outraged at the insult but powerless to do anything in the situation. He was holding his own gun by the muzzle after he'd used it to beat Kayn, and the old man's body did not offer him sufficient protection. Russell knew that one false move would produce a hole in his head.

He opened his right fist and let the pistol drop, then opened his left and released Kayn.

The old man collapsed in slow motion, crumpling as if his joints weren't connected to each other.

'Excellent, Mr Russell,' Fowler said. 'Now, if you don't mind, please take ten steps back . . .'

Mechanically, Russell did as he was told, hatred burning in his eyes.

For every step that Russell took back, Fowler took one forward, until the former had his back to the wall and the priest was standing beside Kayn.

'Very good. Now put your hands on top of your head and you'll come out of this with your life.'

Fowler squatted down next to Kayn, feeling for his pulse. The old man was shaking, and one of his legs seemed to be in spasm. The priest frowned. Kayn's condition worried him - he was showing all the signs of having had a stroke and his life-force seemed to be evaporating with every moment.

In the meantime Russell was looking around, trying to find something to use as a weapon against the priest. Suddenly, he felt something beneath him on the ground. He looked down and noticed that he was standing on some cables that ended a foot and a half to his right and were connected to the generator that was providing electricity in the cave.

He smiled.

Fowler took Kayn's arm, ready to pull him further away from Russell if he needed to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Russell jump. Without the least hesitation he fired.

Then the lights went out.

What was meant to be a warning shot ended up destroying the generator. The equipment started shooting off sparks every few seconds, illuminating the tunnel with a sporadic blue light that grew weaker, like a camera flash gradually losing power.

Fowler crouched down immediately, a position that he had taken hundreds of times when he had parachuted into enemy territory on moonless nights. When you didn't know the position of your enemy, the best thing to do was sit still and wait.

Blue spark.

Fowler thought he saw a shadow running along the wall to his left and fired. It missed. Cursing his luck, he moved several feet in a zigzag to make sure that the other wouldn't know his position after the shot.

Blue spark.

Once again a shadow, this time to his right, although longer and right up against the wall. He fired in the opposite direction. Again he missed and there was more movement.

Blue spark.

He was against the wall. He couldn't see Russell anywhere. This could mean he- With a scream, Russell threw himself at Fowler, hitting him repeatedly on the face and neck. The priest felt the other's teeth biting down on his arm like an animal. Unable to do otherwise, he let go of the Kalashnikov. For a second he felt the other's hands. They struggled and the rifle was lost in the darkness.

Blue spark.

Fowler was on the ground and Russell was trying his best to choke him. The priest, finally able to see his enemy, closed his fist and punched Russell in the solar plexus. Russell groaned and rolled to one side.

One last, weak blue flash.

Fowler managed to see Russell disappearing into the chamber. A sudden dull gleam told him that Russell had found his pistol.

A voice to his right called out.

'Father.'

Fowler crept towards the dying Kayn. He didn't want to offer Russell an easy target in case he decided to try his luck and aim randomly in the dark. The priest finally felt the old man's body in front of him and put his mouth to his ear.

'Mr Kayn, hold on,' he whispered. 'I can get you out of here.'

'No, Father, you can't,' Kayn replied, and although his voice was weak he spoke with the firm tone of a small child. 'It's better like this. I'm going to see my parents, my son and my brother. My life began in a hole. It makes sense that it will end the same way.'

'Then entrust yourself to G.o.d,' the priest said.

'I have. Would you give me your hand while I leave?'

Fowler said nothing but felt for the dying man's hand, holding it between his own. Less than a minute later, in the middle of a whispered Hebrew prayer, there was a death rattle and Raymond Kayn was still.

By now the priest knew what he had to do.

In the middle of the darkness he brought his fingers to the b.u.t.tons on his shirt and undid them, then pulled out the package containing the explosives. He felt for the detonator, stuck it into the bars of C4 and pressed the b.u.t.tons. In his mind he counted the number of beeps.

After setting it, I have two minutes, he thought.

But he couldn't leave the bomb outside the cavity where the Ark rested. Maybe it wouldn't be powerful enough to seal the cave once more. He wasn't sure how deep the hollow was, and if the Ark was behind an outcrop of rock it might survive without a scratch. If he was going to prevent this insanity happening again, he had to place the bomb next to the Ark. He couldn't throw it in like a grenade because the detonator might come loose. And he had to have enough time to escape.

The only option was to overcome Russell, put the C4 in position and then run like h.e.l.l.

He crawled around, hoping to avoid making too much noise, but it was impossible. The ground was covered in small rocks that shifted as he moved.

'I can hear you coming, priest.'

There was a red flash and a shot rang out. The bullet missed Fowler by quite a long way, but the priest remained wary and rolled quickly to his left. A second bullet hit the place where he had been just seconds before.

He's using the flash from the gun to orientate himself. But he can't do that too many times or he'll run out of ammunition, Fowler thought, mentally counting the wounds he'd seen on Pappas and Eichberg's bodies.

He probably shot Dekker once, Pappas maybe three times, Eichberg twice, and he's fired at me twice. That's eight bullets. The gun has fourteen bullets, fifteen if there's one in the chamber. That means he has six, maybe seven, bullets left. He'll have to reload soon. When he does, I'll hear the clicking of the magazine. Then . . .

He was still calculating when two more shots lit up the opening to the cave. This time Fowler rolled away from his original position just in time. The shot missed him by about four inches.

Four or five left.

'I'm going to get you, Crusader. I'm going to get you because Allah is with me.' Russell's voice sounded ghostly inside the cave. 'Get out of here while you still can.'

Fowler grabbed a rock and threw it inside the hole. Russell took the bait and fired in the direction of the noise.

Three or four.

'Very clever, Crusader. But it won't do you any good.'

He hadn't finished speaking when he fired again. This time there were not two but three shots. Fowler rolled to his left and then to the right, banging his knees against the sharp rocks.

One bullet or an empty magazine.

Just before he rolled the second time the priest lifted his head for a moment. It was maybe only half a second but what he saw in the brief light from the shots would remain in his memory for ever.

Russell was standing behind a golden box of giant proportions. On top of it two roughly sculpted figures shone brightly. In the flash from the pistol, the gold appeared uneven, creased.

Fowler took a deep breath.

He was almost inside the chamber itself, but he didn't have enough s.p.a.ce to manoeuvre. If Russell shot again, even if it was just a shot to see where he was, he would almost certainly hit him.

Fowler decided to do what Russell least expected.

In one quick motion he jumped up and ran into the hole. Russell tried firing, but the hammer made a loud click. Fowler took a flying leap and, before the other man could react, the priest had thrust the whole of his body weight against the top of the Ark, which fell towards Russell, the lid opening and the contents spilling out. Russell jumped back and narrowly avoided being crushed.

What followed was a blind struggle. Fowler was able to hit Russell several times on the arms and chest but Russell somehow managed to stick a full magazine into his pistol. Fowler heard the weapon being reloaded. He felt around in the dark with his right hand, holding Russell's arm with his left.

He found a flat rock.

With all his might he slammed it against Russell's head and the young man dropped to the ground, unconscious.

The force of the blow shattered the rock into pieces.

Fowler tried to regain his footing. His whole body hurt and his head was bleeding. Using the light from his watch, he tried to find his bearings in the dark. He directed the thin but intense shaft of light on to the overturned Ark, producing a soft glimmer that filled the chamber.

He had very little time to admire it. At that moment Fowler heard a sound that, in the struggle, he hadn't noticed . . .

Beep.

. . . and understood that while he had been rolling around to evade the shots . . .

Beep.

. . without meaning to . . .

Beep.

. . . he had activated the detonator . . .

. . . that only sounded in the last ten seconds before exploding . . .

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Driven by instinct, not reason, Fowler leaped into the blackness outside the chamber, beyond the Ark's faint light.

At the foot of the platform, a nervous Andrea Otero was biting her nails. Then suddenly the ground shook. The scaffold swayed and groaned as the steel absorbed the impact of the blast but didn't collapse. A cloud of smoke and dust billowed out of the opening to the tunnel, covering Andrea with a fine layer of grit. She ran several feet away from the scaffold and waited. For half an hour her eyes remained glued to the entrance to the smoking cave, although she realised the wait was futile.

n.o.body came out.

95.

ON THE ROAD TO AQABA.

AL MUDAWWARA DESERT, JORDAN.

Thursday, 20 July 2006. 9:34 p.m.

Andrea reached the H3 with the shot tyre where she'd left it, more exhausted than she had ever been in her life. She found the jack exactly where Fowler had said, and mentally recited a prayer for the dead priest.

He is certain to be in Heaven, if such a place exists. If you exist, G.o.d. If you're up there, why don't you send a couple of angels to give me a hand?

n.o.body showed up, so Andrea had to do the work herself. When she had finished, she went to say goodbye to Doc, who was buried no more than ten feet away. The farewell lasted a while, and Andrea was aware that she had howled and cried out loud several times. She felt she was on the verge - in the middle - of a nervous breakdown after what had happened during the last few hours.

The moon was starting to rise, lighting up the dunes with its silvery blue light when Andrea finally got the strength to say goodbye to Chedva and climb into the H3. Feeling faint, she closed the door and turned on the air-conditioning. The cold air hitting her sweaty skin felt delicious, but she couldn't let herself enjoy it for more than a few minutes. The fuel tank was only a quarter full, and she'd need everything she had to reach the road.

If I'd noticed that detail when we climbed into the vehicle this morning I would've realised the real purpose of the trip. Maybe Chedva would still be alive.

She shook her head. She had to concentrate on driving. With a little luck she'd reach the road and find a town with a petrol station before midnight. If not, she'd have to walk. The important thing was to find a computer with a connection to the Internet as soon as possible.

She had a story to tell.