Shiva (76 page)

Davidson indicated to the easternmost slope.
“
At the least
,
let
’
s set the charges so we are ready.
”

“
For what?
”
Lopez asked.

“
Who the hell knows?
”

* * *

“
They are on the wrong side,
”
Stark said, pointing to the screen.
“
They are going to blow the wrong spot.
”

Bunny tried the sat phone again. Nothing. She checked the ground
-
penetrating radar readout. The largest, most elaborate chamber was due west of them. Worse
,
if they took out that corner of the temple
…
Bunny was no architect
,
but a house of cards was more stable.

“
Think,
”
she said aloud as if everyone in the room, with the exception of Prenner
,
wasn
’
t already.
“
We
’
ve got to get them a signal.
”

“
Out in the middle of nowhere,
”
Stark complained, cracking his knuckles. The nearly forty-eight hours straight hacking was beginning to take its toll on the young man.

“
Hold on,
”
Bunny said
,
her mind racing.
“
What if we dumped the satellite
?
I mean
,
dropped that puppy out of the sky.
”

Stark
’
s brow creased with confusion.
“
I mean, sure we could
,
but why…
?
”

His mother
,
though
,
smiled.
“
I like the way this girl thinks. You need to find a girl like her.
”

As Stark blushed a thousand shades of crimson, Bunny asked,
“
The satellite is in ultra
-
low orbit, right?
”
Stark nodded.
“
So it is right over their heads, and if we force it into the atmosphere…
”

Clearly
,
Stark began to get it.
“
It would light up even that ash
-
filled sky.
”

“
They will have to know something was up.
”

Stark nodded.
“
I
’
m on it.
”

“
No,
”
a voice said from behind them.
“
I don
’
t think you are.
”

The CIA operative still pointed one gun at Prenner but the other at Stark.
“
God will decide what happens.
”

“
Emily?
”

“
I am not thinking of just our lives,
”
the woman said.
“
I am thinking of the global clu-taster-fuck that will happen if that child emerges from the temple.
”
Emily nodded to Bunny.
“
You of all should understand. You know of her potential
,
yet you said nothing, why?
”

Bunny shook her head.
“
All
’
s I did was keep my mouth shut. I didn
’
t actively endanger my friends. A little girl, Emily. Doesn
’
t that cross around your neck mean anything to you?
”

“
It means everything,
”
she said, fingering the crucifix.
“
Which is why we are going to simply watch and see what happens.
”

How Bunny wanted to just strike out and pimp-slap the CIA operative, but Prenner gave the slightest shake to his head.

Didn
’
t the lieutenant know? Patience was
not
Bunny
’
s virtue.

* * *

Brandt cocked his head.
“
Did you hear that?
”
he asked Rebecca as she and Vakasa made their way around the statue.

“
Did you
feel
that?
”
Rebecca countered as she rejoined him.

She was right. A distant rumbling vibrated through his boots. It felt like thunder that began on the horizon
,
then powered toward you. That was not the immediate concern
,
though. The immediate concern was the door to the chamber opening and a grenade sailing through the air.

That was the concern.

“
Get down!
”
Brandt shouted
,
knowing that it probably wouldn
’
t make a difference. When the thing landed
,
it just spewed smoke
,
though. The Disciples must have been trying to keep the structural damage to a minimum. Good for them.

“
Get Vakasa behind the statue,
”
Brandt whispered, urging Rebecca away from the center of the room. Pulling up his shirt to protect his lungs, Brandt slunk forward, keeping a statue of Anubis between him and the door.

Through the chamber
’
s haze, Brandt saw the flash of a muzzle as a gunman braved the smoke. He held his fire
,
though. The Disciples had too many men with them. Brandt had to wait to make his stand count. More than one must have made their way through the series of doors. Sure enough
,
another stepped into the chamber.

Behind him was the girl, Monnie, Brandt thought her name was. She appeared unarmed. Before the group got much f
a
rther, Brandt braced his bad shoulder against Anubis and fired, hitting the first gunman in the gut. He winged the second gunman. Monnie darted deeper into the temple as another figure entered. Brandt had the bead on him but pulled up short.

A priest. Why did it have to be a priest?

* * *

The chamber shook as smoke churned. Gunfire pinged off a statue. Rebecca held Vakasa tight to her. The air cleared as a form approached. It was too short to be Brandt. Should she call out for him
,
or would that only draw the danger closer?

Instead of the monstrous Frellan, a lithe, young woman emerged. With her smooth skin and emerald eyes
,
she should have seemed nonthreatening. That was not the case.

“
You know who I am?
”
the woman asked.

Rebecca had no clue, except for the fact that religious megalomaniacs usually gave themselves away. They wanted you to know who they were. Rebecca could piece
together
the rest. A female Disciple. The only one to find the Hol
y
of Holies. Rebecca could venture a pretty damned good guess.

“
The Master?
”

The woman
’
s lips spread into a smile.
“
So you know that you must give the child over to me.
”

Rebecca knew no such thing. However
,
she did note that the Master had a knife and Rebecca was weaponless. Underfoot
,
the floor gave out as steam rose from the earth. Scrambling back, Rebecca avoided falling into a huge crack in the ground. Would it be enough to keep the Master back?

Unfortunately
,
the Master had that wild look in her eye. The one that religious zealots got just before they did something really crazy.

“
God shall guide me,
”
the woman said, rushing toward the gap, easily clearing it.

Perfect time for him
to take sides
, Rebecca thought.

The woman slashed with a knife
,
narrowly missing her arm. Rebecca pushed Vakasa out of the way. The Master cut upward. Rebecca barely danced out of the way in time. She
’
d gotten lucky.

But how many more of those could she evade?

* * *

Brandt finally took down the guy he
’
d
winged, but the priest was in the wind. Or more accurately
,
in the smoke. A scream rang through the chamber. Turning, Brandt was too worried about Rebecca
and
ran smack into the rod that the priest wielded. Reeling backward, blood coursing down his forehead, Brandt brought
up
his gun.

Again
,
that damned black robe and white collar made him hesitate just a split second too long as the staff arced up again, coming down on Brandt
’
s shoulder. That was completely unnecessary.

Brandt brought his gun around to bear
,
but the damned priest used the butt of the stick to hammer his obliques.

As he doubled over, the priest smiled.
“
I didn
’
t think that wound had completely healed.
”

Oh, game on
.

Brandt didn
’
t bother rising from his position, he just ran at the guy like a linebacker. The priest apparently didn
’
t play many sports in seminary school. He tried to dart to the left
,
but Brandt was all over that. Tackling the priest around the waist, Brandt slammed the man into a statue of Moloch.

He might not be able to shoot a man of the cloth.
But k
nock the wind out of him? That Brandt could do.

* * *

Rebecca dodged to the side. God love Brandt. He
’
d tried to teach her hand-to-hand combat. Every time they practiced
,
though, they usually ended up in bed. It was not a very productive teaching environment. As the knife swept sideways, nearly slicing her open, Rebecca really, really, really wished she
’
d paid more attention.

Watch the attacker
’
s shoulder
, she could hear Brandt demand.

It was a little hard when that shoulder
moved
all over the place, smoke blocked her vision
,
and steam from the earth
’
s interior made it hard to breathe. There it was
,
though. Before the woman even made the swipe, Rebecca jumped to the side, avoiding the sharp end of the blade. She was sure Brandt could have maneuvered a way to disarm the
M
aster, but hey
,
Rebecca would take not being gutted as a win.

Distract your opponent
,
her memory of
Brandt reminded her.

She had never quite gotten that one down. How
could
you distract your opponent without distracting yourself. But she had to try
,
as another blow
had
nearly landed.

“
Is this what your God wants?
”
Rebecca asked.

“
My God has wiped out many nations. Devastating their fortress walls and towers
.
”

“
Zephaniah
Three
:
Six
,
”
Rebecca said, identifying the passage.

A flicker passed over the Master
’
s face. Surprise? Doubt that another could know the
B
ible as well as she? Whatever it was
,
it transformed into anger pretty damned quickly.

The woman charged, a war cry on her lips. But it was a ruse. Her shoulder wasn
’
t committed. Rebecca held her ground, ready to leap in the opposite direction once that shoulder told her which way to go.

Rebecca should have gotten away cleanly
,
except for the condensation on the floor. Her foot gave out
,
and she fell into the attack. The stabbing didn
’
t hurt as much as Rebecca would have imagined.