The Cult of Osiris (48 page)

A glance up at the battlements, another at the guards behind, waiting for their view to be partly obscured by the throng - then he stood and smoothly matched pace with the group as if he had just emerged from the car.

He tensed, ready to fight or run. Since he was already inside the castle he doubted the cultists would question his right to be there, but if the trailing goons thought he was out of place . . .

Nobody shouted in alarm. A young man gave him a mildly curious look, but returned to his conversation with another. Relieved, but still alert, Eddie marched with the group into the pyramid.

There was no sign of Shaban or the men with him in the lobby, but there were more guards. Everyone will wait in here. The temple will be opened soon,' one called over the hubbub as the cultists filled the space, another repeating the instruction in French, then Arabic. Eddie stayed near the fringes of the crowd, checking the exits. A glass lift rising at an angle, a set of large frosted glass doors that he assumed led to the temple, two more smaller doors to each side. The lift couldn't be the only way to reach the upper floors - there had to be stairs somewhere.

A few minutes later, another group of cultists entered. Then another. The lobby quickly became packed to bursting point. Eddie made sure he was right by one of the side doors as the original group moved to make room for the newcomers. A guard was nearby, but he just needed a brief distraction . . .

It came when the temple doors opened. Everyone instinctively turned to see, pushing closer - and Eddie slipped unseen through the side door.

As he'd hoped, it led to a stairwell, the sloping outer wall forcing each flight to ascend at odd angles like an Escher painting. He donned the headset again as he headed for the pyramid's peak.

Eddie!' Nina snapped as the monitor finally showed something other than the crotch of her husband's jeans. About damn time! What's going on?

Shaban's gathering the faithful, by the look of it'

Yeah, we saw - three busloads of them. I meant, what's going on with you? What the hell are you doing?'

I told you - I'm going to take out that lab.'

'With what? You don't have any explosives - you don't even have a gun!' I think I'll manage.

One of the ASPS standing with Assad flinched at Eddie's insouciant tone. What is it?' Assad demanded.

The soldier rushed to one of the equipment cases stacked in the van - and gasped an Arabic obscenity. 'Sir, there are two packs of C- 4 missing.

C-4?' Macy asked as Assad gaped at him.

'Explosives,' said Nina. Macy edged away from the case.

Yeah, I borrowed em while you were getting set up/ Eddie announced, as casually as if he'd taken a pencil without asking.

Chase!' Assad shouted. 'Get out of there
immediately
You can't use explosives in there -it'll be a diplomatic catastrophe!

Then why did you bring them in the first place?' said Nina, jumping to Eddie's defence despite sharing the Egyptian's feelings.

Assad looked sheepish. 'As a . . . contingency.'

Well, this is contingency-y,' said Eddie. And diplomacy'11 be the last thing to worry about if Shaban's turned that crap into a bioweapon. If
I
take it out now, problem solved. So
I
'll go upstairs, plant these charges, get Grant and blow the place up before anyone even knows I was here—'

On the screen, he reached the landing of the upper office level - and a door opened in front of him, a guard freezing in surprise as he came face to face with the Englishman.

Or not,' Eddie said as he and the guard stared at each other.

The other man snapped out of his shock and tried to grab him, but Eddie slammed a knuckle punch into his throat and sent him lurching back.

The guard lashed out at Eddie's eyes, but he whipped his head back and smashed his boot into the cultist's groin, then punched him in the face so hard that the back of his head smacked against the door. The guard slithered to the floor, out cold.

Eddie dragged him through the door. The offices were lit only at a low level, the occasional screensaver glowing beyond the glass walls. The employees of both Osiris Investment Group and the Osirian Temple were either done for the day or filing into the temple downstairs.

Eddie! Are you okay?' Nina asked.

Yeah, fine.' He pulled the unconscious man out of sight, then examined him. He was roughly Eddie's build, and only marginally taller . . .

Does Nina know about this side of you, Eddie?' said Macy as the Eddie's-eye view showed him stripping the limp guard of his jacket and trousers.

Funny girl,' he replied. The image abruptly shifted, the camera pointing up at the ceiling.

What're you doing?' asked Nina.

I don't want to scare Macy with what's in my pants.'

Macy had become used enough to his innuendoes to respond only with an eye-rolling sigh. Nina smiled.
I
don't think she has anything to be afraid of.'

Tchah!'

It's
you
who's got things to be afraid of,' she continued pointedly. Tf you get caught, they'll kill you.'

The camera aimed ahead once more. Eddie's hand - now holding a gun - filled the screen. They can try.'

They
will
try, Eddie! Don't take any stupid chances.

'You know me, love.'

Yes, and
I
'd like to go on knowing you! Be careful, okay?' IwilL Mr Assad? Yes?' Assad said.

Get your boys ready. However this turns out, there'll be trouble - and they'll need more than tear gas and pepperballs to deal with it.'

I see,' Assad said, unhappy. A nod to the ASPS, and they opened more cases, taking out compact FN-P90 sub-machine guns. Another contingency,' he told Nina and Macy. T really hope we don't have to use them, Mr Chase.

Depends on Shaban, dunnit?' The Eddiecam tipped downwards to show him slipping the gun inside his newly acquired green jacket, then picking up the two C-4 packs and their radio detonator to squeeze them into the tight-fitting garment's outer pockets. All right, I'm ready.

Good luck,' Nina whispered as he moved out.

Eddie returned to the stairwell. No sounds of activity above or below. He didn't know how long he would have before the guard was missed, so he quickly ascended to the top floor.

There was only one route he could follow, which brought him to the lift. A man was waiting for it; he glanced casually at Eddie as he came through the stairwell door, then did a slight double-take. Eddie concealed his concern - the man didn't seem alarmed, just mildly puzzled by his appearance - and gave him a polite nod, keeping his head turned to conceal the earpiece. The lift arrived just as he passed it; the man boarded without looking back.

The strong scent of yeast hit his nostrils as he entered the next room. Smells like a baker 's armpit in here,' he said. The opposite wall was glass, giving him a view of the space beyond. The lab was right under the pyramid's cap, the walls rising to meet almost at a point; above was the spotlight sending its beam towards the pole star.

There was only one person inside the chamber, his back to Eddie as he examined an object on a workbench.

One of many objects, all identical. More stainless steel containment flasks, all bearing the biohazard symbol.

Shit,' Eddie hissed. You seeing this? There must be fifty of the fucking things!'

Oh, my God,' Nina said quietly. 'Shaban's big event, it's not just a ceremony - it's a
start.
He's brought in all his followers from round the world . . . and he's going to give them the spores to take back with them!'

So quickly?' asked Assad in disbelief. He only left the tomb four days ago!

Eddie surveyed the lab, taking in the large vats used to culture the yeast, the ovens to dry it and extract the spores. The canopic jar, now open, stood inside a glass cabinet. Psycho billionaires never hang about with this kind of stuff, do they?' He noticed that the ovens were fed by large tanks of compressed gas. A good place to start an explosion . . .

If he could get to them. The lab's inner door had a keycard lock, and the windows were designed to contain a biohazard - handgun fire would only scuff them.

How's he going to get in?' he heard Macy ask, but he was already heading for the door. He reached out—

And knocked.

The triple-glazed window absorbed the sound. He rapped harder, finally catching the scientist's attention.

Open the door,' Eddie mouthed, gesturing for him to come over.

The scientist frowned, but came to the door. He said something, voice barely audible through the glass. Eddie had basic lip-reading skills, but couldn't make out his words, the scientist presumably speaking in a foreign language. Nevertheless, he smiled and nodded.

The man frowned again, bewildered, and swiped his card through the lock. The door slid open. 'Hi there,' said Eddie.

The scientist switched to English on hearing his voice. His accent was thickly Germanic. What did you say?'

I said, "You're fucked.'' ' Before the man could do anything more than blink in surprise, Eddie yanked him forward to slam his head against the door jamb. The scientist collapsed.

Ah ... are you just going to leave him there?' Nina asked as he dumped the unconscious man behind a lab bench. T mean, you're planning to blow the place up.'

He's making a bioweapon, so fuck him.' Picturing the disapproving expression accompanying his wife's frosty silence, he relented, slightly. Okay, I'll drag him downstairs when
I
go. Happy now?'

'Not until you're out of there in one piece.'

He grinned, then turned his attention to the gas tanks. There was a space between them; he activated the detonation circuit of one cigarette-packet-sized block of C-4, then slid the explosive into the gap. Hmm.

What?'Nina asked.

Bit obvious. Hang on.' The large steel ovens beside the tanks were open. He reached to the back of one and felt beneath the perforated gas pipe.
It
was greasy and sooty, but there seemed to be enough room. The second pack armed, he forced it down out of sight. 'There.'

So now what?'

Now,' he said, taking the scientist by his arms,
I
get out of the pyramid, push the button and blow this place to buggery.

What about all the people in the temple?' Macy asked. Won
't
they all get crushed?'

I'm tempted to say fuck 'em too, but there's a couple of floors in between,' he told her as he dragged the man to the door. 'Unless this thing's built of cheese and moonbeams, those C-4 packs aren
't
big enough to bring the whole place down. The top won
't
be a nice sharp point any more, though.

Just make sure you're not inside,' said Nina. 'And don
't
forget Grant.

Hey, he's still technically a client,' he said, using the scientist's keycard to open the door and hauling him through. 'Wouldn't do my job prospects much good if I lost one, would it?' He backed across the room, bumping open the door with his backside to enter the lobby.

A chime sounded. The lift.

Eddie dropped the scientist and whirled, pulling out his gun— Too late.

A pair of guards had come from the stairs, weapons pointed at him, and two more armed men rushed from the lift. Broma and Lorenz.

Knowing he had no chance of surviving a four-way shootout, Eddie froze, dropping the gun. 'Arse.'

Chase,' said Shaban, stepping out between his two bodyguards. His scarred face clenched with anger - and sadistic pleasure. Just in time for our ceremony . . .'

30

316

Nina stared in horror at the screen as Shaban's hand swelled to fill the camera's field of view - and it went black.

'Shit!' she gasped. 'We've got to get him out of there!'

T can't,' said Assad, dismayed. The ASPS don't have authorisation to act until we know the zodiac's there.

'Grant said it is,' protested Macy. 'Isn't that enough?'

'No, we need visual proof - which is what your husband was supposed to find!' he snapped at Nina.

'Dammit!' She ran to the truck's open rear door and looked helplessly along the lakeside at the castle - then remembered something and switched her headset's channel to the phone. 'Grant! Can you hear me? Grant!'

A rustle of fabric, then: 'Yeah, I'm here.'

'Grant, they've caught Eddie! You've got to get out of there . . . ' An idea. 'Your phone! If you take a picture of the zodiac, the Egyptians can move in.'

'Wait - they've caught Eddie? Shit!' The actor's usual laid-back drawl frayed into near panic.

'Grant, Grant, just listen!' Nina shouted. Go into the relic room and take a photo of the zodiac, and we can rescue you and Eddie!' She glanced at Assad for confirmation that a cell phone picture would be enough; he nodded.

'Okay. Rescue. Good idea.' She heard his footsteps as he crossed the lounge - then a sudden
whumph
of material over the mouthpiece as he shoved the phone back into his pocket. 'Shit, someone's coming!'

The sound of a door opening, then a voice: 'Mr Thorn?

'Y-yeah?'

The ceremony is about to begin. Come with us.'

Come with you three guys?' said Grant. 'Sure. My own personal escort, huh? Cool.'

Nina realised what he was telling her - surrounded by three men, he wouldn't be able to take a picture of the zodiac.

And without one ... he and Eddie were on their own.

One of the guards hurried out of the lab. 'We found this,' he said, holding up a C-4 pack.

Shaban turned over the radio detonator his men had just taken from Eddie in his hand. Explosives? Not subtle. But not surprising, from you.

I like to be consistent,' said Eddie, forcing himself not to look back towards the oven. The second pack would be harder to find, and since there was only one detonator, Shaban might also think there was only one charge.

But even if the other bomb wasn't found, it wouldn't make much difference: C-4 was a very stable compound, needing extreme heat
and
a physical shock - the kind provided by the blasting cap inside the pack - before it would explode. He needed the radio detonator to destroy the lab. And Shaban seemed unlikely to give it back.