Fury's Goddess

by Alex Archer

  “Yes.”

  “Then that’s it. Dunraj gets a nice payday, he keeps his reputation and business, and he gets out from under your organization. It’s a win-win-win.”

  “All this time we thought we were playing him,” Pradesh said. “And the Tigers?”

  Annja shrugged. “I’m sure the way Dunraj spins the story, he’ll come out looking clean, and then the Tigers will have good reason to continue their activities against the governments in both Sri Lanka and Delhi.”

  Pradesh checked his pistol again. “Well, then, there’s a very simple way to put an end to this.”

  He started to stand but Annja jerked him back down to cover. “Wait.”

  “What is it?”

  “Look!”

  She pointed. A large dump truck was rolling up the slope. If Pradesh had stood, the driver would have seen him.

  “Wait until it stops. Dunraj will probably be distracted then.”

  “Which one do you want?”

  “Dunraj.”

  “I’ll take the truck driver, then,” Pradesh said. “At the same time.”

  Annja nodded, realizing there was no way out of this but through the violence she’d hoped she could avoid. “And the statue?”

  “Can we talk about that later?”

  Annja smiled.

  But then her smile died when she saw the driver of the truck get out.

  She looked back at the crane’s driver seat. Dunraj sat there manipulating the controls.

  Annja looked back at the dump truck driver.

  It was Dunraj all over again.

  “The twin,” she said quietly. “He’s not dead, after all.”

  Chapter 40

  “How’s that possible?”

  Annja looked at Pradesh. “Did you see the corpse?”

  He nodded. “I did. And he sure as hell looked dead when the medical team paraded him past us.”

  “Clearly that wasn’t the truth. I wonder how much of anything has been.” Annja gripped her sword. “We need to make sure Dunraj doesn’t have this place wired. If we hit them fast enough and hard enough, we ought to be able to ensure he doesn’t set this place off.”

  “Agreed. We go?”

  “We go.”

  As Dunraj—or was it the brother?—came around from the dump truck, Pradesh made his move. He slunk forward like a stealthy snake. Annja didn’t wait to see what happened next—she was already heading for the crane’s cab.

  She jumped the last few feet and landed on the tracks next to the cab compartment. The look on Dunraj’s face was one of absolute surprise, but it didn’t stay long.

  He immediately shot a hand out and slammed the cab’s door into Annja as she tried to gain purchase on the treads. The blow knocked her off, and she had to roll to dissipate the shock of the fall.

  In her peripheral vision, she saw that Pradesh was involved in a fistfight with the other brother. Where was his gun? Had Pradesh thrown it away? Maybe it had jammed.

  But then she was up and heading back for the first brother.

  A bullet hit her blade, and the impact made her almost drop it. Dunraj shot at her again, and she ducked as the bullet went wide to the right.

  This was getting far too dangerous.

  Dunraj was out of the cab now, although the crane was still moving, with the hoisted statue of Kali still dangling overhead. He fired another shot at Annja. And he was shouting for his brother.

  “Kill the cop and then get her!”

  Annja frowned as Dunraj ducked back into the cab. He threw the crane into gear, and it shuddered as the tracks started grinding up the dirt around it. It spun directly at Annja.

  The sudden movement almost caught her off guard. Still gripping her sword, she dived to the right as the crane trundled past her.

  But Dunraj knew how to manipulate the crane. It stopped and turned on a dime and headed right back at her.

  Annja had to dive again to escape being ground under the caterpillar tracks. She was out of breath and running to get away from it.

  But then she turned and waited. The crane bore down on her. Overhead the statue still dangled, precariously waving back and forth from the motion of the crane now that Dunraj was using it to try to run her over.

  She could see Dunraj smiling through the crane’s windshield. He gunned the engine. Annja was trapped between two parts of the wall, and the crane was coming right at her.

  One chance, she thought.

  She flipped the sword over and took a running step toward the crane. At the right moment, she launched the blade like a javelin, aiming it right at the windshield.

  The sword arced through the air. At the apex of its flight path, weight took over, and with the help of gravity, it plunged downward.

  Dunraj must have seen it because his eyes went wide, and then the sword punched through the glass, shattering it before embedding in Dunraj’s chest.

  He fell forward and must’ve hit the control panels because the crane lumbered to a stop inches away from Annja.

  She heard another gunshot.

  Pradesh was squatting, with the other brother in his sights. But the brother was weaving and ducking, and Pradesh couldn’t get off a clean shot.

  The villainous man was running for the tunnel. If he got to the trucks he could escape. He wouldn’t go far, but Annja couldn’t let him even get close.

  She looked back at the crane. And then she was running for it, climbing aboard and tossing the body out of the cab. She visualized the sword and it was back in her hands.

  Annja looked at the crane’s controls and pushed the throttle forward, gunning the engine.

  She waved Pradesh aboard. “Come on!”

  Pradesh swung himself up next to her in the cab. In front of them, the fleeing figure dashed ahead. But he was too fast, and the crane didn’t have as much speed on the straightaway.

  “We’re not going to catch him,” Pradesh said.

  The statue swung back and forth like a giant pendulum as Annja pressed the gas pedal again.

  But Pradesh was right. Dunraj’s brother would reach one of the trucks before they could catch up with him. He was still weaving, and Pradesh couldn’t get a decent shot off in time.

  “We’ve got to stop him!”

  Annja nodded. “Take the controls.”

  Pradesh swung into her seat, and Annja studied the panel. As they got close to the truck yard, Annja found the control she wanted and studied the fleeing figure ahead of them.

  “You think he has the detonator on him?”

  “There might not even be one,” Pradesh said. “We’ve got to make a move!”

  “If he’s wired, we’ll kill ourselves in the process.”

  “But what choice do we have?”

  “We don’t.”

  She studied their quarry’s rhythm.

  “Annja! Now!”

  She punched the release button on the crane’s cable.

  There was a sudden lurch as the weight dropped from the crane. But had she guessed the right moment?

  Annja watched the statue fly through the air, and then its shadow loomed large over the fleeing brother.

  The man stopped, turned and in that split second saw the reality before the statue came down directly on top of him, crushing him like a bug.

  Pradesh killed the engine.

  Silence dropped over the work site. A dark stain blossomed around the edge of the statue.

  Annja swallowed. “Ouch.”

  Pradesh took a breath. “I’m thinking that might just be one of the most terrible ways to die. Death by the statue of Kali.”

  “Agreed. But we didn’t have any choice. I’m just glad it’s over.”

  “It sure as hell had better be.”

  They climbed out of the crane’s cab, and Annja ran back to check on the first brother she’d stabbed through the chest. His eyes were wide open, but he was very much dead.

  “He’s done for,” she said when Pradesh came walking over.

  He whistled. �
��That was some throw you made.”

  “He was trying to run me down,” she said defensively. “It was either launch the sword or dive under the crane. I’m not a fan of throwing myself under large machinery.”

  “I can’t say I’d be in a rush to do that, either. But it was a great shot.”

  “Thank you.”

  Pradesh thumbed over his shoulder. “We should probably check on the other one.”

  Annja frowned. “That’s going to be messy.”

  “Yes. It will be.”

  Annja pointed at the crane. “Shame we couldn’t use the crane to simply lift it off of him.”

  “You released the cable. No way to string it back up without help.” He looked puzzled. “How did you know how to do that?”

  “I didn’t. I guessed.”

  He whistled. “Lucky for us it worked.”

  As they wandered over to where the statue was embedded in the ground, Pradesh nodded. “I see a hand.”

  Annja looked at the statue of Kali and shook her head. “It’s incredible how upright this thing is standing. Almost as if this is where it was supposed to be the entire time.”

  “Are you finding religion now, Annja?”

  She smiled. “I respect all religions, Pradesh. The fewer deities I piss off, the happier I’ll find myself when my time finally arrives.” She winked. “I hope.”

  “Well said.” He turned and looked at her. “This has been some adventure for you, hasn’t it?”

  “It’s…been interesting.”

  “I get the feeling you’ve had plenty of others. You and that incredible sword of yours. It’s a gift from God, and I don’t think you’re going to find yourself apart from it for a very long time to come.”

  Annja nodded. “The responsibility of wielding it can sometimes get to be too much, but I can’t ever imagine being without it.” She grinned. “Do me a personal favor, though?”

  “If I can.”

  “Don’t ever tell anyone about this. There’s nothing top secret or superspy about it. I was chosen to possess it for some time and that’s all there is. It’s just me and the sword. I don’t need to know that the world’s intelligence agencies are gunning for me because of it.”

  He held up his hands. “Every adventure you have with that sword is your trial by fire. The entire journey you’re on is extraordinary.”

  “You might be right.”

  “And I give you my word that I won’t mention the sword’s existence to anyone. It’s the least I can do.”

  “Thanks.” Annja glanced around. “So, what happens now?”

  “Now? Now I clean this mess up. Literally, it looks like.” He sighed. “I’ll grab a truck and head back into Hyderabad and get the cleanup crews out here. This site needs to be expunged from the earth. The operation has to vanish.”

  “And the Tigers who were here?”

  Pradesh shrugged. “Unfortunate accidents of Dunraj’s betrayal. I walk away from this, as does my agency.”

  “Back into the shadows.”

  “Exactly.” His smile was firmly in place.

  “You ever get to New York, look me up,” she said. “I’d tell you my address, but you probably already know it.”

  “I might.”

  Annja frowned. “Wait—which one? You know it or you might look me up?”

  Pradesh laughed. He pointed at the trucks. “Would you like a lift back?”

  Annja thought about it and then shook her head. “You know what? I’m going to find Frank and walk down the mountain with him. Our car’s still down there somewhere. We’ll drive back. The normal way.”

  “Flying home tonight?”

  “I might have time for one more meal before we say goodbye to Hyderabad.”

  “I know a place....”

  “I’ll bet you do,” she said. “Say, three hours?”

  Pradesh checked his watch. “I might be able to fit you in.”

  Annja walked up the slope and found her way through the condominium. After so much time in the tunnels, the differences in light didn’t seem to bother her as much anymore.

  At the secret entrance in the rock, Annja paused one final time to look back into the inky darkness. She’d spent so much time in there over the past few days, it felt strange to finally walk out for good.

  I guess Kali has certainly lived up to her name, she thought.

  She closed the door behind her and stood in the valley. The sun was just beginning its trek toward the western horizon. It would soon be evening.

  It was time to head home.

  But first, she had to find Frank.

  And then she had to think up a story to explain to her producer, Doug, why they had no TV footage for Chasing History’s Monsters.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459223516

  Copyright © 2012 by Worldwide Library

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