by Alex Lukeman
"Islamabad would have been destroyed," Rao said.
"Put down the gun," Nick said. "I won't tell you again."
"I miss Lakshmi," Rao said. His eyes looked sad. Then he smiled. "It's not over."
He pulled the trigger. The side of his head blew out in a geyser of blood and tissue. The body slammed back and fell from the chair.
"Shit," Nick said. He lowered his rifle.
"What did he mean, it's not over? Who's Lakshmi?" Selena asked.
"I don't know," Nick said. "Let's get out of here before the whole Indian Army shows up."
"I hear a helicopter," Lamont said. "Might be too late."
They ran outside. The forest was burning all along the side of the mountain. Thick clouds of brown and black smoke billowed upward. Tongues of red and orange flame leapt high into the air. The heat was intense. Pieces of metal wreckage lay scattered in every direction. The crumpled black nose cone from the missile lay in the path of the advancing fire.
"How come it didn't go off?" Selena said. She gestured at the warhead.
"It was probably set for an altitude burst," Nick said. "There's a firing sequence that has to happen or it won't detonate. It's the way they're designed. A way to keep them safe."
"Safe. Who are they kidding? Lucky for us," she said.
Akron's Huey circled in and set down near the edge of the crater. They ran to it and climbed in. Seconds later they were airborne. Nick settled into the co-pilot's seat.
"Figured you might want to get out of Dodge," Akron said.
"You got that right."
"You don't mess around, do you? You should have seen that from over there by those ruins. Biggest Roman candle I've ever seen. If I had that on film, I could sell tickets."
"Yeah. Take us back to Srinagar."
"I got a feeling it might be better if we took the long way around," Akron said. "Might get a little bumpy."
"Just get us back without getting shot down," Nick said.
"Roger dodger, Captain."
They lifted off in a steep bank. Nick grabbed for whatever he could find. Lamont uttered a string of obscenities in the bay behind him. Akron headed away from Srinagar.
"Where are you going?" Nick said. "The city's that way."
"So is the Indian Air Force. Trust me."
Akron flew at fifty feet above the highway for a few minutes. Then he banked to the right and flew into a narrow canyon that disappeared into the mountains. The walls of the canyon seemed inches away from the spinning blades. Akron was whistling as he flew, twisting and turning along the torturous route of a river below. It would be almost impossible for the Indians to find them here, unless they knew where to look.
Akron looked over at Nick. "Yesssir, you folks put on quite a show," he said. The chopper came close to the canyon wall.
"You mind watching where you're going?" Nick said.
Akron looked hurt. Nick called Harker.
"Director, we're on our way back."
"What happened?"
"Rao shot himself. We brought down the missile, but it was a close thing. The launch site is unusable and there's a hell of a fire burning. Rao had this big ruby. He made Selena promise to take it back where it came from."
"The Eye of Shiva," Elizabeth said.
"Right."
"Where are you?"
"On the way back to Srinagar."
"The Indians are kicking all foreign journalists out of Kashmir," Elizabeth said. "You qualify, as a documentary crew making films. The plane has been released, along with your passports. Get back and get out of there."
Nick remembered what Rao had said. He had to know. "How's Ronnie doing?"
"No change."
Nick took a deep breath.
"Nick, that jewel is important. It has to go to the government. You can't take it back."
Nick looked back at Selena. She was watching him, listening to the conversation. They all had ears on the link.
"Why not?" Nick asked.
"It's a national treasure. Bring it home and we'll return it with the proper diplomatic protocols."
"What?" Nick said. "You're breaking up." He made rasping noises.
"I said..."
Nick made crackling and hissing sounds. "...up. Can't...what...say..."
He ended the connection and turned back toward Selena.
She smiled at him and his heart missed a beat. Her violet eyes were bloodshot. Her face was scratched and streaked sweat and dirt. Nick thought she'd never looked more beautiful.
"Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome."
The adrenaline surge was long gone. Nick was exhausted. The journey back to Srinagar passed in a blur. Once they saw a flight of six military helicopters go past in the distance, headed for the missile complex.
At the hangar, they gave Akron back his guns.
"Thanks," Nick said. "You did a good job with that bird."
Akron said, "Wouldn't have missed that for anything. I haven't had that much fun in a long time, but I admit it could have turned out different. Tells me it's time to pack it in. I'm going back to the states."
"What about this?" Nick gestured at the Huey, the hangar.
"Doesn't matter," Akron said. "It's mostly junk. My guess is the Indians are going to figure out that was my bird out there. I don't want to be around when they do. I'm out of here." He turned to Selena. "Sorry I got you mad at me, Sweet Pea."
He grinned at her and walked away.
"What an ass," she said.
"Yeah, but at least he's a consistent ass," Nick said.
CHAPTER 66
They drove to the airport and were cleared to leave Kashmir. The Eye was concealed with the guns in the camera equipment. Nick waited until they were in the air and Srinagar was receding below before he asked Selena what she was going to do.
"What would you do?" she said.
"You heard what Harker said. Turn it in. There must be a national museum for antiquities. That's where it belongs."
"I gave my word."
"To a dead man who tried to get us all killed. And then there's Ronnie."
"That's a cheap shot," Selena said. "You know damn well I haven't forgotten Cobra was responsible for what happened in Manila."
"You're right. Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across like that."
"I gave my word," Selena said again.
"It's a historic treasure," Nick said. "It's priceless. How long do you think it will last if those priests put it back on display?"
"That's not my problem," Selena said. "Besides, if you didn't think it was the right thing, why did you tell Elizabeth you couldn't understand what she was saying?"
"Because I wanted to give you the choice. Like you said, you gave your word."
"Did you tell the pilot we're going to New Delhi?"
Nick sighed. "Yes. I thought you might be stubborn about it. But I think it's a mistake."
Nick looked out the window. They were already in the approach pattern for New Delhi.
They got a cab at the airport and went to the temple. A Hindu man gave them a disapproving look as they stood by the entrance. Three foreigners.
"We have to take our shoes off," Selena said.
She pointed at a stone shelf by the temple entrance. They placed their shoes on the shelf and entered the temple.
Inside, it was cool and dim, the air heavy with powerful incense. Lamont looked up at the high ceiling and then at the fierce statue of Shiva.
"I wouldn't want to mess with that guy," he said. His voice was quiet.
The head priest stood motionless in front of the statue, watching them. He was old. It was hard to say how many years he was carrying. His face was like the weathered side of a mountain. He wore an orange robe and had a red dot painted on the center of his forehead.
"I think he's waiting for us," Selena said.
"How could he be? He couldn't know we were coming."
Selena said. "Wait here."
Selena stopped in front of the priest, steeple
d her hands together and made a slight bow.
"Namaste," she said.
He returned the gesture. "Namaste." His voice was soft, deep. Selena sensed hidden depth in it.
"I have something for you," she said in Hindi.
The priest showed no surprise. "I know," he said. "You are an honorable woman."
How did he know about that? she thought. She withdrew the jewel from her pocket. It felt hot in her hands. She held it out to him.
"Ah," the priest said. "Thank you."
There was a sudden smell of jasmine in the air. The priest took the stone and looked at her.
"Perhaps you don't believe in karma," he said. "No matter."
He bowed and turned away. He went through a beaded doorway.
That was weird, she thought.
CHAPTER 67
The next day they were back in Virginia, meeting in Harker's office. Nick was jet lagged and bone tired.
"Ronnie is going to be okay," Elizabeth said. "He's already complaining about the food. I talked with his doctor this morning."
"The good looking one? Fairchild?" Nick said.
"Good looking? Selena raised an eyebrow.
"For a doctor," Nick said. "Competent looking. You know."
"No, I don't know."
Elizabeth cleared her throat. "I thought we'd go over there later. Before that there are a couple of things we need to talk about. One good thing that came out of this is that it was a wakeup call for India and Pakistan. Rao's near miss scared the hell out of them. They were within minutes of annihilating each other and they realize it. China is brokering a peace conference. They're meeting tomorrow in Beijing and the armies have pulled back from the border. So that genie is back in the bottle, at least for now."
"Cobra was crazy," Lamont said. "You should have seen him. But he's out of the picture now."
Stephanie said, "There were more people involved in this plot than Rao. One of them is another agent at RAW named Khanna. He's under arrest. The problem is that we don't know who else. I may have identified one of them but even if I'm right, there's no proof. Nothing we can act on."
"Who is it?" Nick said.
"Rao made a call to someone named Krivi, right before he attempted to launch. I back traced it to Geneva."
"Switzerland? Who's Krivi?"
"I think it's a man named Krivi Dass. He owns a pharmaceutical company based in Zurich with manufacturing facilities in Switzerland and Mumbai. It's a big company, with sales worldwide. Dass is one of the world's richest men, worth billions. Rao thanked him for his pills. I'm pretty certain he's the one Rao was talking with."
"There's more," Elizabeth said. "The nose cone and guidance computer on that missile were recovered, mostly intact."
"We saw it lying on the side of the hill," Nick said.
"The Indians were able to recover the data on the computer. The missile wasn't headed for Pakistan."
"It wasn't? Where was it going?"
"China. It was targeted on Chengdu."
"Holy shit," Lamont said.
"Exactly," Elizabeth said. "A missile hitting China would have provoked retaliation against India. It would have meant nuclear war on the sub continent and the Chinese mainland."
"That doesn't make sense," Selena said. "Rao wanting to nuke Pakistan makes sense. He thought Islamabad was responsible for the death of his family. But why China?"
"We don't know why," Elizabeth said. "Then there's the question of how the missile was launched. The computer shows that the targeting coordinates and go codes came from a pre-programmed card. The commanders on site didn't have anything like that. Someone had to give it to Rao."
"Rao said Islamabad would have been destroyed," Nick said, "right before he pulled the trigger. He thought that missile was going to Pakistan. Then he said, 'it's not over.'"
"It's not over? You're sure?"
"That's what he said."
Elizabeth picked up her pen and began tapping it on the desk.
"Rao planned this operation with Krivi," she said. "At least that's how it sounded during that phone conversation. Krivi was pleased when he learned that Rao was going to launch. He has to be one cold son of a bitch if he can be pleased at the prospect of nuclear war and all the death and destruction that would bring."
"Not on Switzerland, though," Nick said.
"No. Not on Switzerland."
Nick said, "People in Krivi's league don't do things like this on their own. There are too many links. Anything that affects big profits world wide would be planned in consultation with others as rich as he is."
"That's a small club," Stephanie said.
"We've seen something like this before," Elizabeth said. They all looked at her.
"AEON," she said.
"I thought we'd finished with them," Nick said.
"So did I, but now I'm beginning to wonder."
"We'll watch Krivi," Stephanie said. "There isn't anything else we can do without more information."
Elizabeth said, "We all need a break. You three need sleep. Let's go see Ronnie and we'll think about this tomorrow."
CHAPTER 68
The restaurant was new and good and still undiscovered. Nick and Selena sat where they could watch the entrance. Selena had picked up Nick's habit of never having your back to the door. They'd rearranged chairs so they could face out, to the waiter's disapproval.
Nick ordered a bottle of Silver Oak.
"Remember when you brought out a bottle of this in California?" he said.
"Right before we ended up in that mine."
"With the spiders and rats."
"This is a lot nicer," she said.
She gestured at the dimly lit room. The tables were set with crisp, white linen. The silverware was heavy, the plates of good china. The glassware was leaded crystal. Soft music played in the background. Once the word got out, it would be filled with self- important people wheeling and dealing. For now it was just a pleasant place to have a good meal and a glass of wine.
"Ronnie looked a lot better," she said.
"He'll be fine. It will be a while before he's ready to get back in the field, though. He was circling the drain. It doesn't get any closer than that."
"He could decide not to go back."
"That would be bad for the team," Nick said. "Might be good for him, though."
The waiter brought the wine and poured. He took their order. When he was gone, Nick said, "I was thinking."
"About what?"
"Us."
"What about us?"
"I think we should go back to that jewelry store. And as many others as you want, if you don't see what you like there."
She hadn't been expecting that.
"What if it doesn't work out? Us?"
"Then it doesn't. But we won't know unless we give it a shot."
"It will be different if we get married," Selena said.
"It could be better."
"Or not. We get on each other's nerves."
"Yeah, but then it's okay again. Isn't that how it works?"
She sipped from her glass. "I suppose so."
Nick studied his glass, looked up. "You don't want to do it."
"Honestly? I do, but I'm afraid it will change things in a way we don't like."
"We spend almost all of our time together anyway,"
"Yes, but it's not the same."
He picked up the bottle of wine and topped off their glasses.
"I wasn't thinking about anything except how much I wanted you when I asked you. Then later it seemed like you were having your own doubts. It's why I put off getting a ring."
"I was having doubts," she said.
"Do you still have them?"
"I'll probably always have them."
The food came. They stopped talking until the waiter had left.
She looked at him. I love him, she thought. He's not going to keep asking forever. You'll never know if you don't try for it.
"All right," she said.
; "All right what?"
"Let's look for a ring."
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The Project Series
White Jade
The Lance
The Seventh Pillar
Black Harvest
The Tesla Secret
The Nostradamus File
The Ajax Protocol
The Eye of Shiva
Book 9 will be out early in 2015.
Reviews by readers are welcome!
Acknowledgements
My wife Gayle. Being the wife of a writer is not an easy task. She patiently listens to me struggle with the plot line and deals with the mood swings that accompany good writing days and bad ones.
Neil Jackson, who designs the covers for the Project series.
Special thanks to Michelle Briere. Also to Nancy Witt, Paul Madsen, Seth Ballard, Eric Vollebregt and Gloria Lakritz.
Notes
I like to mix fact and fiction together in the PROJECT stories.
In The Eye of Shiva, some things are true and some are not. The story of the treasure looted by Naher Shah during the sack of Delhi in 1739 is true. The treasure eventually reached Persia and was so large that all taxes were suspended for three years in the kingdom. Among the treasures taken was the Peacock Throne, a fabled construction of solid gold built for the Mughal Emperor Akbar Khan. The throne was decorated with precious jewels and golden peacocks. But nothing more is known about the throne after it left Delhi. It disappeared from history. What happened to it?
The jewel in the story, the Eye of Shiva, is fiction, as is the prophecy attributed to it. The Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Timur ruby are real. Abdul Afridi's terrorist group ISOK is a fictional equivalent of a real group called Le T, short for Laikshar-e-Taiba. Le T is responsible for many murders and deadly attacks in India and Kashmir and is closely tied to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence Agency. Abu Sayaaf in the Philippines is real. These are bad people. Like ISIL in the Mid-East, they are fond of beheadings, robbing banks and murdering civilians.
