THE MAHABHARATA QUEST:THE ALEXANDER SECRET

by CHRISTOPHER C. DOYLE

  After Krishnan had reported to him that the four targets were passing through Gurgaon and heading towards Delhi, Riley had left the hotel and met up with the team based in Delhi. When he learned that his targets had stopped at the National Museum, Riley realised that their destination was not a random choice. He had called Cooper who had instructed him to follow the targets, investigate their activity at the museum to gain any information possible, before eliminating them.

  And the curator was the best person to give him that information.

  ‘Now,’ Riley said as Sahu sat down at his desk. ‘Tell me what your visitors wanted.’

  Sahu looked at Riley with wide eyes, terror oozing out of every pore in his body. Riley smiled. The man reeked of fear. And Riley loved that smell in his targets before he killed them. It gave him a high that no psychotropic substance could.

  ‘One of them is an archaeologist,’ Sahu blubbered.

  ‘The American woman. I know that already.’ Riley’s voice was hard. He was getting impatient. ‘Tell me something I don’t know. Why are they here?’

  He gestured to the gunman who slid beside Sahu, grabbed his wrist and slammed his hand on the desk, palm downwards, fingers splayed. Riley unsheathed his knife and examined the curator’s arm as the blade hovered over it. Finally, he selected a spot on Sahu’s hand and cut away a slice of flesh. Blood oozed out immediately.

  Sahu let out an agonised scream which echoed down the empty corridors and galleries of the museum. The pain was unbearable. Riley chose another spot and sliced off some more flesh.

  The curator screamed again and again, as if the agony would be lessened by lending it a voice.

  ‘Now, I’m asking you once more,’ Riley’s voice was low and sinister. ‘What did the archaeologist want from you? Why is she in the museum?’

  29

  Realisation

  ‘That was Sahu’s voice,’ Vijay said. ‘I’ll go and check on him while you guys lock up.’

  Vijay sprinted down the stairs and through the corridor towards Sahu’s office. As he neared the office, he heard a man’s voice, low, strong and deadly, over the sound of the curator’s anguish-ridden screams.

  ‘Now, I’m asking you once more,’ the man said. ‘What did the archaeologist want from you? Why is she in the museum?’

  Vijay stopped in mid stride. A cold fear took hold of him. Someone was asking about Alice. Someone knew that Alice was here at the museum. Was it Cooper? How could it be? Cooper couldn’t have made it through immigration without Imran knowing about it. And Imran would have alerted

  them immediately.

  His instinct kicked in and all questions were brushed aside. A warning siren went off in his head. He had to alert the others!

  Discovered

  Riley heard the sound of running footsteps in the corridor outside and motioned to the gunman to investigate. The man dashed out of the room. Riley turned his attention back to the curator.

  ‘I’m waiting,’ he said. With his free hand, he grabbed the curator’s uninjured arm and held the knife aloft, prepared to slice flesh off his other hand. The desk was covered with blood.

  ‘The metal plate,’ Sahu blubbered through his tears as he jerked his good arm in futility, trying to wrest it from the vice-like grip of his captor. ‘It was found buried beneath the foundations of Alexander’s altar!’

  Riley’s ears pricked up at this news. He didn’t know much about history or archaeology – these weren’t his areas of interest – but he did know that the mission had revolved around Greek history. And he had seen for himself the tomb in Greece. He had also seen the artefacts in the dig hut at the excavation site of the tomb when he blew it up. So he knew that, somehow, this metal plate was important.

  ‘It wasn’t a guard. I didn’t get a good look at him and the corridor is too dimly lit, but I could make out that much.’ The gunman who had been in the curator’s office reported through Riley’s earpiece. ‘He went upstairs. Must be part of the target group. I’m calling the others in and going after them.’

  ‘Do it.’ Riley turned back to the curator. ‘Where are they now? Where is the metal plate?’

  By now Sahu was broken. He told Riley everything he wanted to know.

  ‘Second floor. Arms and Armour room,’ Riley instructed his men. ‘Herd them and keep them for me. I’ll be up in a minute. I want to talk to them before I kill them.’

  Defence

  Vijay sprinted to the end of the corridor and dashed up the staircase, two stairs at a time. The others were almost halfway down.

  ‘Back up!’ he gasped. ‘We’ve got to get back upstairs.’ He looked at Alice. ‘They know you’re here.’

  There was no time for questions or to exchange further words. The urgency and desperation in Vijay’s voice was sufficient for them to hurry back up the stairs.

  A plan was forming in Vijay’s mind as they retreated. He swiftly outlined it to the others as they hastened towards the galleries on the second floor. ‘We don’t how many of them there are,’ he whispered. ‘And we don’t know if there’s another way down to the museum entrance from here. We can’t go back down the main staircase since they’ll be coming after us. And we have to assume they are armed. So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re first going to grab whatever we can from the arms and armour displays. We need to have something to defend ourselves.’

  ‘Beta, we can’t fight them,’ Shukla said gently. ‘Especially if they have guns. The swords and spears from the displays won’t be of any use against guns.’

  Vijay shook his head as they entered the gallery with the weapons. ‘I’m not suggesting that we make a stand here. The weapons are just a precaution. I agree we can’t fight them—it would be foolhardy. But we need the weapons just in case something goes wrong. Here’s what we should do. It is our only chance.’ He sketched out the plan and the others nodded.

  Vijay and Colin lifted a small stone sculpture from among the statues lining the corridor and broke the glass on the displays that housed the weapons they had selected.

  Shukla picked out an inscribed battle axe that had belonged to Nadir Shah, dated to around 1739 AD. It was 52 centimetres in length, just right in terms of size and weight for him to wield without difficulty.

  Colin chose the inscribed sword of Tipu Sultan and Vijay selected a mace from Kashmir from the 18th century.

  ‘Just like you to pick the biggest and heaviest weapon around,’ Colin grinned at Vijay, his sense of humour bringing in an element of lightness even in this grim situation. ‘You sure you will be able to swing it around when you most need it?’

  ‘Let’s hope I don’t have to find out,’ Vijay said soberly. ‘What’s your choice, Alice?’

  Alice looked scared and confused, knowing that time was running out, yet unsure what weapon she could use. The thought that her hunters in Greece may have caught up with her had set off a wave of panic in her mind. Finally, Vijay made the choice for her, plucking out a Rajput wood and ivory spear from the late 16th century. Just 38.5 centimetres in length, it was lightweight enough for her to carry without a problem. She, too, hoped she would not have to use it.

  Armed with their weapons, they took up their positions according to Vijay’s plan and waited. Under the circumstances, they had little option but to hope that the plan would work.

  30

  Will the plan work?

  The three gunmen met at the foot of the staircase leading to the second floor. Two of them had been positioned on the ground floor, guarding the two corridors that led in and out of the museum’s main lobby to ensure that no one entered or left the museum.

  The sound of glass breaking came to their ears and they looked up with one accord at the floor above.

  The lead gunman indicated the stairs and they moved up, swiftly but quietly.

  There was silence on the second floor as they reached the end of the staircase. And semi darkness. The corridor lights were switched off, as were the lights in the galleries closest to them. T
he only light that came to them was from the galleries on the far side of the rotunda.

  They looked around, trying to make out the museum signs and work out which was the gallery that housed the arms and armour display. One of them silently pointed out a floor plan that was fixed to the wall near the staircase. The lead gunman shook his head as he took out a flashlight. He didn’t have a choice and had to risk being seen by the targets. It was clear that they were dealing with a smart bunch of people, who were using the lack of light to

  their advantage.

  He located the gallery they sought on the map and pointed it out to the other two. A thought occurred to him and he also signalled that their quarry could be armed. One could never be sure. Even though Riley had told them they were after a group of ordinary people. He had known men to lose their lives by underestimating the enemy. He wasn’t about to join their numbers.

  From where they stood, the three men could see the entrance to the gallery. The door was open. It was pitch dark inside.

  The lead gunman signalled again. They had to find the main switch for the corridor lights. The men spread out and started examining the walls.

  ‘Got it,’ one of them whispered, his throat microphone picking up the vibrations generated from within his neck so that his whisper was barely audible in the silent museum.

  He flicked a switch and the corridor lights snapped on, blinding the three men momentarily.

  The lead gunman grimaced under his ski-mask. While the corridor lights would provide some illumination, however faint, in the darkened gallery, it would be difficult for them, going into a pitch black room from the lighted corridor. Hobson’s choice.

  The three men slowly made their way to the entrance of the gallery.

  Cat and mouse

  Vijay stiffened as he saw the lights go on outside. He had anticipated that the gunmen wouldn’t enter a fully dark room, and the diversion to find the light switch was the only way he could think of to buy them those few precious extra seconds that would enable them to settle down.

  Even though he didn’t hear a thing, a shadow loomed in the doorway. Trained killers, he thought to himself. They were clinically efficient.

  The shadow disappeared, and another one took its place, only to be replaced by a third shadow. All three melted into the near darkness of the gallery, as the gunmen stayed out of the line of the doorway and out of the light coming through it.

  What now? Vijay wondered. There was no way to check if the others were implementing the plan. He would just have to count the seconds, as they had planned and hope that they were able to make it.

  Almost there…

  Riley listened to the gunman’s voice in his earpiece and nodded. He roughly jerked Sahu to his feet. ‘You’re coming with me,’ he said. ‘We’ve got work to do upstairs.’

  He half dragged the bleeding curator up the stairs, trying to reach the gallery where his targets were hiding, before they could escape.

  Foiled!

  Vijay grimaced as he saw the shadows loom on the wall. The others were silently making their way out of the room as planned. But, while the plan counted on their being able to observe their hunters entering the room, they hadn’t considered the fact that they, too, would be seen leaving the room. And he didn’t know if there were more men outside or even downstairs. But this was their only chance.

  He waited. But no third shadow made its way through the doorway. Who was missing? And, what surprised him was that none of the three men hunting them had attempted to follow the two members of his group out of the gallery. Something was wrong.

  Without warning, the lights in the gallery came on. He blinked as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden increase in brightness. What was happening?

  31

  Trapped

  Alice slunk out of the gallery, as they had planned. They had taken up their assigned positions behind different displays which occupied the room – tall cases displaying different parts of body armour, mannequins wearing the armour of emperors and kings – and waited.

  They had counted on the men entering the room after switching on the corridor lights. The plan was to wait for 20 seconds after the last man entered the room, just to be sure there were no others, and then sneak out, one by one, at intervals of ten seconds.

  Colin joined her after a few moments and they stood there, waiting for Shukla. Vijay had volunteered to be the last one. ‘Because I’ve got the most powerful weapon,’ he had said, quite seriously. They hadn’t argued. They were short of time.

  The seconds passed and Shukla didn’t appear. Colin looked at Alice, worried. They didn’t want to leave without either Shukla or Vijay. Colin struggled to decide what they should do. Going back inside was not an option. While none of their hunters had followed them outside, they could be waiting for them to return.

  An unpleasant thought struck him. What if Shukla had been captured already?

  The decision was taken out of his hands as Riley appeared on the landing of the second floor, dragging a bloody Sahu behind him. ‘Lights in the gallery,’ he ordered Sahu, as he fixed Alice and Colin with a sneering smile. Sahu obediently complied.

  Alice and Colin froze where they stood. They didn’t know who this man was but the sight of Sahu, his right hand covered in blood and the Bowie knife in Riley’s hand was enough for them to realise one thing.

  They were trapped.

  The curator’s fate

  Vijay stared in horror at the sight before him. Alice and Colin were being shepherded through the door, along with a blood covered Sahu, by a tall, muscular man with blonde hair, who brandished an enormous Bowie knife. It was obvious that the blonde man had ambushed Alice and Colin outside the gallery; but what had he done to Sahu? Vijay now realised why Sahu had been screaming in anguish. The curator’s face was now dull, the pain replaced by shock, numbing his senses.

  On the other side of the room, three gunmen stood, their faces concealed by black ski-masks, covering the three prisoners.

  Riley consulted his phone. ‘Alice Turner. Check. Colin Baker.’ He looked at Colin. ‘That must be you. You’re the only other white guy in the room.’ He looked around. ‘There were five of you at the fort. The two who were nosing around are covered. Which means there’s one guy missing.’ He raised his voice. ‘Vijay Singh! I know you’re in here. You can’t hide. I’ll go easy on these two if you show yourself now.’

  Vijay realised two things in that instant. The first was that somehow, they had been under surveillance at the fort. He couldn’t fathom how, but this man knew their names and also knew that the three of them had been together at the fort. He also seemed to know that Imran and Radha had been with them. The second was that this man’s information was not perfect. He didn’t know about Shukla. Vijay couldn’t work out why Shukla seemed to be a blind spot, but he hoped that the linguist had realised that and would stay concealed.

  He stepped out from behind the case displaying a suit of armour, dragging the mace behind him. ‘I’m here,’ he said, simply.

  Riley beamed, satisfied with the way things were going. Then, abruptly, he turned to Sahu, grabbed him and slit his throat in one motion, dropping the curator’s body to the floor, where his blood started pooling. ‘We don’t need him anymore,’ he explained to the others.

  As the others looked on, horrified, he grabbed Alice and pressed the bloody tip of his knife against her throat. ‘Now,’ he whispered to her. ‘Where’s that metal plate?’

  Two of the gunmen moved closer to Vijay and Colin, aiming their guns at them. Just beyond reach of an arm or a leg, but close enough to be an effective shot at point blank range.

  A small dot of red appeared on Alice’s throat where the knife point pressed against her skin. She tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come out.

  Riley chuckled. ‘Let’s find out if you’ve got it on you.’

  ‘Wait,’ Vijay stepped forward, unable to contain himself. He could see that Alice was beside herself with fear. ‘She doesn’t
have the metal plate. It’s in a room behind that door.’ He indicated the door they had locked just a few moments ago. ‘I have the key.’ He looked at the gunman who had his weapon trained on him.

  The gunman nodded. ‘Easy now,’ he cautioned Vijay, his voice muffled by the ski mask. ‘Any tricks and I won’t miss at this range.’

  Vijay slowly fished out the key ring and threw it to Riley. The blonde man half dragged, half carried Alice to the door and unlocked it. He stared at the repository of tablets and seals inside. ‘Which one is it?’ he snapped.

  Alice showed him the plaque. Riley shoved her away roughly towards the third gunman who backed up to catch her as she stumbled towards him. The blonde man sheathed his knife then picked up the seal and looked at it.

  Vijay and Colin watched with surprise as something totally unexpected happened.

  32

  334 BC

  Macedonia

  Alexander was in his apartments in the royal palace, gazing out of a window, lost in thought, when his mother entered, unannounced.

  ‘Son,’ Olympias began. ‘I have a gift for you.’

  Alexander turned, frowning. He had grown up with his mother’s idiosyncrasies, but he still hadn’t got accustomed to them. Her breaking into impromptu, ecstatic dance at unexpected moments, the inexplicable love of snakes, and entering his rooms unannounced – they still irritated him at times. But he loved her with all his heart and could never bring himself to reproach her.

  His dark, intense eyes searched her hands for the gift she spoke of but they were empty, clasped before her.

  ‘Come on, mother,’ the young king protested. ‘No games now. Tell me what it is. You know I love gifts.’

  ‘Before I do, I want you to promise me something,’ she replied, smiling at him. He was possibly the only person she didn’t wish to manipulate or take advantage of. All she wanted was for her son to be a great man, for his glory to live forever. And she would do anything to ensure that happened.