Killer Thrillers Box Set: 3 Techno-Thriller, Action/Adventure Science Fiction Thrillers (24 page)

But as Bryce rounded the last bend in the Siq, he saw Karn and another Israeli busily firing away at
another
group of Madu’s forces — this time, advancing from the western side of the Siq.
 

This is getting ridiculous,
he thought as he ran to join the new fight up ahead. The sooner they could punch a hole in one of these flanking units, the sooner they could concentrate their firepower on the remaining threat. Jeff and Wayne ran up the middle of the narrowing shaft to join them, while Vilocek, Beka, and the Israelis fanned out toward the sides of the Siq.
 

Even pinned down as they were, they formed a pretty formidable team. Between the standard military-issue weapons from Bryce’s team and the otherworldly weapons of Vilocek’s, Bryce knew they’d be a tough nut to crack — if they could just focus on one front or another. But if they got stuck in the narrow canyon and Madu was able to attack them from east
and
west — well, Bryce didn’t like their chances so much.

Finally they reached the western end of the Siq. The shaft ended in a narrow, craggy exit point that spilled out into a large, flat plaza, but it was the other side of the plaza that immediately held his attention.
 

CHAPTER 37

3:45 AM
 

COLE ROUNDED the last turn in the Siq and almost tripped over his feet when the Lost City of Petra came into view. He’d seen pictures of the magnificent Treasury of Petra, but its grandiose artistry and sheer height — about 150 feet — was truly staggering up close. The perfectly symmetrical facade was lit by glowing spotlights, giving it a brilliant contrast to the dark surrounding cliffs. Ornate carvings surrounded the gaping door, which yawned wide like a huge mouth. Corinne drew in a sharp breath as she came alongside Cole and took in the incredible view.

They had only paused a moment before shouting and gunfire goaded them back into motion. The entire group poured out of the Siq and into the main plaza, breaking into pairs and taking cover in several small tombs and doorways along the cliff face.

Cole followed their lead, grabbing Corinne’s hand. “Come on!” She followed him to the right toward a large tomb cut into the side of the cliff, north of where the Siq opened onto the plaza. As they ran, Jensen grumbled something about the blasphemy of firing upon ancient treasures. No one was listening — self preservation trumping conservation.
 

Safely crouched in the opening of the tomb, Cole watched the firefight. Bullets spattered all around Jeff, who whirled and fired madly at two oncoming Egyptians. One crumpled, the other screaming in agony as a bullet tore through his left shin. He fired a wild volley as he collapsed on the plaza floor. From his perch, Cole couldn’t see many Egyptians — he wondered if the unit that chased them here was close to his position, but he couldn’t see from this angle.
 

There was a few moments of desultory fire back and forth, with no result either way. Jeff seemed to be struggling to load a round object into his rifle, then —
Boom! —
an explosion rocked the tomb, filling the chamber with debris and dust.

Coughing, Cole looked again and saw Jeff yelling profanity toward the smoking mouth of the Siq. In the bright moonlight, he could see a mound of rocks and boulders at the entrance to the plaza. Bryce said something to Wayne and his younger brother, who grinned and kept firing at the Treasury.

Cole wanted to help them, but unarmed and unprotected, he knew there was nothing he could do.

“Any bright ideas?” he asked, glancing at Corinne.
 

“For what?” she said. “I don’t even know where the hell we are — we wouldn’t get ten feet without getting shot.”

Cole frowned. “That’s kinda what I figured, too. But this is a standoff, and I don’t think anybody’s spotted us yet. We could — “

Before he could finish a shadow abruptly appeared at the tomb’s entrance, blocking out the light. Corinne’s eyes widened as Cole turned.

“Good morning.” The man standing at the opening raised his assault rifle, pointing it at Cole’s chest. “Get up.”

CHAPTER 38

4:05 AM
 

THEY WERE taking major damage. Bryce looked around at the others — Karn and an Israeli in one tomb, Wayne and Jeff Thompson in a second, and Sean and himself in another. Vilocek, Beka, and the other two Israelis were somewhere behind them — and he knew they’d only be able to keep this up for another few minutes. The lucky avalanche of rocks that had blocked Madu’s eastern forces would only have killed a few men, and the rest were surely looking for a way around — or over — right now. The remaining force was spread out, sheltered behind the Treasury’s columns, the small alcoves in the rocky cliffs, and on top of the cliff itself. They’d only hit five or six men — even Wayne’s impeccable aim wasn’t much help from their severely disadvantaged position.
 

Bryce stubbornly kept firing on the Treasury; even an accidental collapse of a column or part of the facade would give them a small chance.
 

“Bryce!” Sean yelled. “Three o-clock!”

Bryce looked quickly to the north. In the distance, five people were running away from the fight. Three of them were indistinct in the poor lighting, but he recognized Jensen’s round shape and Corinne’s red hair immediately. “Shit!” he knew his options were drastically limited.
 

Run after the civilians, and he’d be almost immediately hit. Stay and try to fend off the remaining men, and he might have a minute or two left before he ran out of ammunition and became a sitting duck. Jeff’s grenades were running out. He looked toward Vilocek and his two guards. The two men had switched their electronic weapons to fire standard rounds, and were doing their best to fend off the attackers, but they couldn’t keep it up indefinitely, either.

They
had
to get out of these tombs and make a run for it. Suddenly, Bryce had an idea. The plaza wasn’t very large — they just needed a decent head start. He shouted over the noise at Beka, who nodded back at him, grinning.

Seconds later, Karn and Beka opened up on the Treasury entrance, driving the men there under cover. “
Now!”
Bryce shouted. Simultaneously, seven grenades were flung toward the great Treasury’s rock exterior. As if on cue, the Egyptian men ceased firing as the strange counterattack took them by surprise. Before the Egyptians could return fire, the grenades exploded in a deafening reverberation that shook the canyon walls.
 

Perfectly timed, the explosion erupted from the sandy floor, shooting rock fragments, debris, and shrapnel straight up in a thick cloud.
 

At the same time, Karn and Beka switched their rifles back to the “stun” setting and fired them into the cloud of debris. The entire cloud immediately froze in place, a semi-transparent, sand and rock formation in some places more than twenty feet tall.
 

The men in the Treasury stood stunned, their view suddenly blocked by a wall that hung in front of them, defying gravity and common sense. After a few seconds, two of the men clambered down the Treasury steps and tried to get themselves through the thin wall, noticing that they could see through it in most places. But as soon as they came into range of the invisible force holding the cloud together, they immediately froze in place as well — paralyzed with an arm or leg halfway through the wall. Confused and shocked, the rest of the Egyptians hesitated, wasting precious seconds before resuming their attack.
 

But it was too late.
 

Bryce and the others had made a break for the canyon to the north where Cole, Corinne and the professor had gone. Karn and Beka continued to fire their rifles towards the Treasury as they ran, holding the wall of sand in place. They were almost around the bend in the canyon before the Egyptians recovered and opened fire again. A few stray bullets bounced off the walls around them, echoing through the towering canyon, but no one was hit. Safely around the bend, they paused to catch their breath.
 

“Impressive, Captain,” Vilocek said. “You could be a useful part of my team.”

Bryce glared at him. “I don’t work for you, Vilocek. We just happen to have a shared interest at the moment.”

Vilocek smiled, full of self-confidence. He seemed amused by the younger man’s response. Karn smirked.

“Check it out!” Sean shouted from about thirty feet away. “Looks like somebody’s been down this way.” He was staring at the ground where a narrow cleft opened in the cliff face, just wide enough for a person to pass through. There were several footprints leading into the cleft.

Karn walked up. “Crack doesn’t go all the way up,” he said. “Probably can’t see it from above. Lucky we stumbled across it at all.”

“What are you waiting for, then?” Vilocek asked, impatient. “Let’s get in there and catch that rat bastard. He’s got something that belongs to me.” Without waiting for a response, Vilocek plunged into the tight crevice. Karn and the others followed, one by one.

Bryce sighed and followed them into the side of the cliff.

CHAPTER 39

4:35 AM
 

THE FISSURE took a hard turn to the right. The narrow, A-shaped opening forced the men into a crouch almost as soon as they entered. The entrance was nondescript, but as they got further in it became obvious that the passage was not a natural feature. The tunnel quickly took on the shape of the elliptical shafts below the Giza pyramid. It curved slightly to the southwest, back toward the Treasury. After about ten feet, the walls became perfectly smooth.
 

Bryce knew it was an exact replica of the shafts they’d found at Giza — he also knew that somewhere due south of their location, they would probably find a mirror image of this shaft. Like the Giza shafts, there would be two conjoined “Golden Spirals” beneath Petra.

Vilocek had come to the same conclusion. He pulled out the shard of crystal he’d been carrying and held it up to the wall. The familiar blue symbols came slowly into focus. The three Israelis looked around in wonder as the symbols appeared on the walls, floor and ceiling. Vilocek kept moving forward, calling for the rest to keep up.
Where does he get his energy?
Bryce thought. Tanning never seemed tired; never seemed out of breath.
He doesn’t seem human
.

As they continued down, the symbols grew brighter.
Cole must be down here,
Bryce thought, remembering how the writing on the walls of the pyramid and in Whittenfield’s notebooks lit up in the presence of the young man. They were getting close.
 

“Whoa — hold up!” Vilocek said, pulling up suddenly. “Shit!” Bryce came up behind, nearly piling into Karn, looking to see why they’d stopped.

In front of Vilocek and Karn was a gaping hole. The shaft ended at the edge and a deep, empty space stared back at them. Karn pointed his light into the void. The darkness consumed the anemic beam like a black hole. About fifty feet ahead on the other side of the chasm, the shaft continued slightly below them. Karn’s light barely illuminated the circular opening, but they could just make out more of the bluish symbols glowing in the interior.
 

Bryce realized something else: they were not standing in a tunnel, but in something more like a large tube, somehow suspended in an immense cavern as if it was held by an unseen hand.
 

“Now what?” Karn asked no one in particular. “How the hell do we cross this?”

“Beats me,” Wayne said. “How did Madu and the others get across?”

“
Look!”
 
Jeff pointed his flashlight toward Vilocek’s feet. Wedged tightly in a crack in the wall was a grappling hook attached to a thick piece of climbing rope. Karn hauled up the rope, finding the end slashed. The remainder was too short to reach the other side. “Bastard cut it so we couldn’t follow him. Damn,” Jeff said.

Suddenly, Vilocek snatched Karn’s rifle from his hands. “What the — “ Karn protested, as Vilocek whipped the weapon around, pointed it at Karn, and pulled the trigger.
 

The distinctive
whirr
sounded as Karn’s body went rigid. Vilocek smoothly and slowly turned the weapon toward the abyss. Beka’s eyes widened “B-boss — we don’t know for sure that it can sustain that kind of range — “

“Shut it!”

They all watched in fearful silence as Vilocek moved the beam — and Karn’s helpless body — out over the yawning gap. Vilocek held the trigger with one finger as he used his other hand to adjust a setting on the side of the rifle. The particle beam increased in intensity, and Karn slowly drifted backwards — levitating just feet from the edge.
 

Time stood still. Karn’s eyes burned with a rage that belied his rigid posture. The rest of the group stared in fascination and horror.

Finally Karn came to a halt just feet from the other side. He was suspended in thin air over an endless drop — the gun didn’t have the range. Vilocek looked at the weapon and tried to turn the knob farther. It was at its limit — he couldn’t push Karn all the way across.

Vilocek looked up at Karn and casually released the trigger. Karn immediately came to life, spinning and twisting in the air, grabbing for the passageway behind him. With an acrobatic lunge, he caught the edge of the floor as his body started to plunge downward. He dangled for a moment, catching his breath. He finally hauled himself up and over the edge, and sat up on the floor. “Bastard!” he said, glaring at Vilocek before collapsing on his back, exhausted.

Vilocek laughed. “Well, that was easy! Who’s next?”

One by one, Vilocek transferred the rest of the reluctant group to the other side. He got better at it as they went, realizing that if he ran toward the edge and released the trigger, the momentum would send the hapless subject tumbling closer to the other side. Beka went across last, with his own particle rifle slung over his shoulder. When the others had dragged him to safety, he powered it up and turned to Vilocek.