The Sacred Vault

  ‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world,’ Vanita added.

  Khoil spoke again. ‘You may have noticed a new addition to my vimana.’

  ‘Yeah, I see it,’ said Nina. Where the dart gun had been before, a larger and more deadly weapon was now mounted beneath the compact aircraft’s body: Eddie’s Wildey. She glowered at her husband. ‘You would have to buy another of those stupid things . . .’

  ‘As you saw with the dart gun, I am a good shot. But Vanita only wants me to use the gun as a last resort. Her tigers prefer live prey.’ The cage lowered into the ground, leaving them standing in the open. The drone pivoted as if gesturing into the surrounding trees. ‘The nearest tiger is forty metres in that direction. Move towards it.’ The gun swung back.

  They reluctantly stepped off the platform. ‘What do we do?’ Nina whispered, looking round fearfully.

  ‘First thing, don’t get eaten,’ Eddie replied, trying to mask his own worry. Without a weapon, they had almost no chance of surviving a tiger attack. ‘Second, bring down that drone and get my gun. Did he say it had a dart gun on it before?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then he’s in for a fucking surprise if he fires it. Okay, stay close and follow my lead.’ They entered the trees, the drone descending under the overhanging branches to follow them.

  Eddie peered into the vegetation. Forty metres; about a hundred and thirty feet. If the predator was hunting, they wouldn’t see it until it was almost upon them. With a light breeze blowing through the foliage, the visual confusion of the undergrowth and the dappled sunlight cutting into the shadows made it almost impossible to pick out movement.

  He looked back at the drone. It was about ten feet behind, slightly above head height. He needed something heavy enough to knock it off balance . . .

  A chunk of broken branch on the ground, mouldering amongst the decomposing leaves. He pretended to stumble, scooping it up as he caught his fall. ‘Stop,’ he whispered. ‘Get ready to run.’

  ‘Which way?’

  ‘Any way that isn’t at the tiger!’ Eddie half turned towards the drone, concealing the hunk of wood behind his body. Nina looked nervously into the trees for any telltale flashes of orange.

  The drone came to a hover, eight feet away. ‘Keep moving,’ ordered Khoil.

  ‘Think I’d rather stay here,’ said Eddie. ‘Anyway, how do you even know where the tigers are?’

  ‘The tigers are all tagged with a GPS—’

  Eddie suddenly hurled the piece of wood at the drone, knocking the little aircraft back. ‘Run!’

  He grabbed Nina’s hand, and they turned and charged through the undergrowth, swatting low branches aside. The drone recovered and almost angrily spun to follow. The firing mechanism attached to the gun’s trigger pulled back—

  The Wildey fired with a colossal boom, the bullet narrowly missing Nina to blast a fist-sized chunk of bark out of a tree - but the effect of the gun’s recoil on the drone itself was nearly as damaging. It was thrown backwards, spinning wildly into another tree trunk. If its rotor blades had not been shrouded inside impact-resistant plastic its flight would have ended there; as it was, it bounced off and wobbled drunkenly back into a hover.

  ‘If you’re talking, you’re not reacting,’ Eddie said by way of terse explanation as he and Nina crashed through the bushes. Any animals nearby would certainly be able to hear them, but he hoped the tiger had reacted like the birds that had burst in fright from the trees and fled from the sound of the shot.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Nina panted.

  ‘Outer wall - I saw where we were on that map. There might be a way out.’

  They emerged from the trees. Ahead was a twenty-foot grey concrete wall: the preserve’s boundary. About sixty feet distant Nina saw a ladder attached to the wall - but its lower section had been raised like that of a fire escape, the lowest rung almost twelve feet up. ‘Eddie, over there.’

  ‘If I give you a leg up, you can pull it down—’

  A rifle cracked above them, the bullet kicking up a small explosion of earth at their feet. Two men with guns ran along the top of the wall, a third aiming another shot. Nina and Eddie bolted as a second round slammed into the dirt.

  More gunfire spat from the wall as they ran. ‘Back into the trees!’ Eddie yelled.

  ‘That’s where the tiger is,’ Nina protested.

  ‘Tigers don’t have guns!’ He vaulted a fallen log back into the shadows, Nina just behind. The firing stopped. Eddie slowed, getting his bearings - and hunting for any nearby movement. The immediate area seemed tiger-free. ‘Okay, so the wall’s out - we need to get to another one of those bunkers. Next one was, er . . . this way.’

  He pointed in what seemed to Nina to be a completely random direction. ‘You sure?’

  ‘Sure-ish.’ He set off. Nina looked round nervously in case anything striped and clawed was watching from the bushes, then scurried after him.

  ‘What do we do when we get to the bunker?’ she asked in a near-whisper. ‘We can’t lower the elevator from outside.’

  ‘If we nobble that drone and get my gun back, I can shoot out a window. There was a phone in that first bunker - if the others’re the same, we can call Mac or Kit. We just have to steer clear of Hobbes and his mates.’

  A faint whine caught Nina’s attention. She looked up into the trees, but saw nothing. It had to be close, though; Khoil had boasted that the drone’s rotors were inaudible past six metres. ‘I can hear the plane.’

  Eddie stopped. ‘Where?’

  ‘Up there somewhere.’ She pointed.

  ‘I can’t hear it.’ He stared intently into the foliage, seeing nothing.

  The noise grew louder. ‘It’s definitely there,’ Nina hissed. ‘There, there!’

  ‘Wait, I hear it—’ Eddie began, only to stop as the drone dropped down through a gap in the branches and hovered ten feet away. It turned slightly, pointing the gun at him . . .

  But it didn’t fire.

  ‘What’s it waiting for?’ he wondered out loud.

  Nina tugged frantically at his arm. He turned his head - and saw a bush, no more than fifteen feet away, lazily lean over with a faint crackle of bending branches as something pressed against it.

  Something large.

  ‘Uh . . . tiger,’ Nina whispered. ‘There’s a goddamn tiger behind that bush!’

  Eddie was already looking elsewhere. ‘That tree,’ he said, nudging her. Off to one side was a broad saman tree, its thick trunk forking a few feet above the ground, providing a step. ‘Move towards it, slowly.’

  He put himself between Nina and the predator, then they sidled towards the tree. The bush became still. ‘I can see it,’ Nina whispered, voice tremulous. A shape had taken on form amongst the slashes of sunlight and shadow, crouching low behind the bent branches. Black lines over white and orange converged around a pair of intense yellow eyes, watching them unblinkingly. She remembered that tigers were lone hunters, silent stalkers that observed their prey carefully before springing into a sudden, deadly strike . . . as this one was doing. Fear squeezed at her chest. ‘Oh, shit, Eddie, I can see it.’

  ‘Me too.’ Only more five feet to the tree - but the tiger could cover the gap in a single leap. It slowly raised its head, then lowered it almost down to the ground. Judging the distance.

  Preparing its attack.

  ‘Go behind the tree so it can’t get straight to you,’ he told her. ‘Then start climbing.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’ll be up there like a fucking rocket, don’t you worry!’ They reached the saman. Nina ducked below a branch and circled it. ‘Okay, get ready . . .’

  The tiger slowly drew back on its powerful legs, ready to leap. It clearly knew that its prey had seen it . . . and was utterly unconcerned, thinking they posed no threat - and had no chance of escape.

  ‘Climb!’ Eddie hissed.

  Nina pulled herself up, kicking off the forked trunk as she scrambled higher. Eyes fixed on the ti
ger, Eddie grabbed the overhanging branch and started to climb.

  The animal drew back its lips to reveal a pair of three-inch-long fangs. It pounced—

  And skidded to a stop, its head snapping round. The drone had moved closer for a better view - and the tiger heard the whine of its engines. A sound associated with pain, capture. It reared back and roared. The drone hurriedly retreated, but by then Eddie and Nina were both over ten feet up the tree and desperately climbing higher.

  Eddie saw the tiger glare at them. ‘Can tigers climb trees?’

  The answer came a moment later as it jumped on to the fork and scrabbled after Nina, claws ripping into the bark.

  ‘Fuck off, Tigger!’ Eddie yelled, kicking at it. He hurriedly pulled back his leg as the tiger swatted at him, slashing a chunk from his boot’s sole. It growled and clambered across to the other side of the fork after him.

  The bough Nina was climbing shook as the animal jumped off it. A smaller branch she was using as a handhold snapped; she swung, clutching at the broken stub with a stifled shriek. Half hanging off the swaying limb as it bent under her weight, she saw the branch of another tree not far away. She moved further along the bough, reaching out. ‘Eddie! Over here! The tiger’ll be too heavy to get across!’

  ‘So will I!’ Eddie shouted back. He weighed almost seventy pounds more than her, and if the tiger followed him the branch would break under the combined strain.

  ‘You’ve got to, it’s gonna catch you!’ She edged closer to the new branch. The drone moved in like an eager voyeur.

  Eddie looked down. Nina was right - the tiger was making frighteningly fast progress, claws ripping into the trunk just behind him. He clamped both hands round a branch above and pulled himself up as the tiger swiped again, barely missing his feet. Dangling, he swung along the bough like a monkey - then let go.

  Nina got a firm hold on the other tree and hauled herself across just as the branch she had left thrashed violently, Eddie landing on it in an explosion of loose leaves. The drone was caught in the swirling cloud of green and brown, its soft whine abruptly becoming a harsh buzz as leaves were sucked into its rotors and hacked to shreds. The aircraft lurched, briefly losing lift before recovering.

  The sight gave Nina an idea, but she was in no position to act upon it. Instead she kept moving along her branch. Behind her, Eddie clung sloth-like to the other branch’s underside.

  The tiger shifted position, preparing to jump at him.

  ‘Come on!’ Nina shouted as she reached the trunk. Eddie pulled himself along, stripping more leaves where his thighs were wrapped round the branch.

  The tiger leapt—

  Eddie opened his legs, swung down - and used the momentum to throw himself at the other tree, grabbing Nina’s branch with one hand.

  The tiger landed on the spot where he had been, the bough thrashing again - this time with a sharp crack of wood as it partially split away from the trunk. Suddenly fearful, the animal gripped the branch tightly as it tipped downwards, ending up swaying almost fifteen feet above the ground.

  Eddie dropped to a lower fork as Nina descended. The tiger was trying to crawl backwards along the branch, afraid of the fall, but its sheer size restricted its movements. ‘It’s stuck!’ he cried, jumping down to the ground. ‘Leg it!’

  Nina landed beside him - and pulled him behind the tree as the drone fired a second shot. It was thrown backwards by the recoil, but this time Khoil was prepared, and recovered more quickly.

  By then, Nina and Eddie were running again. The ground became wet, their feet kicking up splashes as they skirted a marshy area near the central lake. ‘That way to the bunker,’ said Eddie, pointing.

  Nina looked back. The tiger was not pursuing them, either still stuck in the tree or frightened away by the gunshot - but the drone was swooping after them like a tiny jet fighter. ‘How many shots in your gun?’

  ‘Five left.’

  Perhaps there was something to be said for the Wildey after all; a normal gun would have had more ammo and less recoil. ‘I’ve got an idea how to bring down the drone, but we’ll have to split up.’

  ‘That’s about the worst thing we could do.’

  ‘If we don’t, we’ll get shot!’ The Wildey boomed again, the Magnum bullet blasting a hole right through the trunk of a small tree just ahead of Eddie, splinters making him flinch. ‘Split up!’ Nina shouted.

  ‘I’m not leaving you on your own!’

  ‘I won’t be far - just get it to follow you under a low branch!’ Eddie realised what her plan was. She peeled away; he kept going, looking back at the drone to make sure it was still following him. Fronds whipped at his face as he jumped through a clump of bushes.

  The drone rose to clear them. Another thunderous gunshot seared past his head and slammed into the soggy ground. He had lost sight of Nina, but could hear her crunching through the undergrowth on a parallel course.

  Another large saman tree bowed down ahead, branches drooping. ‘Nina!’ he shouted, hoping she would take it as a signal. The drone was still coming, a carbon fibre wasp with a lethal sting. Three lethal stings, only four of the seven bullets fired. It descended to clear the outermost foliage, fixing Eddie in its sights—

  Nina leapt up and grabbed the overhanging branch, pulling it down on to the machine.

  This time, more than mere leaves were sucked into the rotors. Branches crunched into the ducts, the whirling blades slashing against them - and jamming.

  The drone spun out of control as one of its three rotor pods failed entirely with a horrible chainsaw rasp. The Wildey fired again, but the bullet flew harmlessly into the surrounding vegetation. Nina released the branch and dived at the gyrating aircraft, slamming it to the ground. She pulled the firing lever out from the Wildey’s trigger guard a moment before it clicked.

  Eddie ran to her and lifted the drone to release his gun, then looked into the camera. ‘See you soon,’ he promised the observers with a menacing smile, before cracking the Wildey’s butt against the lens.

  ‘How many bullets are left?’ Nina asked.

  He checked. ‘Two.’

  ‘Will that be enough?’

  ‘If it’s not, we’ll be tiger crap by tomorrow. Now, where’s that bunker?’ They set off at a jog, and soon re-emerged into sunlight, finding the lake to their left. Tall reeds rose from the water, giving them some concealment. ‘Okay, this way,’ said Eddie, leading her along the bank. He hopped over a mudhole. ‘Watch out for that.’

  ‘Watch out for that!’ Nina said in alarm. Eddie spun, seeing another tiger emerge from the lake and splash through the reeds towards them. He aimed the Wildey at it - then lowered the barrel slightly and fired. The combination of the gunshot and the explosion of mud and spray in front of the animal’s face prompted it to turn tail into the trees.

  ‘You didn’t shoot it?’ said Nina, surprised.

  ‘Enough people want us dead already without adding the World Wildlife Fund to the list,’ he said, keeping the gun raised until he was sure the animal had gone. Nina jumped the hole, and they continued along the bank. ‘Should be off to the right somewhere.’

  ‘Yeah - there’s a path.’ Nina bent low under a branch and followed the faint trail through the trees before holding up a hand. ‘I can see the bunker - and a camera pole.’ There was no way to reach the low concrete structure without being spotted.

  ‘We’ll have to move fast,’ Eddie said, hefting the Wildey. ‘You ready?’

  She looked back to make sure the tiger was not returning, then nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’

  They ran into the clearing. The camera turned to face them. ‘They’ve seen us!’ Nina cried.

  Eddie went to the window beside the raised elevator platform and fired his last bullet at point-blank range. The window was toughened, but it couldn’t withstand the power of a Magnum round, shattering into a million crystalline fragments. He looked through. Nobody was in the bunker. Like the first one, it had a computer station at a desk - and a phone.
>
  The opening was too small for him to fit through. He helped Nina slide inside; a chunk of glass still caught in the frame ripped the hip of her trousers, leaving a smudge of blood on the broken window. She grimaced, but wriggled through and hurried to the elevator controls. The metal platform descended into the ground.

  Eddie hopped off it. ‘What’s that noise?’ he said, looking along the underground passage. An odd echoing sound reached him.

  ‘Goats,’ Nina told him. ‘They must keep the tiger chow down here. Someone ought to tell the Humane Society.’

  He went to the phone. ‘Okay, let’s see,’ he said, starting to enter Mac’s number. ‘Just hope—’ A tone warbled in his ear. ‘For fuck’s sake!’ he snapped, banging down the receiver. ‘It’s an internal system.’

  ‘Get an outside line,’ Nina hurriedly suggested. ‘Nine, push nine!’

  He tried again, but with no better result. If the phone was connected to the outside world, there was no indication of how to reach it. ‘Bollocks! We’ll just have to make a run for it.’ He glanced at the cut on her hip. ‘You okay?’

  ‘It just stings. I’ll be fine.’ They ran down the passage. Behind them, a shadow passed over the broken window, something sniffing at the smeared blood.

  The third tiger. The male, largest and deadliest of the three.

  Nina and Eddie rounded a bend in the passageway to find a pen behind a gated metal fence. A dozen miserable-looking goats reacted in alarm to the new arrivals. Eddie was about to run past when Nina pulled him back. ‘Someone’s coming!’ The ringing clamour of running footsteps echoed down the concrete tunnel.

  The only place they could retreat was back into the tiger preserve. Instead, Eddie turned to the pen - and bashed open the gate’s bolt with his Wildey, waving his arms wildly. The goats panicked, leaping and bumping against each other before making a break for freedom. He held out his arms to force the animals towards the approaching footsteps. One got past him, but the others swerved away and charged down the corridor.

  ‘Now what?’ Nina asked.

  ‘Go with ’em!’ Eddie ran after the fleeing herd. Nina was about to follow when the lone goat tore back past her, little hooves clicking on the concrete floor. She jumped out of its way, then started in pursuit.