The Covenant of Genesis

  A Covenant soldier aimed at him over the bonnet of a Humvee; he hauled the gun round and hosed him with lead. More movement, outside the circle of 4x4s - another group of Janjaweed, realising that the machine gunner wasn’t a militiaman. Chase turned the barrage on them before they could act on that realisation, bullet-riddled bodies tumbling.

  The ammo belt reached its end, the thunder stopping abruptly. There were more ammunition boxes in the pickup bed, but he didn’t have time to reload. Nina was bent almost double in her seat, hands pressed against her ears to protect them from the deafening noise. ‘Start the truck!’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I said start the - never mind!’ He jumped into the cab and turned the key. ‘Go!’

  She raised her head. ‘Which way?’

  ‘Left.’

  Nina released the clutch, the Toyota kicking sand from under its tyres as it lurched into motion. She turned left - only to see a group of Janjaweed running towards them. ‘Maybe not,’ she said, spinning the wheel to the right.

  ‘I said go left!’ Chase shouted.

  ‘Yeah, and there’s a bunch of guys with guns that way!’

  ‘Have you seen what’s this way?’

  She looked. ‘Oh, shit!’

  The man who had destroyed the Humvee had reloaded his rocket launcher, lining up a second RPG round - not at the Covenant vehicles, but at the Hilux.

  Nina tried to turn, but found nowhere to go, armed men on both sides and the burning wreck of the upturned Humvee directly ahead . . .

  ‘Go straight!’ Chase shouted. He shoved his foot down on hers, jamming the accelerator to the floor.

  ‘Eddie, what—’

  ‘Straight!’ he said, pointing forwards. The Humvee’s broad underside rose out of the sand like a ramp.

  ‘Are you out of your—’

  The RPG leapt from its launcher, hurtling across the camp.

  ‘—fucking—’

  The Toyota hit the inverted Humvee, shot up the slope—

  ‘—miiiiiind!’

  The grenade slammed into the upturned Humvee just as the Toyota cleared the top of the makeshift ramp. It exploded, blasting the wrecked 4x4 into the air. It cartwheeled out of the swelling fireball to smash down on top of one of the other Humvees, ripping it in half - along with the Covenant trooper in cover against it.

  The Hilux landed in a massive spray of sand, demolishing the dome tents as it ploughed through them. Every bone jarred by the impact, Nina looked up - to see another Humvee directly ahead. She yelped and spun the wheel, narrowly missing Vogler as the pickup swerved. Flaming debris rained down behind the Toyota.

  She aimed the truck out of the encampment and switched on the headlights. ‘Where now?’

  ‘Northwest,’ said Chase, pointing. ‘Towards Eden.’

  Sophia tracked the fleeing Hilux with the rifle, picking out the person at the wheel. Nina.

  She lined up the crosshairs, finger hovering over the trigger . . . then lowered the gun. ‘Not just yet.’

  Movement - much closer than the camp. She snapped her head round to see one of the Janjaweed running towards her. He had heard the rifle shots, worked out her position, and was coming for her.

  The Lee-Enfield came back up. ‘Not tonight,’ Sophia said, looking through the scope again. The man was so close that his face entirely filled her magnified field of view - then suddenly there was a large hole in the middle of it. ‘You have a headache.’

  She cycled the bolt, then ran back to the Land Cruiser.

  Hamed struggled upright. An explosion had knocked him down, his head hitting a rock, but he had fared better than his men. Many had been massacred, the rest fleeing into the desert to escape the Covenant’s superior firepower.

  He looked round. One of the technicals was barrelling out into the desert. The woman, he remembered - he had seen her at the wheel just before the blast threw him to the ground.

  Anger surged inside him.

  He grabbed an AK from a dead man and hurried to where his horse was tied. It was struggling to break free, frightened by the noise, but he quickly took control and mounted the animal, turning to pursue the retreating tail-lights into the desert.

  Vogler bent low and moved along the side of one of the surviving Humvees to reach Zamal. The Arab unleashed a burst of automatic fire, then ducked back into cover. ‘What’s our status?’ he asked.

  ‘The Janjaweed are running,’ Vogler told him. ‘We’ve lost at least half our men, though.’

  Zamal let out an angry breath. ‘Why did they turn on us?’

  ‘They didn’t. It was Chase.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘He was in that truck - and Wilde was driving it.’

  Zamal swore loudly in Arabic. ‘If Chase is here, Blackwood must be as well - the sniper!’ he realised, looking towards the dark dunes. ‘It must have been her.’

  Both men turned as Callum ran to them, firing a burst from a SCAR and taking down a man with a rocket launcher. ‘Wilde’s escaped!’

  ‘Yes, we noticed,’ said Vogler acidly. ‘With the help of Chase - and your former prisoner.’

  ‘Don’t try to pin this on me,’ Callum growled. ‘I didn’t turn this whole goddamn thing into a slaughterhouse. Your psycho friends did that, Zamal.’

  Zamal’s face tightened, but Vogler interrupted before he could reply. ‘We need to secure this situation. How many Janjaweed are left?’

  ‘Forget the Janjaweed, we need to get after Wilde,’ Callum said. ‘Are the Humvees still driveable?’

  Vogler looked at the vehicle they were crouched behind. Its bodywork was scarred with bullet holes, windows cracked and broken, and a tyre had been blown out. ‘Two destroyed, and the rest all damaged. Repairable, but I doubt we will be able to leave before morning.’

  ‘They could be fifty kilometres away by then,’ said Zamal. ‘We’ll never find them.’

  ‘I’ll take care of that,’ said Callum. ‘Just find me a satellite phone.’

  ‘Slow down, slow down!’ Chase yelped as the Hilux crested a rise and briefly took off, ploughing back with a suspension-straining crash.

  ‘Are you crazy?’ said Nina, grinding the pickup into a lower gear to keep up its speed. ‘I want to get as far away from them as possible!’

  ‘We need to wait for Sophia.’ He looked back. A pair of headlights was bounding across the desert towards them - not from the Janjaweed camp, but from the surrounding dunes. Sophia, in the Land Cruiser.

  ‘Do we really?’

  ‘Yeah, really. She’s got an extra gun, if nothing else.’

  ‘Right, and how long before it’s pointing at us?’

  ‘Not as soon as that one,’ Chase said with alarm, seeing something pursuing them, silhouetted against the fires. A man on a horse, AK-47 on his back.

  Catching up fast.

  Chase climbed into the cargo bed. ‘Okay, forget slowing down, go faster!’ He found one of the ammo boxes and pulled out the heavy belt of bullets. A glance behind: the horseman was still coming, but had veered to one side, moving to intercept the approaching Land Cruiser.

  Sophia was slammed forward as the Land Cruiser hit another bump. The elderly vehicle only had a lap belt rather than a full seatbelt, and a threadbare one at that. She spun the wheel to straighten out, aiming for the tail-lights ahead. Nina was charging through the desert like a maniac, far too fast for the terrain.

  But she wasn’t the only one.

  Movement in her peripheral vision - a man on horseback galloping parallel to the Land Cruiser, a hundred feet away and closing as he swung an AK from his back and aimed it at her.

  She tried to swerve away, but too late.

  Only a few bullets from the wild spray of fire hit her vehicle - but one found a vital spot. The front tyre blew out, the wheel hub digging into the sand. The Land Cruiser skidded to a stop in a huge cloud of dust, almost rolling over before dropping heavily back on to its remaining three wheels.

  Dazed, Sophia sat up - to see the
horseman flash through her headlight beams, still pursuing the other truck.

  ‘Shit!’ said Chase as he saw Sophia’s 4x4 slew to a halt. The Janjaweed rider was still gaining - and now had his gun at the ready.

  He struggled to load the machine gun, having to rely almost entirely on touch to figure out the unfamiliar mechanism in the dark. He managed to open the ammo feed’s cover, hinging it up and trying to load the first round—

  The AK-47 spat fire. A bullet hissed past Chase’s head; he dropped, the ammo belt chinking down beside him as more shots hit the back of the Hilux. Nina ducked in her seat.

  The gunfire stopped. Chase risked a look over the tailgate. The rider was a blood-red demon in the rear lights. He shouldered the AK - out of ammo.

  But he had another weapon.

  A machete. He raised the long, brutal blade high like a sword.

  Chase retrieved the ammo belt and jumped back up to reload the machine gun, glancing at Nina to check she hadn’t been hit. She was only just sitting up . . .

  And hadn’t seen what was rushing at them in the headlights.

  ‘Look out!’ he started to shout - but the Hilux had already reached the edge of the ditch.

  The empty stream bed was shallow, the steep bank no more than eighteen inches deep - but it was enough to tip the Toyota over as its right wheels dropped into the depression. Nina braked hard and tried to stop the truck overturning . . .

  Too late.

  Chase threw himself out of the cargo bed as the truck rolled, landing hard in dry stream. The pickup hit the far bank and crashed to a standstill on its side.

  He crawled towards it. Only one headlight was still working. No sign of Nina. He stood—

  And was smashed to the ground as something huge and heavy hit him from behind.

  Hamed pulled the reins to slow his horse and wheel round for another attack, preparing to trample Chase into the sand.

  Chase dived into the ditch as the horse thundered at him, then scrambled clumsily back to his feet. The rider turned again, his horse jumping down into the red-lit arena of the stream bed.

  They faced each other for a moment. Then the Janjaweed leader extended his arm, pointing his machete at Chase - and spurred the horse into a charge.

  Chase grabbed for the Browning. It wasn’t there - he had lost it when he jumped from the truck. He turned and ran for the pickup, the pounding hooves closing fast, almost on him.

  A swish—

  Pure instinct made him dive and roll as the machete swept over his head. Hamed pulled up. The horse turned and reared, front legs swiping at Chase. He threw up his arms to protect his head, taking a savage kick and falling on his back.

  Hamed jumped from the horse, slashing the machete at Chase. He rolled as the blade smacked down where his shoulder had just been. Another roll, springing up as the blade hacked again, narrowly missing his legs.

  Behind Hamed he saw Nina crawling from the Hilux’s open cab. The machine gun was pointing towards him. If she could reach it—

  No good. It wasn’t loaded, the ammo belt a coiled snake in the ditch.

  Hamed advanced, jabbing the machete. Chase ducked back, the two men slowly circling.

  Nina groaned, catching the Janjaweed leader’s attention. He leered. Chase had no doubt what his intentions were: kill him, then . . .

  ‘No you fucking don’t,’ he growled. Hamed might not have understood the words, but still knew what Chase was saying, and grinned malevolently as he lunged. Chase dodged the heavy blade as it whipped past. He tried to knock it from the Janjaweed’s hand, but Hamed anticipated the move and twisted the machete to rip through his sleeve, the blade’s ragged edge drawing blood. Chase jerked away, realising too late that the horse was right behind him.

  Hamed shouted a command. The horse reared again, knocking Chase down.

  The Janjaweed leader moved in for the kill, raising the machete high to cleave it down through Chase’s spine—

  The tip of the ammo belt lashed across Hamed’s face as Nina swung it, tearing bloody gashes in his skin. He staggered back.

  Chase jumped up. ‘Here!’ Nina tossed him the belt. He caught one end with his left hand, whirling it - and snagging it round Hamed’s machete arm. He cracked the belt like a whip. Hamed’s arm shot up, the machete flying out of his hand.

  Chase yanked hard, pulling Hamed towards him - and delivering a nose-crushing punch.

  The Janjaweed leader reeled, but didn’t fall, held up by the ammo belt as Chase caught the falling machete with his right hand . . .

  And swung it.

  Hamed’s body collapsed, blood squirting from the stump of its neck. His head bounced away down the stream bed, rolling to a stop - at Sophia’s feet. She eyed it. ‘This is no time for football, Eddie.’

  Chase didn’t reply, instead going to Nina. ‘You okay?’

  ‘I think so . . .’ She saw the cut on his arm. ‘What about you?’

  ‘It’s not as bad as it looks. Just hope he washed his machete after he used it last.’ He crouched and unwound the ammo belt from Hamed’s arm.

  Sophia reached them, the rifle over one shoulder, a backpack on the other. After exchanging looks of mutual loathing with Nina, she went to the horse, which had taken its owner’s death with a complete lack of concern, and patted the animal’s neck. ‘You found another ride, then. Although it might be a little cramped for three of us.’

  ‘Dobbin wasn’t what I had in mind. Give me a hand.’ He spotted and retrieved the Browning, then went to the pickup to push it back on to its wheels. The two women joined him; after a few seconds of effort, it toppled back down. He dropped the ammo belt into the rear bed, tossing other spilled items after it, then hopped into the cab and turned the key. To his surprise, the engine started first time. ‘Wow, these things really are indestructible.’

  Sophia held up the bubble compass from the Land Cruiser as she and Nina climbed aboard. ‘And I’ve got the perfect dashboard accessory.’ She looked northwest. ‘That way.’

  ‘The gang’s all here,’ Nina said sarcastically, giving Chase a pointedly questioning glare when she realised Sophia was wearing his leather jacket. He took it back, to Sophia’s annoyance, and put it on.

  ‘Okay, then,’ he said. ‘Next stop . . . the Garden of Eden.’

  33

  They drove through the night, Chase guiding the Hilux across the desert. There was no sign of pursuit, by either the Janjaweed or the Covenant. Even so, the going was slow, with treacherous terrain and only one working headlight to guide them. More than once, they had to dig the truck out when it became bogged in soft sand.

  The hours passed, Nina managing to doze fitfully despite the bumpy ride. By the time Chase was forced to stop to refuel from one of the battered cans in the rear bed, the eastern sky had started to brighten. At this low latitude, sunrise came quickly.

  ‘Okay,’ said Chase, throwing the empty can back into the truck and waking Nina with a start, ‘now we can see, let’s work out where we are.’ He surveyed the surrounding desert for landmarks. ‘Give me the rifle.’

  Sophia handed him the Lee-Enfield. He peered through the scope, scanning the horizon. Distant shapes resolved themselves into flat-topped islands of stone rising above the sands. ‘Okay, I see one, two, three mesas.’

  ‘Let me see those,’ said Nina, taking the photo blow-ups of the Antarctic map from Sophia. The word that had been pronounced as ‘Eden’ on the ancient cylinder lay at the beginning of the Veteres’ long trail . . . between three trapezoidal symbols. Truncated mountains. ‘You think . . . ?’

  Sophia examined the modern map. ‘It matches the terrain. Three bluffs - and these dry riverbeds. Four of them.’

  Nina looked more closely. Four faint lines wound outwards from the centre. ‘Eddie, how far away are they?’

  ‘Five or six miles,’ said Chase. ‘It shouldn’t take too long to get there.’ He put down the rifle, regarded the machine gun for a moment, then started to reload it. ‘Just in case,’ he told Nin
a. ‘The Covenant’ll probably be able to fix some of those Humvees.’

  ‘But they won’t be able to follow us, will they?’ She looked back. The desert wind was already scouring away their tyre tracks.

  Chase’s expression didn’t reassure her. ‘Like I said, just in case.’ He chambered the first round, then climbed back into the driver’s seat and restarted the engine.

  ‘Of course, Nina,’ said Sophia as they set off, ‘we wouldn’t have to worry about the Covenant if you hadn’t teamed up with them in the first place.’

  ‘I didn’t “team up with them”,’ Nina protested. ‘I was their damn prisoner, I didn’t have any say in the matter!’

  ‘All the same, they didn’t have the map.’ She held up one of the photos. ‘Without this, you could have told them Eden was in Ethiopia, or Egypt, or bloody Timbuktu, and they couldn’t have contradicted you. But no, you not only bring them to Sudan, but you even bring them to the right part of Sudan! What did they do, offer you a deal?’

  ‘All right, that’s enough,’ said Chase, giving Sophia a warning look. She made a dismissive sound and turned away. His gaze moved to Nina, holding on her for slightly too long before returning to the landscape ahead.

  ‘What?’ Nina said defensively, correctly guessing what he was thinking. ‘I didn’t make a deal, not like that. “Tell us what we want to know or we’ll kill you” isn’t really a deal.’

  ‘But you still brought ’em here.’

  ‘I told you last night, I didn’t have much choice. What was I going to do, say no and get killed?’

  ‘But why didn’t you give them the wrong location?’ Chase asked.

  ‘Because - because I . . . Look, they were going to kill me, all right?’ Nina drew her arms tightly around herself. ‘I thought that once we were out here, I might be able to get away.’

  ‘And then find Eden all on your own,’ Sophia said. ‘Since you conveniently brought them right to its doorstep. You used your friends, then you used your enemies to get here. You really are quite the little glory-hound, aren’t you?’