Part 16 (1/2)

I said, ”'Beam me up, Scotty.”' I waited. 'Get it now? We're talking matter transfer without direct physical connection.'

'Indeed?' Samran's voice was quiet, curious. 'Matter transfer to where?'

I'd thought about that one too? 'Jim Allen carried a piece of moonrock with him. The rock had the same molecular signature as the drogue stones.

Draw your own conclusion.'

Samran put down his mug. I could see him thinking about what I had said.

After a moment he gestured to a soldier, spoke a few words in Arabic.

The soldier left the tent, reappeared a few minutes later with Ed Levinson. I frowned. What did S an want with Levinson? Ed was a radar specialist. If wanted confirmation I was telling the truth he really needed Sehna or n.o.ble. Allen would have been the obvious candidate, being a physicist. Or Dot. I tried not to dwell on that thought.

Samran beckoned Levinson into the tent. 'Mister Levinson. I have asked you here to help me learn the truth.'

He drew his pistol and shot Levinson in the chest. Levinson fell over, thudded into the ground. Blood leaked slowly through his jacket? He blinked, gave a puzzled sigh and died.

I stood up screaming. 'Jesus Christ, what the h.e.l.l do you think you're doing you stupid idiot? He couldn't hurt you - he was just a b.l.o.o.d.y radar specialist! A civilian! He had a kid! He had a family! He . . .'

Samran waited patiently for me to shut up. Eventually I did. 'And now, Mrs Summerfield, we will stop playing games. And this time you will tell me the truth?'

Samran holstered the pistol. It wasn't like he needed to aim it at me to make his point or anything. I stood there stupidly and opened my hands.

What could I say? I told him the truth and he killed Ed Levinson.

While we stood there silently observing one another, the soldier dragged Levinson's body away. I wondered for a moment why the shot hadn't brought everyone pus.h.i.+ng into the tent - then remembered all the other soldiers with guns. The tent flaps closed behind Levinson's boots. Samran said, 'Well?'

'If you're going to kill me you might as well do it. Ditto everyone else. I told you I don't play games.' I hit Samran with my most bitter stare. 'You screwed up, buster. I told you the truth and you shot my friend. What incentive do I have for cooperating now?' 'Preserving your own life.'

'Oh do me a favour. You know you're not going to let us go anyway. You might as well take the information you have back to your boffins and leave us here to rot. There's nothing here for you, Colonel, most certainly not the uranium or missile base you think is here.'

Samran studied my laptop. The casual way he ignored me told me that trying to run would be futile. He input a few commands. I felt my unease increase as his fingers sped across the keys. He knew what he was looking for. It didn't take him long to find it.

'Then perhaps you could explain why the results of an ultrasound scan reveal the presence of a chamber some five metres wide beneath the Tendurek Formation?'

I shrugged. 'This mountain is riddled with little caves and volcanic pockets.'

'I am sure. I am also sure that none of them are perfect cubes.'

I said nothing.

Samran closed the laptop. 'You withheld information from me. You lied to me. Give me one good reason why I. should not have you killed right now?'

I pulled out my trowel. 'I can dig.'

The soldiers placed Levinson in a rolled-up tent for later burial. Samran allowed us no time to grieve. He ordered us to dig.

We worked inside the Formation. No one chose to argue about desecrating a historical site. Two hours and three metres later we hit something too solid to dig through. Samran thought it must be metal. It was stone. At first we thought it was a shelf of granite protruding into the soil. By exposing a wide swathe we were able to see that it was perfectly flat. We had found the top surface of the cube.

Samran ordered soldiers with Geiger counters and X-ray detectors to scan the area. Nothing. But I knew what this material was: it was the same stuff the drogue stones were made of.

We excavated around the cube to try to find a way in. Another two hours'

work produced nothing except a faint indentation in the shape of a number of grooves in'. the south-west corner. Apart from this there was no sign of a door or hatch or even of any cable conduits or ports. I hadn't expected any.

The drogue stones had none. Why should this structure be any different?

Frustrated, Samran began to pace. The others seemed nervous at this. I could understand why. Samran had shown himself to be as cold-blooded a killer as Tammuz. And that was when he had been calm. Who knew what he would do now he was angry?

Samran seemed on the point of yelling abuse when a soldier came up to him. They talked in quiet voices for a moment. Samran's face became even more angry. He dismissed the soldier with a curt gesture and began to issue orders. Two soldiers ran over to the block on which we stood and set down haversacks from which they produced small metal boxes. The boxes looked terrifyingly familiar. Blasting charges. They were going to blow an entrance in the cube.

I shook my head. 'You'll destroy whatever's in there if you use explosives.'

Samran frowned. 'My radio operator has reported the presence of enemy troops. They will be here in less than twenty minutes.

We cannot open the structure. We cannot move it. We cannot leave it for them. There is only one remaining option?'

I went cold. 'You're going to destroy it?'

'And you with it, I'm afraid. It is the last game, Mrs Summerfield - and partic.i.p.ation is compulsory.'

He signalled to the soldiers who held us at gunpoint while another tied us hand and foot, and left us lying side by side on the top of the block we had been working on.

A moment later Tammuz was brought to the excavation site and pushed down the slope to fall among us.

Samran checked the four charges himself and then scrambled up the slope. He looked back as he reached the top. 'I am tempted to take one or more of you as hostages. But that would prove too complicated. The charges will be armed and detonated by remote control when we are clear?

With any luck the explosion will kill some of the enemy as well.'

He walked off the mound of dirt and out of sight.

I wondered how long we had to live.

'Can anyone get out of their ropes?' That was Raelsen. 'What the h.e.l.l do you think?' Sehna. Close 'to panic. Then again, so was everyone.

I twisted my arms. 'No. They're too tight? You?' 'No?

A moment pa.s.sed in silence.

'How long will it take them to get clear?' n.o.ble? Trying to stay calm.

'How the h.e.l.l should I know?' Sehna. Panicking now. 'I only asked!'

'Well don't, all right! We're gonna die. Why don't you just - A long silence.

'Oh h.e.l.l, Ellie. I'm sorry.'

'Yeah, well. Won't make a difference soon, anyway.'

A silence. A longer silence than I would have thought possible under the circ.u.mstances.