The Seventh Scroll - Smith Wilbur (бесплатные полные книги .TXT) 📗

burst of Arabic on the radio. "I think that was Nogo himself speaking

just then."

"Call him up!" von Schiller ordered Helm, leaning over the back of his

seat. "Ask him if they have secured the tomb site yet."

Helm reached across and lifted the microphone off its hook below the

instrument panel. "Rose Petal, this is Bismarck. Do you copy?"

There was a pause filled with static, and then Nogo's voice Speaking

English. "Go ahead, Bismarck,'

"Have you secured the primary objective? Over."

"Affirmative, Bismarck. All secured. All opposition suppressed. I am

sending men down the ladder to clear the workings."

Helm swivelled in his seat to look back at von Schiller.

"Nogo has men in the chasm already. We can go in and land., "Tell him

not to let any of his men into the workings before I arrive,' von

Schiller ordered sternly, but his expression was triumphant. "I must be

the first in there.

Make him understand that."

While Helm relayed his orders to Nogo, von Schiller tapped the pilot on

the shoulder. "How long to the objective?"

"About five minutes'flying time, sir."

"Circle the site when you arrive. Don't land until we are sure Nogo has

it under his control."

The pilot lifted the collective and the sound of the rotors altered as

they changed pitch. The helicopter slowed and then hovered in mid-air,

while the pilot pointed down.

"What is it?" von Schiller followed his gesture. "What do you see?"

"The dam," Helm answered. Quenton-Flarper's dam.

He did a load of work down there."

The wide body of trapped water gleamed grey and sullen under the rain

clouds, tainted with the run-off from the highlands. The water diverted

into the side canal boiled white and angrily down into the long valley.

"Deserted!" Helm commented. "All Harper's men have pulled out."

"What is that yellow object on the bank?" von Schiller wanted to know.

"That's the earth-moving machine. You remember? My informer told us

about it."

"Don't waste any more time," von Schiller ordered.

"Nothing more to see here. Let's get on!'

Helm tapped the pilot's shoulder, and gestured downstream.

apper was waiting for them to catch up at the junction of the trail,

where the diverted river was roaring down the valley in a torrent and

had washed out a long section of the original track. The porters, strung

out in a long line down the valley, each with an ammunition crate

balanced on his head, were picking their way along the higher ground

above the water.

Tessay's litter was near the rear of the column, with Royan and Nicholas

trotting on each side of it and steadying it over the rough and uneven

sections of the path.

"Where is Hansith?"  Nicholas shouted at SappeT, shading his eyes to

check the men ahead of him, and trying to pick out the big monk's

distinctive form from amongst the others in the caravan.

thought he was with you," Sapper shouted back. "I haven)

t seen him since we left the chasm., Nicholas turned and stared back the

way they had come, along the footpath through the Thorn forest.

"Damn the man," he grunted. "We can't go back to look for him. He will

have to make his own way down to the monastery."

At that moment they heard the faint but familiar flutter of rotors in

the hot, humid air below the lowering cloud masses.

"The Pegasus chopper! Sounds as though von Schiller is heading directly

for Taita's pool. He must have known all along exactly where we were

working," said Nicholas bitterly. "Not wasting any time. Like a vulture

coming in to a fresh carcass."

Royan was also looking up at the sound, trying to pick out the shape of

the aircraft against the dark clouds. Her OEM  NOOF AL

, the tendrils of sweat-damp face was flushed from the ru hair dangled

down her cheeks. "If those swine are allowed to enter our tomb it will

be a dreadful desecration of a sacred place," she said angrily.

Nicholas reached-across the litter and took Suddenly  determined. "You

are her arm. His expression'was stem an right. Go on down to the

monastery with Tessay. I will follow you later." Before she could

protest or question him, he strode across to Sapper.

"I am putting the two women in your care, Sapper.

Look after them."

"Where are you going, Nicky?" Royan had come up behind him, and

overheard his orders to Sapper. "What are you going to do?"

"One little chore. Won't take me long."

"You aren't going back there?" She was horrified. "You will get yourself

killed or worse. You saw what Helm did to Tessay-'

"Don't fuss yourself, my love," he laughed, and before she realized what

he intended he kissed her full on the lips.

While she was still flustered and confused by this display in front of

so many men, he pushed her gently away.

"Take care of Tessay. I will meet you at the boats." Before she could

protest further, he turned and struck out up the valley at a long-legged

lope which carried him over the rough terrain so swiftly that she had no

further chance to prevent him.

"Nicky!" she screamed after him despairingly, but he pretended not to

hear and kept going, following the diverted river upstream, back towards

the dam.

he jet Ranger followed the convoluted course of the river below the dam.

At moments they could look directly down into the narrow gap between the

high cliffs, into the shaded depths of the chasm, almost dry now, with

only the occasional gleam of the shrunken and still pools.

"There they are!" Helm pointed dead ahead. There was a small cluster of

men on the brink of the chasm.

"Make sure they aren't shufta!" There was fear in von Schiller's voice.

"No!" Helm reassured him loudly. "I recognize Nogo, and that tall one

beside him in the white shamnia is the monk Hansith Sherif, our

informer." He shouted above the engine beat at the pilot, "You can go in

and land. There!

Nogo is waving you in!'

The moment the skids of the helicopter touched the ground, both Nogo and

Hansith ran forward Between them they helped von Schiller down from the

passenger cabin and hustled him clear of the spinning rotors.

"My men have secured the area," Nogo assured him.

"We have driven the shufta down the valley towards the river. This man

is Hansith Sherif, who has been working beside Harper in the tomb. He

knows every inch of the tunnels."

"Does he speak English?" Von Schiller looked up at the tall monk

eagerly.

"A little bit," Hansith answered for himself.

"Good! Good!" Von Schiller beamed at him. "Show me the way. I will

follow You. Come on, Guddabi, it's about time you did some work for the

money I am paying you., Hansith led them quickly to the head of the

scaffolding, where von Schiller paused and looked down nervously into

the gloomy depths of the chasm, The bamboo framework seemed flimsy and

rickety, the drop deep and terrifying. Von Schiller was on the point Of

Protesting when Nahoot Guddabi whimpered behind him.

"He does not expect us to climb down there, does he?" His terror