Contracts, Matt Rogers [phonics reading books TXT] 📗

along. Mukta knew how valuable that laptop was, so he organised a bottleneck in case they ran into trouble up here with you.’

‘You mean…?’

‘There’s a twenty-man party of Maoists disguised as guides and porters on their way up to Gokyo Ri right now. Like a pincer trap. There’s nothing but open terrain up here. They’ll kill us. We need to wait it out.’

King swore. He almost punched the cave wall, but stopped himself short of breaking his hand.

Perry said, ‘What?’

‘I can’t wait it out.’

‘Yes you can. We have to.’

‘You know that partner you kept mentioning?’

‘Yeah,’ Perry said, then trailed off. ‘Where is he?’

‘Down in Gokyo. He can barely move. The altitude’s fucking with his system. His heart’s set to burst if he exerts himself too hard. Not enough oxygen.’

‘Christ. They’ll be sweeping the village for him.’

‘I know. So I can’t spend all day here.’

Perry went quiet.

King said, ‘Actually, if I’m being honest, I can’t afford to spend another minute here.’

‘They’ll kill us,’ Perry said. ‘Twenty against two on a wide-open slope with civilians in the crossfire. Tell me what’s tactical about that.’

King thought hard.

There was one way up, and one way down.

No alternatives.

This time, he did punch the cave wall.

71

King’s fist went numb, but he barely felt it.

Panic was doing its best to seize hold of him. He battled it back down.

‘Fuck this place,’ he said. ‘There has to be another way down.’

Perry shook his head. ‘There’s nothing. Trust me.’

‘You’ve swept the whole mountain?’

‘Okay,’ Perry conceded. ‘You can wade through waist-deep snow on either side of the trekkers’ trail if you want. But they’d spot you in seconds. It’s a sheer vertical slope. There’s no covert way down.’

King mulled it over, and surveyed the bodies. ‘We could put their gear on. Use their balaclavas to—’

‘Have you seen the size of these guys?’ Perry said.

King scanned Perry’s six-foot-two frame, and then looked down at himself. ‘Maybe not, then.’

‘They’d realise before we got within a hundred feet of them. How many of these rebels have you seen that are our height and weight?’

‘It was just a suggestion.’

‘We need to stay here,’ Perry said. ‘Or we’re dead. I know you think the noble move is to go try and save your friend, but you’ll just get us all killed. And then your buddy is definitely fucked.’

‘How many more rebels are there?’ King said.

‘He had plenty to work with. They kept me blindfolded for a fair portion of my time in captivity, but I was seeing a fresh face almost every hour. You haven’t made a dent in their forces.’

‘They can’t all be here… can they?’

‘Mukta knew how important that laptop was. He sounded the alarm as soon as he figured it out. If they’re not all here, then they’re on their way.’

A gust of wind ripped through the cave, and King shivered.

He said, ‘How did you all go so long without getting spotted? You were using public trails packed with hikers, and it seemed no one could remember you passing by.’

Perry stared at him. ‘It’s easier to fool our intelligence than I thought, then.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I assume you asked passersby if they’d seen two Americans — a big blond male and a fourteen-year-old girl?’

‘Something like that.’

‘They split us up. Put a beanie on my head to cover up the hair, and put sunglasses on Raya and a cloth over her mouth. Then they flanked us on the trail — a man on either side, and one behind. They looked like guides and porters, but in reality they were a convoy. There were three guns on me at all times, inside pockets. Same as Raya. There wasn’t a hope in hell I could try anything.’

‘Were you going to give it a shot?’

‘I figured when we reached our end destination, I’d try something. I wasn’t able to convince myself it was going to work, though.’

‘How do you feel now?’

Perry almost glanced back at her corpse, but decided not to. Instead he balled up a fist.

‘I’ve been working for Aidan for five years,’ he said, choking back emotion. ‘I watched her grow up.’

King grimaced. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Nothing we can do about it now.’

‘Maybe if I had just—’

‘Don’t go down that path,’ Perry said. ‘I know where it leads, and you’ll never work your way back out if you spiral down.’

King nodded. ‘I’ve been told the same thing a few times in the past.’

‘We can’t overthink this shit.’

They stood there, hands on hips, bracing themselves against the wind.

Thinking.

Overthinking.

Finally King said, ‘We can’t stay here. We both know it — we just don’t want to think about the alternative.’

Perry thought about it.

And shrugged.

‘You might be right. No food. No water. If we let them bring the fight to this cave, we’ll be trapped. We’ll run out of ammo. They can just shoot it out with us.’

‘This is the worst terrain I can think of for mounting a plan.’

‘There is no good plan.’ Perry scratched his chin. ‘How important is your friend?’

‘He’s practically my brother. And I won’t make it out of here without him.’

‘You know this is a death sentence?’

King fished through one of the corpses’ pockets and came up with a spare magazine for the P320. He reloaded, going through the motions like they were automatic.

Then he said, ‘What else can we do?’

Perry bent down and picked up one of the Kalashnikovs. The AK-47 hadn’t fired a shot — its clip was full. He slung it over one shoulder and froze in place, as if reluctant to continue.

‘We stay here,’ King said, ‘we die.’

‘We leave,’ Perry said, ‘we die.’

‘Then we go for the option that has the best chance.’

‘There’s a small army headed for us. Mukta’s dead, but the wheels are already in motion. You’re not Rambo.’

‘I’ve overcome similar odds in the past.’

‘On a mountainside with no cover?’

King paused. ‘No. Not exactly.’

‘Let me guess — close quarters, claustrophobic, indoors.’

‘Yeah. Usually.’

‘That’s not what this is. We’re out of our depth here. We’re up to our necks in shit.’

King didn’t respond, because there was nothing to say. He