Read The Curse of the Dragon God Online
Authors: Geoffrey Knight
Tags: #Mystery, #Suspense, #Adventure, #Gay
The Curse of the Dragon God (36 page)
The tail pulled itself all the way down to the rear of the flatbed, flipping the front of the chopper all the way up in the air, where it somersaulted, clearing the back of the flatbed completely and smashing upside down onto the tracks behind the train in a fiery explosion. Burning, splintered shards of chopper sliced the air, flipping and shooting in all directions.
Will hit the deck of the flatbed once more, covering his head from the blast.
Doctor Cyclops stood with his mouth agape atop the roof of the car as a rotor blade cut through the air, heading straight for him. He had no time to scream or duck as the blade spliced straight through his scrawny throat, sending his head flying through the air and his diamond eye popping out of its socket. His decapitated body quivered and spasmed momentarily, then fell from the roof onto the tracks before being churned up by the wheels of the flatbed.
As the burning helicopter jumped on the tracks and spat charred shrapnel into the night, Luca dropped flat onto the rooftop of the carriage but slipped on the icy surface. Desperately he tried to cling to the roof railings, but another buck from the chopper sent a quake through the flatbed and the carriage, lifting both into the air momentarily before slamming the train back down hard onto the tracks.
Luca’s fingers slipped. He had nothing else to grab on to and tumbled off the roof completely, arms grabbing in vain. In a blur he was thrown from the train and saw the snow coming at him.
He balled himself up as tight as he could and hit the ground in a fountain of ice, turning into a human snowball, rolling out of control through the forest, his wounds leaving pink trails in the snow. He hit a tree and unraveled with a grunt, twirling and twisting through the snow, sliding to a halt. Bleeding. Racked with pain. But alive.
He sat up as best he could and hurriedly limped back to the tracks.
He saw the train, ablaze at both ends now, disappear down the line.
And far beyond that, softly glowing in the distance—Beijing.
Will clung to the flatbed for dear life. The train jumped and crashed back down onto the tracks, flipped into the air by the thrashing, burning chopper. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Luca thrown clear, sailing off into the forest.
Will glanced behind him. He knew if he didn’t get rid of the blazing helicopter it would soon derail the entire locomotive. If that happened he knew at least Beijing would be saved. But not the mountain villagers. Will would have to find another way out of this, and fast, before the chopper ripped the train clean off the tracks.
Something was about to rip the train clean off the tracks.
Mya fell to the floor of the master carriage with another violent jolt, seconds before she was able to place the zidium device carefully back into its padded crate. It slipped from her hands as she hit the floor. With a rumble it rolled across the floor, headed for the base of the life-sized statue of Sen.
Mya dived and grabbed it, inches before it hit.
If the fail-safe countdown triggered now, it would dash all hopes of destroying Beijing. As her plans continued to fall apart, minute by minute, Mya Chan made herself two promises. No matter what happened, the Eye of Fucanglong would be hers—
—and tonight, Beijing would become history.
She picked up the silver ball once more and carefully eased it into the crate, then hurried to a window, rattled it open, and looked outside. Ahead, the night was glowing orange with the tower of flame still shooting from the ruptured engine. She glanced back and saw more flames, this time spitting and leaping from the blazing chopper, which slammed up and down on the tracks and clung to the back of the flatbed, bucking the entire train.
At the same time that Will realized he had to get rid of the chopper, Mya made the same decision. But there was no need to get to the flatbed to do it. Mya could simply uncouple the back half of the train. After all, she had the diamond and she had the bomb—all the power she ever wanted.
Bradley steadied himself as the train tilted, rocked, and threatened to jump the tracks. He shook the door handle once more, trying to get out of the exhibition carriage and into the master carriage in pursuit of Mya, but the door was locked tight.
He took Mya’s pistol and fired two shots at the lock. The second almost broke the handle free, but Bradley was denied a third shot. The petite pistol clicked—empty.
Bradley shook the handle of the door as hard as he could, then put his boot into it, kicking the handle until it finally gave and fell to the ground. He pulled the door to the car open, and suddenly across the gangplank joining the two cars he saw Mya, leaning down with both hands, pulling the pin lever that uncoupled the two cars.
Mya looked up, her hands covered in grease, and smiled at Bradley as the gangplank slowly slid apart and the exhibition carriage slid away from the master carriage.
“Goodbye, Bradley.” Mya waved at him with her grimy, oily fingers.
The gangplank parted completely, the distance between the two cars growing foot by foot.
“Not so fast, bitch!”
To Mya’s great surprise, Bradley dropped the gun, backed up, then launched himself through the doorway of the exhibition car, over the rushing tracks, and into the doorway of the master carriage.
Will leaned as low as he could, holding on tight as the flaming chopper continued to kick and fight. It wasn’t the chopper itself he was trying to release; it was the entire flatbed car he intended to detach from the bedroom carriage.
He pulled the lever. The pair of couplings opened like yin and yang parting. Released from the chopper, the bedroom carriage suddenly leveled out on the tracks and the bucking stopped. The flatbed continued to be tossed about on the tracks more violently than ever now that it no longer had the rest of the train to weigh it down.
With a thump and a bang the chopper bounced high, lifting the detached flatbed car clear off the tracks and bringing it down on an angle that cracked three wheels. Sparks flying, it twisted and capsized completely, sending both the chopper and the car into a fiery spin and eventually crashing to a roaring halt across the tracks.
Will watched as the train left the charred remains of Chad Chambers far behind, then he jumped to his feet and raced through the bedroom carriage. He shouldered open the locked door of the exhibition carriage, raced to the front of the car, and then—
—pulled himself to a stop just in time before falling onto the tracks.
He quickly realized he’d been severed from the front half of the train. He looked ahead to see the blown-apart engine, the coal car, and the master carriage pulling away. And inside the master carriage, wrestling on the floor, were Bradley and Mya.
“Bradley!” Will glanced at the tracks being devoured beneath him. The distance between the exhibition carriage and the master carriage was too far to jump now.
As Bradley turned at the sound of Will’s voice over the rumble of the train and the howl of the storm, Mya took the chance to slug him, her fist connecting with his jaw so hard it dropped Bradley to the floor unconscious.
Mya pulled herself off the floor, shot Will a triumphant look across the gap that grew between them, then from between her breasts produced the shimmering Eye of Fucanglong. She winked and blew Will a farewell kiss before slamming the door shut.
“Fuck!” Will swore through gritted teeth. Mya had the bomb. She had the diamond. And she had Bradley.
Will sized up the gap again, but attempting the jump would be suicide. The distance between the two cars was at least 15 feet and increasing by the second. There was no way Will could stop the front half of the train now. He watched the train pull further and further away, a tear of rage welling in his eye. Suddenly he felt more alone than he had ever felt in his life. More helpless and worthless than ever before.
Until—
—the front half of the train ahead suddenly jerked right.
Jerked right? It took a precious second for Will to figure out what just happened, and then—
A track switch. He looked ahead and saw the fork in the tracks. The front half of the train veered along the right-hand track. And on the left, running parallel, was a second track. A track that cut a tighter turn around a curve up ahead. A track that Will would miss if he didn’t somehow hit the switch that was fast approaching off to the side.
He looked around desperately. Saw Mya’s pistol lying on the ground. He snatched it up, took aim at the switch, pulled the trigger.
Click!
Nothing. “Damn it!”
The split in the tracks sped toward him. If he didn’t switch the tracks now he’d follow behind the first half of the train until he petered to a halt, unable to do a thing. He needed to get on the tighter track to gain ground. He needed to hit that switch
now!
now!
With the gun his only hope, Will took aim and hurled the diamond-studded pistol as hard as he could at the oncoming switch. It slammed into the switch panel with all the force he could muster. The switch turned and the tracks locked onto the new path, inches before Will’s half of the train hit the turn. The exhibition carriage jerked left, running onto the alternate tracks.
“
Yes!
”
Yes!
”
Mya stood over the unconscious body of Bradley, and for a second she considered taking the lamp off the desk and bludgeoning the irritating, self-righteous fool to death with it, right here and now. But why mess up her dress and break her nails when she had so many reasons to smile. Several trillion reasons, it seemed. For it suddenly became apparent to Mya Chan that everyone else in the consortium was dead.
Which left the entire investment portfolio and all its riches in her hands. As well as the Eye of Fucanglong. Her plan. Her prize.
She returned the large diamond to the snug nest of her cleavage, deciding she had more important things to do right now, like secure the bomb and get off this runaway train. With her slippery greased hands she picked up the crate and placed it on the marble desktop, beside her black velvet bags of diamonds.
Then she began to pace, thinking of her next step. The bomb, of course, would stay on the train. The diamonds, including the Eye, would accompany her in her escape. She’d have to secure them to herself somehow. She’d have to leap from the train and manage not to lose a single diamond in the jump. Or alternatively throw them from the train now, right now, and go back for them. Mya opened the curtains on the left-hand side of the car, convinced that this was the best plan. Her only option.
But as she hauled the red velvet curtain aside and dropped the window open beside the desk, instead of seeing forest and villages rush by, what she saw made her gasp—
The second half of the train rattled alongside her.
It had run the tighter course around the bend and had caught up on the parallel track, speeding alongside the master carriage now. And on its roof was Will Hunter.
He shot one glance at Mya. This time he was the one who winked. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he threw himself off the roof of the moving train and crashed shoulder-first through the open window of the master carriage, taking out the frame, smashing the glass, sliding across the desktop, and sending Mya, the diamonds, and the zidium device hurtling across the floor.
Will shook his head and looked up, blood trickling down his messed blond hair.
Mya glanced across at the crate, which had spilled on the floor and once more sent the bomb ricocheting through the car. It hit a tipped-over footstool, bounced off a wall, then slammed against Bradley’s unconscious body, causing him to stir. Groggily, he opened his eyes to see Mya make a dive for the rolling silver bomb at the same time Will made a dive for her.
Outside, the second half of the train began to roll to a stop as the parallel tracks straightened out and switched back to a single line. Only three cars long now, the Zhang Diamond Express thundered toward the Lake of a Thousand Stars.
Inside the master carriage, the bomb barreled across the Persian carpet.
Will tackled Mya to the ground, pinning her down till she cracked his forehead with a head butt that knocked him away.
She crawled on her hands and knees and saw the daggerlike letter opener lying at the foot of the desk. She grabbed it in one hand and grabbed a still dazed Bradley by the throat in the other.
At the same time, Will—head spinning and forehead bleeding—tried to blink away his star-filled vision, pulling himself up by the red velvet curtains.
Mya pulled Bradley to his feet, the letter opener drawing blood from a prick to his throat.
Will felt the bomb roll across the floor and nudge the back of his legs. He had to do something. He had to save everyone. But how?
Then his eyes focused. He saw the frozen lake. He felt the bomb resting against his heels. And he heard her voice.
“Give me the bomb! Give it to me now or I’ll kill him!”
Will looked from the bomb at his feet to Mya, her greasy hands already slipping on the letter opener. He glanced sideways to the frozen lake as the train started around it. And at that moment he knew what he had to do.
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