The Valhalla Prophecy_A Novel Read online

  There was a low hollow beneath the trunk’s raised end. Another quick check for snakes, then Chase squeezed down into it, keeping the gun with its single bullet at the ready as he stared into the jungle back the way they had come. No lights, no movement but the sway of trees and bushes in the wind and the constant falling rain.

  He kept watch for as long as he could, but tiredness inevitably caught up. Despite his best efforts, sleep eventually swallowed him as completely as the night.

  11

  Norway

  Eddie gazed out across the long frozen lake. ‘So, somewhere under that . . . there’s a Viking village?’

  ‘That’s what we think,’ Nina replied. ‘That’s what we hope, anyway.’

  Tova, standing beside them on the shore, had a concerned, apologetic expression. ‘Oh, I really hope I am right, Nina. You have organised this so fast! People, equipment, machines, all of this in just two days. It is a lot of money. And if I am wrong about the location . . .’

  ‘If we’re wrong,’ the American corrected, giving her a reassuring smile. ‘If we don’t find it, I’ll take the hit – you don’t need to worry about anything. This is what the IHA does. When we need to move, we’ve got the resources.’

  ‘Yes, so I see. I have to admit I am a little jealous!’ Tova waved an arm at the vehicles lined up along the lake’s edge. ‘But you have brought all this, even though we do not know if the runestone is even here.’

  ‘If it is here,’ Nina pointed out, ‘we’ll need to secure it as quickly as possible. The people who stole the other stone and murdered the security guard – and tried to kidnap you – are obviously desperate to get hold of it.’

  ‘If they’re the same people,’ Eddie said quietly.

  ‘Hmm? What do you mean?’

  He shook his head. ‘Nothing. Just that if the first lot stole the runestone because they want to find Valhalla, maybe the Russians went after Tova because she was the next best thing to having the actual stone.’ He shrugged. ‘Just a thought. I’m probably wrong.’

  It was not an idea that had occurred to Nina. ‘God, I hope you are. If there are two sets of bad guys after the stones, we don’t want to be caught in the middle if they start shooting it out!’

  ‘Well, wouldn’t be the first time.’ He gave her a sardonic smile. ‘So, we’ve got diving gear, we’ve got pumps, lights, drills, flotation bags, winches . . . everything we need to get a ton of stone up from the bottom. All we’ve got to do is find the bugger.’

  Nina turned at the sound of more approaching vehicles. ‘Well, hopefully this is the man to do it.’

  A long-wheelbase pickup truck was carefully making its way to the shoreline. Mounted in its rear bed was a crane, the arm rotated to rest over the cab. When it was turned the other way, it would extend several feet beyond the tailgate. Another, smaller pickup followed, a blocky object secured in the cargo area beneath a tarpaulin. Both trucks lined up alongside the parked 4x4s.

  Nina, Eddie and Tova went to greet the driver of the second vehicle as he emerged. ‘Strewth and g’day, cobber!’ said Eddie.

  Matt Trulli shivered, wrapping his coat tightly around himself. Its down quilting made him look even chubbier than he already was. ‘Was that meant to be Australian, mate? Sounded more like Welsh.’

  ‘I keep telling him he’s terrible at accents,’ said Nina playfully. ‘He won’t listen.’ Eddie sniffed.

  ‘Yeah, well, one of these days I won’t listen to you when you ring up and say, “Matt, there’s something underwater that we need. Can you bring one of your subs to the arse-end of the world to get it?” Especially when the place you want me to come to could freeze the balls off a brass monkey!’ Matt belatedly registered an unfamiliar face in the group. ‘Oops, sorry for the language,’ he told Tova.

  ‘That is . . . okay,’ she replied, her politely bewildered tone suggesting that she hadn’t understood him enough to be offended.

  ‘Tova, this is Matt Trulli,’ said Nina. ‘He works for the Oceanic Survey Organisation at the UN, but he helps the IHA out from time to time. Matt, this is Tova Skilfinger, a historian and expert in Viking culture.’

  Matt’s face lit up. ‘Vikings, eh? Now there’s an interesting bit of history! Amazing shipbuilders and navigators for their time.’

  ‘Trust you to find that the most fascinating thing about them,’ chided Nina. ‘And all history’s interesting.’

  That prompted mocking snorts from both men, which in turn roused looks of professional disapproval from the two PhDs. ‘Just taking the piss, love,’ Eddie reassured his wife.

  Matt shook Tova’s hand, then regarded the lake. ‘So, it took me two days, but I’ve rounded up the gear you asked me for. What are we actually trying to find?’

  ‘A Viking runestone,’ Nina told him. She led them to one of the parked off-roaders, taking a photograph from a case inside. ‘It’s probably going to look a lot like this.’

  The Australian examined the picture of the Valhalla Runestone inside Tova’s lab. ‘Fairly hefty. That’s why you brought all those IBUs, then?’ He glanced at the bright orange cargo of another truck.

  ‘IBUs?’ Tova asked.

  ‘Inflatable Buoyancy Units. Airbags, basically – they lift stuff underwater. Those look like two-fifty-kilo bags, and you’ve got eight of them, so it could be anything up to two metric tonnes?’

  ‘The runestone that was stolen weighs about nine hundred and ninety kilos,’ the Swede told him.

  ‘Stolen?’ Matt gave Nina a look of weary suspicion. ‘And let me guess, the guys who took it probably want to get their hands on its twin as well?’

  ‘Uh . . . yeah,’ she admitted. ‘They killed a guard at Tova’s museum to steal it, then tried to kidnap her as well.’

  ‘Right. Why am I not surprised?’ He shook his head. ‘One of these days I’ll learn to ask you about this kind of stuff before I bring all my gear out into the field!’

  ‘It, ah . . . sounds as if you have experienced this sort of thing before,’ Tova said, with slight worry.

  Matt made a sarcastic sound. ‘Oh Christ, yeah. I’ve lost count of the number of times these galahs’ve almost got me killed! Let me tell you about it—’

  ‘No, don’t,’ Eddie cut in with a grin. ‘It’ll give her nightmares.’

  ‘It’s not nearly as bad as it sounds,’ Nina insisted, seeing that the older woman appeared about to re-evaluate her decision to join the expedition. ‘And I made sure the IHA’s security procedures were put in place. The number of people who know what we’re doing is very small, and they’re all aware of the need for secrecy given what happened in Stockholm – there shouldn’t be any trouble.’

  ‘Famous last words,’ said Matt.

  ‘Nobody knows we’re here. Tova and I worked out the location of the second runestone, and outside of the people here, only a couple of senior Norwegian officials, and Seretse and a few people at the IHA, know exactly where that is.’

  ‘Someone else might,’ Eddie suggested darkly.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The people who stole the first runestone.’

  ‘Yeah, I was kinda hoping that wouldn’t come up. But,’ Nina went on, ‘their expert doesn’t have nearly the amount of local knowledge and experience that Tova does, or any more access to the IHA database.’

  ‘Wait, wait,’ said Tova. Now it was her turn to adopt an expression of dawning suspicion. She chose her words carefully. ‘You know who stole the runestone and shot Arvid?’ When Nina did not answer immediately, she continued: ‘You do know! Why did you not tell me?’

  ‘I . . . yes, I know,’ said Nina, shamefaced. ‘I didn’t tell you because it’s a security issue – an IHA security issue. One of the robbers – possibly even their leader – used to work for us, before we fired him.’

  The Swede was outraged. ‘I cannot believe you did not tell me! Have you told the police?’

  ‘The UN told your government, and Interpol. I don’t know if they passed the information to the Stockholm po
lice, although I’d certainly hope they did. But there’s no record of him entering or leaving Sweden, so he’s presumably travelling on a fake passport. We don’t even know if he’s still in the country.’

  Tova stared at the icy ground, processing what she had learned before fixing the American with a stern gaze. ‘Who is this man?’

  Nina hesitated, before deciding that after what she had been through, the older woman deserved to know the truth. ‘His name’s Logan Berkeley.’

  Tova blinked, surprised. ‘I have heard of him.’

  ‘He was the IHA archaeologist overseeing the dig at the pyramids a couple of years ago. So yeah, his face was all over the papers and TV – he was big on self-publicity.’

  ‘He’s keeping a lot lower profile now,’ said Eddie.

  Tova nodded. ‘He opened the chamber under the Sphinx – but you were already inside!’

  ‘And he never forgave me for upstaging his big moment,’ Nina said. ‘He sold out to the people who tried to raid the site – and went to prison for it. He was released about six months ago. It looks like he’s been selling his services again.’

  ‘Wait,’ said Matt, puzzled, ‘if this guy’s an Egyptian expert, why would he know anything about Vikings?’

  Nina was a little affronted. ‘I’m the Atlantis expert, so why would I know anything about Alexander the Great or Ancient Rome, right? Archaeologists aren’t fixated on one era from the moment they’re born.’

  Eddie laughed. ‘No, you’re fixated on all of ’em.’

  ‘Logan had just as broad a grounding in history and archaeology as I did. And you too, I imagine,’ she added to Tova, who nodded. ‘We may have specialised in certain areas, but that doesn’t make us ignorant of everything else.’

  ‘All right, Jesus!’ said Matt, holding up his hands in mock surrender. ‘Didn’t mean to impugn the entire archaeological profession.’

  ‘And actually, there was a connection between the Vikings and the Egyptians,’ Tova said. ‘The Vikings’ voyages were very far-reaching – they traded with Byzantium and the Caliphate of Baghdad, and are also believed to have had trade links with Egypt.’

  ‘How far did they go?’ asked Eddie.

  ‘A long way. They reached the Americas centuries before Columbus, and also colonised Greenland and Iceland, travelled into Russia all the way to the Caspian Sea, deep into France and Germany – and Britain, of course. By the eleventh century they had settled most of England. Your own ancestors may even be Vikings!’

  Matt put a finger to his chin, studying the Englishman with affected interest. ‘You know, I can see that. Eddie the Balding.’

  Eddie held up a warning finger. ‘Oi.’ His friend grinned. ‘That’s a pretty impressive amount of conquering, though,’ he told Tova. ‘Didn’t realise they’d gone so far.’

  ‘I guess you were only listening to the gory bits when they taught you about the Vikings at school,’ Nina joked. He seemed confused. ‘You know, when you learned about eitr?’ she prompted.

  ‘Oh yeah, yeah,’ he replied, before quickly changing the subject. ‘Anyway, Berkeley – a security camera caught him coming out of the museum with the guys who stole the runestone, so we know it’s him. I suppose the big question is: why does he want it?’

  ‘Maybe he just needs the money,’ Matt suggested. ‘The IHA fired him, his professional reputation’s up the Swanee – he might want a nest egg.’

  ‘But even if he’s only doing it for the money, that means someone else paid him – and all the other people involved – to take the runestone and presumably decipher it,’ said Nina. ‘So why do they want it so bad? What do they think they’ll find at Valhalla?’

  Tova’s flare of anger had subsided. ‘Perhaps we will find out if we locate the second runestone.’

  ‘In that case, I guess we’d better get cracking,’ said Matt. ‘And I’ve got just the thing for the job. I hope so, anyway – it’d be a bloody great waste if I’d had it flown all the way here for nothing!’

  He gave the photo back to Nina, then led them to his pickup truck, dropping the tailgate and hopping into the bed. ‘Here’s my new toy,’ he announced with pride as he pulled back the tarp. ‘Ain’t he a beaut?’

  ‘If submarines are your thing, then sure,’ Nina replied. The machine was a pale blue rectangular block around five feet long and three high and wide, thruster pods protruding from its sides. Gleaming steel manipulator arms were folded like insect limbs on each side of a ‘head’ containing cameras and spotlights. Painted along its flank was the word NELSON. ‘So what does that stand for? Nautical Exploration, uh, Logistics Submersible . . . something beginning with O . . . no, I got nothing.’

  ‘It doesn’t stand for anything,’ said Matt, amused. ‘It’s in capitals because I liked the font, that’s all. It’s just a name. You know, from Admiral Nelson?’

  ‘Oh. Yeah. That works too.’

  ‘But he’s designed for endurance work, including under ice, so he should be just what you need. The OSO commissioned me to build him to work in the Arctic – give it a few years, we’re going to see some major disputes over territory and drilling rights, so the UN wants to be able to check that one lot isn’t slant-drilling into someone else’s oilfield, that kind of thing. Full sea trials aren’t scheduled for another few months, so I was able to borrow him.’

  Eddie took for a closer look. ‘How’s it controlled?’

  ‘Fibre-optic remote link.’ He pointed at the head and its baleful mechanical eyes. ‘Got 3D cameras, plus a LIDAR for longer-distance scanning. My usual bag of tricks. Endurance should be about twenty hours on a full charge.’

  Nina glanced out at the frozen waters. ‘How much of the lake will you be able to cover in that time?’

  ‘It’s a bloody long lake,’ Eddie added.

  Matt patted the fibreglass outer casing. ‘He moves at a decent clip, no worries. And when you told me that what you’re after probably has a lodestone set into it, well . . .’ He crouched, indicating a black box mounted on an equipment rack at the bow. A long metal rod extended backwards from it beneath the craft’s belly. ‘That’s the MAD.’

  Tova raised her eyebrows. ‘Why is it mad?’

  ‘It takes after the bloke who built it,’ said Eddie.

  The Australian’s round face creased into a half-grin. ‘Cheers, mate. No, it stands for Magnetic Anomaly Detector. This one was designed to track pipelines; anything metal causes a change in the earth’s magnetic field, and the MAD picks it up. If the lodestone’s as big as the one you just showed me, it’ll easily find it. It’s just a matter of following a search pattern until something pings.’

  ‘How soon can you start looking?’ Nina asked.

  ‘How soon can you chop me a big enough hole in the ice?’ came the cheeky reply. ‘He’s fully charged, so I’ll just need time to put up a shelter for the remote console and the support gear, then we use the crane to lower him into the water.’

  Nina nodded. ‘Okay, I’ll tell Mikkel’ – their Norwegian liaison and guide – ‘and his people to start making a hole for you. Eddie?’

  ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ he said with a sigh. ‘Don’t tell me: I’m on ice-breaking duty, am I?’

  ‘I don’t think you’ll be going out there with a pickaxe,’ she assured him. ‘I saw a couple of chainsaws in one of the trucks.’

  His face brightened. ‘Chainsaws? Oh, well, if you insist . . .’

  Nina laughed. ‘Okay – let’s break the ice.’

  To Eddie’s annoyance – ‘I’ve been conned!’ he protested – Mikkel limited use of the chainsaws to himself and one of his small team, the Yorkshireman joining the other Norwegians in the more strenuous job of hauling out the blocks of ice cut from the hole in the frozen lake. But the operation was accomplished with practised efficiency, an opening twelve feet by eight being sliced into the surface before Matt had even finished assembling his equipment inside a pop-up tent.

  At this time of year the ice was well over two feet thick, more than
enough to take the weight of the crane truck and the remotely operated vehicle now suspended from it. All the same, its journey from the shore – Matt had picked a point sixty feet out from the lake’s edge to be sure that the water beneath was deep enough for Nelson to manoeuvre – was made with great patience, Mikkel and his companions constantly checking how much stress was being put on the surface. Nina was unnerved by the squeals and crackles coming from under the truck’s chain-wrapped tyres, but it made it to the hole without incident.

  Matt came out to oversee the lowering of his charge into the frigid depths. ‘All right, start bringing him down,’ he called, once he was sure the submersible was well clear of the hole’s edges. ‘Gently now.’

  The crane operator said something in Norwegian with a long-suffering tone, prompting laughter from his countrymen. Tova, who had strolled on to the ice with the unconcerned air of someone well used to the potential dangers, giggled. ‘He said, “No, I thought I would drop it straight in,”’ she told the Australian, who was not amused.

  The ROV began its leisurely descent. Eddie walked out on to the lake to watch; Nina, still nervous about being on the ice, hesitantly followed. A stiff wind blowing down the lake made her shiver. Even though the sky was fairly clear and the sun was shining, it was still bitterly cold. She looked along the opposite shore. Nothing but snow-draped trees for miles in either direction. For the first time, the isolation of the location really struck her. If anything unexpected happened, they were a long way from help.

  She tried to shake off the unsettling feeling as Matt called out, ‘Okay, ease off! Release the cable!’ Nelson was in the water. Everyone gathered around the hole to watch as he unwound a cable from a relay box he had placed on the ice, then hopped on to the submersible’s back and screwed it tightly into a connector. ‘Control line,’ he explained as he returned to the ice. The relay box was linked via another cable to the remote controls in the tent. ‘The spool’s on the sub rather than the surface, so if the water freezes over, the line won’t snag.’