Age of Shiva (The Pantheon Series) Read Online Free PDF

THE CAVALRY
     
     
    S PHINCTER-PUCKERING, KNUCKLE-WHITENING, GUT-CHURNING terror.
    We’re going to die. They’re going to shoot us out of the sky. We’re going to die.
    The Garuda went into a nosedive, and pathetically I assumed the brace position just the way flight attendants tell you to during the pre-takeoff safety spiel. No practical use in the event of the aircraft blowing up, but if my head was between my knees at least it would be easier to kiss my arse goodbye.
    We plummeted, the captain pouring on speed. I had no idea how fast a Mirage could fly, or a Sidewinder missile for that matter. I had to hope that the Garuda was faster than either. Otherwise this was just some pointless stunt, a desperate, futile attempt by Captain Canuck to evade the inevitable.
    We bottomed out of our kamikaze plunge with a juddering, teeth-rattling lurch that shot me bolt upright. G-forces pressed me into my seat hard enough, probably, to leave a permanent Zak-shaped impression in the upholstery. Someone was screeching like a girl, and I assumed it was Aanandi, but, embarrassingly, it turned out to be me.
    Now the Garuda was scooting along at low altitude. How low? I glimpsed the glitter of moonlight on water not far beneath the wingtips, less than fifteen feet. The crazy thing was, the ocean seemed to be getting closer. The captain was bringing us right down until we were brushing the wave tops, and I was no aeronautical expert but I didn’t reckon this was a very sensible plan of action. The Garuda wasn’t a seaplane, as far as I could tell. I’d seen wheels but not pontoons. Ergo, landing on water did not strike me as viable or advisable. Wouldn’t we just sink?
    Besides, we weren’t decelerating, the flaps weren’t down, no reverse thrust – nothing to suggest we were landing at all. So what was the purpose of the exercise?
    “Okay,” said the captain, “hold tight, everyone.”
    Then we were bouncing along on the sea’s surface like a skimming stone. I dug my fingernails into the armrests, expecting that at any moment the Garuda would flip and go cartwheeling end over end, disintegrating piece by piece until there was nothing left of it but scattered smithereens.
    Instead, it settled onto the water, coasting like a powerboat. Plumes of sea foam sprayed up over the wings.
    “Wrongfooted those PAF boys with that manoeuvre,” said the captain, “but we haven’t shaken ’em off. They’re coming down for a closer look, and the targeting radar lock is still active. We’re going to have to lose them once and for all, and that means reconfiguring.”
    “Reconfiguring?” I said to Aanandi with a frown.
    “Wait and see.”
    “Good news is, the cavalry’s on its way,” the captain added. “Couple of minutes out, inbound. It’s going to be tight but I think they might make it in time to help.”
    One of the Mirages thundered by overhead, then went into a sharp banking turn to come around.
    Meanwhile a succession of tremendous whines and rumbles shuddered through the Garuda ’s frame. I saw the wings retract, telescoping inwards until they were a fifth of their original span, more like fins now. Then what appeared to be a pair of turbines folded out from recesses in the fuselage. Their fans started to turn. All the while we lost speed, the jet engine powering down.
    “This is...” I started to say, but in fact I didn’t know what this was. It was something, certainly.
    The Mirage returned for a second flyby, shooting up afterwards into a perpendicular climb.
    “His buddy’s at five o’clock, zeroing in,” said the captain. “Looks like it could be a kill run. But if you’d care to take a gander out of the starboard windows you’ll see a sight to gladden your hearts.”
    Out there, a pinprick of light glimmered on the horizon, growing fast.
    “The chariot,” Aanandi said with satisfaction.
    “We’re submerging in ten,” the captain said. “You may have just enough time to catch the fireworks first,