An extract from the new Ben Hope novel The Martyr's Curse.
Undisclosed location
Undisclosed location
North Korea
3 June 2011
Not long after his entry team had
penetrated the inner core of the building, Udo Streicher
knew it was over.
His information had been first-rate. The
materials he’d been looking to acquire were exactly where his sources had said
they would be, and he’d come within a hair’s breadth of having them. Millions
had been spent on intelligence and equipment. An entire year had been devoted
to planning. Twelve-hour days. Sometimes sixteen. Checking every possible
detail. Obsessing over the layout of the hidden complex. Analysing the security
systems. Evaluating the risk. Assessing their chances of making it out alive.
And for all that meticulous planning, now
the raid had gone badly wrong. The mission was blown. The ten-strong group was
down to nine. The equipment was lost. They’d ditched everything they’d brought
with them, except their weapons.
Behind them in the white-walled, starkly
neon-lit corridor, three dead bodies lay sprawled in pools of blood. Two of
them belonged to the armed Korean security personnel who’d surprised the
intruders just as they were about to make it through the final set of doors
that separated them from their objective. The third belonged to an Austrian
called Dieter Lenz, a follower of Streicher from the beginning. But Dieter
wasn’t important any more. What mattered was getting out of here. Streicher
refused to consider the alternatives. He’d rather die by his own bullet than
face a lifetime of incarceration in the roach-infested hellhole of a North
Korean prison camp.
The nine remaining members of the team
ran in tight formation, their clattering footsteps all but drowned out by the
shriek and whoop of alarm sirens that were sounding off all through the
facility. Hannah Gissel had her pistol drawn and her teeth bared in a kind of
animal ferocity. Torben Roth was clutching the Uzi he’d gunned the guards down
with. Bringing up the rear were the Canadian, Steve Evers, and Sandro
Guidinetti. Guidinetti looked like he was losing it under the pressure. ‘Which
way did we come?’ Wolf Schilling yelled as they reached a fork in the corridor.
Every door and wall in the lab complex looked the same.
‘This way,’ Streicher said, pointing
left. He gripped Hannah’s arm and they raced on. The sirens seemed even louder,
a wall of sound that permeated everything. Another door. Another bend in the
corridor.
A side entrance swung open, and suddenly
the way ahead was blocked off. A four-man security patrol, dressed in khaki
paramilitary uniform and wielding Chinese-made assault rifles. Screaming at
them in Korean. Streicher knew little of the language but the message was
clear: DROP YOUR WEAPONS! SURRENDER OR WE WILL SHOOT!
The stand-off lasted less than two
seconds. Torben Roth was the first to open fire, shooting from the hip and
hosing nine-millimetre rounds up the corridor. Hannah snapped off three, four,
five shots from her Glock. The guards crumpled up and fell. Streicher shot the
last one with his own Heckler & Koch. He did it without hesitation or
compassion. It wasn’t the first time he’d shot a man. ‘Come on!’ Hannah yelled.
Her eyes were flashing with a mixture of aggression and terror and pure
adrenalin. She leaped over the heap of dead men. The other eight followed.
A
Martyr’s Curse –
Can Ben Hope find peace at last in a remote
medieval monastery in the French Alps? His wanderings through Europe might have
led him to this refuge but salvation is to be short lived for wherever he goes,
trouble is never far behind.
When a team of merciless killers invade his
newfound sanctuary and slaughter the innocent monks, Ben’s revenge quest
quickly draws him into a bewildering mystery of stolen treasure, deception and
murder.
What is the truth behind the cache of gold
bullion apparently hidden for centuries under the monastery? What is the
significance of an ancient curse dating back to a cruel heretic burning in
medieval times? What are the real ambitions of the enigmatic leader of an
organisation of doomsday ‘preppers’ calling themselves Exercitus Paratorum: the
Army of the Prepared?
As he works to unravel the mystery, Ben is
confronted with a terrifying reality that threatens to devastate the world and
reshape the whole of our future. The race is on to prevent the ultimate disaster
and there’s only one man who save us. His name is Hope, Ben Hope.
The Martyr's Curse by Scott Mariani is published on 4 June by Avon (£7.99)
You can find more information about Scott Mariani and his work on his website.
The Martyr's Curse by Scott Mariani is published on 4 June by Avon (£7.99)
You can find more information about Scott Mariani and his work on his website.
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