Evil Star (26 page)

"But not all will be lost. Five defeated them at the dawn of time, and Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star five will defeat them again. That is the proph-ecy. This boy is one of the five. This boy also." He pointed first at Matt, then at Pedro. "The others will follow and when the five come together, they will have the strength to defeat the Old Ones. Then the last great war will take place and the new world will begin."

He fell silent.

“You say the gate will open three days from now," Richard muttered. "Do you know where it is?"

The Inca shook his head. "We have searched for it. We have never found it."

"Then where do you suggest we go next?" Richard hadn't meant to sound rude, but he was aware that he had been. He flinched, wondering if he was about to find out what it felt like to have two meters of golden spear in his back.

But the Inca didn't seem offended. His face hadn't changed. He gestured at Atoc, who took out a sheet of paper and laid it in front of them. Matt recognized it at once. It was the page that Pedro had taken from the photo-copier. It had been in the back pocket of his jeans. He wondered when Atoc had taken it.

"This the only clue," Atoc said.

"What does it say?" Matt asked. He had been wonder-ing about the strange verse ever since Pedro had found it.

Atoc translated the words out loud and Matt felt his heart sink.

On the night when the white bird flies

Before the place of Qolqa,

There will the light be seen,

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star

The light that is the end of all light.

And below that, the two words —
INTI RAY Ml
— and the blazing sun.

The sheet of paper had obviously been important enough for Salamanda to want to copy it. But why did its message have to be so complicated? Matt had thought the lines would tell him what he needed to know about the gate. They told him nothing at all.

The old
amauta
shook his head.
"Inti Raymi
... "he said.

"Inti Raymi is the most important day in the Inca calen-dar," the prince explained. "It is the time of the summer solstice when the sun is at its farthest point south of the Equator. June twenty-fourth.

Today is June twenty-first."

"What about the place of Qolqa?" Richard asked. "Do you know where that is?"

The
amauta
glanced at the Inca ruler but he knew the answer already. "Qolqa is a Nazca word," he said.

"They were talking about Nazca," Matt said, excitedly. "Salamanda and the others. They said they were looking for a platform in the Nazca desert."

"The pictures on this paper would very much indicate the desert,"

the Inca agreed. "But that is on the other side of Peru, back where you've come from. We must give seri-ous thought to what we do next. This page may have told Salamanda what he needs to know, but if so, it can tell us, too. There is a professor who lives in Nazca and who has made many studies of the area. If there is anyone in the country who can make sense of this, she can. I will speak with her Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star tonight."

"Are you on the phone here?" Richard asked.

Huascar smiled for the first time. "This is an ancient city," he said.

"We are very remote. But this is still the twenty-first century. We have mobile phones and we even have a satellite connection to the Internet. Please, try not to think of us as primitives."

He stood up.

"My people wish to see you," he said. "The fact that two of the five are with us is a cause for celebration, no matter what the future may bring." He raised his hands. "Let the feast begin."

************************************

Night had fallen once again and the stars had come out in their millions. The entire city of Vilcabamba was filled with lights and music, the thin wail of the panpipes
echoing above the deeper beating of the drums. Several bonfires had been lit and there were pigs turning on spits, chickens and lambs baking in clay pots, great chunks of pork on skewers, and bubbling cauldrons of stew. The air carried the smell of burning fat and the sparks leaped up and crackled.

There were at least five hundred people — men, women, and children — in the sacred plaza. This was the rectangle of grass around which everything else had been built. More people looked down from the platforms and terraces above. Many of the Incas had put on their ceremo-nial clothes. There were headdresses made of feathers and gold, brilliantly colored robes, gold collars and bracelets, golden shields and swords, and gold jewelry, fabulously carved in the shape of pumas, crouching warriors, and gods. Some of the people were dancing. Many were eating and drinking. All of Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star them wanted to see Matt and Pedro, to greet them, and to shake their hands.

Matt was sitting with Richard and Pedro. He had intro-duced them to each other before the feast had begun.

"I'm really glad to meet you, Pedro," Richard had said. "Thank you for looking after Matt."

Pedro nodded, although Matt wondered if he had really understood.

The night drew on. The music became louder and the wine and beer flowed faster. Matt noticed Richard empty-ing yet another goblet —

but he himself had drunk more beer than was probably good for him.

And why not, he thought? For just one night he was safe, among friends. He remembered what the
amauta
had said. The gate would open in three days. One boy would stand against the Old Ones and one boy would fall. Would it be him or Pedro? Or had the
amauta

been
talking about someone else? What-ever the answer, Matt knew that this might be his only chance to relax and enjoy himself before he was plunged back into the dangers that lay outside. Richard had already told him they were going to leave the next day.

Then the music stopped and the crowd grew silent and the prince of the Incas stepped out onto a terrace in front of his palace. He spoke once again in English, and although he didn't raise his voice, the words rang out for all to hear.

"This is how the Inca world began," he exclaimed. "This is the story that has been passed down through the generations.. . ."

He paused. Somewhere a baby cried until its mother shushed it.

"According to our ancestors, a long time ago there was only darkness. The land was bare and the people lived like animals. Then the father of all things — we call him Viracocha, the Sun — decided Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star to send his son down to teach the people how to live properly, how to cultivate the fields and build houses for themselves.

"And that is how Manco Capac came into the world. He rose out of the waters of Lake Titicaca, son of the Sun, the first of the Incas.

Manco traveled across South America until at last he came to a valley near Cuzco. Here he plunged a gold rod into the earth, for this was the place where he had decided to found the Inca Empire.

"For many years, he ruled wisely and strongly before returning to the heavens. In that time, one image — and only one — was made of him. It was engraved on a great circle of gold. This treasure, more precious to us than any other was called the Sun of Viracocha. When the conquis-tadors came, it was hidden away and nobody has seen it since, though many have tried to find it."

He raised a hand. On the far side of the plaza, two lines of soldiers moved forward, holding flaming beacons. Then eight more Incas appeared, bowing under the weight of a great litter. Something flat and circular rested on the top, covered by a cloth. All around the city, heads turned silently to follow it. The bearers set it down on the grass, just in front of the table where Matt and Pedro were sitting.

"Why do we celebrate today?" the Inca called out. "Look on the face of Manco Capac and you will understand."

The cloth was removed.

For a moment the golden disc dazzled Matt and he was unable to see. It seemed to shine with a light of its own. Resting on its side, the disc was almost as tall as he was. It had been fashioned like a sun, with golden flames twisting round its rim. Matt blinked.

Gradually, he was able to make out a face engraved on the surface.

It was a face that he recognized, but of course that was impossible.

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star The image had been made more than a thousand years ago. He heard Richard let out a gasp. Next to him, Pedro stood up, back-ing away, his face filled with terror and disbelief.

The two faces were the same.

There could be no mistake.

The disc showed a picture of Manco Capac, founder of the Inca Empire. But Pedro was also looking at a portrait of himself.

Chapter 16 Professor Chambers

They met the Inca prince the next morning — the four of them sitting cross-legged once again in front of his throne. Richard, Matt, and Pedro were to leave before midday.

"I have spoken to Professor Chambers," Huascar said, "and she has agreed to see you. I'm afraid it means another long journey for you, all the way back to the western coast. The professor lives in Nazca.

Atoc has asked me if he can go with you there."

"I must finish what my brother began,"Atoc said.

The Inca gazed at them for a moment, and Matt won-dered if there wasn't a tinge of sadness in his eyes. "We will meet again one day at Vilcabamba," the prince went on. "But what is important now is that you are safe. Salamanda may have the police and much of the government on his side, but my people are everywhere, and now that we have found you, we will watch over you. Is there anything you wish to ask?"

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star Richard and Matt exchanged a glance. They had so many questions in their heads. How could a thousand-year-old image so resemble Pedro? One of them was going to be hurt, perhaps killed, at the gate.

But which one? And — for Matt, the most burning question of all —

if the Old Ones were going to break through the gate as the Inca had prophesied, was there any point even trying to stop them?

But neither of them spoke. Somehow Matt knew that there were no easy answers. He felt as if he had fallen into a fast-flowing river. If he struggled or tried to get out, he would waste his strength and drown. All he could do was swim with the current and see where it took him.

The Inca stood up and raised his hands, palms forward. "I wish you a safe journey and success," he said. "May the spirit of Viracocha go with you."

The audience was over. Richard, Atoc, Matt, and Pedro stood up, bowed, and began to leave. But it wasn't quite over yet.

"Senor Cole," the Inca called out. "I would like, if I may, to have one last word with you? But in private ..."

Richard stopped. "Don't worry," he whispered to Matt. "If he wants me to stay behind in Vilcabamba, the answer's no."

He waited while Matt and Pedro left. The Inca walked down to him.

The
amauta
was also there. Richard hadn't seen him enter the palace.

"What are you thinking?" the Inca asked.

"I'm thinking that one day I'll write about all this," Richard said.

"Maybe you'll try to stop me, but I will, any-way. What difference will it make? Nobody will believe me. When I look back, I may not believe it myself."

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star

"Let me ask you this question. Why do you believe the boy was chosen?"

"Matt?" Richard shrugged. "He's one of the five. . . ."

"And Pedro, too. But why you?"

"Was I chosen?" Richard couldn't help smiling. "The way I see it, Matt just happened to stumble into my office in Greater Mailing. If I hadn't been there that day, I wouldn't even have met him and it would be someone else standing here now. Kate or Julia. They both worked at the newspa-per. Maybe it would have been one of them."

"No, Mr. Cole. You are wrong. You also have a part to play in this adventure, and that part was written for you long before you were born."

"Are you saying I have no choice?"

"We all have choices. But our decisions are already known."

The Inca held out a hand, and the old Indian, the
amauta,
produced a small leather bag with two drawstrings so that it could be worn across the shoulder or around the neck. "I have a gift for you, Mr.

Cole," the Inca said. "Do not thank me, because one day, I assure you, you will curse me for giving it to you. But nonetheless it is yours. It was made for you."

The
amauta
opened the bag and handed Richard a golden object, about fifteen centimeters high. Richard found himself holding a statue of a god. At least, that was what it looked like at first. It was an Inca figure with staring eyes and a grim-looking face, its arms folded across its chest. It was standing on top of a triangle that tapered down to a sharp point. The whole thing was made of solid gold, studded with semiprecious stones; jade and lapis lazuli.

Richard had no idea how old it was but guessed it must be worth Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star thousands of pounds.

Then he realized how he was holding it. Quite instinc-tively, he had let it rest in the palm of his hand with the point jutting out. It wasn't just a statue. It was some sort of knife.

"We call this a
tumi,"
the Inca explained. "It is a sacrificial knife.

The edges of the blade are not sharp, but the point is. You must look after it and keep it safe."

"It's beautiful," Richard said. He remembered the Inca's warning.

"Why wouldn't I want to have something like this? And what do you mean when you say it was made for me?"

"This
tumi
has another name," the Inca said. He wasn't answering Richard's questions — but then, it occurred to Richard, he never did.

"It has always been known as the invisible blade. You can see it, but it cannot be found. When you carry it with you, nobody will notice it is there."

"How about in airports?" Richard was thinking of the metal detectors. They'd go crazy if he tried to walk through with this.