The Mayan Priest (19 page)

Richard continued, ‘Yes, that could work. Swinging over to the wall may be a problem and I am certainly too old to be considering such acrobatics, so I thought Redmond might like to give it a go.’

The horrified look on Redmond’s face spoke words, but Richard did not concede. Redmond was the logical choice. He was young, fit and certainly able to carry it off.

‘You are our best option, Redmond. You have the skills to open the room and I know you enjoy hang-gliding and rock-climbing in your spare time.’

‘I suppose I could try,’ replied Redmond, his wide, expressive eyes and mop of brown hair flopping about as he nodded in reluctant acceptance.

‘Good boy.’ Richard slapped him enthusiastically on the shoulder as Julia passed out a small meal of sustenance bars, thinly rolled tortilla and juice.

‘Enjoy the food whilst we’ve got it because there won’t be any when we move,’ said Julia.

‘Now I know why you‘ve been stockpiling it,’ said Richard proudly as he kissed Julia gently on the cheek before attaching his belt to Redmond and hoisting him onto the roof.

When he was in position, Richard joined him and pointed out the ring he needed to shoot the grappling hook into and then directed him towards the supposed location of the tool room.

He sincerely prayed that he was right.

‘Good luck Redmond,’ offered Richard as the young man gazed at the destination in fear but quickly steeled himself as he prepared for his mission. Within moments Redmond fired and with intense trepidation they watched and waited as the grappling hook flew straight and sure. It struck the hollowed stone straight in the centre, spreading its tentacles out behind the axis.

Richard pulled at it and was satisfied that it was secure.

He smiled at Redmond who immediately took the rope, connected the ascender and began to pull himself upward until he was free of the lift roof. Once clear from any possible obstruction, Redmond swung uninhibited towards the north wall, showing his experience by landing firmly against his feet and continuing to hop along the fascia until he reached the west side.

Richard held his breath whilst Redmond searched and located the footholds gesturing joyfully towards his discovery. He then proceeded to chisel at each consecutive grip until the inserted covering stone popped free to reveal a well-cut hollow.

Eventually Redmond reached the area they had pinpointed as the tool room and began to work at it with the small hammer and chisel Richard had provided him. It took him more than half an hour of digging at the obsidian before Redmond made a breakthrough.

‘I’ve found something. It looks like a small room!’ he shouted as he eagerly continued to remove the obsidian covering.

This was a big breakthrough and Richard was joyous, but for some unknown reason, warning bells were ringing. The architect of this tunnel was not careless, nor was he dumb. He had managed to construct an impervious passageway complete with an elaborate ruse to protect the secret he was hiding. It simply did not make sense for Redmond to break in so easily even if it did take half an hour. The architect had built this tunnel from the outside in, finishing and polishing the obsidian last. Any large tools used to finish this passageway could not have been removed, so it was quite probable that the engineer would have protected those tools by inserting a trap.

Richard panicked. ‘Redmond, get out of there!’ he screamed, but it was too late. A rumble omitted from above, increasing from a barely audible groan to a deep roar. Centuries old dust exploded from the hole as did a large boulder that teetered on the edge before succumbing to gravity and falling from above. It knocked Redmond from his perch, the force pushing him away from the alcove and slamming him into the outer wall. Richard heard him scream in pain, but it did not end there. The boulder fell as if in slow motion and for a moment, he thought it might pass the lift safety, but it caught one of the corners, ripping the wood and rope as it smashed its way into oblivion. The already weak rope that held the lift aloft bore the extra strain nobly, but it had also begun to unravel. Richard quickly understood they had an hour or two at most to save their lives and to make matters worse, he had no idea what condition Redmond was in.

Julia screamed as Richard lowered himself into the devastated room. An entire corner had been torn away, leaving a gaping hole that opened out into the vast darkness. It had been fortunate that Mitch, Fred and Julia had been on the opposite side of the destruction, but even that did not protect them from injury. A flying piece of wood had pierced Fred in the upper arm, leaving a wound that would need at least two stitches. To his credit, he bore it without a whimper, choosing to help Mitch who had a slightly more serious cut across his hand. Julia had escaped unscathed but was distraught over the loss of food that had been stockpiled in the ruined corner.

Julia took one look at Richard. ‘We’re in dire straits, aren’t we.’

Richard nodded. ‘We have an hour or two at best and it appears we may have lost Redmond.’

Julia did not weep. She stood up and spoke to the small group. ‘So, what are we waiting for. We have one grappling hook left, so let’s get out of here.’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Gillian felt sore, dirty and very unattractive, but she was too excited at the prospect of opening the second box to care. She also noted in amusement that Adam had fared little better. He looked as if he had been dragged through a pile of mud, but to his credit he glanced at himself and then at her before breaking into a chuckle.

‘Appealing, aren’t we.’

Gillian laughed in reply but suddenly grew serious. The light rain had increased dramatically and Georgio began slowing the helicopter to combat the increased hazard. This gave Gillian major cause for concern, considering any excess rain could cause ground movement and possible instability at the site in Tikal. She was not one for praying, but she mentally implored God to stop the rain before it caused any major damage.

‘Is it that obvious?’ replied Gillian, frowning thoughtfully. ‘This is also my first opportunity to check on Fred and Richard and I’m worried that they’re not faring well. What am I going to do if we can’t save them in time?’

Adam paused for a moment before replying. ‘I haven’t known you for long, Gillian, but I’d reckon that failure isn’t something you’re good at. You’ll give this riddle your unsurpassed attention and I will do my best to help you. If the undesirable happens, it won’t be for lack of trying.’

Gillian started to reply, but Adam wasn’t listening and interrupted her. ‘That sounds like hail outside, but we’re too high.’

‘So, what is it?’ asked Gillian, immediately worried.

Adam shook his head as the window behind them shattered, spraying glass across the floor and rear seats. The shards missed them by inches.

‘Bloody ‘el! They’re friggin’ firing upon us!’ yelled Adam as Georgio instantly responded by dropping the Iroquois to 13 000 feet in the hope of escaping their attacker.

‘Don’t you think I know that!’ replied Georgio as he increased speed to the maximum 135 miles per hour. The machine climbed rapidly back up to 7000 feet with the G-force pushing Adam and Gillian backwards in their seats. Unfortunately, the shattered window acted like a vent and forced air into the helicopter at such a rapid rate that it became a whirlwind of noise and power. They struggled to breathe.

‘Anyone good with a gun?!’ shouted Georgio as both Adam and Gillian looked at each other in confusion.

‘I’ll do it!’ gasped Adam bravely as he staggered to the gun door and viewed the mounted M60D armament subsystem with fear. He clearly had no idea what to do with it.

Gillian hoped her act of daring sounded more convincing that she felt. In truth she was shitting herself and knew that failure was not an option.

‘For this to work, we need to fly no more than 600 feet from the ground!’ shouted Georgio as the attackers had once again pulled up behind them. Georgio acted quickly and pulled the levers, dropping the helicopter to an angle that seemed to defy gravity. The Iroquois was pushed beyond what she was built to handle and the metal groaned in agony with only Georgio’s experience stopping them from spiralling out of control. Gillian struggled to keep her balance and clung onto Adam for support.

Thankfully the pursuers lacked Georgio’s finesse which gave Gillian the precious time to feed the weapon belt into the machine and ensure that the canvas bag designed to capture the ejected casings and links was correctly attached. She removed the safety catch.

Gillian’s nerves were at their peak, but she was blessed with a rush of adrenaline that allowed her to pull the trigger when Georgio spun and placed the Iroquois level with their opponents.

Gillian responded instantaneously, sensing their movement as they repositioned themselves near their guns. Her shot missed, but she still managed to hit the rear of the helicopter just past the doors. The unexpected burst of rapid fire brought a shout of anger from their opponents who had been caught unawares. They returned fire immediately.

Her heart was pounding, but Gillian managed to duck behind the gun, avoid the hail of bullets and pull the trigger, all at the same time. Amazed by her stroke of luck, Gillian prepared to return fire when Georgio veered to the right without warning. It threw her off balance and without the support of Adam behind her, she would have smashed her head against the solid metal bars of the passenger seats.

An unconscious understanding passed between them and Adam moved to support Gillian as she knelt and pulled the trigger, spraying the bullets left and right. Their opponents dropped back for a moment as Georgio accelerated and directed the machine to the right of a mountain and down into a large valley. It was his hope that the dense basin would provide cover, and whilst the imposing canyon remained narrow, he was successful. Unfortunately the valley was also short and Georgio was quickly confronted with a successive gorge that was much too tight for his machine to fit.

Georgio swore loudly when he realised there was no option but to fly upwards and face their rivals who were undoubtedly waiting for them.

He was not wrong and the large black machine rose like a monster from the other side of the range, coming face to face with them in the air. Georgio braked hard in an attempt to avoid contact, but his severe action also threw Adam and Gillian into the wall of the front compartment.

Georgio was caught unawares but brought their responsive machine to life by accelerating into the low-lying clouds. His gauges revealed that the trailing missile was frighteningly close, so he fired a decoy in reply and avoided the resultant blast by three feet.

‘Fuck!’ spat Georgio as he dropped from the protection of the cloud and found the black helicopter directly below them and another mountain range to his immediate left.

Georgio spun around and headed for the cradle-shaped cleft at the top of the precipitous rocky array but discovered that in a straight line, their opponent was slightly quicker. Georgio could not outrun them, so he dropped to less than 50 feet from the ground.

‘Ready to fire!’ yelled Georgio as he hovered momentarily, allowing the assassins to level with them before spinning horizontally and aligning their side door with that of their opponents.

Gillian steadied her posture and leant back on Adam as she levelled her gaze and fired. Her first hit was successful and a cheer rose to her throat at the realisation that their opponent took a direct strike in his right arm. It brought him to his knees as the injury rendered his arm useless, forcing him to be pulled aside by his companion, a man Gillian recognised as Samuel.

It was as if all of her nightmares had arisen at once and she blinked, desperately hoping the image would disappear, but Samuel stood strong and true as he grinned in delight and took aim. The shot was deadly, hitting just below the rotors and bringing about the failure of the entire upper fitting. Gillian looked at Adam and in a split second they both understood that a crash was imminent. They shared a moment of despair as the machine coughed and spluttered, eventually coming to a complete stop seconds later. The satisfied look on Samuel’s face as he left them to die would haunt her for many years to come.

The helicopter was going down, but Georgio had cautioned them of this possibility. He was known for being overprepared for every possible scenario, quite often driving his colleagues insane with his pedantic nature. After the first attack at Uaxactún, Georgio had insisted both Gillian and Adam wear the small parachutes he carried for emergencies and they were immensely thankful for his foresight.

The jungle floor was closing in rapidly and they had to react instantaneously. The side door of the helicopter was still open and provided the obvious avenue for escape, but it suddenly occurred to Gillian that the pilot’s seat did not allow room for Georgio to wear a parachute. One look at his face confirmed her fears. Adam also noticed her expression and followed her line of sight. Without allowing room for error, Adam placed himself between Gillian and Georgio. He was going to Georgio’s rescue and left no time for her to argue.