9
The Toyota Land Cruiser picked its way along the
narrow track, mud squishing out from beneath its tyres. Another
vehicle, a twin save for its colour, followed.
Eddie was driving,
Nina beside him and Macy and Kit in the rear seats, the young woman
yawning from the early start. Valero piloted Osterhagen’s group in
the second 4×4, the two men having the most off-roading experience.
Even so, it was slow going. The day before, Valero had flown back
along the track to find where it joined the road, but this morning,
even knowing the approximate location, it took some time to
discover the trail; it had been concealed, bushes and a mouldering
log covering the turnoff. And the track itself constantly twisted
between the trees, bushes and low branches swatting the Toyotas as
they crawled past.
Eddie checked the
odometer. ‘Five miles since we left the road. Can’t be much
further.’ He hauled the wheel over to avoid a large jutting bough,
the vehicle lurching over the ruts carved by dragged
logs.
Macy liberally
spritzed herself with insect repellent. ‘I just had a
thought—’
‘First time for
everything,’ Eddie cut in.
She slapped his
shoulder. ‘No, but what if the people who found it come back? They
might be armed.’
The same had occurred
to Eddie, who had been less than pleased at the Venezuelans’
refusal to let him or even Kit bring weapons into the country.
However, he tried to sound reassuring. ‘Oscar’s got a
gun.’
‘If he knows how to
use it. I was chatting to him last night. You know what he used to
be before he joined the militia?’
‘A pilot?’ Nina
suggested.
‘Well, yeah,’ Macy said peevishly, ‘but before that, I
meant. He was a chef! That’s not exactly like being in the
SAS.’
‘Depends how bad a
cook he was,’ said Eddie. ‘If he got a lot of complaints, he’d have
to— Whoa, hang on.’ He slowed sharply. ‘End of the
road.’
They entered a
clearing, ragged stumps showing where the loggers had chainsawed
down several valuable hardwood trees. A steep bank of earth rose
ahead. Layers of tyre tracks in the dirt showed that the area had
seen a fair amount of traffic.
‘There’s another path
over there,’ said Nina, indicating the bank.
‘Not sure it’s
drivable, though,’ Eddie replied. He stopped the Land Cruiser.
‘It’s probably better to go on foot from here . . . and there’s
something I want to check.’
‘What?’ Nina asked,
but he had already hopped out, eyes fixed on something on the
ground nearby. Curious, she followed.
‘Oh, ew,’ said Macy,
wrinkling her nose as she stepped into the mud. ‘What’s that
smell?’
‘That would be the
jungle,’ said Cuff patronisingly as he got out of the second
Toyota. He closed his eyes and waved a hand under his nose as if
wafting the scent of some delicious meal into his nostrils. ‘The
most diverse ecosystem on the planet. The lungs of the world. Just
smell that life.’
‘I can smell
something,’ Macy said, adding ‘like
bullshit’ under her breath. Despite the repellent, small insects
were swarming round her; she flapped a hand before treating them to
a burst of spray.
Osterhagen emerged
from the Land Cruiser behind Cuff. ‘Why have you stopped? We can go
. . . ’ He tailed off as Eddie waved urgently for
silence.
‘What is it?’ Nina
whispered.
Her husband crouched
and pointed at the mud. ‘These tyre tracks, they’re recent. Less
than a day old – there hasn’t been time for any rain to wash them
out.’ In the humid equatorial climate of the rainforest, downpours
were an almost metronomic occurrence. He went to the nearby path.
‘And there are some footprints here.’
The others joined
them, the atmosphere suddenly tense. Kit peered at the impressions
in the soil. ‘Different sizes – two men.’
Eddie nodded. ‘They
go into the jungle . . . but they don’t come back
out.’
That produced
consternation amongst the group. ‘Are you saying there are people
here?’ asked Loretta nervously.
‘Guards, maybe,’ said
Nina. ‘A treasure trove of Inca gold . . . they’d want to make sure
nobody else found it.’
Eddie checked the
surrounding trees. No signs of movement, or sounds beyond the
chatter of birds and buzz of insects, but he was now very much on
the alert. ‘Oscar, you might want to keep that gun handy.’ Valero
hurriedly drew his weapon and checked it was loaded. Loretta gasped
in alarm.
‘Oh, come on,’ said
Cuff. ‘Why would they post guards when nobody else knows this place
exists? It’s not as though anybody’s likely to stroll
by.’
Eddie gave him a
contemptuous look. ‘No, the plane that circled it yesterday
wouldn’t attract any attention, would it, Dave?’
‘That’s Day,’ Cuff
mumbled, trying to salvage some dignity under the group’s withering
gaze.
‘So what should we
do?’ asked Becker. ‘If there are guards, we could be in
danger.’
‘We have to go on,’
Nina insisted. ‘We’ve got to know what’s out there.’
‘I agree,’ said
Valero. ‘If thieves are stealing Venezuela’s treasures, the
Bolivarian Militia will stop them!’ He stood with his hands on his
hips, glaring defiantly into the jungle.
‘Easy there, Rambo,’
Eddie said. ‘Let’s see what we’re dealing with first. If it really
is this place we’re looking for and there are people keeping an eye
on it, we’ll call el Presidente’s
people for backup.’ He indicated the satellite phone in the Toyota.
‘We’re not exactly geared up for trouble.’
‘Sounds like a plan,’
said Nina. ‘Let’s get our stuff.’
The expedition
members donned backpacks and equipment belts. Valero started up the
path, but Eddie waved him back. ‘Not that way – we don’t want to
walk right into ’em.’ He gestured at a point further along the
earth bank. ‘Over there. Keep it quiet.’
Eddie and Valero led,
Nina just behind with the others following in a line. Keeping low
amongst the undergrowth, they scaled the bank and dropped down on
the other side to find themselves in a marshy dip. Despite the
humps and hollows, though, the land ahead was on a gentle
rise.
It started to rain,
drops pattering noisily off leaves and heads. Nina shot a jealous
look at Becker’s wide-brimmed fedora. But even the downpour gave
little relief from the cloying humidity as the group trudged
onwards. She peered into the gloom. ‘I can’t see much out
there.’
‘Good,’ said Eddie.
‘Anybody out there won’t see much of us.’ He paused at the top of
another muddy bank, then gestured off to one side. ‘I think there’s
something over there.’
Nina squinted through
the rain. There was indeed a vague shape visible beyond the trees.
‘A wall?’
She started towards
it, but Eddie waved her back. ‘Wait here until I’ve checked it out.
Oscar, with me.’ Hunching down, the Englishman slowly advanced
towards the indistinct shape, Valero behind him. Nina watched
anxiously as they disappeared behind the trees. She strained to
listen over the constant drum of raindrops for an unexpected shout,
a gunshot . . .
Eddie reappeared,
waving for her to join him. She breathed out in relief and picked
her way forward, Osterhagen and Becker behind her. As she got
closer she realised that it was a wall,
partially hidden by plants, crumbling in places and covered with
centuries of dirt and decayed jungle debris, but definitely an
artificial structure. At its tallest it stood about nine feet
high.
Becker had seen
something above it, however. ‘Look,’ he said, gesticulating
excitedly. Set several feet back on its top was a second wall,
rising another eight feet higher – and a third above that. ‘It’s
tiered! Just like the walls at Sacsayhuamán.’
Osterhagen was nearly
as enthused. ‘And look! The shape, the zigzag – these are Inca, I’m
sure!’
‘Shh, shh,
shut up!’ Eddie hissed, scurrying
towards the group. Nina gave him a questioning glance. ‘There’s a
gap like a big gate further along,’ he said. ‘That path goes
through it, so those two blokes who we don’t
want to know we’re here,’ he glowered at the Germans,
‘probably did too.’
Becker looked
sheepish, hiding from Eddie’s glare beneath his hat brim.
Osterhagen, meanwhile, turned his attention back to the wall. ‘If
we climb it, we can try to spot these men from the
top.’
‘There’s a collapsed
bit over there,’ said Eddie. ‘I’ll go up and have a gander. If it’s
safe, I’ll wave.’ By now, Valero had returned, and the other
members of the group were approaching through the trees. ‘Oscar,
keep an eye on the gate. Any trouble at all, everyone run like
buggery back to the Jeeps. Okay?’
He went to the
damaged section and scrambled up it, then searched for a suitable
point to climb to the next tier. Finding a section where several
large stones had been dislodged, he used the gaps as footholds and
ascended again, disappearing from Nina’s view. The downpour was
easing off, the water torture of the large drops giving way to a
clammy drizzle.
After a minute, he
leaned over the edge and waved. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll go up
first. Oscar, watch the gate until everyone’s clear.’ Valero’s
eyebrows twitched at being given orders by her, but he
nodded.
It didn’t take long
for Nina to reach Eddie’s position on top of the wall. By now, the
rain had stopped, drips from the overhanging trees gradually
slowing to nothing. He was on his stomach, looking out across what
lay beyond the fortifications; she dropped and slithered alongside
him, taking in the view.
It rendered her
speechless. Inside the walls was a town, abandoned and in ruins,
but still stunning to behold. The shells of stone buildings were
packed tightly together, tall gables marking where roofs of wood
and thatch had once been. Trees had taken root amongst them,
breaking down walls and concealing the structures beneath the
jungle canopy. Narrow streets meandered through the outermost parts
of the settlement, becoming straighter and wider as they neared the
centre, where the buildings increased in size and
grandeur.
Temples, and palaces.
The heart of the last outpost of the Inca empire.
Paititi. The legend
was real.
But they were not the
first to find it. ‘Have you seen the guards?’ she
asked.
‘Not yet,’ Eddie
replied, ‘but I heard something over there.’ He pointed at one of
the larger buildings.
There was a rattle
and clunk of loose stones, and they looked back to see Osterhagen,
breathing heavily, pull himself on to the uppermost tier. Becker,
Kit and Macy appeared behind him. ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake!’ Eddie
grumbled. ‘What is this, a fucking conga line? I didn’t mean
everyone to come up here. It’s not safe yet.’
Osterhagen didn’t
hear, spellbound by the vision before him. ‘Phantastisch . . . ’ he whispered, gazing at the
ruins, then fumbled to take a camera from his pack, as if afraid
the marvel could vanish at any moment.
Eddie grabbed his
wrist. ‘If that flashes, it won’t just be the Incas who practise
human sacrifice – I’ll have a bloody go!’
Osterhagen pulled
free, but checked that the flash was switched off before taking his
first picture. ‘Mr Chase, I know you are trying to keep us safe,
but I do not like your attitude.’
‘You’ll like getting
shot even less, Doc. Trust me, I know.’
‘So do I,’ added
Nina. Osterhagen looked shocked. ‘What do you make of
it?’
The German surveyed
the ruins. The outer walls, as much as could be seen through the
interloping trees, enclosed an area roughly two hundred metres
square. ‘It is smaller than Machu Picchu, but there may be other
ruins outside the fortifications. The architecture is definitely
late-period Inca, though.’
‘The black market
artefacts – where would they have been kept?’
He indicated one of
the larger structures, a thick-walled block with numerous small
trapezoidal windows high along its sides. ‘The royal palace, most
likely. Or’ – a smaller one, unlike its neighbours in that its
walls were curved – ‘the Temple of the Sun.’
‘If that’s where the
gold is,’ Eddie pointed out, ‘it’s probably where the guards are
too.’
The remaining
expedition members had by now scaled the wall, and were reacting
with amazement. Loretta put a hand to her mouth, on the verge of
weeping with joy. ‘Look at it, look! I never dreamed we’d find
anywhere so intact!’
Even Cuff’s
seen-it-all-before smugness had temporarily deserted him. ‘Jesus.
This is incredible. There’s so much of it - where do we
start?’
‘You start by staying
put until I find those guards,’ said Eddie, moving cautiously along
the wall. Not far away was a stairway down to ground level; it had
partially collapsed, but he was able to half climb, half slide down
it, jumping the last six feet. ‘Oscar, down here. Watch the last
bit, it’s slippery.’
Valero negotiated the
ruined stairs rather more clumsily. Eddie was about to investigate
a nearby building when he saw Nina also scrambling down. ‘No, I
meant all of you to stay up— Oh, never bloody mind.’
‘I’m not going to
blunder into the guards, Eddie,’ Nina said as she dropped to the
ground. ‘I just want a look around. If there’s any trouble, I’ll go
straight back up the wall.’
‘I’m already halfway
there,’ he muttered.
‘What?’
‘Didn’t say a word.’
Running between the high wall and a terrace of what he guessed were
small houses was a pathway leading to the outer gate, but a
narrower alley nearby would, he thought, give a better chance of
reaching the settlement’s centre unseen. ‘Okay, Nina, we’re going
to check out that noise. Back soon. And don’t wander off!’ he added
firmly over his shoulder.
‘Love you too,’ Nina
replied with a mocking smile as she entered the building. To her
disappointment, the interior, a single room with no other entrances
apart from a small window, was wrecked. Rotted remains of the
wooden roof were strewn across the floor, plants sprouting from the
rich compost that had built up as leaves fell through the open
ceiling. Fragments of broken pottery poked from the loam. She
nudged one with her boot, then saw something more interesting – a
stone sphere, slightly smaller than a tennis ball. A length of
thick rope was knotted through a hole in its centre. A bolas? She
gingerly lifted the ball, tugging the weapon’s other two cords
clear of the soil - and felt the mouldering rope start to fall
apart.
‘Oops! Shit,’ she
gasped, hurriedly returning it to its resting place and going back
outside – to see Osterhagen jumping down from the ruined stairway,
Becker and Cuff descending behind him.
‘What did you find in
there?’ he asked, eagerly approaching her. ‘Are there any surviving
artefacts?’
Nina ignored his
question, trying to block his path. ‘What are you doing? Eddie told
you to wait up there.’
‘He told you the same
thing,’ Cuff sniffed.
Now Macy and Kit were
climbing down too. ‘Sorry, Nina,’ said Macy. ‘I tried to tell
everyone to stay up there, but only Loretta listened.’
Nina looked up to see
Loretta peering over the top of the wall. ‘Well, at least one
person’s got some sense. Okay, look – everybody stay here until
Eddie and Oscar come back. This place has been waiting since the
sixteenth century, so a few more minutes won’t make any
difference.’
Eddie and Valero
moved cautiously through the ruined town. The Englishman had
already confirmed that they were not the first explorers, spotting
broken stems where people had forced their way through the
vegetation reclaiming the settlement.
None of the damage
seemed recent, though; more like weeks or even months
old.
He had a theory: the
loggers had trampled through the whole place searching for
valuables. After picking the outlying buildings clean, they had no
reason to return, instead concentrating on the central buildings
that Osterhagen said would have contained the greatest treasures.
The men whose trail he had spotted in the jungle were probably
guarding the remainder of the hoard.
And they were close
by. Eddie stopped, waving for Valero to do the same, as the tang of
cigarette smoke reached him. He listened intently, picking out the
muted sound of men talking in Spanish.
He peered round the
corner of a building. Before him was a plaza, dotted with trees
that had forced their way up through the cracked stone flags. At
the western end, a broad flight of steps led up to the rounded
building that Osterhagen had called the Temple of the
Sun.
Something less
imposing but more modern dominated his attention, though. A small
canvas hut had been set up near the steps, its walls a jungle-green
camouflage pattern. The entry flap was half open, giving him a
glimpse of equipment inside.
So where were its
occupants?
He leaned out
further. In a gap between the trees was a large, oddly proportioned
crate resembling a giant pizza box, about five feet square but less
than a foot thick. Beside it were the two guards.
Soldiers.
Both men wore
Venezuelan army fatigues, in the same camo pattern as the tent.
They were armed with AK-103 assault rifles, updated and locally
made versions of the venerable AK-47; one had his gun slung loosely
over his back, the other had propped his weapon against a nearby
tree. It was obvious from their relaxed stances that they weren’t
expecting trouble.
Eddie signalled for
Valero to take a look. He reacted in surprise. ‘What is the army
doing here?’ he whispered. ‘I don’t understand. If the government
knows about this place, why weren’t we told?’
‘I don’t think your
government does know,’ Eddie replied grimly. ‘This is someone’s
private little operation. Probably run from that base – it’s only
about five miles from here.’ He nodded to the northwest. ‘They take
any treasures they find to Valverde, and then they get sold on the
black market.’
‘But – but that is
treason!’ said Valero, outraged. ‘They are stealing from the people
of Venezuela, their own brothers!’
‘Family doesn’t count
for much when there’s big money involved.’
One soldier flicked
away his cigarette and ambled back towards the tent, skirting
patches of mud where the flagstones had subsided. The other checked
his watch, then picked up his AK and followed.
Eddie moved back. ‘We
should leave.’
‘No,’ Valero
insisted. ‘As a member of the Bolivarian Militia, if a crime is
being committed it is my duty to stop it.’ He puffed out his chest.
‘I will talk to these men, and if I do not like their answers, I
will arrest them.’
‘Are you fucking
kidding me?’ Both soldiers were tall and muscular, and looked to
Eddie as if their combined ages matched Valero’s alone. ‘They’re
not going to bend over for an ex-chef.’
The Venezuelan
scowled, insulted, and put one hand on his sidearm. ‘They will do
what I tell them. I have a gun.’
‘They’ve got
two.’
‘I have authority
from the President himself! I am in charge here,
gringo.’
He started towards
the plaza, but Eddie held out an arm to block him. ‘Seriously,
mate. Bad idea. We should get back to the Jeeps and you can call
your people from there.’
Valero pushed him
away. ‘Wait here. I will deal with this.’ He headed into the
open.
‘Fucking idiot,’
Eddie growled, watching from the corner. So inattentive were the
soldiers that they didn’t notice the approaching militiaman until
he was barely twenty feet from them – at which point they reacted
with a start, fumbling for their rifles.
Valero drew his gun.
They froze. He spoke commandingly in Spanish as he strode up to
them, no doubt demanding to know what they were doing. To Eddie’s
surprise, they responded, if uncertainly; it seemed that he had
been the domineering kind of chef. One of them pointed towards the
temple. Valero instinctively turned to look—
The other soldier
whipped up his rifle and viciously clubbed him in the
head.
Valero staggered, and
the soldier hit him again, knocking him down. His companion slammed
a kick into his stomach, then grabbed the fallen man’s pistol
before kicking him once more.
‘Shit!’ Eddie hissed,
torn between two instincts. He didn’t want to abandon Valero, but
he needed to warn Nina and the others. The soldiers would assume
that the intruder wasn’t alone, and either start hunting for the
archaeological team or call for backup—
The decision was made
for him as one of the soldiers spotted him lurking in the alley.
The man shouted and raised his gun.
Eddie turned and ran
as bullets cracked off the stonework behind him.