A hand shot out and gripped Maria’s neck like a vise, displaying lightning agility for a man of his age. He jerked her towards him and raised her up, holding her almost off the ground. Through the suffocating pain Maria sensed something familiar, a nasty tang to his breath, a familiar odour. “Never speak of my father again, Jew,” he hissed. “And don’t think he was the only one who pulled the trigger back then. I had plenty of diverting entertainment with the children.” He dropped Maria and stood over her while she coughed and retched. “I only wish my own son had been alive then. He would have done his grandfather proud.”
He kicked Maria over on to her back, ostentatiously wiping his shoe on the ground afterwards. Maria saw another figure advancing on her. His head was held low, his hands clenching and unclenching, his movements sickeningly familiar. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over to the wooden lid, kicking it roughly aside and shoving her over the hole underneath. She could see nothing but blackness, a yawning depth that brought with it a waft of cooler air, as if there were water somewhere far below.
“Don’t worry.” She was yanked up against him, and she saw the ugly scar. “I reserved the blood-eagle for your boyfriend. When I throw you down into the underworld you won’t even die. At least that’s what the Toltecs told their victims.” The voice was hoarse, ugly, less refined than his father’s. He made as if to push her in, then pulled her back roughly. “My kind of people.” He laughed, an insane, high-pitched cackle, then hurled her down on the ground. “Now the felag has some use for you. Enjoy our little vacation hideaway while you can.”
“The true felag died out seven hundred years ago.” Maria raised her head and tried to stare at Loki. “Harald Hardrada’s men would never have admitted scum like you. They wouldn’t even have considered you worthy of a blood feud.”
Loki lunged at Maria, but Reksnys held him in check. “Not yet,” he muttered. He turned to Maria, speaking with mock apology. “My son still has these romantic notions. He thinks he’s in the SS.”
“Too weak for that.”
Loki lunged again and once more Reksnys held him back, then his voice hardened. “Our felag was a means to an end. No more, no less. And it looks like we will have the last laugh on Harald Hardrada.”
Loki snarled and turned abruptly away, heading quickly out of the entranceway at the side of the chamber. Maria crawled back against the wall. Reksnys tossed her a small water bottle. “So now we have become acquainted. I need some expert assistance. You are going to help me.”
He took out a digital camera and pointed it at her. Maria began to lose all feeling, sinking to the floor, then looked up at Reksnys and remembered what he and his son had done. O’Connor had ensured that justice was carried out against Reksnys’ father, had staked his life on it and had paid the ultimate price. She owed it to him to do everything in her power to see that the job was finished. And she owed it to herself.
She would be strong.
Jack stood pensively in the control room on Seaquest II, cradling a coffee and watching a cloudburst release a shimmer of rain far out to sea. The sky had an ominous grey overcast, the high clouds they had seen on the beach that morning having been replaced by a dark mass rolling in from the Caribbean. Where the sun shone through, curtains of light hung and twisted and mingled in the sky, like the northern lights they had seen in Greenland but heavy with the portent of weather to come.
“It looks like we’re in for some rain.” The Canadian captain of Seaquest II came up beside Jack, peering out to sea through his binoculars. “We’re almost into hurricane season. As a precaution I’m closing down shop. We’re moving farther offshore and I’m battening down the helicopter in the hangar.”
Jack grunted. It was not the news he wanted to hear. “Thanks. Do what you have to do.”
The captain left for the bridge and James Macleod got up from the computer console where he had been evaluating data from the icefjord. Everyone in the room was aware of Jack, but had been keeping their distance. Some of them had been on the first Seaquest and could remember the loss of Peter Howe in the Black Sea, how Jack had taken the responsibility personally. Maria had been enormously popular among the crew and scientists alike during their sojourn in the icefjord. Even Lanowski was subdued, quietly passing Jack a series of printouts of the longship in the iceberg he had finalised from the photogrammetric images.
Macleod sidled up to the window beside him. “How long do you think we’ll be here, Jack?” he asked quietly.
Jack turned and looked at him, his face drawn and distant, then stared back out to sea. “I don’t know, James. I just don’t know.” He pursed his lips and put down his coffee. They had been back on board for almost six hours now, and there was still no word from Iona. All they had to go on was a brief phone message to IMU headquarters from O’Connor’s colleague in the monastery, the man Jack remembered seeing briefly in the church. Apparently the police were keeping the scene completely under wraps, and there was a media blackout. But there was no doubt of the facts. Father O’Connor was dead, and Maria was missing.
“We have to assume she’s been kidnapped.” Ben had been within earshot, and had moved up to Jack’s other side. “Until there’s a body, that is.”
“I know.” Jack exhaled forcefully, then stood back from the railing with his hands on his hips, his usual demeanour returned. “We have to keep on top of this. We have to assume we’ll be hearing more soon. Until then there’s nothing we can do. It has to be situation normal.” He looked at Macleod, his expression grim but determined. “There’s your answer. My plan after visiting Chichen Itza had been to collate all possible evidence from the north Yucatan datable to the second half of the eleventh century, to the time when Harald might have been here. Wall-paintings, glyphs, structures. Anything that might provide a clue.” He gestured to Jeremy, hunched over a screen in the corner, surrounded by open books. “I put Jeremy on it the moment we got back.”
“He’s taken the news very badly,” Macleod murmured.
“He revered O’Connor,” Jack said quietly. “And Maria’s his mentor. For someone like him, that’s like pulling the rug out from under your life.”
“He’s got us now,” Macleod replied.
“He’s a good guy,” said Jack.
Costas had been tapping at the workstation next to Jeremy, and leaned back on his chair as they looked over. “Jack. Something to look forward to. I’ve jumped the gun and been in touch with the IMU guy for the Caribbean, Jim Hales out of Grand Cayman. You know he’s an old pal of mine from the US Navy submersibles research lab. He was straight on to Mexico City and they’ve given us the go-ahead for Chichen Itza. Amazing how that guy clears the red tape. Any time you want to talk setting up a project in that cenote, I’ve got the contact numbers.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jack caught Costas’ eye, and knew they both sensed the need to keep positive, to look ahead. “I’ll put first claim on the sub-bottom borer after the Golden Horn’s done. Jeremy, you in on this?”
Jeremy looked at them, pale and distracted. “Huh? If Maria will let me.” He suddenly checked himself, and the room went silent.
“She will,” Jack said firmly.
Jeremy tried hard to keep a brave face. “Anyway, I’m not sure if the Well of Sacrifice is where I want to do my first open-water dive.”
“Don’t worry.” Costas stretched his hand over and placed it on Jeremy’s back. “We’ll do some coral first.”
A red light began flashing in the centre of the room. Ben looked at Jack, his face deadly serious. “To the bridge.” The two men quickly made their way out of the control room and up the stairway, followed by Costas. The captain was busily engaged with the chief officer at the binnacle but immediately gestured to the chart room. “Priority message on the security channel.” Ben was first in the room and snatched up the radio receiver, talking quickly and then putting it down. “That was IMU HQ. There’s been an email message. It’s directed us to a secure site and given us a password.”