“But obviously no luck?” Lea asked.
“None at all. After Valverde died he bequeathed the map to King Charles V of Spain who in turn sent the map back to South America and ordered a renewed search for the rest of the treasure. Sadly, all expeditions to find the treasure using Valverde’s Path led to nothing but strange disappearances and deaths… unless you count the Blake and Chapman expedition.”
“Do tell,” Scarlet said.
“In 1857, a British botanist named Richard Spruce was on a scientific expedition to discover new plants. He was in South America with the hope of finding a malaria cure when he stumbled upon the map sent there hundreds of years earlier by King Charles. Through a series of conversations over many years, the map ended up in the hands of two Royal Navy sailors named Captain Blake and Lieutenant Chapman.”
“This is getting sexier by the second,” Scarlet said.
“Don’t get too excited,” Luis said. “Soon into the treasure hunting expedition Captain Blake died and they buried him in the Andes but Chapman returned to his ship claiming he had found the treasure and he brought samples to prove it. He left the map with a friend called Albertson in Boston while he took the samples to London for appraisal by the British Museum and then planned to return with a team to find the treasure, except he fell overboard on his way to Albertson in Boston and died.”
“I see what you mean about everyone who searches for this treasure dying,” Lea said.
“So where’s the map?” Hawke asked.
“No one knows. Albertson in Boston was the last person to hold it — if indeed it ever existed. I think with the discovery of this mask we have a much better chance of finding the treasure than anyone with Valverde’s Path.”
Lexi picked up the mask and held it in front of her face for a moment, looking through the eyeholes at the others. “I am your god!” she said.
Luis took it away from her with a frown. “This mask is clearly a priceless work of art simply for its historical and archaeological significance,” he said, “but the merest suggestion that it might contain some kind of clue to the location of Paititi raises its importance to the highest level. This mask could potentially be the greatest archaeological discovery in the history of our country, and maybe the world if the rumors about Paititi are even halfway true. I must say, I still have my doubts, although I am being persuaded slowly that perhaps the Lost City exists after all.”
“We’re not there yet,” Hawke said, taking the mask and turning it over in his hands.
“No, but this is still an amazing artefact. Until the raising of the galleon no one had ever seen it before so this is the first time anyone has really had a chance to see if they are more than mere legends.”
“The second time,” Hawke said with regret. “Kruger’s already had his filthy mitts on it so we have to work fast.”
“Of course,” said the young Peruvian.
“So where are we going next?” Scarlet said.
“Remember what Balta said,” Lea said. “About the mask’s reference to the Nazca Lines?” She called up Google Earth and they zoomed in on the Nazca Lines. Moments later they found the Mandala glyph.
“Professor Balta told us that these pictograms told us we have to ‘Follow the Sun, Cross and Sacred Stone and The Tomb of Pachacuti will illuminate the Path to Paititi.’”
“He also told us no one knows where the Tomb of Pachacuti is,” Lexi said.
“No, that’s not right,” Lea said. “He told us the location of the tomb is disputed.”
“That’s correct,” Luis said. “Some say Machu Picchu but others say Toqocachi, near San Blas.”
“So how does this Mandala thing in the Nazca Lines help us?” Hawke said.
“Balta said it could be some kind of compass.”
They stared at the Mandala again. Do you remember that Balta said he thought we had to line up the sun and the cross of this thing and it would point us in the right direction?”
Hawke nodded. “Use the tool to draw a line through the cross and sun.”
Lea selected the line tool and made the line. “All right — it’s going straight though the middle of the cross and sun, which is making a bearing of about sixty degrees or so. Now what?”
“Balta said it was Fifty Tupus,” Luis said.
Scarlet giggled. “And I think Fifty Tupus…”
Hawke raised his hand. “Don’t even think it, Cairo.”
“Where does it lead?” Reaper said, leaning over Lea’s shoulder.
“Funnily enough,” the young Irishwoman began, “the dropdown menu on Google Earth doesn’t feature any ancient Incan terms of measurement.”
From beside Scarlet on the balcony Ryan called over his shoulder. “It’s about three hundred and thirty kilometres.”
Scarlet twisted her head and faced him. “Christ almighty, Ryan — you really are full of useless drivel.”
“Thanks.”
Lea selected kilometres and a second later her eyes widened like two saucers. “I guess that’s pretty unambiguous then.”
Hawke stared down at the iPhone screen. “Machu Picchu… Pachacuti’s tomb is at Machu Picchu after all.”
“But look carefully,” Luis said. “The line is going just north of the ancient citadel. I don’t think this is a calculation error. I think the entrance to the tomb is just outside the city.”
Scarlet blew out the last of her cigarette smoke and flicked the butt off the balcony. Ryan also turned and they each came back inside the room. “Let’s stop pissing about then and get there,” she said. “Kruger will have beaten this out of Balta by now and he’s probably already halfway there.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
On the flight from Lima to Cusco, Hawke felt jumpy and tired. There was still no word about Eden’s condition back in London and every time he closed his eyes he saw Maria, the young Russian woman savagely cut down in her prime.
He tried to bring himself back on message by swearing for the hundredth time that he would bury Kruger’s bones if it was the last thing he ever did, but every time reality crawled up from the pit of his despair and clawed at his conscience until he felt bad all over again. At least Ryan was here, alive and well. But he had changed, and this time Hawke knew it was forever.
He looked over at Lea but turned away and shut his eyes before she noticed. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking anymore, and it felt like she was drifting away. Or maybe he was the one drifting. He didn’t know. It was obvious everyone was feeling the pressure of the losses of the Atlantis mission. Reaper was sleeping on the couch in the center of the small jet and Luis was reading through the professor’s files opposite him, but Lexi and Scarlet were sitting at the table in the rear of the jet and arguing. They’d been grumbling for a while, but now their voices were rising in volume.
“Hey!” Lea shouted, keeping her head facing forward. “Trying to get some sleep up here!”
“Come down here then and I’ll slap you to sleep,” Scarlet said.
“Hey — what are you chewing?” Ryan asked Scarlet.
“Acullico. Want some, boy?”
He nodded and she passed him some. He put it in his mouth and started to chew. “What the hell is this stuff?”
“Coca,” she said flatly. “Grabbed me some back in Lima.”
“Bloody hell!” Ryan said. “You could have told me.”