Ryan gave a bitter laugh. “It’s a dead-end. Like my life.”
“Easy, mate,” Hawke said.
“You’re absolutely totally completely fucking kidding?” Scarlet said with a sigh.
“Take a look.”
Hawke shone the light ahead and they all saw the same thing — a solid stone wall blocking the path.
“That’s just arsing fantastic,” Lea said, pulling her hair back with a sigh.
Hawke wiped the sweat from his face and approached the wall. “Luis — get up here!”
The Peruvian moved cautiously forward until he was standing beside Hawke. “What is it?”
“Looks like some kind of markings. Please tell me they mean something that can get us through this wall.”
Luis Montoya immediately saw what the Englishman was talking about. Carved into the walls were several simple bas-relief pictographs similar to the ones on the Mask of Inti. Thanks to their protected environment they were as crisp as they day they had been made and Luis was in awe as he passed his hands over them. “These are exquisite.”
“Can you translate them?”
“I think so, but I’m no Balta. This first one is easy — it looks to me like a depiction of Supay, the Incan god of death and the lord of Ukhu Pacha.”
The ECHO team shared an anxious glance behind Luis’s back. “Go on,” Hawke said.
“Even today the Quechua people observe traditional dances designed to appease him but this depiction is slightly unusual because it seems to indicate that…wait — according to Incan mythology, Unu Pachakuti was a terrible flood caused by Viracocha, the father god. It killed all the tribes living around Lake Titicaca leaving only two people alive so the world could repopulate.”
“I’ve a seen similar story elsewhere…” Lea said.
“The point is I think these carvings are not only a warning but some kind of test. If we get it wrong the tunnel will flood.”
Scarlet stared at him. “I thought you said the Incas were a peaceful people, Teach?”
Luis returned a nervous glance. “Well…”
“Flood?” Lexi asked. “How’s that possible? I don’t see any water around here.”
“Machu Picchu had access to plentiful underground water supplies. Back when it was a thriving city the inhabitants enjoyed flowing water which they collected from fountains. My guess is that this door is connected to the very same water supply that the inhabitants of the citadel used every day for their survival, and that if we fail the test it will unleash some kind of flood. Maybe not on the same scale as Uni Pachakuti, but how big would it really have to be to kill some people in an underground tunnel of this size?”
They shared another worried glance.
“So if you get the combination wrong the tunnel ceiling collapses and we get flooded all the way to hell?” Scarlet said. “Sounds fair and reasonable. Anyone got any more coca?”
“No,” Hawke said with a sideways glance. “And I think that’s just as well, don’t you, Cairo?”
Luis carefully pushed each bas-relief carving in turn and they waited nervously to see if he had gotten it right. With the last one now pushed back into the wall, they heard a deep, grinding sound and then finally the stone wall in front of them lowered into a slit in the ground.
“It’s using gravity to open,” Luis said. “Absolute genius!”
“Boring,” said Ryan.
“So where’s the water?” Lexi said, still sceptical.
Hawke shone his Maglite into the newly opened section of corridor and then up onto its ceiling.
“It’s not carved rock any more,” he said, staring up at the new tunnel. “But the same smooth granite blocks that we saw back in the citadel.”
“That’s because we’re now under the citadel,” Luis said. “Wait — shine the flashlight over there. Is that water?”
Hawke moved the light and saw the archaeologist was right. The new section of tunnel that the test had revealed was more of a corridor, with its floor, walls and ceiling constructed of smooth granite blocks instead of carved bedrock, but more than that the ceiling blocks were damp and here and there along the walls water was running down onto the floor.
“We must be beneath some kind of artificial aquifer,” Hawke said. He turned to Luis and patted him on the shoulder. “I think you were right. If you’d cocked up that test we’d all be drowning round about now.”
Hawke took another look at the water and knew they had to move fast. It must have been like this for centuries, but this was the first time anyone had walked through here. He had no idea what their presence might trigger or if there were any more booby-traps. A quick calculation told him than thanks to his SBS training he could probably hold his breath and make it out again, but he knew the others might not be so lucky, and that was presuming the trap didn’t include the other end of the tunnel being blocked as well.
“Let’s keep going,” Hawke said cheerfully. “It’s not beer o’clock yet, you bloody layabouts.”
Lea laughed, and they made their forward deeper into the passage. “Here’s to hopin’ there ain’t no more booby traps.”
“Seconded,” said Scarlet.
They moved further along the passage, noticing there were an increasing number of the strange pictographs as they got closer to the citadel. The granite they had used to construct the tunnel was as smooth as marble, but the limestone above it where they’d carved the symbols was rougher. “This must be the highlight of my career,” Luis mumbled, excited by the ancient carvings. “Of my life!”
“Sounds like you might need a night out with Cairo,” Hawke said casually.
“Half an hour would do it, surely,” Lea added.
From behind them in the tunnel they heard the sound of Scarlet doing her best sarcastic laugh.
At the end of the passage was what they were looking for — a small pyramid temple with some kind of shrine at the top. Hawke moved ahead and climbed up the side of the pyramid on all fours until he reached the top. He turned and smiled at them. “Seems like the Mask’s not just decorative.”
“What do you mean?” Lea said. Her voice echoed in the cold chamber.
“Looks like it could be a key. Bring it up.”
Kruger’s Sikorsky S76 swept though the valley at speed before slowing for its final approach over Machu Picchu. Saqqal rubbed his nose in an attempt to look casual as the South African flared the nose and brought the machine to a sudden, jolting hover, but the truth was he hated flying and was feeling nervous. “Are we landing now?” he asked.
Kruger ignored the question, but instead spoke into his headset. “When we hit the ground I want all men out of this chopper and fanning out, no fucking about.” He turned and gave Balta a sneer. “Any funny business from you, professor, and you’re going into that ravine, got it?”
Balta was unable to speak because of the gag, but he nodded his head to show he got it as Kruger continued to lower the chopper. In the citadel were the usual groups of tourists milling around taking selfies and appreciating the mountain air, but what had changed Kruger’s mood was the small group gathering around a Bell which was parked on some kind of plaza in the far north. “Bastards got here first.”
He lowered the collective and reduced the power, bringing the chopper down through the humid air and into the ruins of the citadel’s urban sector. Seconds later, the chopper’s rubber tires were gently pushing into the grass. Moments later a Huey Venom filled with the CGF rebels landed beside it.
“Go, go, go!” Kruger yelled, and unbuckled himself before pulling a submachine gun from beside his seat and climbing out. The gun was shouldered before his boots had hit the earth, and he watched critically as the men fanned out and took cover behind various broken-down walls.
“All right, General,” Kruger said. “You and the Professor here are to follow me.”