‘They get bigger than that?’
‘Hmm. See these front legs? They’re called prehensors. They’re used to inject venom into their victims. Let’s see if our little friend here can persuade our brave American soldier to tell us what we want to know.’
Elias holds the wiggling centipede in front of Luke Magierski’s face. ‘This afternoon at the marketplace, you were acting on someone’s orders. Whose?’
The soldier looks away.
Two of the elders hold Magierski’s face steady while Elias positions the centipede’s yellow head in the soldier’s open mouth.
Magierski thrashes in his bonds, moaning and hissing and gagging as the repulsive creature wiggles its way into his mouth, blocking his airway as it moves down his esophagus.
Dominique turns away in disgust.
Elias leans in closer. ‘Six more inches and its tail disappears. When that happens, I can’t save you. It will crawl into your small intestines and lay its eggs. Three more inches… two more. If you have anything to say, say it now.’
Magierski nods vigorously, his eyes as wide as saucers, his face turning purple.
Elias carefully extracts the centipede, then removes the chunk of bamboo.
Magierski leans over and pukes.
‘Give us a name, or it goes back in, and this time, we’ll let it keep going until it crawls out your ass.’
‘Mabus. Peter Mabus. He placed a 2-million-dollar bounty on the girl’s head.’
Dominique turns to face him. ‘Why? What does that screwball want with me?’
‘I don’t know. He… he blames a lot of the doomsday stuff on Gabriel; guess you’re sort of lumped into his political campaign. He’s sending one of his men down from the States to collect you.’
‘More likely to kill you,’ Elias states. ‘Where were you and this man supposed to meet?’
‘I don’t know.’
Elias nods to the Mayan elders, who grab Magierski’s head.
‘No… wait, he’s meeting me tomorrow morning, at the commuter airport outside of Piste.’
A Mayan elder returns the centipede to its wooden container. Elias shoves the gags back inside Magierski’s mouth as Ocela leads Dominique back to the campfire.
She watches as the elder carrying the wooden container skewers the centipede with a pointed stick, then roasts it over the open fire.
Elias winks at her. ‘Old Mayan delicacy. I prefer mine with butter.’
Dominique feels queasy.
‘Grandfather’s right. Enemies are everywhere.’
‘Maybe I should just stay here?’
‘Unfortunately, it’s not safe here either. Among the Mayans are cult members of Tezcatilpoca, practitioners of the Dark Way. It was Tezcatilpoca who vanquished our great teacher, Kukulcan, more than a thousand years ago. Once these followers learn you are here, they won’t stop until they kill you and sacrifice you… in that order.’
‘Fine. I’ll return to the States tomorrow, but there’s one more thing I need to know before I leave. What is the Abomination?’
Elias struggles to translate.
Ocela listens, then becomes animated.
‘My grandfather says the Abomination is the Dark Lord in its human form. Legend says the Abomination is the origin of all human evil, reborn on the day of the Hero Twins’ birth.’
‘I don’t understand. Why do they call it the Abomination?’
‘Because, Dominique, like Michael and your unborn sons, the Abomination is Hunahpu.’
Piste airport 7:25 a.m.
The private Learjet touches down, then taxis along the hot tarmac.
Luke Magierski waits in his jeep. Just play it cool and you should walk away with something, at least a hundred grand. He watches as the entry steps lower from the jet’s passenger compartment.
A wave of dry heat blasts Solomon Adashek in the face. He wipes humidity from his spectacles with a handkerchief, then gingerly makes his way down the narrow steps.
Magierski shakes his head. A 2-million-dollar bounty, and this is the guy they send?
‘Captain Magierski?’
‘Yeah. You have my money?’
‘All set to be wired. Where’s the girl?’
‘I lost her. Bunch of Mayan locals helped her escape. Beat and tortured me, but I managed to escape.’
‘How fortunate for you.’
‘Yeah, but all’s not lost. You have her identity now, so it shouldn’t be hard to find her.’
‘Identities can be replaced easier than soldiers, Captain.’
‘Listen, pal, I still deserve something for my trouble, at least a hundred grand. That’s chump change to a guy like Peter Mabus.’
‘I’ll be glad to pay you your money. Would you join me aboard the jet? I’ll need your assistance in completing the wire to your bank account.’
From the adjacent woods, Elias Forma watches the two men through his binoculars.
Magierski follows the nerdy little man up the steps and into the plane. ‘Let’s move it, fella, I have to get back to my post by 0800.’
‘Of course. Step to the rear of the plane and stand on the plastic please?’
‘Plastic?’ Magierski walks to where a heavy plastic painter’s drop cloth has been stretched out over the aisle. ‘What’s all this for?’
‘Just a matter of convenience.’
Solomon Adashek’s 9mm spits out two bullets, both striking the Army captain through the heart.
PART 2
The house is silent.
The door is closed.
A person enters.
The window is opened wide.
Yang enters the Yin.
A baby is born.
5
12:53 a.m.
Dominique Vazquez gazes through feverish eyes at her foster mother, Edith Axler, as another contraction begins. The wave of pain crests higher… higher She groans through clenched teeth, ‘Drugs! Get me… drugs!’
Edith turns to Rabbi Steinberg, the only other person in the birthing room. ‘Richard, find the doctor.’
The auburn-haired, bearded rabbi unbolts the door, hurrying past the two armed security guards and into the chaos of the main corridor.
A dozen policemen have formed human barricades in front of each of the three stairwells, shunting off the swelling mob of reporters. Two nurses and an orderly argue at their station with members of the governor’s entourage, while governor Grace Demers continues her verbal assault on Dominique’s private nurse.
‘… we had an arrangement, Mrs. Klefner.’
‘Hey, lady, I called you, just like I said I would. Not my fault the preggo wants nobody but the old woman and the Jew in her birthing room. You don’t like it, you can take your money and let it hit you where the good Lord split you.’
‘Now you listen to me-’
‘Nurse Klefner?’ Rabbi Steinberg grabs the nurse by the arm, dragging her away from the governor. ‘Where’s Dr. Wishnov?’
‘Who’re you?’
‘I’m the Jew. Where’s the doctor?’
‘Uh, he’s trying to secure an operating room.’
Steinberg heads down the corridor.
The governor hustles to catch up. ‘Rabbi, wait, let’s talk. Get me inside to witness the birth, and I’ll make it worth your while.’
Steinberg spots Bruce Wishnov, Dominique’s obstetrician, hurrying down the opposite corridor.
‘I’ll bet your synagogue could use a new parking lot.’ She lowers her voice. ‘Or would you prefer credits?’
Steinberg’s blood pressure boils. ‘Geh feifen ahfen yam.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘It’s Yiddish for go peddle your fish elsewhere.’
The rabbi jumps aside as a burly Hispanic cop drags two handcuffed reporters into a makeshift holding room. Jogging down the corridor, Steinberg intercepts Dr. Wishnov, who is dressed head to slippers in surgical green. ‘Where have you been? Dominique’s in pain, she needs an epidural.’