As he was speaking he switched on the plasma screen and began to swipe through a number of images of decorative pictograms and wall-carvings from inside the ruined complex. “As you can see, we have more to go on than you might think. Not only do we have the Búri idol from Valhalla, but now we also have images of these carvings and pictographs from Mictlan as well.”
“So what’s our next play?” Maria said.
“Our next play,” Eden said firmly, “is to retrieve the idol we lost at Mictlan.”
“Business as usual then,” Scarlet said.
“Not this time, I’m afraid,” Eden said. “This time is very different.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Different?” Lea asked. “How?”
“This time we’ve been hired by the Mexican Government. They want us to locate the idol for them.”
“Fair enough,” Lea said. “It was theirs to start with, I guess. If they want it for one of their museums then there’s not much we can do about it.”
“A good point well made,” Eden said. “But they don’t want it for one of their museums. They have agreed to sell the idol to a private collector for large sum of money and have engaged us to retrieve it.”
“Because we’re so brilliant?” Scarlet said.
Eden frowned. “Partly because of our previous experience with the artefact in question and partly to save them from the difficulty and potential embarrassment of deploying Mexican Special Forces overseas.”
“And who is this private collector?” Hawke asked.
“His name is Otmar Wolff and he’s a defense contractor.”
Hawke laughed. “An arms dealer.”
“Yes, but when you meet him you’ll say defense contractor. He is one of the world’s largest suppliers of landmines for one thing. He has a very substantial contract with the Mexican Government and he’s made them an offer they can’t refuse. He’s willing to reduce the cost of a shipment of self-propelled howitzers by fifty million dollars in return for possession of the idol. He’s based in Liechtenstein.”
“And what do we get out of this?” Lea asked bluntly.
“Ten million dollars. Five now, five upon receipt of the idol.”
“Woah!” Ryan said, totally unable to hide his excitement. “What’s my cut?”
Eden looked at him icily. “It doesn’t work quite like that, Mr Bale. As you well know. This island doesn’t run on fairy dust, and neither do those jets.”
“Gotcha, big guy.”
Eden raised an eyebrow but let it slide.
“Returning to the matter at hand, Wolff has close connections with most of the royal families in Europe and is not a man to obstruct or annoy. He has expressed grave fears that if the idol is not recovered Mendoza will simply sell it to the highest bidder and he’s adamant that must not happen.”
“Ten million bucks?” Ryan repeated.
Eden ignored him. “On this mission, you’re going to be liaising with Jack Camacho. The US wants an American agent on the mission and he has experience working with your methods,” he said, glancing at Scarlet.
“Jack Camacho?” Lea said.
“That’s right.”
“Hang on,” said Scarlet. “How come the bloody Americans want in all of a sudden? This is our quest.”
“Hey!” Alex said. “I’m American!”
“Sorry…”
Eden continued. “Not since Mexico City and Otmar Wolff stepped in. The CIA want an inside man and that man is Camacho. I want you all on a flight to Zurich half an hour ago.”
“Zurich?” Lexi asked. “I thought we were going to Liechtenstein?”
“There are no runways in Liechtenstein,” Eden said. “So landing one of my jets there might be somewhat problematic. I’ve arranged for you to meet Vincent Reno and Jack Camacho in Switzerland and they’ll drive you over the border.”
“I still don’t like the idea of working for a third party,” Lea said.
Eden frowned. “The Consortium has discussed the issue and the consensus is that considering Mexico City has already decided the idol is going to Wolff we may as well have the money. It’s not Fantasy Island around here after all — it takes hard cash to run a place like this and our missions. We’re not turning ten million dollars down, so you’ll find a way to work with Wolff and you’ll do it with smiles on your faces.”
Maria sighed. “But if Ryan’s right then the idol could be the only way to find Atlantis.”
“I appreciate that, but the idol isn’t ours if the Mexicans are claiming it, which they are.”
Hawke spoke next. “If Ryan is right, and the idol is connected in some way, we only need a look at it, right?”
Ryan shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. For all we know this Wolff character is searching for Atlantis too.”
Eden shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. From what I can tell about this guy, he’s big on world cultures, but there’s nothing to indicate he’s into treasure hunting, and certainly nothing to show he’s ever expressed an interest in mythologies and legends.”
“So he doesn’t know what he’s buying, in other words,” Scarlet said.
“Maybe,” Eden replied. “Either way, we’ve been hired to retrieve the idol for him and he wants to give you the payment in cash so we’re taking the job. If we can use the idol along the way to assist in our other quests then so much the better, but whatever happens, I’m ordering you to retrieve the idol first and then find Atlantis.”
A deep silence fell over the room. Hawke knew Eden had never ordered a mission as big and important as this, and he knew the ECHO team had almost nothing to go on — except the golden idol.
They’d seen the enigmatic idol for the first time back in the altar room of the Temple of Mictlantecuhtli, but not for long. The heat of the battle afforded them only the briefest of glimpses before Silvio Mendoza snatched it and fled the chaos.
Ryan had longer with it, while he was waiting to be sacrificed to the god of the dead, and his eidetic memory had burned a permanent image of the idol in his mind. Also, they now had the Valhalla idol and the Mictlan pictographs, but it was scraps around the edges and no clear signs pointing to the most elusive and notorious lost civilization in history. He didn’t even know where to start.
Sudden talk of ‘parent cultures’ had rattled him as much as the others. They just didn’t know what they were up against, and he knew from his past military experience that knowing your enemy was a serious rule of warfare that only fools ignored.
“Are we connecting the Athanatoi with Atlantis?” he said at last.
More silence.
“It’s too early to say,” Eden said, looking at Ryan. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I would,” added Ryan confidently. “We know next to nothing about the Athanatoi, apart from the fact they refer to themselves as the Immortals and they’re probably implicated in the murder of Lea’s dad.”
Hawke saw the exchange between Ryan and Lea. Once married, they shared so many memories, and their pasts intertwined like braided hair. He coughed to clear his throat. “There’s more I haven’t told you.”
Everyone turned to look at him, including the frowning face of Sir Richard Eden. This too had agonized him in the same way as the mysterious idol, and now it was time to unload the burden.
“Which is?” said Lea, narrowing her eyes.
“You all know I ended the Matheson affair.”
“That’s the euphemism of the century,” Scarlet said.
He glanced at her but made no reply to her point. “When I took Matheson out, he told me something about himself.”