The Mayan Priest (11 page)

Why they had one here was a question he wished he could answer. His only fear was that someone would be silly enough to dig them out.

Julia grabbed Richard’s hand in a quiet show of understanding. He noted that she was shaking and Richard knew it was likely that Julia was fearful of dying too soon. They were both young at heart and had many good years ahead of them which they had hoped to share with their children Sophie and Evan and their beloved grandchild Eva. Their daughter-in-law, Frances, was six months pregnant with their second grandchild and they longed to see this new addition to their family.

‘It’ll be fine, love,’ he whispered.

‘There is no possible way that they could know about the obsidian. Even if they did, what is the chance that they are aware of the condition of the rope? We will die in this hellish place,’ complained Fred as Mitchell elbowed him in the ribs.

‘Shut up, will you. If they were going to dig us out, they wouldn’t be using a borer. They would be using an excavator.’

Fred scowled which Richard ignored. ‘Shoosh, I am trying to listen,’ said Richard as he heard the machine close slowly in on their position. He was suddenly optimistic. A borer is capable of a much greater speed than being demonstrated at present which allowed Richard to hope that they were aware of their predicament.

The minutes passed slowly as everyone waited in trepidation! No one said a word as the drill moved in on their position until Richard detected the machine slow slightly and come to a stop. A soft splutter was heard and a small shudder vibrated down the rope and into the lift.

‘Quickly, lift me onto the roof,’ ordered Richard as the men hurried to hoist him up through the gaping hole.

He took the opportunity to check the rope and noted to his dismay that the join where the four ropes intersected had continued to deteriorate at an increasing rate. He estimated two days at best. Sighing in frustration, Richard lay on his stomach and shone the torch at the wall directly opposite from the original entrance. At first nothing was visible, but persistence paid off when a metal pipe appeared from the hole in the wall and pushed outward towards the lift.

Richard immediately understood the intention and quickly calculated that the pipe would strike the lift almost halfway up, around the same position as the obscure painting of a doubled lined square that Julia was viewing earlier.

‘Julia, give Mitch your hammer and chisel. You need to dig a hole into the wall right where my torch is shining,’ his determined voice not giving them any room to argue.

Within moments the pipe was pushed across the gaping abyss and into the gap they had just created. Richard knew without a doubt that the accuracy shown in inserting the pipe meant that their rescuers were using GPR, which explained their actions. They understood the gravity of the situation.

Wrapped food bars and tiny bladders of water quickly fell out of the pipe and the little group gave a cheer of delight. Their situation had somewhat improved, but Richard’s good humour was drastically diminished. The fact that they were delivering food instead of getting them out did not bode well. It usually meant that it was going to be a long wait and the one thing they didn’t have was time.

With spirits improved, everyone became more talkative, but Richard remained silent. Julia instantly picked up on his mood.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked as she nudged him gently. ‘I’ve spent most of my life with you, Dear. I know you better than you know yourself, so there’s no point in keeping secrets from me.’

He knew that she was right. ‘The rope holding this lift is disintegrating quickly,’ said Richard, purposely raising his voice so everyone could hear him.

There was a lengthy pause.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway. We’ll be saved before then,’ said Redmond with delight in his voice.

‘I would like to think that is the case, but we all know that they cannot breach this obsidian wall without risking even greater trauma to the rope. By delivering the food and water, it means they want to buy time. There is every possibility we will be dead by the time they discover a way out.

‘I’m sure Gillian will be here before then. She never lets me down,’ added Fred who sounded as if he was convincing himself more than anyone else.

‘Gillian is a wonderful woman and I know she will do her best, but our situation is quickly becoming a disaster. We need to save ourselves,’ concluded Richard.

‘No disrespect, Sir, but the last time we looked, you were unable to find anything to help us. What makes you think that will change now?’ asked Redmond.

‘Richard has escaped a tomb in Egypt, a catacomb in Rome and an underground temple in China. If anyone can get us out, it will be him,’ said Mitchell as Fred coughed in a manner that could be construed as defiance.

Richard shone his torch directly at Fred. He considered himself a patient, even-tempered man with a great sense of humour, but he did not tolerate rudeness. He was prepared to give Fred a piece of his mind when the torch caught the shape of the double lined square he had seen earlier. It was as if someone had just flicked a switch on in his brain. This tunnel was also square.

With renewed vigour, Richard moved to the panel in question and studied the picture with great consideration. The measurement between the inner and outer squares was comparative to the distance between the lift and the tunnel. The eye shape in the middle made no sense, but the drawing also consisted of two dots followed by the traditional hieroglyph for Tuun (stone). This was followed by the hieroglyph for hand.

Richard tried to interpret it: ‘two stones per hand. What could that mean?’

‘A hand every two stones, but that doesn’t make sense either,’ mused Mitchell.

‘It’s a good thing that every team has a smart woman,’ laughed Julia. ‘The hand impression is neither an open hand nor a fully formed fist. It is somewhere in between. More like a hand hold. The two dots followed by the Tuun means “every two stones”. My interpretation of this little diagram is that there is a hand hold on every second stone, but it doesn’t stop there. If you look at the next diagram,’ Julia moved to the right, ‘we have the same painting, but the Tuun is replaced by “Tok” which means “flint”. This time there are three dots and the hieroglyphs meaning “room”. I think there is a flint room, or tool room, behind the third stone.’

‘The only problem with this is that there are no stones. It has all been covered by obsidian,’ said Fred.

‘Yes, but the shaft was constructed by human hand and there must have been a way for the craftsman to make his way up and down the tunnel,’ concluded Richard. It agreed with his previous thoughts on the matter.

‘If it helps, these hieroglyphs are against the upper wall depicted in the paintings, which would correspond with the west wall of the tunnel. There is also a distinct needle-like, hollowed stone in the centre of each tunnel that faces to the north.’ Julia pointed to the small eye shape in the middle of the pattern. ‘If we can find what that needle-like stone is, we will be able to get our bearings,’ added Julia.

Richard smiled to himself. He knew exactly what the needle-like stone was. It was the rock that held the rope. He could not believe he had not made the connection himself. Trust Julia to figure it out first. She was always quicker than he was and the smug look on her face was typical of her expressions when she knew she was right. Richard grinned at her and requested another lift onto the roof.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Samuel parked the taxi in a side street only a short distance from the Brooks City-Base. He had driven around the unfamiliar area for over an hour until he had gained his bearings and located a position that afforded him the best view of traffic leaving and arriving at the base. His goal was to wait until the vehicle carrying the woman was halfway between the compound and the gate before moving from his parking spot.

Samuel grinned as he viewed the interior of the taxi.

He had wondered how he was going to make his way to the base until he had spotted the lone cab waiting for a passenger outside the airport terminal. It was a master stroke on his behalf as travelling about in a taxi would allow him to move easily without promoting suspicion – an ideal arrangement.

Samuel approached the taxi with stealth. He noted that it was occupied by an elderly man who was around sixty years of age. He sat slumped in his seat, clearly on the verge of exhaustion after a long shift. His face was tired and lined and he looked depressed.

Initially Samuel had envisaged sliding into the taxi and slitting the throat of the driver before pushing him into the passenger seat and taking control, but for the first time, he felt a twinge of guilt. In his home, the elderly people, particularly ahaw, were revered for their knowledge and the strong beliefs they provided. This man, although belonging to the lower plains of existence was nevertheless an old man. Samuel decided to be nice to him and upon entering the vehicle, he placed a gun to his chest and ordered him to get out. The old man quickly complied but was struck by an oncoming vehicle in his haste to get as far away as possible. Samuel did not know if he lived or died, but it was of no concern to him; it wasn’t of his doing.

The time was closing in on 10 am and by his reckoning the woman must have made it to the base before him. There was no movement at the headquarters, but that did not overly bother him considering the woman could not stay in there forever. He was a patient man and if the ahaw desired the woman then he would oblige even if it meant waiting. So, he settled himself into the driver’s seat in preparation and was just about to pull out his binoculars when a plane flew overhead. He was taken by surprise. It was not an American fighter jet as he expected. It was Australian.

Samuel’s interest climaxed. This was most unusual. If the Australian Prime Minister or someone else of importance was to visit America, it would be via a passenger jet. For a two seater F-111 to enter America so far from its home spelt ’emergency’ and Samuel was keen to find out the reason. He contemplated driving a little closer but feared that may draw unwanted attention. It would be better to go in on foot.

‘I want that disk, but more importantly I want it all, including the treasure we know exists at the excavation site in Tikal. I do not want to jeopardise any part of it. Success is what you must achieve.’ Ahaw paused.

‘Your task is to enter the base, find Major General Dale Bright’s office and gather as much information about Tikal you can find. Leave the Calendar Round to me. I have a couple of my best men on site for that’

Samuel was about to ask why the men could not gather the information at the same time but decided it best not to question the wisdom of his ahaw. The very thought of second guessing him meant that Samuel would need to offer blood for his sins.

‘The information must be faxed to me at once,’ Ahaw ordered as he hung up the phone.

Samuel dared to wonder what would happen if there was no information about Tikal in the General’s office.

Samuel sighed as he pulled out the needle for the second time in two days and pushed it into his penis, taking care to avoid the previous insertion site, which was still quite tender. He proceeded to finish the ritual in record time before zipping up his pants and crossing the road. From previous surveillance, he had already determined that the weakest link was in the fence on the western boundary. It was well covered by trees that would allow him to move unseen into the region of the outbuildings.

He kept low and guarded, stopping every few minutes to ensure he had remained undetected, until he reached the patch of evergreen trees he had seen on the surveillance. He was extremely pleased to discover that the associated fence had suffered previous damage from falling branches during a storm and the repairs had been adequate at best. Samuel easily crawled through the created holes accidentally encasing his body in a mound of freshly cut grass which he decided to leave as a kind of camouflage. Luck was on his side and he prayed to Nohock-Ek (the planet Venus) to give him guidance as he made it to the storage room undetected and proceeded to make his way through the six consecutive sheds and exiting behind the main building.

It was here that Samuel caught the movement of the men arriving at the main building from the Australian plane. They were walking across the tarmac with a confident swagger except for a dark-haired man who lagged uneasily behind. He appeared unsteady on his feet and stopped regularly to catch his breath, making it evident that he was the Australian carrying the holy disk. Samuel had an insane moment of wanting to shoot them all and take the disk, but he dared not infuriate Ahaw any further than he already had.

He ducked quickly behind a yellow sedan and waited until the men entered through the rear door.

Reacting almost instinctively, Samuel shadowed the men, pausing quickly to place a stone in the doorjamb before waiting to hear their voices fade down the hallway. Once he was confident they had distanced themselves, he crept cautiously into the building and followed the crevices until he reached the kitchen. It was strangely quiet which caused him concern until the sound of a trumpet echoed throughout. Samuel smiled at the realisation that the troops had gathered in the central courtyard, giving him an opportunity he could not miss.

Samuel grabbed a cooks apron to provide an excuse should he be caught and proceeded to tiptoe along the photo-adorned hallway until he had safely passed the utility rooms. The rooms within the headquarters ran in order from the lowest ranking to the highest and he simply had to follow the names until he found the one that stated ‘Major General Dale Bright’ on a bright silver identification tag.