by John Sneeden
“Zane?”
There was another burst of loud static, then the radio went silent.
Max walked over. “Sergeant Tocchet has a radio. Maybe he was able to hear what he said.”
“Wait a minute.” Katiya frowned as she directed her flashlight around the room. “Where is he?”
“Where is who?” Amanda asked.
“Sergeant Tocchet. He’s not here.”
“Isn’t he still upstairs?” Artur asked.
Amanda frowned. “I thought I saw him entering the stairwell with you and Rebecca.”
“Not that I remember,” Artur said.
“Strange,” Katiya whispered. “Maybe he is still upstairs.”
“Zane seemed to be telling us something was wrong,” Amanda said. “We need to find a way to get in touch with them.”
“I didn’t hear him say anything was wrong,” Max said. “What makes you think that?”
“It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it. There was urgency in his voice. Something is definitely wrong.”
“I think she’s right,” Katiya said. “And now we don’t know where Sergeant Tocchet is either. As much as I’d like to stay and sort through some of these bones, we need to get out of here and figure out what’s going on.”
“Let’s go,” Artur said. “If we make contact and find out everything is okay, then we’ll come back.”
As the group moved toward the stairs, Katiya hesitated. Something bothered her. She was forgetting something.
The skull.
She had wanted to take the skull with her. At some point, they could perform DNA analysis and determine what it was. It might hold the key to whatever was going on in this place.
Panning her light around, she finally spotted it near her feet, leaning against a rib cage. Squatting, she set down her radio and her light. Then she rearranged a few items in her pack and stuffed the skull inside.
“Katiya, let’s go!” Amanda said from the steps.
“Coming.”
She wasn’t able to zip the pack completely shut, but it would have to do. After slinging it over her shoulder, she grabbed the light and ran over to the stairs. Amanda was waiting for her, and the two went up together.
The others were already looking for Tocchet when they reached the top. Artur shouted his name several times, but there was no response. Katiya sensed something was wrong. Why would a trained Green Beret just disappear? Maybe he was investigating something on his own.
She turned to the others. “Let’s check outside.”
Amanda looked at her. “Shouldn’t we keep looking up here first?”
“He’s not here,” Katiya said firmly. “He must have gotten the message to go back.”
“So he just left us?” Amanda asked.
“I don’t think he knew we were downstairs. He probably thinks we’re already on our way.”
“She’s right,” Max said. “If he were here, he would’ve heard us shouting.”
“I’m certain he’s out on the trail waiting for us,” Katiya said.
Amanda nodded reluctantly as Katiya led them outside. As they took the stairs down, Katiya noticed that the fog was even thicker now. She frowned. Would they even be able to find the trail?
After reaching the bottom, Max looked at her. “Why don’t you try him on the radio? The signal may have been blocked in the basement.”
Katiya reached into her pocket, then a frown spread across her face. She shook her head and placed a palm on her forehead.
“What?” Max asked.
“I set my radio down when I picked up the skull. It’s still inside.” She looked back toward the temple, frustration written on her face. “I’ll go back in and get it. The rest of you find the trail and get going.”
Max shook his head. “You can’t just go back in there by yourself.”
“I can, and I am,” Katiya said. “Look, we have to have a way to communicate with them once we get back to the clearing. Besides, you’re probably going to find Landon waiting on the trail.”
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
Katiya shook her head. “This is going to take five minutes, tops. I need you to find the trail.”
Max glared at her but said nothing.
“I’ll catch up with you at the airstrip,” she said, turning back toward the temple. “Promise.”
Without waiting for an answer, she sprinted up the steps. After arriving at the top, she took a quick glance behind her. All she could see now was fog.
Good.
As she walked toward the entrance, Katiya’s thoughts turned to Tocchet. Where had he gone? She’d expected him to be outside, within earshot. Despite what she’d told the others, it didn’t make sense that he’d just leave after getting a message from Zane to come back, assuming that’s even what Zane said. A Green Beret would never abandon his team.
Katiya slowed her pace as she entered the room of statues. It seemed darker, more foreboding than before. It was one thing to be in such a creepy place with other people all around you. It was another thing altogether to come by yourself. Maybe she should have taken Max up on his offer. Artur and Amanda could have found the trail just fine without him. But it was too late now.
After finding the stairs, Katiya returned to the basement. She waded out into the bones, shining her light across the room, now murky from the dust they’d stirred up before.
Where was I standing?
Her beam found an open space about ten feet away. She walked over then stopped and moved her light in a circle.
Thump.
Katiya stiffened at the noise. It seemed to have come from somewhere above. Had Max come back to help her?
“Hello?” As the sound of her voice dissipated, she thought she heard a distant shuffling.
“Max?”
This time there was only silence.
Her heart thumping, Katiya turned her attention back to her search. Job number one was to find the radio. Once she had it, she could worry about who might be upstairs. If it was Tocchet, she was going to let him have it.
She swept her light around again, this time in a closer arc. A few seconds later, she saw the radio, nestled up against a femur a few feet away.
“Thank you, thank you,” she muttered to herself.
She picked the radio up and slipped it in her pocket. She needed to make contact with the others, but that would have to wait. Right now she just needed to get out of this creepy place.
After returning to the stairs, Katiya turned off her flashlight. No sense in drawing attention to herself.
A minute later, she emerged from the temple and raced down the front steps. She stood still for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Amazingly, the fog was even denser than before. Visibility was at most ten feet.
Suddenly, Katiya felt as though someone were watching her. She turned slowly back toward the temple. Her eyes ran up the steps then stopped as they fell on something dark near one of the columns. A shadow? Or was someone standing there? As she tried to determine which, the shadow moved toward the steps then disappeared in the fog.
It’s coming.
Her heart pounding, Katiya turned and sprinted to the edge of the clearing. She didn’t see the trail, so she moved quickly to the right. She wanted to use her flashlight but realized it would only make things worse in the fog.
There!
Just ahead was an opening in the jungle. The trail seemed narrower than she remembered, but that was probably because she was stressed.
Without looking back, she darted down the path. She wanted to stop and radio the others but needed to put some distance between her and the temple first. She wasn’t sure who or what she’d seen at the top of the stairs, but it wasn’t Tocchet.
Suddenly, small tree limbs began to whip across her face, forcing her to come to a stop. Katiya gulped in air as she looked around. Nothing about her surroundings looked familiar. Too many trees pressed in on all sides.
Then the truth hit her like a bucket of
cold water: she had taken the wrong trail.
Overwhelmed with exhaustion, she crumpled to the ground. She’d done the best she could, but it was time to call for help. She’d have Max or Artur come back and meet her at the clearing in front of the temple. They were going to lose a lot of valuable time, but at least she’d be safe.
Reaching into her pocket, she removed the radio and turned it on. Seconds later, the LED screen lit up.
Thank goodness.
She lifted it to her face then stopped as a distinct shuffling reached her ears. Something had moved behind her. She turned slowly, facing back toward the temple. She couldn’t see anything, and yet she knew something was there, watching her.
Suddenly the radio darkened.
What the…?
She pressed the power button and shook it, but the screen remained dark.
After setting it down, she heard another noise, this time closer. Something was moving toward her.
“Max?”
Her heart thumping wildly in her chest, Katiya removed her backpack and pulled a pistol from the side pocket. Zane had given it to her after Corporal Wilson had gone missing. It was just like him. Always taking care of her.
She tried to lift it but suddenly felt resistance in her own mind. She tried again but couldn’t move the muscles in her arm. Whatever had turned off the radio now seemed to be controlling her thoughts.
Seconds later, a shadow appeared a few feet away, obscured by the fog. It moved toward her, its form beginning to take shape.
Katiya’s vision turned cloudy, and she swooned. Her mind and body were shutting down.
A cloud of fog swirled across the path, and in its wake a pair of black, menacing eyes materialized in front of her.
She tried to cry out, but the scream died in her throat.
The last thing she remembered was spindly, gray hands reaching out for her.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
PRIVATE LIN JIANG smiled from his hiding place behind the crumbled wall. He’d just watched as the long-haired American slipped into the building across the street. Lin had been trailing him for the last two blocks, staying just far enough behind to avoid being seen.
He had purposely not alerted Colonel Zheng. If he’d done that, then Ho would’ve been dispatched to finish the job. Instead, it would now be Lin who killed the leader of the American team, giving them some measure of revenge for the deaths of the Chinese soldiers on American soil. He could already imagine the accolades that would come his way when they returned to Beijing. Ho be damned.
Suddenly there was movement across the street. The American had made it to the second floor.
As Lin rose, a sharp voice crackled through his headset. “Lin, give me a report.”
It was Zheng. Lin cringed, then a response formed quickly in his mind. “I thought I heard a noise inside an old building. Probably an animal, but I’m going in to check it out.”
There was a long pause, and Lin’s pulse quickened as he waited for Zheng’s response. Had the colonel realized he was lying? The man was notoriously suspicious.
Finally, Zheng said, “Be careful. Contact me immediately if you find something.”
Lin exhaled in relief. “Yes, sir.”
The only thing left to do now was to kill the American. The dumb brute Ho wouldn’t be happy, but Lin already had a plan to cover his tracks. He’d say the American had ambushed him, forcing him to defend himself. No one would criticize him for that. Not even Zheng.
After checking both ways, he sprinted across the street and paused outside the door. Hearing nothing, he entered slowly, his weapon raised. He was standing in a corridor running down the center of the building. He knew from where the American had come out on the second floor that the stairs must be on the other end, so he began moving in that direction.
After finding the stairwell, Lin ascended one step at a time. When he neared the top, his foot crunched down on a piece of gravel. He stopped, listening for any sounds that might indicate he’d been heard. As he waited, the only thing that reached his ears was the faint voice of someone talking on a radio.
He smiled. Fate was delivering the American right into his hands.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, Lin stepped out onto the second floor then paused to get his bearings. Everything was in tatters. It reminded him of the pictures he’d seen of the bombed-out German buildings at the end of the Second World War.
This floor was arranged like the first, with a central corridor and rooms on either side. The voice had seemed to come from one of the rooms on the left, so he moved to that side of the hall.
Lin stopped at the first door. After waiting a few seconds, he leaned forward and peered inside. Empty.
A soft sound reached his ears from the next room down. Static from a radio. His pulse quickened. The American was there.
Lin took two more steps and eased up to the door. Sliding his finger over the trigger, he stepped into the gap. The American was huddled on the other side of the room, his rifle pointed out of the window. Lin congratulated himself. This was too easy.
Despite having the element of surprise, the soldier decided to proceed cautiously. Their mole had warned them that this particular American was not someone to be played with. There would be no taunting, no game of cat and mouse. Lin would kill him then call Zheng. Simple as that.
As Lin began to lift his rifle, he stopped. Something about the man huddled on the other side of the room was odd. His shape seemed off somehow.
Stop second-guessing yourself. Kill him before he kills you.
Lin took a step forward and lifted his rifle, settling his head on top of the stock. Then his blood froze. At the other end of his sights was not a man but a backpack with a rifle balanced on top.
The whole thing had been a setup.
Something moved behind him. Lin turned, but it was too late.
A hard object crashed down on his head, plunging his world into darkness.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
AFTER BINDING THE attacker’s wrists and ankles, Zane dragged him into the room where he’d set up the dummy. He then sat him up against the interior wall and clicked on his flashlight. The man had Asian features and was young, probably in his early twenties.
They’re here.
While Zane had held out hope that they’d lost the Chinese by entering through the tunnel, he certainly wasn’t shocked that they had arrived. He assumed the mole had been able to get a message through to them. That was the only way they could have caught up so quickly, unless there was another way up to the summit. The only silver lining was that it ruled out Corporal Wilson as a suspect.
Zane cursed himself for not doing more to uncover the mole’s identity. He’d tried to justify his inaction by emphasizing the importance of carrying out the mission, but now it had placed the whole group in danger. He should have demanded to see everyone’s electronic devices or at least held things up until Brett could get the satellite phone working again. Now his only choice was to try to get everyone off the mountain as quickly as possible.
He looked down at the soldier again. He was wearing a black body suit. The outer material superficially resembled neoprene, and yet the texture seemed a bit different. Now curious, he unzipped the man’s suit, pulled one flap aside, and shone his flashlight on the lining. It looked like some sort of reflective foil. Of course. A suit made to camouflage body heat. The Americans had the same technology, although Zane had never used it himself.
Zane clenched his jaw. That explained why they could never see anyone trailing them, despite all the signs that it was happening.
Recognizing the need to move quickly, Zane removed the man’s boots and flung them out the window. He did the same with the rifle. He then removed one of the man’s socks and stuffed it into his mouth.
Satisfied that he was now completely disabled, Zane retrieved his radio and spoke in a whisper. “Bennett, do you read?”
A few seconds later, Bennett replied softly, “I’m here.”
Zane had previously asked the others to go radio silent while he investigated the noise. “The Chinese. They’re here.”
There was a long pause. “Copy that. How many?”
Zane crept over to the door and looked in the direction of the stairwell. “Don’t know. I just put one down but haven’t seen any others.”
“Copy that. What do you want us to do?”
Zane thought for a moment then asked, “Brett, are you there?”
Brett checked in, although his voice was still somewhat distorted.
“Let’s all meet at the place where we separated on the edge of town. Then we’ll go down to the clearing and try to establish contact with the others.”
“Roger that,” Bennett said.
“Artur and I can be there in fifteen minutes,” Brett said.
Zane lifted the radio to his mouth. “My guess is that the village is now crawling with Chinese. Make sure you stick to the shadows and watch your back. See you in fifteen.”
Zane turned off the radio without waiting for an answer. After retrieving his pack and rifle, he moved cautiously down the stairwell. Despite being concerned about a possible ambush, he found no one waiting on the first floor. The attacker had obviously been operating alone.
He paused at the exit. Everything seemed clear, so he sprinted across the street. Once on the other side, he crab walked down to a crumbled wall and squatted in its shadow.
As he waited, he thought he heard shuffling a block or two away. He thought of turning around and trying to find another way down to the main street but then realized that would take too long. He needed to take the shortest route possible, even if it meant putting himself in further danger. Besides, the Chinese had likely fanned out, meaning it might be impossible to find a safe route.
While he continued to listen, Zane slung his rifle over his shoulder and pulled out his Glock. He preferred a pistol in close quarters, particularly with the fog limiting visibility.
Hearing nothing, Zane stood and walked carefully down the side of the street. Soon a low-lying wall appeared on his right. He didn’t remember seeing it on the way in. I wonder if that’s where the noise came from. He peered over the top. It looked like some sort of ancient walled garden or park that was now being retaken by the jungle.