His finger settled on Hackett, who glanced questioningly at Ross. 'Bring him, Weber,' he said to the soldier. As they cut Hackett's ankle ties and pulled him to his feet, Bazin turned to Ross. 'Just in case anything unpleasant's waiting for us up the tunnel the good doctor will lead the way. Father General wanted you to lead us, Ross, but since you saved my life I excluded you from the count. Consider my debt settled.' He smiled. 'Don't worry about him,' he said, over his shoulder. 'As you said, there should be no danger.'
Ross strained against his gag. It was one thing to let his heavily armed enemies walk into a trap. It was something else to allow an unarmed friend to do the same. But Bazin was oblivious of his stifled pleas as he led Hackett to the forbidden caves. When Ross craned his neck to keep them in view, he saw Zeb silently willing him to tell her their friend would be safe. That there was no danger.
Moments later, an eerie sound issued from the forbidden caves. Ross knew it was the nymphs singing, warning Torino and his men away from the tunnel. Then the sound changed. The nymphs were no longer singing. They were screaming.
Chapter 64.
Moments earlier
In the antechamber Feldwebel Fleischer handed Torino a steel helmet and helped him strap on a Kevlar vest. The Jesuit was so excited his hands trembled on the helmet buckle. He pointed to Hackett, who was gagged and had his wrists tied. All of the men were wearing sunglasses to protect their eyes against the dazzlingly bright light up the tunnel. 'He goes at the front, yes?'
'Yes,' said Bazin, 'then Weber with the flame-thrower. You and I follow, with Feldwebel Fleischer taking up the rear.'
Fleischer shook his head. 'These are my men and the Superior General is under my protection. I'll stay by his side. You take up the rear.'
Bazin eyeballed him, then shrugged. 'As you wish.'
Fleischer handed a two-way radio to the other soldier. 'Gerber, wait down here. If we need you I'll call.'
Torino frowned. 'Have you briefed him on what to do if we don't return? If I don't return?'
The soldier checked the radio. 'Everything's prepared, Father General. I know what to do.'
'Where's Petersen? Watching the prisoners?'
'Yes.'
'Good. Let's go.'
As they approached the tunnel, the singing started - a disquieting, sinister chant that emanated from the dark recesses of the cave. Then the nymphs emerged from the shadows and blocked the entrance. Torino counted ten. The soldiers stopped, unnerved by the startling creatures.
'Push them back,' said Torino. 'Get them out of the way.'
Bazin shouted and waved his shotgun at a nymph with blood-red flowers entwined in its hair-like fronds. It ignored him and continued to chant. Bazin stepped back and turned to Weber. 'Use the flame-thrower.'
Weber raised the nozzle, flicked the igniter and pressed the trigger. Fiery liquid jetted towards the nymphs. They screamed and fled back into the shadows. Their cries echoed through the caves and Torino smiled at how quickly they had retreated. Controlling the garden and its creatures wouldn't be difficult. He would soon fashion this place so that it brought only glory to Rome - and what glory it would be! He tapped Weber's shoulder.
Weber prodded Hackett with the hot nozzle of the flamethrower. 'Go.'
They walked slowly up the path and with each step the light grew more dazzling, the glare intensified by the gilded crystal that encrusted the tunnel. Torino could only guess at what lay ahead but was convinced that it had nothing to do with Kelly's dry theories on creation and evolution. Father Orlando's radix, his Tree of Life and Death, would offer no proof of any scientific hypothesis, only proof of God's presence on earth, a physical manifestation of His divine majesty and power. Like Moses witnessing the burning bush, Torino was convinced that he, too, would soon glimpse the face of God.
Suddenly Weber stopped.
Peering past him, to the path ahead, Torino saw a waterfall. Beside it, the path widened into a small chamber, then rough steps led to the top of the waterfall where the path widened again, forming another chamber before continuing onwards.
'Why have we stopped?'
'He won't move,' said Weber, gesturing to Hackett.
'Make him,' said Torino. Hackett turned, sweat pouring down his face, eyes darting meaningfully to the top of the waterfall. 'Let him speak.'
Weber pulled off the gag.
'I saw something moving,' Hackett panted.
Torino narrowed his eyes. 'Where?'
'In those holes up there.'
Torino peered up to the chamber on the next level. He could see the holes and a network of tunnels but nothing else. 'Can anyone else see anything?'
'No.'
Torino heard a click as Weber undid the safety on the flamethrower. The others raised their weapons. 'Go on.'
Hackett shook his head. 'No.'
Weber released a jet of flame. 'Go.'
Hackett jumped and shuffled forward, blinking against the sweat that poured down his face.
Hackett stared at the black holes, every muscle in his body alert and trembling. He was sure he'd seen something moving within those dark spaces, something from his nightmares. A stab of anger penetrated his numbing fear. It would be so unfair to die in this remote place just as he had found his lost city. It incensed him that he might never enjoy the glory of his discovery or benefit from its gold.
He shuffled up the path to the top of the waterfall and saw that, as well as the holes in the walls, countless fissures led to a maze of dark passages. Straining to see beyond the blinding light into the blackness, he walked faster, wanting instinctively to get beyond the holes. He broke into a jog, then began to run up the path.
'Slow down,' hissed Weber.
Hackett ignored him. The soldier's flames could make him move but they couldn't make him stop. It felt good to release the adrenalin rushing through his body, and for a moment he dared to believe that he had imagined the glimpsed shapes in the dark.
Then Weber screamed.
Hackett should have kept running. But, despite his terror, he was a doctor and turned instinctively to help. When he looked back, he froze, unable to process what he was seeing. The black holes seemed to be moving, telescoping out of the walls. It was only when he saw Weber collapse on the path screaming, blood pouring from perfectly circular wounds in his thigh and shoulder, that Hackett realized black, worm-like creatures were twisting out of the rock, circular rows of teeth protruding from their jaws, biting into Weber's flesh then recoiling into their lairs. He stared openmouthed, registering the myriad holes that riddled the walls.
Was there one of those things in every hole?
'The flame-thrower. Use the flame-thrower.' Bazin's shout, from further down the tunnel, galvanized Hackett into action. He rushed to Weber and knelt behind his bleeding body. Shielded by the fuel tanks strapped to Weber's back, he took the flame-thrower nozzle from Weber's limp hand and pressed the igniter.
Fire suddenly enveloped the creatures and another, louder, scream echoed in the tunnel. Different from Weber's, inhuman, it seemed to come from deep within the rock. The sound of rapid machine-gun fire intensified the shrieks as Hackett kept pressing the flame-thrower igniter.
Suddenly, a worm-like creature thicker than Hackett's thigh spiralled through the flames and tore into Weber's protective vest, pushing the soldier on to Hackett, pinning him down but also protecting him. Other dark shapes rifled towards them, taking chunks out of Weber. Then something hit Hackett's left shoulder. Such was his shock that he felt no pain until he saw that a neat circular chunk had been taken out of his flesh, exposing muscle and bone. His shirt was soaked with blood - he had never seen so much. The pain came now, running through him like fire. He tried to move his left arm but the agony was excruciating. Using his other arm, he pulled Weber's body closer to him and, with detached horror, realized the soldier's right buttock had gone. He pushed himself flat against the sharp crystal path as one of the creatures smashed through Weber's elbow, breaking bones, trying to re
ach him. Weber was still alive but they kept coming, devouring him piece by piece.
'Help me,' the soldier screamed, above frantic gunfire, but Hackett could barely help himself. One of the twisting creatures came straight at Weber's face, directly in front of Hackett's own, its baleful red eyes staring right at him. Its tubular body was made up of dusty, interlocking armoured plates. As it struck, it opened its mouth wide, exposing circular rows of protruding teeth, breath reeking of decay and rotting flesh.
Weber tried to scream, but when the creature bit into his face and recoiled back to its lair it took his tongue with it. The next took his cheek and left eye. Hackett tried to curl up into the foetal position as one of the creatures ripped into his right calf muscle. The agony seared through him.
Then he felt rough hands dragging Weber off him and pulling them both away from the monsters. The attack had lasted just seconds but they had been the longest of Hackett's life. All he could think about as he crawled, bleeding, to safety was the last thing Weber must have seen before the creatures drilled into his face.
Moments earlier
Standing on the path beside the waterfall, Torino stared up at the vision of Hell unfolding before him. Bazin pushed past him, pumping and firing his shotgun, while Fleischer opened up with the Heckler & Koch. The heads of two rock worms exploded, and the flailing headless trunks recoiled into the wall leaving a trail of blood. Bazin rushed forward and tried to reach Weber but the flames held him back. The flame-thrower seemed barely to deter the frenzied rock worms, though. Through the inferno, Torino glimpsed Weber's body being consumed by the hellish creatures, while Hackett lay pinned beneath him, trying in vain to keep them at bay. Worse than what he could see, however, was what he could hear: an inhuman screaming that filled the acrid air and forced him to put his hands over his ears. He couldn't tell if the sound, which surrounded him, came from the rock worms, the nymphs below, or something further up the tunnel.
Shell-shocked, he watched Bazin and Fleischer drag Hackett and Weber past him. As he followed them away from the flames and the worms, he kept looking back, beyond the carnage, to the light beckoning from higher up the tunnel. The creatures were Satan's demons, placed there to test his resolve and prevent him from reaching God's light. They would not deter him. He would find a way.
Watching the stream redden with blood, he peered at Hackett's wounds and Weber's butchered body. Dr Kelly had lied to him that the tunnel was safe. He must have seen the conquistadors' nemeses, and known they were still there.
How much more had Kelly not told him? How much more did he know?
Chapter 65.
Sister Chantal chewed at her gag and shook her head again. Ross glanced over his shoulder at the soldier who had been watching them for the last hour. At this rate, they would have to wait till dark for him to cut Sister Chantal's tie with the shard of crystal he had taken from the cave. The good news was that the light was fading. The bad news was that, though darkness would give them cover, he would be working blind.
Suddenly Sister Chantal was nodding frantically. Ross glanced behind him. The soldier was holding his two-way radio, looking anxiously towards the forbidden caves. Then he put down the radio and rushed away.
Trying not to think about what was happening in the tunnel of blood, Ross reached across to Sister Chantal. She held up her hands to help him, but it wasn't easy with his own wrists tied. The crystal was so small and the plastic so sheer that he found it difficult to get any purchase on it. Eventually he managed to make a nick in the plastic and saw along the groove.
Manipulating the crystal was laborious, finger-aching work and it was impossible to tell whether he was making any progress. He became so absorbed in his task that only when Sister Chantal pulled her hands away did he look up. Torino, Bazin and the others were coming out of the forbidden caves. Two men were dragging Hackett and the soldier who had been carrying the flame-thrower. The latter's mutilated body was limp and covered with blood. At least Hackett was moving.
'Take them to the lake,' Bazin ordered. 'Immerse them in the water. Make them drink.' Hackett crawled into it and began to drink, oblivious of the red cloud blooming around him.
Then Ross saw the sergeant shake his head. 'Weber's gone. Nothing can help him now.'
Ross grimaced. It appeared that even the garden's miraculous powers had limits.
Torino and Bazin were striding over to him, Fleischer following. Torino's face was white and contorted with rage. 'Take off his gag, Marco.'
'How's Nigel?' was Ross's first question.
'He'll live,' said Torino, 'but he was badly injured, thanks to you. And Weber's dead. He was ripped apart by the creatures you failed to tell us about.'
'You killed a good man,' spat Fleischer.
Ross said nothing as he felt Zeb's and Sister Chantal's eyes on him. He hadn't purposely put Hackett in harm's way. He hadn't forced him up the tunnel. Torino and Bazin had done that. And he certainly hadn't killed Weber. But as he watched the soldiers pulling Hackett out of the lake and laying him on the grass, guilt seared him.
'You saw the creatures when you went up the tunnel, didn't you, Dr Kelly?' Torino accused him. 'Yet you came down alive. What did you see? What did you learn?'
Ross remained silent, unable to clear the image of the rock worms devouring the nymph from his mind, imagining Hackett and Weber in its place.
'Tell me all you know,' insisted Torino. His voice was menacingly quiet. 'Who else do I have to push up that tunnel and feed to those creatures before you tell me everything?' He pointed at Sister Chantal. 'Her?' Then at Zeb. 'Her? How many more have to die? Marco, Feldwebel, take their gags off. Perhaps they can help to persuade him.'
'What the hell's he talking about, Ross?' said Zeb, when her gag came off.
'I saw the creatures when I went up the tunnel. They attacked and ate one of the dying nymphs. The others sacrificed it to them. They have a way of controlling the creatures.' He explained how the nymphs had stilled the creatures with their chanting.
As Torino studied him Ross could almost hear his mind working. 'You're suggesting I push the nymphs up the tunnel ahead of us? Let them still the rock worms and follow in their footsteps?'
'I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just telling you what I saw and heard.'
'We can easily round up a few and check it out,' said Bazin.
Two of the soldiers dragged Hackett back to the enclosure. His shoulder and leg were badly wounded, but the bleeding had slowed. His face was pale but he managed a weak smile when Zeb and Ross asked how he was. 'It's not as bad as it looks and I feel a lot better after being in the lake. I got off lightly compared to the other guy.'
Bazin and Fleischer moved to replace their gags, but Torino stopped them. 'No, let them speak. They've a lot to talk about.' He turned to Ross. 'I'm sure your friends will want to ask why you put one of them in peril.' At that moment, the sound of thunder echoed round the garden and rain fell, hitting the taut tarpaulin like stones on a drum. Torino had to shout to be heard above the noise. 'We'll take the nymphs up tomorrow, Dr Kelly. And this time you'll lead the way.'
Torino, Bazin and Fleischer hurried away to their tents, leaving Ross struggling to be heard above the thunderous rain, trying to explain to Hackett and Zeb all that he knew, and how he had inadvertently put Hackett at risk.
As soon as he'd finished, they bombarded him with questions, but now was not the time for talk. He raised his bound hands, revealing the crystal shard on his open palms, and Sister Chantal immediately proffered her bound wrists. In the dying light, during a lull in the pounding rain, Ross said, 'Zeb, Nigel, do you want to waste any more precious time asking questions or do you want to get out of here?'
They fell silent, and Ross went back to work.
Chapter 66.
It took more than an hour to cut through Sister Chantal's ties but once her hands were free she released Ross and helped him to free Hackett and Zeb.
The heavy rain was a blessing and a curse. It prevented
anyone's seeing what they were doing but compromised visibility. 'What do we do now?' hissed Zeb, peering out into the dark. There was a glow further up the garden towards the caves where Torino and his men were quartered in tents.
'Our backpacks are piled up over there,' said Hackett, pointing away from the tents, towards the entrance to the garden, 'and they're still packed with the supplies we'll need to make our way back to the boat. I vote we find them and scarper. I doubt there'll be any guards out on a night like this.'
'But what about your wounds?' said Zeb.
He pulled up his trousers and showed his leg. The chunk out of his calf now looked more like a swollen bruise. 'I'm healing. It's incredible. My shoulder's the same.'
'You sure?'
'I'm sure.'
'You three go ahead, then,' said Ross. 'I'll join you later. There's something I need to do first.'
'What?'
He pointed to the forbidden caves. 'I'm not leaving here without the one thing I came for.'
'The crystal for Lauren?' said Zeb. 'I'll come with you.'
'We'll all go,' said Sister Chantal.
'No,' said Ross. 'I'll be better off on my own. One person might be able to do it unseen. Take my backpack with you and I'll meet you beyond the sulphur caves on the other side of the causeway. If you hear anything, or I'm not there within an hour, go on without me.'
Sister Chantal tried to protest but Ross shook his head. 'Let me do this, Sister. It's the only way you'll ever fulfil your vow and pass on your legacy to Lauren. This place will become her problem then, not yours. Now go.'
The rain had eased but was still as hard as any Ross had experienced. Beyond the protection of the tarpaulin the warm drops stung like airgun pellets. It was difficult to keep his eyes open, let alone see anything. Head down, he let the dull glow from the phosphorescent lake guide him to the caves. He steered clear of the tents: thankfully, the shapes silhouetted in the illuminated interiors told him that Torino and his men were inside, keeping dry. He passed several neat piles of the yellow parcels he had registered earlier. Close up, he could see they were stamped with the manufacturer's brand name, a yellow warning triangle and 'Thermate-TH3'. He reached the forbidden caves with relative ease, grateful to escape the rain. By the dull glow emanating from the tunnel he navigated his way to the stream, knelt beside it and reached into the rushing water.
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