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 reach 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?
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.
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.
As his hands closed over a sizeable shard of rock crystal, a sound made him look up. The nymphs were emerging from the shadows at the back of the antechamber. In the half-light they appeared threatening, until his friend with the red flowers in its frond-like hair began to chant the James Bond theme Ross had taught it on their first encounter. Ross smiled and responded. The nymph emitted a staccato burst of laughter-like chatter and approached closer. The others followed until they surrounded him. As he edged closer to the exit, the nymph with the red flowers reached for the crystal in his hand. Instinctively, Ross clasped it tighter. The creature made another chattering sound, went into the tunnel, selected a larger, even more iridescent shard from the stream and presented it to him. Ross put down his sample and took the gift. 'Thank you.'
The nymph copied his words, making Ross smile again. He glanced up the tunnel one last time, mesmerized by the light coming from the source – whatever it was. He considered how the lake water had failed to save Weber and wondered how its power compared with that of Father Orlando's el origen. What if the crystal in his hand failed to save Lauren? What if the injuries to her brain and spine needed something even more powerful? The question was academic, of course. Even if he could negotiate the rock worms there was no time to explore the tunnel. He must go now before the guards realized they were gone.
He turned to leave and a piercing sound silenced the nymphs. The high-pitched whine of an alarm.
Shit.
As the nymphs skittered nervously around him, he pushed past them and peered out of the antechamber into the rain. Figures were spilling from the tents and moving through the rain towards where the others had made their escape – or tried to. The soldiers must have installed a trip alarm by the entrance to the garden.
Shit.
Two figures stopped, turned and headed for the forbidden caves – towards Ross.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He was trapped. Unless . . .
He pushed through the nymphs towards the dark recesses of the antechamber. There was another way out: the exit across the magma pool, via the broken bridge. It was dangerous and he would have no supplies in the jungle, but he had the crystal to sustain him. There was one other route, of course. He could try his luck up the tunnel of blood. He stopped, torn with indecision.
'Dr Kelly!'
He glanced over his shoulder. Torino stood in the entrance to the antechamber, waterproof dripping with rain, two-way radio in his hand. Bazin stood beside him, peering down the sights of a rifle.
The radio crackled and Torino held it to his ear. 'Excellent, Feldwebel. If they give you any more trouble shoot them.' He smiled. 'The others are being rounded up, Dr Kelly. The great escape is over.'
Bazin spoke next: 'My rifle is aimed at your heart. Drop the crystal, raise your hands and walk back here.'
'You're going to shoot me, Marco? How does your God justify killing an unarmed, innocent man who wants only to save his wife?'
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