by Aiden James
“Nick?”
It sounded like an echo...Marie’s voice? Likely, and she called to me from just beyond the light that was now a few feet in diameter. The light suddenly flickered upon my approach, and I realized it was caused by another torch. My journey was about to end, and I would reach my destination in a moment.
“Holy mother of Jesus!!!”
I flew out of the chute and grazed the back of my head as I emerged airborne.
“Be careful, Nick!”
Now she tells me. I landed hard yet again...at least this time I landed on my back instead of my ass. But a rear-end landing would’ve been better, as I landed hard enough to where the blow knocked the wind out of me. Marie’s panicked voice soon followed, along with another, closer, shriek from Ishi. Their voices grew faint as my awareness of the world around me began to fade.
My little feisty companion lives to fight another day! Excellent news! But Marie sounds like she’s already started bitching at me about something again...my God...this place is glowing! There’s gold everywhere...
It was my last thought before blacking out.
Chapter Fifteen
It’s hard to say how long I was out.
When I regained consciousness, Marie and Ishi were standing over me. Check that...they were kneeling over me, their faces drawn close to mine as their blurred images soon became clearer.
“Well, it’s about time,” said Marie, her tone and smile playful. She was in a damned good mood about something...and it surely had to do with the golden glow around me. “We’ve got just enough water to last until afternoon,” she added, “but I think you should take a few sips.”
She held out the canteen that had been strapped to her waist. The water tasted and felt good...but I only took a couple of sips before sitting up to look around me.
“Holy...”
I couldn’t finish voicing the thought in my head. By then, Marie had lit three other torches in the immense room that was stacked high with golden trinkets, vessels, statues, and what looked like octagonal coins. All of it gleamed in haphazard array, and most was covered by cobwebs from centuries past, along with layers of dust and grime. But it all simply added to the wonder and magic of this moment.
I tried again. “This really does look like it could be worth a billion or two.”
“Or three,” said Maria. “According to my father, who cataloged what is here long ago, the gold would’ve been worth well over a billion dollars five to ten years ago.” She flashed the same smile of amazement that I could feel stretching across my face. “Even if we can only remove a small portion of this, none of us will have to worry about money ever again.”
“Well...other than scooping up enough items to fill our pockets, it does seem like we will have to take a few trips going back and forth to the Jeep,” I said, trying to not sound cynical since she willingly shared what was nearly the end of her personal water supply. Ishi and I already had to fend for ourselves after draining our disposable bottles of water right before our unforeseen tussle with the lizard-man.
“No, we won’t!” said Ishi triumphantly, holding up several large bags. Clearly he’d checked the place out while I was busy being useless. “Marie’s father left these. Here, take one.”
He held out a bag that appeared to be army-issued, although the original green dye had greatly faded in the material. Then again, maybe it wasn’t army-issued to begin with. But the bag was definitely a strong heavy-duty grade—suitable for miners and legit archaeologists. Therefore, it was good enough for me.
“As much as I’d like to bask in the gilded light of Xanadu,” I said, standing on legs that felt weak at best, “we need to grab what we can and then secure the place. It might be a while before we make it back here.”
I couldn’t imagine coming back via the way we came here the first time, and since we couldn’t go back that way either, we would have to find a different—and likely longer—way out of this valley. Of course, that was after we figured out how to escape this vault that had to be located several hundred feet below the earth’s surface.
No sooner than I thought these thoughts, Marie said, “After we gather what we can comfortably carry, father mentioned another exit from the room, an exit that will take us into a cave system that is not so hard to navigate.”
Both Ishi and I turned toward her with near-matching looks of surprise.
“You’ve got to be friggin’ kidding me!” I seethed, feeling the headache that was starting to wane suddenly grow more intense again. “Are you saying we didn’t have to go the route we took—that there was an easier way to get down here?”
“Yes,” she replied meekly. “But the easier path is known to my Uncle Leo—at least partially so. I saw one of his henchmen near my hotel this morning before I came to get you. It was too risky to go that route, since I knew you could get us through safely if I chose to take the more dangerous caverns instead.”
“Wait...wait a moment,” I said, shaking my head. “So, you see one of the killers that works for Uncle Leo just hanging around the Sheraton you’re staying at, and you don’t think that maybe he and your uncle have at least a pretty good idea of the location you are going to, huh? Is that what you’re telling me?!”
“Yes,” she again replied, this time even more demurely. “But, we couldn’t wait around to see what my uncle was up to. After all, he’s never been here before, since he is missing several access key landmarks that are difficult to discern on his map—landmarks that I’ve memorized.”
“Well, sweetheart, that’s all fine and dandy...except for the fact I noticed a gray sedan following us out of the city limits,” I said, feeling a growing knot of dread in my gut.
Damn it! I knew something was up and didn’t say a frigging thing!
“I saw it, too,” she confessed. “But it wasn’t the only gray Mercedes on the road.”
I looked over at Ishi, who was shaking his head...either at Ms. Da Vinci’s and my latest squabble, or the fact we were standing around while he loaded his bag. He might look like a small fry, but I’ve seen him hoist a two hundred-pound backpack before. He might well carry double what our princess-in-waiting and me picked up.
Mindful of the fact that it was now a very bad idea to linger in this amazing place, I scanned the room for possible intruders and possible exits alike.
“Well, I think assuming anything about a ruthless, greedy son-of-a-bitch is foolish. Leo the asshole could show up sometime soon....”
Suddenly, a few small rocks tumbled down upon one of the bigger piles of gold that stretched upward to just below the cave room’s stalactite-covered ceiling. Next to it appeared to be an exit that had looked the most promising in my earlier survey. Except now three men stood in front of it, and two were armed with automatic weapons. The other man was someone I recognized from a bad experience a few years earlier.
“So, I see that we meet again, Nick Caine,” the man said coldly, mimicking a line spoken in dozens, if not hundreds of movies. “How lovely.”
He looked both amused and pissed. But that wasn’t the biggest thing I noticed about this man. Time can often be unkind to human beings. In this case, it had been extremely cruel to Leonardo Da Vinci.
Chapter Sixteen
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Marie demanded.
“Why, my dear girl...is that any way to address your dear uncle?”
“Eat shit and die, asshole!”
Ishi and I looked at each other warily. We had seen the good, the bad, and the incredibly mysterious aspects that marked Marie’s personality. Too late to wish she had pulled a far more diplomatic card to play here, it didn’t take a rocket scientist’s analysis to know we were totally screwed. And barring a miraculous escape presenting itself, we might soon become a trio of rotting corpses replacing the vast fortune of gold in this cavern.
“Oh, come now, Marie...you are embarrassing yourself in front of your new pals,” he said, his tone only slightly less acerbic. “Not to mention t
hat you’ve hurt my feelings.”
“Feelings? How dare you talk of human qualities, you conniving snake!” she hissed in fury. “Why, if I can find a way, I’ll—”
That’s when I reached over and brought her close to me, effectively making it look like there might be something between us, while finding a way to slow down the death wish pouring out of her gorgeous mouth. Of course, she slammed her elbow into my side, letting me know in no uncertain terms that she was less than enamored with my forced intimacy—especially right then.
“Oh, how touching,” said Leo, wearing a contemptuous smirk. “Perhaps if some foolish tourist is curious enough to venture down into the caverns that lead to this soon-to-be depleted room filled with my gold, they will marvel at your intertwined carcasses. By then, the two of you will be picked clean by insects and all sorts of slithering creatures pleased to have their home back after centuries in exile...”
He went on talking, but by then I had already tuned out the monotonous drone of his nasally voice. As I mentioned, time had been unkind to Marie’s uncle, whose dull brown eyes spoke to the man’s soullessness. Frankly, I was surprised that he had bothered with the journey down into the earth, instead of leaving everything up to his henchmen. The considerable girth on his six-four frame seemed to have doubled since the last time we crossed paths—an encounter that nearly spelled the end of my earthly stay. Yet another story for later.
But the point of this is that I was actively looking for an angle to play. Otherwise, his threats to end his niece’s and my existence would surely come to pass...and soon.
“So, I take it we can’t arm wrestle for a winner-take-all resolution, huh?” I said as soon as he finished his eloquent dribble.
And, yeah, Marie flinched while Ishi looked over at me as if I’d completely lost my frigging mind. But I was banking on the fact Leo’s henchmen’s semi-automatic rifles were trained in general on us and not upon our heads just yet. The mercenary look of these guys made it obvious that when it was time to bid us adios, the weapons would be raised and our foreheads would be their close range targets. That meant I had about twenty seconds still to come up with an escape plan.
“Always the joker, Nicholas,” he laughed, although the glint of amusement in his eyes had disappeared. “I’ve often wondered if we should’ve fed you to the Nile crocs and not your buddy, Mario, ten years ago. Or...perhaps we should have fed you both, and then called it a day.”
“Maybe,” I said, noticing that the biggest ‘hill’ that was made of thousands of golden trinkets, figurines, and small bowls had a narrow stalactite above it. The distance was within my throwing range. Could I hit it? Perhaps...as long as I had the right item to toss. A better question would be whether or not it would make a difference, since the stalactite’s tip would have to crack off and land upon the hill’s apex perfectly to cause the avalanche I hoped for. “Mario was a good man, and a better friend. And I have no doubt that he’s waiting on your sorry ass to join him for an ass-kicking the very moment you cross over into the afterlife.”
Words delivered smoothly, and it got the reaction I wanted...the one I desperately needed to try and work my even more desperate plan. Leo gave in to an uproarious fit of laughter, and even his two assassins began chuckling. These guys looked eastern-European, and I worried the joke might be lost on them. But the laughter grew as Leo’s fit continued. This was it—the now-or-never moment I needed.
I pulled Marie close and planted the most intense kiss upon her mouth. Of course, she squealed in surprise and tried to push me away. But she held on long enough for me to reach between us and grab my beloved bowie knife. The very bowie knife that my dad once wore on his utility belt, and the one that always felt good in my hand.
No, I didn’t try to use it on our assailants. That would’ve been suicide.
But, I did use it.
Knowing I’d likely never see it again if my plan failed or was successful, I flung it by the sharp tip toward the stalactite high above us. It twirled in the air, and flew with the familiar ‘swoosh’ from whenever I’d thrown the damned thing with force in the past. The knife hit the point exactly where I had hoped...and then careened off and clanked loudly against the cavern wall to our right.
The stalactite remained intact.
Ishi let out a low sigh that was followed by a low grown, and then Marie began to berate me about my kiss. The menacing trio standing in front of us no longer found my behavior amusing, and as the gunmen repositioned their weapons I couldn’t help but smile at the irony of my last moments on earth. Why in the hell had I thought hitting a bull’s eye on a target sixty feet away would amount to more than a pile of bat dung in the end?
But the expected gunfire—either as single shots or a barrage of bullets—didn’t happen. It didn’t because in that moment of expecting to die, while everything grew eerily quiet around me, I was largely unaware of a loud rumble going on in the wall where my knife had struck.
“Oh, my God, Nick—you hit the jaguar’s eye!” said Marie, excitedly.
“The what?!”
But then I saw what she was talking about, and felt somewhat ashamed that I had paid little attention to the carvings upon that wall. Especially the one that marked this cavern as the inner sanctuary of what long ago was known by the moniker “Templo Del Jaguar”, as Cortez once referred to this mystical place. My knife had chipped a small portion of the eye, which apparently set off a trigger of some sort. The wall was moving backward, and as it did the other walls and the floor below us began to shake.
“It’s collapsing!” shouted Ishi, no longer worried about the scary men holding assault rifles. “We’ve got to go!”
“You’re not going anywhere!” sneered Leo, who had removed a pistol from his belt. It looked like a Beretta, but too much was shaking for me to say for certain. He pointed the gun at us, when it seemed to me it would be easier to have his hired hands do the intimidation or shooting for him. “Since it looks like I’ll have to come back, we’ll kill you three now and worry about the mess later. We’ll—”
The hill of gold suddenly collapsed, and it did so much more magnificently than I had pictured in my head. Untold tons of glittering yellow metal landed on all three of the bastards. Leo screamed in pain after being knocked to the ground, his legs completely submerged. Blood seeped from his visible lower extremities, while he writhed in terrible agony. Meanwhile, the other two men had disappeared...buried completely.
But the violent surge through the floor and walls continued unabated.
“Do you know the way out of here!” I shouted above the din toward Marie, who was scanning the surrounding walls in panic.
“I think it’s this way,” she said, pointing behind us.
“Huh?! What about where your uncle and his cronies emerged from, up there?”
I pointed to the cavern entrance that was perhaps thirty feet above us, after first stepping on Leo’s hand and then confiscating his prized Cold War weapon. Hell, despite his immediate hardship, it seemed like I deserved something in trade for my knife.
“Oh, yeah,” said Marie. “That might be better!”
In other words, Marie had no clue.
It was up to me, since Ishi had gone nuts and was acting like the dumb asses in those famous mummy movies from a few years back, filling his canvas bag with as much gold as he could carry. Hopefully, he wouldn’t meet a similar demise to what Hollywood usually delivered for such foolish avarice.
“All right everyone, let’s go! Come on, Ishi! We’ve got to get out of here now!!”
By then the walls and ceiling were crumbling with dangerous chunks of rock falling toward us. Even the other golden mounds of untold value were disintegrating. I looked down in time to see a three-foot fissure form in the floor. This place was going down, and very soon. To Hell? Quite possibly...or at least to a place with lava running through it. That’s how it looked to me, for inside the fissure I saw a brilliant orange glow far below.
“Come on, you two—
get a frigging move on it!!”
We clambered onto the narrow walkway that would lead to the small cavern mouth above. I think we all knew instinctively that we had about a minute to escape this particular cavern. Surprisingly, Ishi kept up, despite the pay-dirt load he carried over his shoulder. As soon as we reached the cavern mouth, the floor below gave way, as if whatever force had kept it together had done so for our benefit only. The river of lava below engulfed the horde of gold, along with the shrieking evil uncle of Marie Da Vinci.
I’d never seen anything like this in the thirty-four years I’ve been riding mother earth. But, I damned well knew that hanging around in a now-volatile cave system was a bad idea. A very bad idea, as it turned out.
I pushed Marie and Ishi in front of me as we climbed through a narrow tunnel that felt like it stretched for miles, and brought incredible discomfort to my legs as we kept a strenuous pace toward the surface. All of us faced pitch-blackness ahead, clinging to the slim hope that we wouldn’t fall into a deep chasm we couldn’t detect in advance.
Finally, another tiny pinpoint of light appeared, and Marie was the first to announce it as she raced toward it. By then, Ishi was exhausted from the heavy load he carried. So, being the gentleman I rarely am, I lifted the load from his back and sent him on to catch up to our suddenly re-energized femme fatale.
It almost proved to be my undoing.
As I pursued them, finding it nearly impossible to maintain a quick pace, the collapse from far below suddenly expanded to include the tunnel I desperately sought to escape. I heard the explosion first, and knew that whatever volatile forces had created the initial collapse were now spreading rapidly toward the cave system’s perimeter.