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“Colonel, I will submit myself to device in one hour. See that the professor is ready.”Venoma ordered as the two men came to the bottom step of the Grand Pyramid.
“Yes Marquis.” Wolfgang responded, watching the pale man’s back as he moved toward his tent.
The Colonel noticed that the five remaining soldiers were nervous and fidgeting. Two of them had not seen him come down the stairs. The men stood off to his right with their backs toward him and were gazing up toward the waterfall. Moving to where they stood he announced himself.
“What are you men doing?
“Colonel, sir!” the two men spun on a heel and snapped to attention.
Looking in the direction they had been staring he saw a solitary figure moving upon the road high above them.
“Who is that man?” He demanded angrily.
“Major Schmidt sir, he came running down the stairs and just kept going. I am sorry sir. He was acting very strange. Should we have tried to stop him?”
“Strange, how do you mean?”
“He was white as a ghost and trembling. Forgive me sir but he was jabbering to himself like a maniac.” The private said timidly.
“No matter private, the cowardly fool will be dead before he reaches the river.” The Colonel watched Schmidt for a moment.
“Where are the Sergeants?” He asked next.
“We were guarding the prisoners, they relieved us but we have not seen them since. Would you like for me to find them sir?”
“Go keep an eye on the professor, I will find them.” The Colonel directed the two privates toward the steps and then ordered the remaining three to guard the Marquise’s tent as he moved off to find his men.
Grissop passed the two guards as he descended the stairs. When he arrived at the bottom, seeing the three privates at Venoma’s tent told him the Marquis was inside. The Colonel was nowhere to be seen. Watching Fritz being tortured had convinced Quaid Grissop that it was time to get the hell out of here. The courtyard around the pyramid was still draped in shadow, the darkness of the Amazon night creeping in through the three fissures in the chambers ceiling.
The three guards kept an eye on him as he moved toward his own tent and stepped inside. He had purposely set it up at the edge of the courtyard where the shadows were darkest. Inside he gathered his pack and weapons, slipped out the back, and disappeared into the gloom.
During his earlier excursion Quaid had entered all the houses near the courtyard, gathered the gold, jewelry, and trinkets of the dead inhabitants and cached them near the road leading to the gate. Retrieving these sacks he now slipped out pausing only for a moment to look back at the fabled city of El Dorado.
Chasing El Dorado Page 24