Seeing all the eyes watching her so coldly made Nina very nervous. “Are we safe?”
“As long as they don’t figure out how to climb the ladder from the boat deck, yeah. But there’s probably loads more on the other side as well. Just thought I’d show you in case you were planning any midnight skinny-dipping.”
“Hardly,” she huffed, stepping away from him.
Chase slowly panned the beam of the flashlight around the rear of the boat, more sinister eyes reflecting it back at the observers. “Even without this lot, I wouldn’t recommend swimming anyway. There’s probably piranhas too—and that nasty little bastard that swims up your pisshole if you take a leak in the water.”
“I was hardly planning to do that.”
“Nah, you’re too classy, I suppose.” Chase switched off the flashlight, then let out a very loud fart. “Ah, that’s better. Been waiting to do that since the main course.”
“God!” said Nina, both disgusted and—she had to admit—amused.
“Better make sure I didn’t follow through!” He handed the flashlight to Nina, then padded back into the main cabin.
She blew out her cheeks. “God, what is wrong with him?”
“It’s just his way,” Castille assured her, leaning on the railing.
“Well, I wish it wasn’t. Why does he have to be so … gross?”
To her surprise, Castille almost sighed. “It’s a defense mechanism, I’m afraid. He tries not to get too close to his clients. Especially when they are … well…” He nodded at her. “Attractive women. But he wasn’t always like that. When I first met him, when he was in the SAS, he was always … what’s the word?”
“Polite?”
“Chivalrous, that’s it.”
“So what happened?” Nina asked.
Castille looked pained. “It’s not really for me to say.”
“Well you started it! What happened?”
“Ai, I shouldn’t have said anything… Promise me you won’t tell him I told you?” Nina nodded. “He … he once fell in love with a woman he was supposed to protect.”
“What happened?” She already thought she knew. “Did she … die?”
Castille snorted. “Of course not! Edward is not so incompetent. No, he married her.”
“He was married?” That wasn’t a possibility she had imagined.
“Yes. But… it did not last long. They were very different people, and she did not treat him well. And then she, ah …” He glanced at the cabin door, lowering his voice. “She had an affair. With … Jason Starkman.”
“What!” Nina exclaimed. “You mean the same guy that tried to …”
Castille nodded. “We used to work together in joint operations for NATO. Jason was a friend—maybe even Edward’s best friend, at the time. Then Jason disappears to join with Qobras for whatever mad reason, and then Edward learns the truth … It was not a good time. He thought he had been betrayed by everyone he trusted.”
“Except you.”
“Ah, if Edward did not trust me, who would keep him out of trouble?” The moment had passed; it was obvious to Nina that Castille was not about to return to the subject.
She looked out over the river again, this time with the knowledge that she was being watched herself. The idea gave her a chill. Finishing her wine, she hurried back into the safety of the cabin.
TWELVE
The Nereid raised its anchor shortly after dawn, resuming its snaking voyage upriver. But the boat’s passage was so smooth that Nina didn’t wake up. It wasn’t until the scent of breakfast permeated her luxurious cabin that she stirred.
After washing and getting dressed, she made her way up to the bridge. Kari was there with Chase and Perez, studying a picture on her laptop. Julio smoothly guided the craft through the river’s sweeping turns.
“Morning, sunshine,” said Chase.
“Hiya. What’s up?”
“We’ve been sent the latest aerial photos of the search zone,” Kari said, turning the laptop to face Nina. The curves and twists of the river on the screen were even more pronounced, like a child’s doodle. In places, the Tefé even looped back on itself, creating circular islands surrounded by a natural moat. “There are four areas that are the most likely sites for the city, based on the terrain.”
Nina examined the image. The vivid green of the jungle canopy was more broken in the new, higher-resolution photo, revealing tantalizing hints of the shadowed world beneath. She zoomed in on one of the four marked sections until it pixelated. A gray smudge lurked in a gap between the trees. “Could that… could that be a ruin under there?”
“Could be,” said Chase. “Or it could just be a rock. This kind of jungle, you could hide an aircraft carrier under it and not be sure what you were looking at from the air. Only way to be sure is to get boots in the mud.”
Kari brought up a map on the screen. “Captain Perez now thinks we should be able to get the Nereid to within three miles of the search zone before the river becomes too narrow to navigate.”
“That’s a lot closer than we thought,” said Nina, examining the map. “How long will it take to get there?”
Perez looked at the controls. “We’re doing twelve knots at the moment, but I doubt we’ll be able to hold that for much longer. In about another fifteen kilometers we’ll be heading up a tributary with much tighter bends, and we’ll have to slow down. But we made good time yesterday, so … If the river’s with us, it could be as little as four hours.”
“Well before nightfall, then,” said Nina. “So what’s the plan when we get there?”
“That’s up to you,” Kari said.
“Me?”
“It’s your expedition.”
Nina shook her head. “No, Kari, it’s definitely yours! I’m just, I dunno, an adviser.”
Kari grinned. “Then advise me! What should we do when we arrive? Do we wait on the boat until tomorrow so we can have a full day’s exploration—”
Chase clapped his hands. “Sounds good to me! Julio’s cooking again, right?”
“Or do we take the Zodiac and start the search for the city as soon as we arrive?”
All eyes were upon Nina. “Er … we … take the Zodiac?” she finally decided.
“Aw, bollocks,” Chase complained, not meaning it.
“Good,” said Kari. “In that case, we’d better get prepared. I don’t want to waste any time.” She closed her laptop and left the bridge.
“You bloody workaholic,” Chase said to Nina after she had gone. “We could have had another nice night on the boat if you weren’t in such a rush to find this place! You know, it’s been there for ten thousand years, it’ll still be there tomorrow.”
“Oh, admit it,” she replied. “You’re just as curious about finding it as I am!”
“Okay, maybe I am. But,” he said, his tone becoming more serious, “You’ve got to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If we find this place—and I think we will; you obviously know what you’re doing …”
“Thanks.”
“Then I want you to promise me that you’ll keep calm, okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t want you to get all excited, go running off—and then fall down a pit, or set off a giant boulder that goes rolling after you, or something.”
“You’ve been watching too many movies,” Nina teased. “As you said, it’s been there for ten thousand years. Even if the place was crawling with booby traps, which is highly unlikely, the mechanisms wouldn’t be working after all this time. Any moving parts would have seized up or rotted away by now.”
“You know what I mean,” said Chase, slightly exasperated. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”
“Okay, okay. If we see any spear traps, I’ll stay out of the light.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Good.” Chase grinned. “By the way, that was officially the worst Harrison Ford impression in the world. Ever.
”
“Oh, I’d like to hear you do any better,” said Nina. “With your Cockney accent.”
“Cockney!” Chase pulled a face of exaggerated outrage. “Bollocks to that! I’m not a Cockney, I’m a Yorkshireman! Ought to throw you in the bloody river for that. Hmm …” He looked at her calculatingly.
“Oh no you don’t,” said Nina, backing away.
“Time for a swim, Doc!”
She shrieked and fled, Chase pursuing her with a maniacal laugh.
With a last throaty rumble, the Nereid’s engines fell silent. “This is as far as we can go,” said Perez.
According to the GPS, they were just under three miles from the search zone; slightly closer than Perez’s prediction, but his instincts about the navigability of the river were correct. Not only were the serpentine twists of the narrowing tributary too tight for the lengthy Predator to negotiate, but the sluggish water was increasingly clogged with debris. Despite Perez’s best efforts to avoid them, several fallen trees floating in the water had banged alarmingly against the hull.
Nina looked through the bridge window at the jungle. It appeared much the same as it had during the rest of the voyage … but now that the banks were so much closer, it seemed to loom higher. More menacing, almost alien.
“We’ve got just over five hours until sunset,” said Chase. “Enough time to let us get the lie of the land. Hell, maybe we’ll be lucky and walk right into this place.”
“That’d be nice,” Nina said. She had spent most of the day inside the air-conditioned cabin, finding the atmosphere outside more humid and stifling than ever.
“Is the Zodiac ready, Mr. Chase?” asked Kari.
“All set. Just add water.”
Everyone returned to their cabins to collect their packs and equipment. Nina decided to carry as little as possible, sticking to basics like water, food and insect repellent on the grounds that between them Chase, Castille and di Salvo would have all the survival gear the team could need. But she paused before picking up her pack, staring at the Atlantean sextant arm on the desk. She touched the pendant around her neck, thinking for a moment.
“What the hell,” she decided, picking up the metal bar and wrapping it in its cloth.
Kari tapped on the half-open door. “Can I come in?”
“Hi! Of course.”
“You’re bringing it with us?” asked Kari as Nina put the artifact in her pack. “I thought you were going to leave it in the safe.”
“I was, but…” Nina shrugged uncertainly. “I don’t know, I just thought it might be useful. If we get lucky and find something, maybe I can compare any text with it, be sure we’re in the right place.”
“I think we are. I know we are.”
A piercing whistle cut through the air. “Oi! Doc! You ready?” Chase called from outside. “Shift your arse!”
“Coming!” Sharing an amused roll of the eyes with Kari, Nina hoisted the pack over her shoulder and left the cabin. Chase was waiting for them.
“Don’t you ever get hot in that thing?” Nina asked, prodding the sleeve of his leather jacket.
“Hey, if it’s good enough for Indiana Jones … Anyway, I only sweat when I’m hassled.”
“And how often do you get hassled?”
“Since I met you, a lot more!”
The Zodiac was loaded, Perez and Julio lowering it into the river. The water was thick with algae and dead leaves, the boat making more of a turgid splat than a splash. Chase poked at the surface with a stick, sweeping rotting vegetation aside to check the color of the water.
“Top tip of the day,” he told the rest of the party, “don’t go in the water. And definitely don’t drink it either.”
“But surely the water should be perfectly fine,” declared Hamilton, who had donned a rather vivid red shirt in contrast to the earth tones worn by every one else. “It’s fresh rainwater, with no man-made pollutants!”
“Well, stick a straw in the river and suck away if you want. But you can clean out the bog afterwards.”
Hamilton looked confused. “Bog? Are we going into a swamp?” Chase sighed and shook his head.
They boarded the Zodiac, Chase sitting at the rounded bow while Castille worked the outboard motor. Nina and Kari sat facing each other on the boat’s fat inflated sides behind Chase. Di Salvo, Hamilton and finally Philby clambered aboard behind them. There were no seats, but those packs containing camping gear—Chase had decided to prepare for any eventualities—served as substitutes.
There was one pack that nobody wanted to sit on, however. Although it was closed, it was obvious from its angular bulges that it contained guns.
“Okay,” said Chase once everybody was settled, “all aboard the Skylark!” He waved to Julio, who untied the ropes. Castille started the outboard, which rasped and burbled into life. He guided the Zodiac carefully around the flank of its parent craft, then revved the engine and started the boat on its journey upriver.
“Christ,” muttered Chase. “Apocalypse Now time.” They were now inside the search area, looking for somewhere to make landfall—but being hampered by a dense mist. Even though the banks were barely twenty feet apart, the roiling fog was sometimes thick enough to obscure the trees.
The temperature had dropped noticeably. Nina had thought she would be glad of the relief from the oppressive, muggy heat, but instead found herself feeling uneasy. Even the constant shrieking and whooping of birds and animals had died away.
Di Salvo and Chase apparently felt the same, both men watching the banks intently, something about their postures suggesting that they were poised for action.
“What is it?” she asked Chase as the boat rounded another turn.
“I think we might have company.” No trace of his usual levity; he was all business.
“Eddie,” said di Salvo quietly, pointing off to the left. Nina followed Chase’s gaze, but saw nothing.
“Yeah, I see it,” Chase replied.
All Nina could see were trees. “What?”
Chase pointed. “Footprint in the mud.” She still couldn’t make it out even with his help.
“This is excellent,” Hamilton said, talking in his normal overloud voice and earning annoyed glares from Chase and di Salvo. “This is everything I hoped for! We’ll be the first people to meet this tribe, won’t we, Agnaldo?”
“Other people have met them before,” di Salvo said in a low, ominous tone. “They just didn’t come back to tell anyone.”
“Hugo,” Chase hissed, making a throat-cutting gesture. Castille immediately switched off the outboard.
“What is it?” Nina whispered. In reply, Chase pointed ahead.
Something emerged from the mist as the Zodiac drifted forward. Objects seemingly floating above the water … until the fog thinned enough to reveal that they were tied to bamboo poles.
Not tied to them. Impaled on them.
Nina cringed when she realized what the objects were. Corpses. The skeletal remains of people, most of the flesh long since rotted away and consumed by wildlife. All that remained were bones, shreds of clothing…
The blunt nose of the boat bumped gently against the first bamboo pole. Chase gestured to di Salvo, who tossed him an oar before picking one up for himself. “How long’s it been there, do you reckon?”
Di Salvo stared up at the body. “A long time. Years. The last time anyone was reported missing in this area was about seven years ago.”
“Looks like we found him.” Chase used the oar to push the boat sideways, then started rowing, easing it past the first poles. More of the awful markers came into view ahead.
“Amazing,” said Hamilton, watching the first corpse go by with an expression that blended awe with disgust. “A genuine lost tribe, completely isolated from civilization.”
Nina’s own expression was nothing but disgust. “I get the feeling they want to keep it that way. This is obviously a warning—keep the hell out.”
“We just need to show them that we’re no threat,??
? Hamilton breathed. “Think of all the anthropological data we can learn from them.”
“This is why I prefer archaeology,” Nina muttered. “All my finds are dead, they can’t stick you on a pole—Oh my God!” She jumped to her feet, rocking the boat, and tugged insistently at Chase’s jacket. “Eddie, Eddie! Stop the boat! Stop!”
Chase snatched his Wildey from its holster before realizing that Nina was excited, not scared. “Jesus, give me a heart attack, why don’t you?” he complained as he used the oar to stop the boat. “What is it?”
“That body …”
“What about it?”
She pointed up at one of the corpses. Even less of it remained than the first one they had encountered, the jawbone and one arm missing, all the connecting tissue eaten away. Its clothing was similarly rotted—but even through the accumulated filth and mold of decades, a glint of metal was still visible.
An insignia.
Just the sight of it made Nina shiver. It should have been incongruous, its impact diluted by time … but it still had the power to chill. An icon of evil.
The death’s-head insignia of the Schutzstaffel. Hitler’s SS.
“What the bloody hell’s that doing here?” Chase wondered aloud. “Nazis? Here?”
“It must have been one of the Ahnenerbe expeditions,” said Nina. “The Ahnenerbe was the archaeological arm of the SS,” she added, in response to Chase’s puzzled look. “The Nazis sent teams all over the world hunting for artifacts connected to Atlantean mythology—they believed that the Aryan race was descended from the ancient rulers of the world, all part of their “master race” crap. But their expeditions were focused on Asia, not South America …”
“Something brought them here,” said Kari. She gestured at Nina’s pack, and the sextant arm within. “Maybe the same thing as us.”
“No, that doesn’t make sense,” Philby said, frowning in thought. “At the time of the Nazis, the Glozel Tablets were considered fakes, they’d been discredited. They wouldn’t have been able to translate the inscriptions. It must have been something else, something we haven’t seen…”
Kari examined the neighboring bodies, more curious than repulsed. “From the state of these other corpses, they seem to have died at the same time. But there’s only four of them? That seems small for an expedition. The Ahnenerbe would send dozens of men on such a mission.”