breathing a little heavily in the andean air, and still dazed at the urgency with which he had been whisked southward (via jet bomber), dr. luis craig walked across packed earth toward a powerful-looking helicopter which, he had just been told, was to take him on the last leg of his trip. he listened tiredly to the unctuous words of his escort, a lieutenant rabar who wore the uniform of this latin american nation's air force and who was to fly the helicopter.
shouts erupted behind them, at the edge of the field. something snarled at his left ear. the sound was familiar, though not recently so: the crack of a rifle. he hit the dirt.
another bullet came searching, but now the shouts got themselves organized into crisp spanish. sidearms and at least two automatic weapons blatted. there were no more rifle shots. cautiously, he raised his head to look at the knot of uniformed men where the sniper had been.
rabar stepped forward, offering a hand. "are you all right, doctor?"
craig ignored the hand and got up without help. "quite, thank you." he had disliked rabar from the moment of introduction; and now it was in his mind that rabar had stepped carefully away from him before the first bullet came.
as casually as he could, he walked to the aluminum ladder hung upon the helicopter's side and hauled himself up. he stopped in the hatch, dignity forgotten, startled at the disparity of the three men already in the ship.
directly across the cabin sat a gaunt scarecrow of a man in a black priest's cassock. an oxygen mask dangled on his thin chest, suggesting a bloated crucifix. the long, swarthy face was pockmarked, dour and without animation at the moment, except for fierce black eyes that burned steadily into craig's own. craig thought of a condor, perched near some nearly ready meal. he was immediately ashamed of the thought.
forward of the priest sat a brown indian. his face mirrored dignified resignation to being carried in this hellish contraption to horrible death, or worse.
occupying the only seat on the hatch side was a tautly uniformed man who eyed craig coldly.
the priest spoke. his voice was deep and gently strong, caressing the spanish syllables like a great soft bell. "we are abject, doctor. we had tried very hard ... but there are fanatics."
"eh?" said craig. "oh. well, i am unhurt, as you can see."
"for which, thanks to the almighty. our humblest apologies. you speak spanish exceptionally well, doctor."
wondering if there were a question behind the compliment, craig said, "my mother was mexican." he did not think it necessary to add that he'd grown up near the border, and had once spent two years as an exchange professor of physics at the mexican university.
the priest nodded once. "i see. it was thoughtful of your government to choose you. and more than kind of you to come. but, forgive me; the shooting has made me forget my manners. this—" indicating the uniformed man—"is general noriega." he laid a hand on the shoulder of the indian. "and this one prefers to answer to the name dientes."
craig looked at the brown face with interest. archeology was one of his hobbies, and in this part of the world ... 'dientes' was spanish for 'teeth,' he mused. abruptly, under his gaze, the immobile face split into a wide nervous smile revealing the source of the nickname. they were large, even and very white.
"and i," the priest was saying, "am called father brulieres. won't you seat yourself?"
craig tensed in surprise. the name brulieres had been very much in the news of late. a priest by that name had led the movement which put the present government in power—and was still reputedly, the man who actually ran it.
craig realized he was still perched awkwardly halfway into the cabin. mumbling something, he squeezed his bulky mountain gear through the hatch and took the empty seat beside the priest.
rabar came in, closing the hatch behind him, and went forward to the pilot's seat. he glanced around at his passengers.
it seemed to craig that he was more interested in faces than in the condition of seat belts. rabar worked at switches and buttons. engines coughed, then roared. from overhead came the rising "whoosh" of the vanes. the craft shivered and lifted.
they went on oxygen at once, and craig, under the eyes of the other passengers, was glad to put the breather over at least part of his face. imitating the others he pulled down the earflaps of his helmet. it seemed to have built-in radio, as he could hear rabar advising them to strap in. a moment later, clearing his throat, he discovered that his breather contained a mike. he was surprised at such advanced electronics here.
they were quickly closed in by mighty cliffs. below them, a river tumbled wildly. where it could find root-holds, fantastic greenery burgeoned, but it did little to disguise the menacing rock. the cabin's plastic windows gave all too clear a view.
turning from the window beside him, craig found his eyes wandering to the insignia pinned to the priest's cassock. of elegantly wrought gold, it was the same emblem he'd noticed on buildings, vehicles and other government property here. it looked like a set of football goalposts with the uprights moved in close together, leaving the crossbar extending to the sides.
the priest caught his look and gave him what might be intended for a smile. "you wonder about our emblem? it represents the church and state standing—what is the expression in your own language?—'four-square' together."
"oh." craig realized that the symbol was simply a cross with two posts instead of one. he felt a little annoyed. his own government had told him enough to make him eager to come on this job, but they'd also warned him emphatically not to discuss politics or religion. he supposed the united states needed friends wherever they could be found, but a dictatorship wasn't his notion of a good alternative to bolshevism.
he realized that the warning had point. he didn't know how ruthless these people might be, but the shooting back at the airfield hadn't been any game of marbles. for that matter, the whole country, or what he'd seen of it, had an armed-camp air.
he decided the thing to do was to concentrate on the scientific reason for his visit, and now was as good a time to start as any. he leaned toward brulieres, then realized that wasn't necessary. "er—are you at liberty to tell me anything about the explosion?"
brulieres eyed him for a moment, and again there was the hint of a smile. "we could hardly be secretive with you, doctor. you are the expert. how much were you told?"
"just that there'd been a nuclear explosion of unknown origin. they said there was something spectacular about it."
"spectacular? si! your government was gracious enough to accept our request for technical help without demanding details. security is very difficult, as you comprehend." brulieres looked absent for a moment. "the explosion occurred at a spot famous in pre-christian legends, which is why friend dientes accompanies us. he is considered experto." the intense eyes turned upon the indian, with a hint of mischief. "not that he fails to be a good christian as well."
the indian crossed himself nervously.
"the explosion," brulieres went on, "seems to have uncovered some very ancient tunnels. we wish to explore them, but we felt we needed a nuclear physicist along. especially since there appears the possibility that the explosion originated from the tunnels."
craig heard noriega clear his throat. brulieres glanced at noriega. "it has also been suggested," the priest said, "that the uncovering of the tunnels is coincidental, and that the explosion was of foreign origin."
craig thought that over, and was annoyed. "that does not seem likely," he said, a little stiffly. "nobody is tossing live warheads around."
noriega spoke for the first time. his voice was crisp and rather high. "you can perhaps speak for your own nation, doctor craig; but others too possess missiles."
brulieres interposed, "you no doubt know, doctor, that a communist putsch very nearly took over this country. the present government has been compelled to very strict measures against a further attempt. therefore we are not popular with the communist nations."
craig waved a hand impatiently. "yes, i know that, but...." he realized he was being careless. "i only wish to approach my investigation with an open mind. you say the tunnels were ancient? incan, perhaps?"
brulieres shook his head slowly. "they were hardly capable of anything on this scale. one cannot speak so surely of those who preceded the incas in this place."
craig pondered, and felt his pulse move faster. "how much have you learned so far?"
"what can be seen from the air. we will be the first to land, if you decide it is safe."
