On certain sections of the path, it partially levels out and widens, giving Laura’s nerves a chance to relax, while allowing her to enjoy the spectacular view. Slowly the ruins of Machu Picchu are getting smaller and smaller as they make their way up the mountain. Laura is amazed at how the Incas designed and built the ruins and how they managed to build a stone path up a steep mountain. Holding on to a small shrub, Laura catches her breath and steals a look down the mountain. She can see why the Incas chose the location.
It is totally remote, being in the center of a group of large mountains, with the river flowing below. It is also a place of opposites.
The vegetation down by the river is tropical rain forest, while the vegetation a few hours climb up the mountain is more bush and shrubs, being far less dense. Laura takes a few more steps and comes to a small level area. The air at their altitude is thin, and Laura is becoming lightheaded, suffering from mild altitude sickness.
Victor makes her stop and rest, asking her to drink plenty of water. He does not believe in drinking coca leaf tea extract for altitude sickness as one gram of coca leaf is normally used to fill one tea bag and contains around 4.2 mg of organic coca alkaloid. The amount is roughly equivalent to a quarter of a typical line of cocaine, and one cup of tea can cause a positive result on a drug test. Victor removes a few pills from his backpack he bought in town, and hands it to Laura.
“What are these?”
“They are pills designed for body building. It makes the body send more oxygen to your muscles and brain. The increased oxygen supply will help with the altitude sickness.”
Taking the pills, Laura swallows them down with some water, and then takes a banana that Victor holds out to her. They are close to the top, looking over Mountain Hayana Picchu.
“Did you know that many of the stunning pictures taken of Machu Picchu with a mountain featured in the background are actually taken from this mountain?” Victor asks.
“Yes, but I did not know it was such a hard climb.”
Laura has not given much attention to the path farther on, only wanting to rest.
Now she looks at the steep steps in front of her, curling around a large boulder and then switching back, going over the boulder.
“You okay Laura?” Victor comes to stand behind her, giving her the larger part of the plateau.
“Yes, just resting a bit more, catching my breath, this is hard work.”
“It is the altitude, take your time, the pills will start to work in a few minutes. When you are ready, let me know.”
“I am ready.”
“Okay, let me get past you here.”
“It’s okay, I’ll lead for a while,” Laura answers, and then slowly starts to make her way forward.
“You sure?”
“Jup, tired of looking at your sexy ass,” Laura replies to Victor with a wink.
Laura eagerly takes the first steps, hugging the side of the mountain. The security of the large boulder against her shoulder gives her some comfort. Her heart is pounding, and adrenaline rushes through her body. Carefully she starts to round the boulder, and instinctively steals a glance down to her left. The drop off is sheer, going down easily a 1000ft. Suddenly Laura realizes that she is standing on a three foot wide rock path, being tugged on by wind rounding the rock, with no railing. Laura starts to become dizzy and the world around her starts to spin. The rocks far below call to her, wanting her to meet them, head first. Laura grabs the boulder with her right hand, and one of the steps in front of her with her left. Her whole body is shaking, and fear freezes her body.
Laura wants to turn around and tell Victor that she wants to go back, but she is too afraid to move. The world around her starts to turn and she feels like passing out. Victor’s soft touch on her shoulders brings her back to reality.
“You okay? Just take it one step at a time Laura, just one step at a time.” Victor’s soft reassuring voice competes with the voice calling from the depths below. Slowly Laura lifts her left leg and takes one step up, and then the next one; both her legs are shaking badly, and it takes immense effort for her not to collapse on the spot. With each step, courage comes to Laura, and slowly she rounds the boulder, and then proceeds to pass over it until she is standing above Victor on a small level area. Holding on to a rock, she quickly glances down at Victor, and gives him a triumphant smile, who returns it proudly. He then starts moving forward to round the boulder himself.
Laura decides to press on, having found new energy and spirit. Feeling proud of herself for not giving up, she puts her right leg on the first step after the level area, and then transfers all her weight to it as she lifts her left leg up. Just then the rock under her right leg pulls loose. Time almost comes to a standstill for her. In horror she looks on as the rock slides out from under her, while her body becomes weightless as she turns and falls backwards off the mountain, a 1000ft drop, with the rocks below waiting for her, ready to crush her bones and drink her blood. Laura’s life passes before her eyes, her parents, and her friend.
She can see her hands frantically grabbing in the air for something to hold on to, and she can hear herself scream, but it is as if it is not her, as if she is already dead. Suddenly her body jerks to a standstill, her legs dangling in the air. In a trance, Laura looks down at the depths below, then slowly up, seeking the familiar voice calling to her.
“Laura! Laura! Stop kicking!”
Laura snaps out of her trance, realizing that Victor has caught her by her backpack, holding her by the carry handle on the back. Suddenly she can hear a ripping sound as the stitching tears where the shoulder straps are secured at the top, unable to support her weight.
“Thank you for catching me. What do you want me to do?”
Victor is lying flat on his stomach on the small plateau, having caught Laura with his right hand.
“Keep as still as possible, while lifting your arms up and take my hand.”
“Okay.”
Laura reaches up, but she cannot reach far enough back.
“Victor, I can’t reach you.”
“I know, it will be okay.”
“What now?”
“Keep as still as possible, and hold your arms up. I am going to pull as hard as I can and throw you up, and then grab your arms, okay?”
“What? No, please don’t let me go.”
“Trust me…” The rest of his sentence is cut off by Laura’s scream as one shoulder strap tears out of the backpack. The backpack starts to slide off Laura’s right shoulder.
The sounds of the stitching from the other strap snapping under her weight fills Laura’s ears. Suddenly the right shoulder strap tears out as well, causing Laura’s body to fall forward. She is now only hanging by the hip belt from the backpack.
“Laura, bring your legs up. I will let go of the pack and grab your legs.”
Laura wants to argue, but a cracking sound makes her look down at the hip belt buckle. A crack has appeared across the quick connect buckle, and it is starting to pull open. Laura brings her legs up just as the buckle snaps. For a split second she is weightless, then she falls down the mountain, head first. Suddenly her body swings towards the mountain and she covers her face with her arms just before crashing into the side of the mountain. Victor is holding Laura by the end of her pants with his right hand, while holding on to a small rock sticking up on the plateau with his left, keeping them both from sliding off the mountain.
“Laura, I will not be able to pull you up in this position, nor will I be able to hold my grip on your pants for long. Turn yourself around so that your back is to the mountain, and then pull your body up, basically doing a sit up.”
Laura looks down into the abyss, the depth calls her again; she answers Victor instead.
“Okay.”
Slowly she pushes away from the mountain with one hand, and then rolls over. Victor is starting to lose his grip on her pants and Laura slides down a bit every time her pants slip in Victor’s hand. With effort, Laura pulls her upp
er body up, reaching for her legs and Victor’s hand.
Stretching her arms out, her fingers almost touch his hand, coming only an inch short.
“Come on Laura, you can do it.” Victor’s grip slips some more. There is only an inch of material left before Laura’s pants slip totally out of his hand. Laura strains, her face red from effort. Giving all she has, Laura reaches up the last bit just as Victor loses his grip. Quickly Laura grabs his hand with both hers and holds on as her lower body swings down. The jolt of Laura’s legs swinging down causes Victor to lose his grip on the small rock, and he starts to slide over the edge as Laura’s body weight pulls on him. Victor tries to dig his fingers and shoes into the ground, but it is too soft from the previous night’s rain. Suddenly Victor’s right leg slips over the edge and he quickly reaches behind him and pulls out the knife he took off the dead assassin.
“Let go of me, save yourself!” Laura yells, as Victor’s legs slide over the edge.
“Never!” Victor replies as the rest of his body slides over the edge. Victor sticks the knife into the ground with all his effort, finding a spot between two rocks. The knife cuts into the soft ground up to its hilt, supporting both Victor and Laura as they hang off the mountain. Laura looks down in fear, then back at Victor.
“Laura, I am going to pull you up hard. When I say now, let go of my hand and grab my belt, okay?”
“Okay.”
Victor’s arm is tired from holding Laura for so long, but he ignores the pain and pulls as hard as he can, bringing her up. As soon as her elbows are level with his belt he yells, “Now!”
Laura lets go of his hand and is just in time to grab his belt. Victor grabs her under one arm and pulls her up until she is level with him. Instinctively Laura pulls her right leg up and hooks it on his backpack’s hip belt, then pushes up while pulling herself up using Victor’s shoulders. Laura manages to reach the edge of the plateau and Victor pushes her from behind until she is over the edge and safely on the plateau. Reaching up with his right hand, he holds the knife with both hands and pulls himself up, helped by Laura who has grabbed him by his backpack, until Victor is next to her.
“Okay, we will rest awhile then go back,” Victor says exhausted. He is sad that Laura made it this far, but he cannot ask her to continue after what she just went through.
“No, I want to go on.”
“You sure?”
“I will not let this mountain get the better of me, if I have to crawl every step up to the top, so be it.”
Victor smiles at her and gives her a hug, then replies, “That’s my girl.”
After resting for a few minutes, they carefully stand up and continue their climb. Laura makes sure that every rock she steps on is secure. A great burden has been lifted from her shoulders. She feels bigger than the mountain. For years, she stayed away from merry go rounds and anything that was higher than two stories. Now she has finally killed that demon. The path starts to get easier, becoming less steep. At one point the path leads through a large boulder, where it then continues up on the other side. The section is steep and very narrow with a sheer drop off.
“You be okay?” Victor asks.
“One step at a time,” Laura replies with a smile over her shoulder. Even though she is still nervous, her heart is not trying to jump out of her chest like an alien. Carefully she climbs the section on all fours, and is relieved to see the top of the mountain only a short distance away. The last part of the climb is easy, with the path ending on a plateau 300 feet long and 30 feet wide at the top of the mountain. There is a small structure in the middle with a grass thatched roof and benches for seating. A middle aged couple are enjoying a picnic under the structure. As Victor and Laura near the couple, the man gets up and greets them.
“I say dear chap, marvelous view isn’t it?”
“Yes it is.” Victor looks down at the lady, who is spreading Little Scarlet Strawberry Conserve on some scones.
“I am Graham Mills, and this is my wife Jo. Care for some tea and scones?”
“That would be lovely,” Laura replies behind Victor.
As Laura and Victor sit down, Graham turns his back to them, looking down the mountain, as he pours two cups of tea from a flask, then quickly sets the flask down and takes a small metal container from his pants pocket from which he pours a healthy dose into each cup. Laura and Victor’s attention are held by Jo asking where they are from, and they notice nothing. After returning the container to his pocket, Graham turns towards Laura and Victor, handing them each a cup. Both eagerly welcome the warm beverage, unaware of the contents of the cups.
Victor slowly brings his cup to his lips, and just as the tea touches his lips, he smells it. Even with the strong smell of the tea, he can smell the added contents. Before he can warn Laura, she takes a big gulp. Laura’s face turns red as she struggles to breathe, while tears form in her eyes.
“Puts the warmth right back in you hey?” Graham comments smilingly.
“Have you gone and spiked these nice people’s tea Graham?”
“Just adding something to the taste honey.”
“Whiskey?” Victor asks, having taken a sip, trying to catch his breath.
“Johnnie Walker Black Label, old chap,” Graham says proudly.
“Oh my,” is all Laura can get out once the burning in her throat subsides and she can partially breathe again.
“Have a scone dear,” Jo says, holding a paper plate with scones out to her and Victor.
“Thank you,” Laura comments as she takes one, carefully taking a small bite, then notices a tissue box next to Jo on the ground.
“You sick?” Laura asks.
“Yes, I have a sticky toffee cold.”
“Excuse me?” Laura asks, looking confused.
“A cold I just can’t shake, a sticky toffee cold dear,” Jo says as she holds a plate out to Victor.
“Thank you Jo”, replies Victor, not being as careful as Laura and taking a big bite.
“You from around Manchester, England?” Victor asks, trying to trace the accent.
“Close, we live in Huddersfield. We have a sheep farm out there.”
“You live on a farm? Wow that must be nice,” Laura comments, trying to imagine how it must be to live on a farm.
“Oh my, look at the time, dear we have to go.” Jo starts packing up their stuff into two backpacks on the ground.
“Jolly good, let me help you there dear. Sorry old chap, but we have to run. Need to hurry to catch our train back. Why don’t you come for a visit next time you are in England? Wait, let me see, yes, here you go, take my business card. Come visit us some day.” With that, Graham picks up his backpack, shakes Victor’s hand and gives Laura a hug before turning to take the path off the mountain. Jo gives Victor a hug and then Laura, whispering in her ear, “He’s a cute one, make sure you keep him.” Then she turns and makes haste to catch up with Graham, who is waiting for her at the edge of the plateau.
A light wind starts to blow the mist clear of the mountain, allowing the sun to punch holes in the mist, creating a magnificent scene of beams of light coming through the cloud formation, dancing over the mountain and Machu Picchu far below. Laura looks up in awe as a light beam hits the structure they are sitting under, as if they are on stage and under the spotlight.
As the mist continues to clear, the scene all around the mountain opens up, allowing them to have a full view of the ruins, and the river snaking between the mountains.
All around them are mountains, some smaller than the one they are on, others larger, their peaks snow covered. Victor and Laura sit huddled together, taking a break. Laura rests her head on Victor’s shoulder as she watches another cloud lazily drift by. I really am in the clouds. Victor takes a few pictures of the view and Laura, who then takes his cell phone from him and snaps a few pictures of him. Holding the phone out, she takes a picture of the two of them together.
“You ready to head back?” Victor asks as Laura hands him back his cell phone.
“Do we have to? It is so lovely up here.”
“Jup, the entry gate will close in just over two hours.”
Laura nods, then takes Victor’s hand, who is already standing, helping her up. The trip back is far easier and less eventful, with Laura now able to notice and enjoy all she missed on the way up, due to being afraid. Laura and Victor reach the entry gate two hours later, where they then proceed to the exit point of the ruins. They are both hungry and looking forward to sitting down at the cafe just outside the ruins while enjoying a soda and a sandwich, unaware that death is waiting for them.
“Oh, can I stamp my passport?” Laura asks just as they exit the ruins. Victor laughs and nods. He removes his backpack and opens a side pocket, taking Laura’s passport out and handing it to her, then pulls his out as well. Good thing he decided to keep their passports and the cash in his bag. Does Laura remember that the passports are fake? Should I remind her? No, it adds to the rarity of the stamp.
Few people can brag about a Machu Picchu stamp in their passports, even fewer have a stamp in a false passport. Across from the entry gate, in the restaurant at the Sanctuary Lodge, Nikolai slowly stands up and slings his backpack over his right shoulder. As he walks out, he glances at his wrist watch. Victor should be exiting the ruins soon. He carefully makes his way out of the restaurant and down a few steps to the ground level. No one pays any attention to him as he walks past the busses towards a hiking trail. Nikolai follows the hiking trail down for a short distance, until he is sure no one can see him from the ruins or cafe. Peering through the branches, he makes sure he is still able to see the busses and people at the gate. Nikolai scans the path he is on, making sure no one is on the hiking path, before he leaves the path and pushes his way into the bushes. After finding a good hiding spot, he goes down on his knees and removes his backpack. Opening the bag, he takes out a towel that is rolled up around something. Unrolling the towel on the ground, Nikolai smiles as he looks at his sniper rifle. Expertly, he assembles the rifle, and then takes position, waiting for a clear shot. Using the powerful scope, he scans the crowd coming out of the gates.
Laura 02 The God Code Page 5
