by T. G. Ayer
He held the staff forth raising the gleaming tip toward the rays of the moon which entered the room through windows set high above.
Elana was looking at the ceiling and Allegra realized they were within a pyramid. A smaller structure as the ceiling seemed about a hundred feet above them, yet large enough for the highest point to be swathed in darkness.
Windows were scattered along each of the four sides casting crisscrossing patterns of light above their heads. It would have been beautiful had it not been for the horrible circumstances taking place mere meters below it.
The contrast stuck Allegra deeply. Such natural beauty, so pure and untouched, and meters away raw visceral blood gore of murder and sacrifice.
What god would be happy with this?
Allegra took a shuddering breath, aware that Elana was being moved, her footsteps stiff as if resisting her captors and yet afraid for her husband’s life.
Was Elana currently under the control of these people? It worried Allegra to think that was the case as it put so much of their plan in jeopardy. If a religious cult was involved with the impending destruction of Qusqu then Max and Allegra were up against so much more than just political machinations.
Cults and gods were not easy to wrestle under control. And neither were the people under their control.
Just how deep McIvor was under this particular cult’s control was something Allegra didn’t know. He’d seemed familiar enough with them as he’d looked around at his captors. He’d also seemed betrayed enough to know them well.
Perhaps there was a good thing to having this vision.
Beside Allegra light flashed as another priest thrust a spear toward McIvor, the point halting an inch from his right ear. McIvor squealed, the high-pitched sound reverberating within the cavernous ceiling above their heads.
Allegra wanted to yell out at him to grow a pair and stand up for himself, to do something to save his wife from whatever fate was definitely going to befall her.
If these people were to kill him, it would leave Elana at their mercy. Alone.
Allegra moaned and twisted, her eyes opening to her room. Max sat beside her, his face filled with worry. Elana was gone.
Allegra lifted her head off the bed, turned over to rest on her elbow. The room spun but she refused to continue lying down. She needed to do something.
Max was on his feet bedside. “Slow down.”
“What happened?”
“Another vision, I assume? You tell me.” He quirked an eyebrow as he helped her to sit back upright.
This was becoming a habit she was beginning to dislike.
She glared at him and then scanned the room for Elana. “Is she gone?”
Max nodded. “I think you scared her a little. You passed out and she asked if you were having a vision.”
“Hope you told her no.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “I did. I said you were very weak and you’d only just gone back to bed when she’d arrived.”
Allegra nodded. “Good. The last thing we need is for any of this to get out.”
“So, what did you see?”
“Whoever kills McIvor . . . they had his wife. This one happens before he is killed. I saw them inside a pyramid, priest types with religious headdresses and death masks . . . all the chanting and McIvor’s cries . . . he was terrified.”
“And Elana?” Max asked.
“She was hooded, and bound, I think. I could only see out of two slashes in what felt like a box around my head. It wasn’t easy. I was limited solely to where Elana looked in order to see anything at all.”
“See any faces?”
She shook her head. “No. The high priest was thin and tall, though.”
“You’re thinking Qhapaq?”
“Possibly. Or the man with him at the ambassador’s ball. Although men that thin and tall are not terribly hard to find here. Have you seen some of the tribal elders?”
Max smiled. “I know. But you haven’t yet seen the Emperor. Here he is worshiped as a god merely because he has ancient blood said to have come from the gods themselves.”
“No surprise then when people believe so passionately in the priests and their powers.”
“Are you thinking that it is likely why you were shot?”
She nodded. “It’s possible it was a warning. Or maybe I stirred up embers here a little too much and they need me gone.”
“But what could it be? What could they possibly do to cause such widespread destruction to the entire city?”
“That was my next question. In the vision the entire city sank, a gigantic sinkhole for all intents and purposes. What could cause such a thing to occur?”
“Mining?”
“Maybe. Although I doubt it. In these parts mining is frowned upon. And even if it was mining, what is the priests’ connection to corporate business dealings.”
Max shrugged. “Could be any number of things.”
“We could have a crooked priest,” murmured Allegra.
“Or a crooked ambassador.”
“You were thinking that too?”
Max cracked a grin. “We are on the same wavelength. So yes, it’s quite possible. Perhaps he is in league with them. Which would explain Les’s involvement.”
“It would explain why he kept saying he was loyal. And which would also explain why he’d appeared so shocked at what they were doing to him.”
Max got to his feet and began to pace. “I think this means we need to leave here as soon as possible.”
Allegra nodded. “I agree. If McIvor is in on it—which is what it appears to be—then Les will continue to be in danger and so will we.”
The door opened and Celestra walked in, a shy smile on her face as she set eyes on Allegra.
“Aren’t you supposed to be-”
A loud explosion rocked the apartment, throwing Les inside the bedroom. She sprawled on the floor, letting out a stunned moan.
Both Max and Allegra had been shielded by the wall, but from the sounds of glass crashing to the floor the front of the apartment hadn’t been so lucky.
Max rushed to Les, pulling her away from the open doorway. The door which now hung at an angle, now tethered to the jamb only by the bottom hinge.
Max dropped Les onto the bed and Allegra helped settle her, checking for injuries.
“Dear Apollo. I think she’s just in shock. No injuries that I can see.”
Max peered slowly out of the door, cautiously checking the front of the apartment which Allegra imagined was in ruins. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s time we got out of Qusqu.”
Allegra nodded as Max turned to meet her eyes.
“I know you feel things are unfinished here, but I’ll get my intelligence people on the case. They’re likely to come up with more than what you or I can, especially considering we’re so high-profile now.”
Allegra nodded. She couldn’t disagree. All she knew was it felt like they were running away. At last she took a deep breath and looked up at Max.
“We can leave. But we’re going to come back. And when we do, I’m going to make sure nothing bad happens to the people of Qusqu.”
Chapter 30
They left Qusqu using the mayhem of the explosion as cover. Celestra had proved resourceful, leading them out of the embassy building through a set of secret tunnels she’d claimed had been built in case an emergency exit was required for the ambassador’s and his staff’s safety.
The fire engines had roared through the city and the police had raced to the embassy. People milled around the streets across from the building and as Allegra and Max slipped away she felt a sense of horror at the sight of the dark, scorch-marked gash on the side of the front face of the pyramid where their apartment had once been.
Les had suffered a twisted ankle and a burst eardrum. Max and Allegra had escaped with only shock to list as their resulting ailments.
They’d dressed in the hooded cloaks so commonly used by the acolytes of the local tribal cult and t
hough they received some attention, it was more so because of the cloaks than their identities.
Nobody was looking for them yet, and now they huddled inside a derelict shack overlooking the city. The sun had begun to set and the edges of the horizon had turned a purple-blue. The glow of the fire stood out in stark contrast against the darkening skies.
“Now what?” asked Allegra softly as she huddled with her back against the wall, the city beyond it. The hovel had only half a roof, most of it lying rotten on the floor to their left. She stared at the flickering light reflected against the trees above the building and wondered at where their lives were headed when it was this filled with mayhem.
Max grunted, pulling out his satellite phone. Hopefully whatever help arrived will not be too late as it had been in Indus not too long ago. Corina had died in her arms because of it.
That’s not true, said a little voice in her head.
She pushed it away and listened as Max rang his second in command in the States and called in a team to extract them.
When he’d rung off Les asked, “Why didn’t they just send a chopper?”
Max pursed his lips. “Because that would draw too much attention. An NGS Army chopper in the air right now would be a dead giveaway that we are escaping.”
“Even if the Qusquan law enforcement supports our leaving in such a clandestine way, whoever is after us would be tipped off instantly.” Allegra spoke the words without emotion. She was beginning to think too much like Max.
Les nodded and touched her ear gingerly. She winced as her fingers came away stained with blood. “That hurts like a bitch.”
Allegra grinned and beckoned her with her hand. “Come, I’ll massage it. See if it helps.”
Les gave her an odd look.
Allegra laughed softly. “Don’t be afraid. I’m a physiotherapist. I know what I’m doing.”
Les grinned slightly. “I’m more worried about visions.”
Allegra shrugged. “Usually they don’t come after I’ve touched someone once. But I guess if the impending disaster is urgent in any way, or if your relationship to it is relevant, then I’ll get the vision of whatever happens no matter who I touch.”
Les nodded although she did look skeptical. Still, she shifted closer and allowed Allegra to place her fingers below her ear. The massage wouldn’t heal the damage but it would ease some of the throbbing pain she knew came with a burst eardrum.
Hurt like a bitch is exactly the way Allegra would have described it. As her fingers worked she looked over at Max. “How long before extraction?”
He shook his head. “An hour, possibly two. They’re sending a team through the jungle so they won’t be here fast. We’re going to have to hope this hovel will keep us hidden long enough.”
Les let out a soft groan which made Allegra smile. Max cracked a grin too. “Ooh, that feels sooo good,” Les whispered. Then cleared her throat. “Massages are sometimes even better than sex.”
Allegra chuckled. “Best keep that to yourself. Men don’t like to hear that kind of thing.”
Les laughed. “Well, Max doesn’t count.”
Before Allegra could ask exactly what she meant by that—because there were two hugely different connotations to her words—a rustling within the tree-line made her clamp her mouth shut.
Max lifted a finger to his lips and waved the both of them down. Allegra and Les slid slowly to the floor and waited as Max duck-walked along the far wall toward an open window. After a few minutes in which Allegra’s heart thumped so hard she was concerned it would damage her ribs, Max slid back to the ground with a sigh of relief.
“A jaguar,” he whispered. “But let’s just keep silent in case. And no fire, so I hope we don’t end up freezing to death.”
Allegra nodded, and so did Les, all thoughts of massages having flown from their heads.
The next hour ticked by. Every so often they checked the view of the embassy building down in the valley. The flames had died down and the milling crowd had only thickened as dense smoke rose into the skies.
The police would have their hands full.
“How long before they start looking for us?” Allegra asked, glancing over at Max who was rifling through his bag. He’d called it a go-bag and had detoured to his bedroom for it before they’d fled.
“Once they clear the apartment and find no bodies. With the damage it could take them a bit, but considering the bedrooms weren’t affected they are more likely to assume we escaped to be on the safe side. I know I would.”
Allegra nodded. Exhaustion had been building for a while and it was now taking its toll. She blinked away the sleep, but found her head dropping again. She jerked awake so hard that she bumped the back of her head against the stone wall.
“You should sleep. We have a long way ahead of us. I’m guessing a trek through the jungle so both of you should sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
“What about you?”
Max smiled. “I can manage. And I’m a light sleeper. A few catnaps here and there and I’ll be fine.”
Though she wasn’t too comfortable with leaving him to guard them all by himself, Allegra didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Her eyelids drooped of their own accord and soon she was slipping to the black cocoon of sleep.
Chapter 31
The sounds of rustling and low voices woke Allegra and she stared around into the pitch black darkness, her heart racing.
“They’re here,” whispered Max.
Allegra nodded as she made out his shape across from her. A few other unknown shadows lurked within the shack and she felt a flood of relief. Beside her Les began to stir, and then straighten from leaning against the wall.
“I swear I’m going to get arthritis of the brain if I continue sleeping against this thing. Damn but their freezing cold.”
Allegra grinned. She’d found Les’s personality engaging, and so different from the icy, haughty person she’d met on their first day in Qusqu.
Even knowing Les and Max had been together—a long time ago—didn’t detract from her growing affection for the other woman.
The extraction team threw a pack in front of each of them, and inside Allegra found full travel gear including thick socks and hiking boots. Considering she’d escaped the apartment wearing a pair of flat sneakers which would never have stood up to a walk through the jungle, Allegra was most appreciative.
Before long the extraction team had them on their feet and following a trail through the jungle. They’d been instructed to step only where the team stepped, and to remain silent unless it was an emergency.
The trek through the jungle took six hours and the sun was on the horizon by the time they reached a small clearing.
One of the men hurried over to Max. “We’re out of Qusqu now. Just north of the border. We’re waiting on a chopper that’ll take you to your location. For your safety, Commander, we won’t be asking your destination. You’ll be taking the chopper from here yourself, as requested.”
Max nodded, scanning the skies looking out for the aircraft. It didn’t take long to find it skimming the horizon to the east.
The extraction team, Max, Allegra and Les watched as the chopper closed in on their location, and began to descend.
Allegra’s blood ran cold as a low whistling rent the air and the chopper—their only means of escape—burst into flames, sending the watching audience crashing to the ground to take cover.
“What the hell was that?” yelled Allegra above the sound of the roaring of flames consuming the wreckage of the chopper.
The extraction team leader was yelling in Max’s ear. When the man was done Max looked over at Allegra.
“That was our pursuers. Whoever they are, they mean business. We need to go into hiding.” Max glanced at Les for a moment, an odd expression in his eye. Then he gave her a comforting smile and looked back at Allegra. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have to go for a swim.
“Ugh,” Les grumbled. “I didn’t bring my bathing suit
.”
Allegra shook her head and smiled as they scrambled to their feet and fled into the trees. Heading north they left the extraction team behind, taking a northeast track into the thickest part of the jungle.
Allegra, though tired, kept pace as best as she could but Les slowed them down, her sprained ankle swelling as they went. They’d stopped three times to rest, during which time Allegra had attended to the sprain, massaging to ease the pain. She couldn’t do much more than that, especially since after a good physio session Les would need to rest in order for the joint to begin healing.
Still, Les was a champion, insisting they keep moving, seeming determined not to be the reason they slowed down. The fact that she was too slow was one neither Max nor Allegra voiced out loud.
They were ten minutes from the river when they heard the rushing of the water.
“Be careful of snakes and crocodiles. Oh, and also hippos.”
“What?” Les shrieked. “I’m not going into the water with those creatures around.”
Allegra shook her head but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t as if they had much of a choice in how they proceeded. They had everything against them and not even an oracle could help. If she ever learned to hone her skills in order to obtain a vision without the need to touch someone, Allegra knew she would feel more valuable. No longer just a conduit.
They reached a river which amounted to little more than a wide stream rushing over a field of boulders.
Only when they stepped into the water did Allegra realize how deep it was.
Max held his go-bag high above his head while Allegra followed with Les who was also struggling to hold a small pouch up high.
Les let out a squeal as she was sloshed up to her neck. “Max, can you grab this for me. I don’t want to get it wet.”
Max paused and turned, then reached out for the bag. Les handed it to him and although Allegra was sure he’d managed to grab hold of it, the bag slipped from his grasp and hit the water with a flat smack.
Les screamed and lunged for the bag, but the water swept it away too fast. Frustrated, Les slapped the water and then turned to Max, her gaze furious.
