Incan Relic
Amauche Ohiaeri
Copyright Amauche Ohiaeri 2010
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Chapter 1
Trujillo
Peru
8:34pm
Professor Maxmilian Moritz laboured diligently picking at the soft clay at his feet with his pick axe, the halogen lamp picking up the fine sheen of perspiration on his face as he worked, his features scrunched in elaborate concentration. The inner sanctum of the cave was sprawled with Incan symbols, giving the cave an ancient and prehistoric look dating back to beginning of time before the coming of man, behind him just to the entrance of cave, a brunette stood with a high definition camera recording every symbol splayed on the walls of the cave.
"Professor Max, this symbols are ancient even by Incan standards...only very obscure texts contain such symbols!"
Professor Max despite being a veteran on archaleogical digs found it very hard to contain his excitement, he remembered all too well his first day on a dig, how his mentor had guided his hands, tolerated his numerous mistakes, passing on knowledge with unrivalled skill.
He looked at Lisa Barker and he smiled in his mind, reminded so much of his youthful days...
So wide eyed.
So eager to explore the world, the uncharted caves, the mountains, lost and ancient civilisations, he wanted to tell the world the secrets of the past, to make the next world shattering discovery.
But all that had given ground to the dawning reality that had set in, the undaunted task of navigating the murky waters of academic politics, securing grants and all what not.
"Yes, you're right, this symbols look very rudimentary, very much like the Incan symbols as we know it today evolved from this somehow" he said momentarily leaving his work and studying the symbols on the walls.
"Notice how the carvings were etched deep onto the walls like it was done with a sharp object"
"A flint perhaps, the Incas were very resourceful people, primitive but scientifically resourceful, tall tales of enormous wealth and treasures are littered all over their history"
“It's absolutely incredible, this is one hell of a find Professor"
Digging with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, Professor Maxmilian resumed his work digging furiously, the pick axe sinking into the soft soil until it struck something hard.
Pulling the object out the soil, cradling it in his palms, he wiped the ancient object with the linen cloth in his lap. The object reflected a pale yellow in the white light coming from the halogen lamp.
An object Professor Maximilian recognised immediately due to its value and its importance to the ancients who once inhabited this caves.
The ancients worshipped this object because unlike every other thing in the world, this object-a gift from their gods, it withstood the test of time.
No eroding, no impurities.
Absolute perfection.
Gold.
"Lisa...I've found it, bring the camera!"
It dawned on professor Maximilian, that he had just made the most important discovery of his career.
Somewhere else a pair of eyes watched the archaeological duo in the Incan cave. The men wore black liquid armour, state of the art goggles equipped with night vision, thermal heat seeking signatures and infrared, MP-5 rifles equipped with subsonic suppressors, Browning hi-power semi automatic pistols in thigh holsters, K-Bar hunting knifes.
An assault squad.
Deadly and efficient.
Silence reigned supreme in their hideout until the man watching the screen spoke.
"Tango to Delta One, the relic has been discovered, awaiting further instruction on course of action"
"Delta One to Tango, retrieve the relic and eliminate all witnesses...I repeat eliminate all witnesses"
"Understood, Tango out"
Static.
The man silently gave the orders to his team.
MP-5 rifles raised, goggles fitted securely over their eyes, Night Vision mode selected, black night faded away before their eyes into luminescent green.
The hunt was starting.
They descended like deadly wraiths, apex predators in search for prey.
The man didn't feel sorry for the archaeologists in the cave, if he had a job to do, he did it regardless.
Professor Max stood transfixed by the object cradled tentatively in his palms, his assistant trying to maintain the camera's focus on the object but failing terribly in all her excitement.
"We found it, Max!" Lisa chirped excitedly, all ranks and position forgotten in the glory of the discovery
"Yes we have, The Beacon of Marques Francisco Pizarro, a priceless artefact and a welcome addition to the scholastic world"
For years it had been the dream and life work of professor Maxmilian, as he followed the life exploits of the conquistador Marques Francisco Pizarro and his expeditions to conquer the Incan empire both in 1524 and 1526. The surprising fact was that Marques Francisco Pizarro attacked the same place twice in a space of two years and failed to conquer the Incan empire twice due to native hostilities, bad weather and lack of provisions.
But what exactly had drawn Marques Francisco Pizarro attention and why did he seek so desperately to conquer the Incan people?
Was it because of the Incan's wealth in gold, or was it even a darker secret that the ancients had given up their lives to protect.
Professor Maxmilian spent a daunting five years searching for any clue as to why the Spanish conquistador had been specifically drawn to the empire
Luckily he had stumbled upon a clue hidden deep in some obscure texts filled with esoteric writings, after a couple of attempts, he had managed to decipher the texts. it had been written by Marques Francisco Pizarro’s second hand man Hernan Cortes, it told of how Marques Francisco Pizarro had taken a detour to Medellin, Colombia before his meeting with King Charles I, where the conquistador had hidden a terrible secret and also a great treasure.
Terrible enough to kill for.
Marques Francisco Pizarro had killed all of his entourage in his detour except for his cousin and second hand man and together they had made a pact never to talk about what they had hidden from the rest of the world.
Max stared at the object in his hands.
The beacon of Marques Francisco Pizarro.
Although the texts had referred to the beacon as some sort of key, the details were still sketchy on that one.
Something else caught his attention, lost in his euphoria of discovering such an ancient artefact, he had failed to take a closer look at the object if not he won't have missed it.
The beacon had markings on them, the markings looked ancient, pulling the halogen lamp closer he stared at the orb scrutinizing the markings effectively.
Medellin urtean, hantxe dago sekretu
izugarria eta altxorra,
whosoever, bere begiak gainean
ezarri merezi inti berak frogatu behar du
” Come and look at this Lisa, it's definitely means something, something of importance, but I have no idea what its saying"
His assistant looked at the texts and shook her head dismissively, Lisa was one of the smartest undergraduates he had ever had the pleasure of teaching, she was absolutely brilliant and eager to learn and she clearly brought that to the academic world.
And she had succeeded, an expert in languages and ancient history he was silently hoping she would be of help on this one, to pick up the bits and pieces he had failed to notice.
"Professor Max, these writings on the beacon it looks almost sp--"
His hand flew up with surprising speed and agility and clamped over her mouth hard, Lisa buckled and fought desperately, suddenly feeling extremely claustrophobic in the enclosed Incan cave
"Lisa!!, be quiet and
listen!" Professor Max hissed.
That was when she heard it.
The cave environment amplifying ambient sounds.
It was the thudding sounds of boots striking the cave floors.
The assault team moved quickly.
And efficiently.
They already had the layout of the place and they knew the number of people in the cave, there were four people in the cave, the professor and his assistant and the two local boys who he had hired to run the generators for the halogen lamps
Wafts of smoke rose up from the generators where the locals smoked and drank and laughed loudly, talking about past antics.
They failed to notice the figures clad in black, blending with the shadows approaching them from behind.
One of the figures drew his K-Bar hunting knife approached one of the locals, his teammate flanking the other local.
Actions perfectly co-ordinated.
Clamping his hand over the local's mouth, he slashed his knife violently at the local's neck severing his carotid artery and his vocal cords.
Blood spurted and gushed from the cut, the local gurgling and drowning in his own blood.
Upon seeing his friend's body slump to the ground, spewing blood-the other local tried to scream only to have the butt of a gun slam into his nose with incredible force-shattering it.
Blind pain coursed throughout his body, it was one thing to see it in movies, it was another to witness it in person.
"Donde esta el profesor y la senora?" One of the unseen assailants asked
"Que estan dentro, en la cueva" the local wailed in obvious pain, blood dribbling into his mouth
"Thank you for your help"
With that the assailant calmly raised his pistol, pointed it at the local's head and squeezed the trigger.
Blood and brain matter splattered all over the floor.
The assailant focused on the generators supplying power to the halogen lamps and a thought formed in his mind.
There was still work to be done.
Consequent research had placed trafficking in stolen antiques and relics as the third most lucrative business behind drug trafficking and K&R (kidnapping and ransoming), stories of cutthroat bandits storming archaeological digs in search of valuables, hidden treasures and antiques were rife in the academic world.
But he never paid any attention to that, surely it was all rumours for in his thirty years of exploring caves in god-forsaken places such a thing never happened to him.
There was always a first time for everything.
Professor Maxmilian's mind went into overdrive. A pair of bandits possibly armed to the teeth were gunning for the relic and all that stood between the criminals and the relic was an ageing professor and a wide eyed research assistant.
With no weapons.
Not very good odds.
Firstly, if the bandits were going to make away with relic, it had to be documented, someone had to know what they had discovered.
Wrenching his iPhone free from his belt holder he began to take images of the walls, with all the symbols and lastly of the beacon including the strange text found scrawled at the back, thankful he had gone along with the flow of technology and decided to bring his iPhone with him
His assistant had gone strangely quiet as if she was listening intently, hoping and praying all the same time
"Lisa, we have to go, we are sitting ducks over here”
Suddenly all the lights died in the cave.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! they cut the power, they cut the fucking power!" Lisa screamed frantically
"Hey, we'll be ok nothing will happen to us, I promise"
"Shouldn't make promises you can't keep professor"
Max whirled around at the intrusion of the new voice, in the near darkness he could barely make out the man's features, but the steel in the man's voice scared him shitless.
"Who are you?" Max asked trying to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Commander Trent Appleby, United States Marine Corps" the man answered politely.
United States.
What was the American military's interest in the Incan relics?
"What do you want from us?"
"Oh, I think you're quite aware of what I'm after professor Maxmilian, where is the Incan relic?"
Instinctively his hand shifted to his back hiding the ancient relic behind his back, hoping the darkness would mask his futile actions.
It did not.
Commander Trent spotted the entire manoeuvre through his night-vision goggles and he smiled.
This was going to be easy.
"I absolutely have no idea what you talking about"
The commander made a tsk tsk sound, as if admonishing a child. He was truly hoping that it wouldn't come to this. He had read the dossier on the professor and to be frank he admired the man and his tenacity to bounce from setbacks, his dogged determination. It was this determination he was wary of; he had already contemplated that this was going to be the professor's response.
"Too bad that response was already expected" the Commander said icily.
Quick as a flash Commander Trent drew his Browning semi-auto pistol and squeezed the trigger.
Professor Maxmilian felt rather than saw the rounds slam in the upper torso of his assistant, spewing blood as the rounds exited the body and slammed into the cave's walls, ricochets of loose rocks and coarse sand peppering the professor's face, the momentum flinging the lithe form of the woman into wall.
Jesus Christ!
The secrets in this room were officially now worth killing for.
"I'm sorry about that, an unfortunate accident which could have been prevented if you had just handed over the relic professor"
Rasped breaths were coming from the crumpled body on the cold floor.
Professor Max felt a pang in his heart, he had gotten Lisa killed, he might as well have taken the gun and pumped her full of lead. He had dragged her out on this excavation in this godforsaken cave, hell he had even promised her that he would get them both safely out, but he had failed.
One of them was going to die here.
Both of them could even die here.
The secret must never die here, he reminded himself forcibly
"Give it to me professor" the Commander voice jarring him back to reality.
"No" steel ringing through the professor's voice
"That's a pity professor"
Commander Trent raised his pistol, pointing it at the professor's head-
So much for the diplomatic approach.
But this time the professor was ready.
Once beaten, twice shy
Intense pain unlike anything Commander Trent had ever felt seared through his eyes, blinded momentarily, he squeezed off a couple of shots but deep down he knew his aim was off.
Even in his bouts of pain, his respect for the professor doubled
Outnumbered and outgunned, the professor had managed to outwit him
Night Vision Goggles worked by amplifying ambient light, enabling the wearer complete vision in the night in the presence of low light.
But that advantage becomes a straight disadvantage, when there is an intense light source.
Like stepping out of a dark place, into the light.
The pain on the eyes magnified a thousand fold was what it felt like.
Touching his hand to his earpiece.
"Tango to team, the professor managed to get a jump on me, he's headed your way, freedom to engage-deadly force if you have to, retrieve the relic"
Somewhere deep in the darkness of the cave, the team of four commandos moved silently.
The prey must not escape.
Professor Maxmilian ran.
He ran for all he was worth, stumbling through the dark as his wobbly legs caught loose pieces of rock, he was under no illusions, the commander didn't come alone and he was positive that the commander's team was closing down
on him.
Momentarily he allowed himself a little smile over his little victory, the cocksucker had underestimated him.
During the conversation with the Commander, he had wondered how the Commander had managed to shoot and hit his target in the darkness, the answer hitting him in his gut.
Night-Vision.
The Commander must have seen him hide the beacon of Marques Francisco Pizarro behind his back.
Guilt overwhelmed him.
He had gotten Lisa killed all because of the relic.
He decided to do the only thing he could do to escape the precarious situations.
To use his Maglite torch.
But that had only bought him some time, and what he did with that time was essential.
The secret must not die here.
All of a sudden, tremendous force slammed into his gut, making him stumble rife with shock, gazing down he saw blood well up under his shirt.
He had just been shot.
Stumbling to the ground one final time, Professor Maxmilian felt his life force ebbing out of him slowly and surely, taking one final gaze at his surroundings he sighed.
It was befitting, two relics lying momentarily side by side.
Forgotten.
Ageing.
Walking the sands of time together.
A ping intruded his ever fading senses and it came from his iPhone, he read the message on the LCD display and he smiled.
Once again he had defeated them.
God forgive him for putting another in danger.
Commander Trent Appleby watched as the professor crumpled to the ground, struck by a bullet and felt intense satisfaction, he had never been bested before, it was one of the reasons why he had risen the top and was in charge of the recon unit and he wasn't going to start now. He walked over the dead body lying on the floor and retrieved the beacon.
Then he noticed the iPhone on the floor, it's display still glowing, bending down and picking it up he scrutinised it carefully and the one message on the screen sank his hopes of a successful mission entirely.
E-mail sent.
Opening the mail, it read:
if you reading this, I'm dead and so is my assistant, I'm sorry to trouble you like this, but this is of great importance...attached to this email are all the images and information, USMC involved, be careful
and attached to the email was images of the Incan cave and all the symbols splayed on the walls, the beacon and its writing and it was sent to an
[email protected].
Touching his earpiece Commander Trent Appleby spoke.
"Tango to Delta One, relic discovered and detained possible eyewitnesses eliminated, but there has been a complication" and then he related everything that happened in an orderly precise manner.
Further instructions were given.
Commander Trent smiled.
It's time to clean house.