Inca Kings

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

In the aftermath of battle, a quiet peace and reflection reigned. Drake wished they had done more to assuage the villagers’ fears. Wished they had unmasked — or unclothed — at least one creature to categorically prove it was human. Just human.

But the illusion remained, as clear as natural water, that the black-clad figures were not human.

He shivered despite every facet of his training. He shied away from it despite every year of experience. Yes, they possessed arms and legs, a heart and a head, but normal people did not move and fight like that. They did not work as a horde like that. This was something… something abnormal.

He walked now in the cold light of dawn, following the bare trail back to Kimbiri. Alicia and Hayden were with him, and the old man Conde with three of his friends. The idea was to let the elders meet, discuss, and help with the solution. Drake’s main hope was that Kimbiri also hadn’t been beset in the night.

“We are grateful you helped Nuno last night,” Conde said to Hayden. “None of our people were taken for the first time in months.”

“We are happy to help,” Hayden told him. “Very happy. But you have to understand that our actions now raise a new question…” she paused, and Drake knew by her expression that she was thinking how best to delicately phrase her next comment.

“How will the mountain-spiders react?” Alicia said bluntly.

Conde stared at the Englishwoman whilst Hayden sighed. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t get it, old man, do you?” Alicia went on. “Right now they’re probably hanging around in their webs, licking their wounds, eating flies or something. But they’ve never been attacked like that before. Beaten away. It won’t stop them. It’ll make them come at you harder.”

Hayden held up a hand. “We don’t know that for sure. Alicia’s speaking from a soldier’s point of view. It’s what she would do. The creatures are a major unknown quantity, so we have to prepare for the worst scenario.”

Drake took in the scenery as they talked, which always lifted his spirits. Empty spaces ran as far as the eye could see; green slopes and forested hills, extensive mountain ranges and clear blue skies. He breathed deeply, savoring the freshness, enjoying the depth of silence that inhabited these lonely places. The trail ran ahead, undulating gently. He took out a bottle of water and drank, noting it was his last and wondering if there might be some fresh mountain stream where he could refill. Then he laughed at himself. Talk about getting carried away.

Alicia nudged him. “You with us, Drakey?”

“Yeah, just reminds me of home that’s all.”

The blonde snorted. “Really? Well, shit, I don’t see any power stations. Or steel mills. Or even chocolate factories, for that matter.”

“Nah, but I heard these hills are crawling with alpacas so watch your bloody back.”

Alicia narrowed her eyes as she studied the hills and mountains. “Nothing’s moving out there.”

“Ya think? Alpacas are shifty. They blend. They crawl. They can be upon you before you know they’re even there. The whole pack.”

“How come I never heard of anything as dangerous as that?”

“I guess you’re not a mountain girl.” He felt a moment of real concern. “On the other hand, of course, the creatures or their bosses or whatever are probably watching.” He tried to penetrate the far, high passes with his gaze. “And if the village does have a spy…” He shrugged.

“Nobody left during the night or this morning.”

“That doesn’t mean they won’t. They’ll play it safe. Fetch water. Hunt. Whatever it is they do.” He half-laughed, realizing he had no idea how the villagers subsisted beyond farming the land. “Of course, we’re being stupid. A spy would have a cellphone.”

“Not much service out here.”

“A satellite phone,” Drake amended. “Maybe we should ask—” He clamped his mouth shut, realizing he’d been about to finish the sentence with the words “Karin to trace it.” A torrent of past images rushed through him; images of people they’d lost and faces long gone. Kennedy, Sam, Jo and Ben. They lived only when he remembered them now, only when he let them.

“I wonder where Karin is?” he asked.

Alicia seemed to catch a tension in his voice. “What do you mean? Training, isn’t she?”

“Karin finished her training two weeks ago. Nobody I know has heard from her since.”

Alicia pursed her lips. “You know she’s Army now, right? They could have sent her out on an op.”

“That wasn’t the deal. And it’s basic training. Not Shaolin Monk 99th Dan.”

“It’s basic army training at Fort Bragg. Special Forces. Rangers. That ain’t basic at all.”

“I guess…” Drake tailed off.

“You’re worried about her, I get it. But this is Karin. When she surfaces she’ll get a hold of us.” Alicia grinned. “She’s family.”

Drake grinned back as a cold rush of wind scoured his face. Of course, Alicia was right. What surprised and elated him was her newfound reasoning, her ability to see the good in people where until recently she’d have found only the negatives in that conversation. It convinced him to pull ahead with her and whisper something else. “And something else has been bugging me for a while now.”

Alicia crinkled her nose. “Ah, Matt, I know exactly what you’re gonna say.”

“You do? How could you?”

“Because it’s on all our minds. Branded there with a hot iron. I think of it as Webb’s legacy. I wonder who’s embarrassed all the time. Who cries themselves to sleep. Who killed their parents. Who is dying.” She took a breath. “But most important — who’s a bloody lesbian?”

Drake shook his head. “It’s not you, is it?”

“Depends on the female. I guess I could be persuaded.”

Drake considered asking for a list, then remembered the track of their conversation. “So you do wonder about Webb’s legacy?”

“We all do. No doubt.”

“It should be… addressed. It shouldn’t hang over the team forever.”

“Yeah, but then I guess you weren’t one of the people Webb spoke of. If you were…” She shrugged.

Drake nodded in agreement. “I guess you’re right. The other side, of course — Webb has a stash of nasty revelations somewhere which we haven’t even started searching for.”

“I prefer not to think of it. Joking aside, some of those revelations could kill us. Or put us on the run from the law.” She looked worried.

Drake saw Kimbiri appear up ahead and fought off the feelings raised by Webb’s legacy. Villagers had already seen them and were hotfooting it back to the houses. As they grew closer he saw a crowd gathered on the outskirts, Kinimaka, Smyth, Mai and Yorgi among them. His heart lifted to see his friends.

He slowed, allowing Hayden and Conde to catch up. Kimbiri’s villagers stood stoic, their faces weatherbeaten and grim, their outlook worse. As the two groups came together the wind started to blow harder, scouring the lands and exposed flesh, tugging at warm clothing as if in anger. A howl went up among the distant mountains, causing most sets of eyes to glance up there.

A wolf maybe. Or something else.

“The mountains,” Conde said. “Kept their secrets for millennia. I wonder why they couldn’t keep them just a while longer.”

“These things aren’t from the mountains,” Drake said. “Not until recently. They’re man-made.”

The two groups joined and exchanged greetings. Brynn stepped up to help translate for her people as Hayden quickly explained the events of the night before. Nobody seemed surprised and nobody expressed concern other than in their faces. Hardy lives bred hardier responses.

“We have all lost people,” Conde said. “Now we need to find them. And end the attacks on our families and their homes.”

“The creatures will be planning their next move,” Emilio, the leader of Kimbiri, said through Brynn. “A response or a harsher attack. We cannot trust anyone. We tried the police of Cusco. Nothing happened. We try again.” He shook his head. “We are alone. But these people. These soldiers. They have helped, yes, but even they are here for something. What is it that you want, soldiers?”

Conde looked a little uncomfortable with the question, no doubt since it was his village the soldiers had helped the night before, but Drake saw Hayden take it at face value.

“As we said, initially we came to the mountains to ask for your help. There is a chateau in this area, and a man that lives a quiet life. We believe he is stealing and selling local treasures. If you know of him…” She spread her hands.

No reactions were forthcoming. Brynn said, “It is a large area.”

Hayden shifted. “We are soldiers. But we shouldn’t be here. Sometimes, we operate without sanction, and without a local government’s knowledge. The truth? This was supposed to be a quick in-and-out op. We never expected to stay.”

“So the Americans are coming?” Conde asked. “To save us?”

“Ah. No. Our bosses don’t know we stayed,” Hayden admitted. “Nobody is coming. They wouldn’t risk it even if we asked.”

“And we could be called back at any moment,” Smyth put in harshly. “So let’s say we get on with this, eh? Some of us are missing our… friends.”

“We do not need your help,” Brynn said with a great deal of pride. “Now that we know of Nuno’s position, we can join our forces. We can fight them off.”

Drake studied the assembled faces, the fear, the youth, the rictus-like smiles that barely held up. “It will not be easy.”

Alicia fiddled with her jacket. “They are strong because their numbers are strong.”

Brynn’s gaze never faltered. “We can win.”

At that moment a young man stepped forward. Drake guessed he would be in his mid-teens. The youth stood right before Brynn and held her stare with his own. In halting English for the benefit of the soldiers he said, “At night we hear… screaming? Yes, screaming… from the mountains. We see far away lights… marching. The creatures bring the darkness, but they vanish toward the lights. Those mountains… are haunted.”

Drake nodded. “I understand why you might think that.”

The youth whirled, grabbed Drake’s arm and pulled. “No! They are haunted. Do not go there. You have to believe me!”

Alicia reached out for the youth but Mai was quicker. The Japanese woman knelt on the floor so their eyes were level. “Have you been up there, my friend? Have you seen the ghosts?”

The quivering started in his shoulders and went right down to his knees. Mai held on tight, practically holding him up.

“What have you seen?”

“Evil,” he whispered, biting his lips until the blood ran red. “The most terrible evil.”