you see anyone, shoot ’em!’ He ran along the terrace to give the corporal the same instructions.
From the circling Hind, Stikes watched Pachac and his remaining men climb to the entrance set into the towering wall. The gush of water from it had reduced to a modest stream. ‘The Incas didn’t leave their city totally undefended, I see.’
Baine, sitting beside him, looked down at the corpses in the pool without sympathy. ‘Stupid bastards. Must have run right in without checking.’
‘And Pachac’s probably about to do the same thing. He said they killed two soldiers, but that leaves another two – and I suspect the other end of that tunnel is easily defensible.’ His gaze rose from the wall to the cave mouth above it. With the waterfall all but stopped, the faint shapes of buildings were visible in the darkness. Elevated positions, with plenty of cover. . . ‘We might have to give him some help.’ He spoke into his headset. ‘Gurov, get a good firing angle into that cave.’
Nina looked down from the plaza at the great wall. She had seen Eddie running from the top of the shaft as a massive wave crashed into it, but then he disappeared behind the city’s lower buildings. ‘Oh God, where is he?’
‘He got clear,’ Mac assured her. ‘He’ll be okay.’
The other expedition members joined them at the stone balustrade. ‘Look, there!’ said Kit, pointing. A man peered cautiously from the top of the shaft before climbing out—
Gunfire crackled from below. Dust and stones kicked up around the intruder – then he slumped to the rocky ground, dead. Another man behind him hurriedly dropped out of sight.
Zender clenched a fist in triumph. ‘They got him!’
Nina didn’t feel reassured. Even if they could hold off their attackers, they were still trapped inside the city.
And there was another threat. The chop of the Hind’s rotors rose as the gunship descended, slowly pivoting to face the cave entrance.
Eddie reached over to Chambi’s AKM and turned its firing mode selector from automatic to single-shot. ‘You need to save ammo,’ he told the surprised soldier, having noticed that both Peruvians were only carrying one extra magazine. ‘It’ll be more accurate an’ all.’
Chambi’s grasp of English was apparently not great, but he got the gist. ‘You have been in fights before?’ he asked.
Eddie grinned crookedly. ‘You could say that. Whoa, look out – there’s another one.’ The barrel of an AK-47 popped up from the shaft, followed by its owner’s head, his companions lifting him so he could aim his weapon with both hands.
Chambi fired, the shot accompanied by a crack from Echazu’s gun. Eddie wasn’t sure whose bullet hit its target, but was happy with the result either way; the man’s head snapped back with a burst of blood from his forehead, and he disappeared again, this time permanently.
‘Good shot,’ he told the corporal, who seemed pleased by the praise. He saw that the first man to emerge had dropped his Kalashnikov when he was shot. An extra weapon would be a huge help – if he could reach it. ‘Keep the hole covered – I’m going to get that gun.’ He started back along the terrace to tell Echazu his plan.
A change in the Hind’s engine noise caught his attention. He had tuned out the gunship while concentrating on the shaft, but it was now hovering, engines straining at full power to support its armoured bulk.
Its cannon turned—
‘Down!’ Eddie shouted, diving flat behind the wall—
The Hind opened fire, the four barrels of its Gatling gun spitting out a stream of death. Echazu, fixated on the shaft, didn’t realise the danger until it was too late. The bullets ripped through the little building’s doorway, ricocheting shrapnel tearing him apart.
A momentary pause as Krikorian switched targets, then the onslaught began again, this time aimed at the terrace. The wall behind which Eddie and Chambi were sheltering was over a foot thick, but even its blocks splintered and cracked under the pounding storm.
‘Jesus Christ!’ Eddie yelled, shielding his face from stone fragments. He crawled rapidly towards the steep pathway. The soldier had flattened himself against the wall, too terrified to move – and blocking Eddie’s path. ‘Stay with me!’ the Englishman yelled, batting at Chambi’s legs with a fist. ‘If we can get round the corner, we’ll be safe – soon as he stops firing, run up the hill!’
The gunfire stopped. ‘Go!’ Eddie shouted, springing up like a sprinter off the blocks. He heard Chambi set off, a couple