Mario Reading - The Mayan Codex

He began shrieking in earnest, now, and calling for his mother.

Abi, Dakini, Nawal, and Rudra lay fanned out in the gravel at the cenote’s edge, listening for any pursuit. Their guns covered a 180-degree radius, with the cenote behind them forming the remainder of the circle.

‘Did you see what happened to Oni?’

‘No. He just disappeared. I think he went in the opposite direction to us.’

‘That figures.’

They all laughed. Their faces were streaked with dust and sweat, and Rudra had Berith’s blood all over him.

‘I’m going to take a look around the corner of the cenote. See if there’s any way out. Come running if I whistle.’

Abi got to his feet and began a hunched zigzag run towards the far corner of the cenote. There was a burst of machine gun fire, and he threw himself down flat. Then he wriggled back into cover.

‘Thought so. They’ve got us surrounded. They can’t bring their guns to bear on our backs, thanks to the cliff face, so they’ll have to come at us from the front.’

‘Is there any way out down there?’

Abi crawled to the edge of the cenote and looked down. ‘No. No caves. No walkway. Nothing. It just goes straight down like a chimney. But at least we won’t go thirsty. I hope to heck they don’t bring in mortars. I wouldn’t put anything past these guys.’

‘How many do you think there are?’

‘Too many.’

There was an explosion from over by the warehouse. The corrugated iron roof flashed briefly in its slow-motion trajectory over the trees, and then flipped over onto its side and vanished.

‘What the heck was that?’

‘Five million dollars’ worth of crystal meth going up in smoke. Not to mention half a million dollars’ worth of narco-bling. If they were angry before, think what they’re feeling now.’

Rudra began to laugh. ‘Are you telling me they succeeded in blowing up their own factory? What was that you said about mortars?’

Abi shook his head. ‘It wasn’t mortars. We left Sabir and Calque inside, didn’t we?’

‘Yeah, but they’d never have freed themselves in time. They’ll have gone up with the building.’

‘Are you sure?’

Rudra thought about it a little. ‘No. You’re right. I didn’t tie that bastard Sabir’s legs up, did I? Didn’t think I needed to. What a fool. I should have hamstrung him while I had the chance. I thought we had all the time in the world.’

‘All water under the bridge now.’

‘What do you think is going to happen to us, Abi?’ It was Dakini.

‘We’re going to die. That’s what’s going to happen to us. How, is up to us.’ Abi turned over onto his back and eased his cell phone out of his pocket – then he began to crawl. ‘If you see anybody, shoot. I’m going to see if I can raise the dead. Then I’m going to talk to Alastor and Athame. Then I’m going to talk to Madame, our mother. Any of you girls needs a powder break, this may be the moment to take it.’

‘So what do we do now, Sabir?’

‘We assume they’re going to follow us and we keep on moving. We’re not exactly inconspicuous in this beast. I feel like the Terminator.’

‘The who?’

‘Forget it, Calque.’

‘And keep on moving where?’

‘First off, to Ek Balam. I want to deliver the skull and the codex back to the Halach Uinic. Tell him what’s gone down. I don’t want him and Ixtab thinking that we lied to them. They must be going spare back there.’

‘Such wonderfully descriptive language. No wonder you’re a writer. And then what?’

‘We drive to the airport.’

‘To the airport? Without our passports? Mexican Customs will laugh in our faces. And then they will probably arrest us. Plus, you may not have noticed it, but I haven’t got a shirt on.’

‘We can soon rectify that when we get back to Ek Balam.’

‘But what about the passports? They’re in the Grand Cherokee. And Lamia took that. And she’s got the two harpies from hell on her trail. How much chance do you think we have of ever catching up with her again?’

‘I don’t give a damn about Lamia and the harpies. But I do have to protect Yola.’

‘Then telephone her, why don’t you? Warn her to get away from Samois. Tell her and Alexi to go to a location you all know about and wait for us there. That we’ll meet them later.’

‘They don’t have a telephone. They live in a caravan.’

Calque threw his hands up into the air – it was his usual way of expressing despair. Then he grabbed his left bicep and screwed up his face in agony. He began to keen gently to himself.

Sabir glanced quickly away to prevent himself from laughing.

Calque regained his poise after a moment or two and began ferreting about in the Hummer’s nooks and crannies for a cigarette. ‘What are you trying to tell me? That Gypsies who live in caravans don’t use cell phones?’

‘Not these Gypsies, anyway. And I seem to remember that you aren’t that keen on cell phones yourself.’

Calque let out a cry of triumph. He speared a cigarette out of a crumpled pack and fixed it in his mouth. ‘That’s beside the point. It’s the height of irresponsibility for Yola not to be contactable. You’re her blood brother, Sabir – or whatever the hell it was you told me they nominated you. You knew the risks. Why didn’t you insist?’

Sabir’s expression darkened. He lit Calque’s cigarette with a gold Dunhill lighter he’d found sliding about on the dashboard. ‘Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I curse myself for my stupidity every damned minute of the day? Don’t you think I’m feeling sick to my soul with every mile that Lamia gains on us? I fell in love with her, man. I was even thinking about asking her to marry me.’ Sabir glowered at the sudden build-up of traffic ahead of them, as if the cars and their drivers were in some way responsible for his predicament. ‘This may come as a surprise to you, Calque, but people like me don’t fall in love that often. In fact, pathetic as this may sound, I can’t honestly remember ever falling in love before. This was a major first for me. I’d pretty much reckoned I was immune. Steamrollering my way downhill towards a lonely middle age. That sort of malarkey. How right I was.’

Calque shook his head. His eyes were troubled. ‘I’m sorry, Sabir. I know how you felt about Lamia. I didn’t mean to make a joke of it. I hold myself personally responsible for bringing her into your life.’

‘Ah, forget it. It wasn’t your fault, Calque. I’m grateful to you, actually. I’ve felt alive again these past few weeks – which makes a welcome change from the stumbling zombie I was before.’ He looked up from his driving. ‘But can’t you do anything for Yola and Alexi? Surely you’ve still got connections in the Police Nationale? Can’t you get someone to go out to Samois and warn them?’

Calque flicked his cigarette awkwardly out of the window. ‘You must be joking. What would I tell them? They’d think I’d contracted post-retirement syndrome. That I’d started to go out of my head. “Someone’s out to get the Second Coming, comrades. You must intervene before it happens. It’s a bunch of Gypsies you have to save. Only they never use cell phones. The woman’s pregnant, just like the Virgin Mary. Except this time around it wasn’t the Holy Ghost who impregnated her, it was her husband.” “Oh, where are you speaking from, Captain Calque? Pierrefeu? Belleville? Broadmoor? Or some other insane asylum we don’t know about?” “I’m out in Mexico, actually. Blowing up crystal meth factories. I’ll be with you shortly.”’

‘I see your point.’

‘How refreshing.’ Calque reached back with his good hand and fetched the rucksack over onto his lap. He fished out the Mayan codex and began to leaf through its bark-paper pages.