Warren Murphy: Failing Marks

"I barely escaped with my life," Heidi insisted.

"And Kluge?"

"We were never working together. At least, not after the gunfight. That man is a monster. His kind still thinks that they are some kind of master race. And he is the worst offender of all. He is an intellectual midget who fancies himself a giant. He is superior to nothing. Least of all to me." She thrust her chin forward angrily.

Remo was baffled by the passion in her voice. "Where the hell did that come from?" he asked.

Her embarrassment at her outburst was almost instantaneous. "I did not-" She paused, collecting herself. "I have a deal with the House of Sinanju," she said, firmly, coming back to her original point. "I expect the House to honor it."

Chiun came through the door at that moment. The radiant joy that beamed from every crevice in his wrinkled face was not diminished by the darkness in the dank underground.

"Have you finished?" he lilted.

"Not quite," Heidi replied. She redoubled her efforts searching through the slimy growth.

"Carry on," Chiun said. He waved a delighted hand as he skipped over to the other side of the room. Searching with his feet, he began kicking through the debris.

"Have you given any thought to how you're going to move all this garbage?" Remo complained to Chiun.

"I believe I have that taken care of," Heidi offered.

Surprised, Remo turned to her. "Oh?" he asked.

Chiun interrupted her before she could respond. "What is this?" the Master of Sinanju asked. He had just unearthed something from beneath a brackish green lump. Picking the object up, he displayed it to Heidi and Remo. Although strips of moss still clung to its surface, the device was visible enough. And it had clearly not been down there for fifteen hundred years.

"It looks like a walkie-talkie," Remo said, puzzled.

As he reached for the small instrument, Remo suddenly became aware of a low rumble above and around them. He had grown used to the sound of the rushing water directly over their heads. This was an entirely different noise.

Heidi got to her feet, curious. Remo glanced over at her, hoping that she might shed some light on what they were hearing. But she was clearly as puzzled as he was.

All at once, the room began to shake. As if from some unseen cue, a gigantic slab of rock fell with impossible slowness from above the door, tumbling to the floor with a room-shaking, thunderous crash. Chiun dropped the walkie-talkie.

"Run, Remo!" the Master of Sinanju shouted. His warning came too late.

As they raced for the exit, the wall before them began to buckle. It collapsed inward at the midpoint, scattering massive stones like toppled blocks. An avalanche of stone and muddy earth rained down from above, sealing the corridor.

They didn't have time to consider their options. Without the support of the far wall, the ceiling began to bulge downward with horrifying slowness. It creaked as the resettling earth pushed in on it. At a frantic run, the skinheads from the inner room joined them. They looked up in fear at the groaning roof.

"Is there another way out of here?" Remo asked warily.

Heidi's eyes were wide. "No," she said softly. And with that, the ceiling collapsed in a shower of dirt and crashing boulders. Like a deluge from some bygone era of biblical vengeance, the full fury of the Danube River exploded in all around them.

Chapter 26

Kluge felt the walls of the cramped tunnel rumble all around him as he made his frantic way back out to the staircase. He tore ragged holes in his coat and pants as he crawled recklessly through the pitch-dark wetness.

The support stone had kicked away with surprising ease. The series of key stones had interlocked like some ancient puzzle. As soon as the cornerstone was gone, the others began collapsing in around it. He had dropped his flashlight in his haste.

The walls drummed like thunder all around him as the corridor and rooms collapsed. He only knew he was going in the right direction because it was impossible to get lost in the long burrow.

His claustrophobia had nearly robbed him of all sense. He wanted to scream, wanted to panic. Logically he knew that it would do no good, but logic had nothing to do with the almost paralyzing terror he felt. It was like being trapped in the black epicenter of a massive earthquake.

Scurrying like a rat in a hole, Kluge suddenly slammed against something solid with his head.

Panicked now, he grabbed forward, shoving hard against the object. The stone toppled away. It was the same one he had pulled in place behind him upon entering the tunnel.

He scampered out beneath the stairs-lungs aching, heart pounding.

He was alive!

There was enough weak light filtering down the stairs to illuminate the small pile of gold that still remained. The corridor was gone. Buried behind a wall of rock and earth.

Get the panic under control.

Deep breaths. No! Save it for outside. Outside.

He headed for the stairs, casting one final glance at his end of the collapsed corridor.

The others were dead. The gold was all his. He could collect whatever was left at the bottom of the stairs later.

Exhilarated by his success, Adolf Kluge raced up the staircase to the distant square of light.

THE ICY WATER CRASHED down in an enormous burst of frothy, churning white. The floor flooded in seconds.

"Back!" Chiun commanded.

The skinheads were already running in panic through the waist-deep water toward the rear rooms. "I don't think that'll do any good!" Remo shouted over the roar of the waterfall.

"It will give us time!" Chiun insisted.

Bony arms pumping in furious motion, the Master of Sinanju fought against the lethal, swirling current. Remo followed. Heidi struggled after them.

Heidi had not taken more than a few fumbling steps when she tripped against a shattered chunk of toppled stone. She fell beneath the rapidly rising water. Thrown forward on the waves, she lost all sense of direction. She swam for what she thought was up, bumping against the floor of the flooding cavern. Or was it the wall?

No time to decide. She kicked off, pushing up to the surface. A wave caught her midway, tumbling her sideways. She no longer had any sense of up or down.

Heidi began to panic.

Strong arms suddenly grabbed her by the armpits. She was hauled, spluttering above the water by Remo. It was now as high as their chests.

Remo carried her along with him, taking a few swift strides across the room. The water was at their chins by the time they made it into the second room.

The skinheads were in hysterics. They were clawing at the walls and at one another, trying to climb above the water. Screaming and crying, they pushed up on the shoulders of their confederates. One body floated face down in the water. Another skinhead attempted to ride it like a raft.

Chiun was treading water.

"There's no way out of here!" Remo shouted to him.

"There is one!" Chiun yelled back.

Beyond the door, they could see the river pouring relentlessly through the broken ceiling. It was so steady it was like a single, huge column of water. "It's too dangerous!" Remo shouted.

"I am open to suggestions!"

There was a massive rumble. They watched as a new section of the outer ceiling began to give way. It fell in huge irregular blocks to the rising, churning water.

The water was only a few feet from the ceiling now and rising ever more rapidly.

"Go!" Remo yelled to Chiun over the roar of the river.

The Master of Sinanju nodded sharply. Twisting up, he ducked below the waves. His spindly legs appeared for an instant as he jackknifed underwater. Then he was gone.

They were at the ceiling now. Heidi held her face up to the approaching rock, breathing desperately. "Take a deep breath!" Remo yelled.