Дэвид Уоллес - Island of Fog and Death

Troy nodded and moved off, leaving Steve huffing deep breaths, shaking his head and looking spaced out.

Peri walked across to where Gus was holding back Amanda from the Aero. “Amanda,” she said softly. “You don’t want to go in there. It’s Owain and Gilda, and there’s nothing we can do for them. The other van’s empty, no sign of Tori or the Professor.”

“What happened?” Tori sounded remarkably calm. “Snakes?”

“No,” said Peri. “Something else. Not natural causes, I’m sure of that. We couldn’t see any obvious cause of death on Owain, but Gilda – well, she had a big chest wound.”

“And there’s no sign of Maxwell?”

“Probably inside the building,” Peri confirmed. “We’ll see in a minute.”

Troy returned and joined them. “All clear,” he said. He looked at Steve, saw that that he seemed to be disoriented, and turned back to Peri. “What now, boss?” he asked her.

“Now we check inside. You lead, I’ll be right behind you.”

Troy hesitated. “But Steve…,” he began.

“Is not himself,” said Peri. “Let’s do this. Right or left?”

“I’ll go right, you go left, and try not to shoot me,” replied Troy.

“No promises,” said Peri.

They moved to the chapel door, paused, flung it wide, and entered.

“Clear,” came Troy’s tense voice.

“Ditto”, said Peri, more calmly than she felt. The others filed in behind her, Amanda helping Steve who was still disoriented.

The interior of the chapel was untidy. Clearly, someone had moved around cardboard boxes and sacks, which were now in stacks and piles on the floor near the door. At the far end, facing the door, was a knee-high brick structure that, on closer inspection, housed a flight of stone steps that led downwards. Cables ran from a diesel generator, purring away near the door, down into the earth where a faint glow was visible.

“Down?” asked Troy.

“Down,” confirmed Peri.

Troy led the way.

Troy descended the stone steps beneath the altar, with Peri close behind. The steps were worn and uneven, and Peri could hear Steve and Amanda stumbling behind her, but she herself kept her balance perfectly all the way down. As he approached the bottom, Troy picked up the pace so that he burst into the open space, C8 to his shoulder, swinging his aim around to assess targets. Peri moved quickly after him and split off to move in the opposite direction, the Sig-Sauer pistol in a two-handed grip at eye level. Troy barked out, “Nobody move! Keep your hands where I can see them!”

Peri looked around in astonishment. She was in an open space, lined with rusty iron sheets, with benches along two sides, interspersed with broken statues. The centre of the room contained a heap of rubble, that looked like a mix of shattered statuary, masonry, fallen rocks from the ceiling, and rusty iron plates. Facing her at the far end of the cave, there was a big iron double door and a startled blonde woman, carrying a large rock in two hands.

“Oh, thank god you’ve come,” said the woman, letting the rock drop to the floor of the cave. “We’ve been so frightened! What’s happened out there? It sounded like a war had started!”

“You must be Victoria Bandra,” said Peri. “Where’s Maxwell Coupar?”

“He’s here,” said the blonde, pointing down to her right. “He’s sick – I don’t know what happened to him. Who are you? How do you know – oh, Amanda, it’s you!”

The woman’s face twitched with swiftly changing emotions, before settling on a worried-looking smile for Amanda. Peri was sure her first brief reactions had been surprise and dismay.

Amanda got Steve sitting on a bench, and crossed the room to Maxwell. She gasped as she caught sight of him. Peri moved to join her, and saw why. The professor was lying on the floor of the cave, his tweed jacket folded under his head, and he looked terrible. He was unconscious, white-faced and soaked with sweat. His long hair was greasy and grey. Amanda’s eyes narrowed at how thin he looked. She knelt beside him, and started patting his cheeks, talking to him in a soft, comforting tone. Troy knelt beside her and touched Maxwell’s neck, feeling for a pulse.

Peri looked at Tori. “What happened?” she asked.

“He woke up this morning like that,” she said. “I don’t know what happened to him. He insisted on getting to work, but it was obvious to me that he wasn’t right. I thought, well, a stomach bug, or maybe flu. Owain went out to find a pharmacist, but that was ages ago and he didn’t come back. Can you help him?” The last question was directed to Troy.

“His pulse is weak,” he said. “No obvious injuries. He needs a medic, Peri.”

Peri glanced back at Tori, and noted that she was looking wide-eyed at Steve and Gus. Curiously, she was not paying attention to Maxwell, and Peri could have sworn that Tori and Tash were studiously avoiding eye contact with each other.

“What about the other member of your party?” asked Peri. “Where is she?”

“Owain was gone so long, she wanted to go and look for him. I tried to persuade her not to, but, Amanda, you know Gilda, she’s very strong willed. She left, and she hasn’t come back either.”

Troy stood up, and turned his back on Tori. He looked at Peri and mouthed, “Liar.” Then, aloud, he asked, “What now, boss?”

“We came to do a job,” replied Peri, and inclined her head towards the barred door. “We need to get in there.” She noted that Tori momentarily looked pleased with herself before schooling her expression back to one of concern.

“Maxwell needs medical help,” said Amanda. “Steve too. That door can wait, surely.”

“She’s right,” said Tori, a whiny note in her voice. “What’s so important in there?”

Peri spoke quickly, before anyone else could answer. “That’s none of your business. We’re not discussing it.” She shot a warning look at Amanda.

They were all startled to hear Maxwell try to speak. “Tori,” he managed to say, lifting his head a little way.

Amanda bent down to him again. “What is it, Maxwell? What are you saying?”

“He’s asking me to help him,” said Tori, and she knelt beside him and placed the palm of her hand on his cheek.

He made some unintelligible sounds, and slumped back again with a groan. Peri could have sworn she felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck briefly stir. The sensation was so brief that she wondered if she had imagined it. She leaned in close to Gus, and murmured, “Watch the woman. I don’t trust her.” He nodded in response.

Peri turned to Steve. “How are you doing, sailor? Are you compos mentis yet, or still one sausage short of a fry up?”

He groaned. “Did you have to mention a fry up? I’m more than a bit queasy, but at least my head stopped spinning.” He stood and moved closer to the barred doors. “Right, Troy, let’s see if we can shift the bar. You take that end.”

“Let me help,” said Tori, and she moved to the centre of the huge iron bar.

Troy counted to three, and he and Steve strained to lift the bar. Tori also had hands on the bar, but was not visibly straining – Peri assumed she was going through the motions for the sake of appearances – and the bar was lifted clear. They backed away from the door a couple of paces, and Peri called out, “Far enough, let it down.”

Tori said, “Shouldn’t we move it a bit further? The bar’s obstructing the door, so it’ll only open a couple of feet.”

“That’s deliberate,” said Peri. “It’s wide enough for a man to get in, but not so wide that anything big can get out.”