Blood Red City (27 page)

‘I think this could be it,' Leo called.

As he spoke, a gust of wind scattered the smoke and they could see clearly across the landscape. Leo was standing at the edge of a narrow hole disappearing down into the rocky ground.

‘I'm not sure, but I think I can see steps further down. If we can squeeze through here—' He broke off as another figure approached – a figure wearing a German military uniform.

‘So, what have you found?' the figure asked.

Sarah heaved a sigh of relief as she recognised the voice. “I thought you were staying to watch the fire,' she said as Guy joined them.

‘It's managing very well on its own. I thought I'd see how you're getting on.'

Brinkman showed him the hole in the rock. ‘Davenport and I will go down there, see what we can find.'

‘We're coming too,' Sarah told him.

‘Did you bring a torch?' Leo asked, brandishing his own.

‘I brought a lighter,' Guy told him.

‘And you take care of that,' Leo said. ‘I don't want you using up all the fuel.'

‘We need someone to stay up top,' Brinkman said. ‘You can warn us if there's a problem, and signal Mihali if we need another distraction when we come out again.'

‘We won't be long,' Leo assured them. ‘Well, no longer than we need to be.'

Accepting the logic and necessity of the situation, Guy and Sarah helped Leo and Brinkman down into the hole. It was tight, but they managed to edge their way through.

‘It's wider down here,' Leo called back.

‘There are tunnels leading off,' Brinkman added. ‘Might take us a while to explore them all, actually.'

‘Don't wait up,' Leo told them.

The smoke was back, thicker than ever. It was almost a fog. Sarah took hold of Guy's hand.

‘Looks like your fire is really doing the job.'

‘I hope it doesn't do it too well,' he said. ‘I don't fancy being anywhere near here if it reaches those fuel tanks.'

‘I guess we just have to wait and see.'

‘There's a dip in the rock just there. We should be able to keep out of sight even if the smoke clears.'

‘Mihali will keep watch through binoculars,' Sarah said. ‘We just have to let him know if we need his resistance guys to create another diversion so we can all get out again. What do you think they'll find down there?'

‘Isn't it supposed to be the gateway to Hell?'

‘But that's a metaphor, surely,' Sarah said.

‘Let's hope so,' Guy told her. ‘But a metaphor for what?'

*   *   *

The first tunnel came to a dead end.

‘It's obviously deliberate,' Leo said. ‘Not a rock fall or anything. The floor and walls are lined with stone. The roof too. This whole tunnel system was built, so there's some purpose to it all.'

‘But what purpose?' Brinkman wondered as they retraced their steps. ‘I'd suggest splitting up, which would make it quicker. But I have to admit I don't fancy wandering around down here on my own.'

‘Me neither.'

They turned back along a side tunnel, which sloped gently downwards. This too reached a dead end.

‘I thought this was the way back to where we started,' Brinkman said.

‘So did I.'

Leo shone his torch along the side wall, revealing another opening, and another beyond that.

‘You think we missed a doorway somewhere?' Brinkman asked.

‘Seems likely,' Leo admitted. ‘So, what now?'

‘Now? Now, I think we're lost. Though we can't have come that far. We should be able to see the light shining in through where we came in. Let's try down that one.'

Ten minutes later they had still not found their way back.

‘We should have brought a ball of string with us,' Brinkman said. ‘Like the chap in the story.'

‘Theseus. Yes, it is a bit of—' Leo broke off.

‘What is it?'

‘Don't you see? I was going to say it's a maze. And that's exactly what it is.' Leo shone his torch round, revealing the dark shapes of several doorways. ‘But this isn't just any old maze of tunnels. We've found the actual ancient Labyrinth. And now, we're trapped inside it.'

 

CHAPTER 26

He wasn't a man who was easily scared, but the confined darkness of the tunnels was getting to Brinkman. The air seemed to be getting stale and though it was probably his imagination, the torch beams seemed less bright than they had just a few minutes ago. He leaned against the tunnel wall, feeling the damp, cold stone through his coat and shirt.

Leo Davenport crouched down. He took a fountain pen from inside the pocket of the rough leather jacket Mihali had provided him. The floor of the tunnel was layered with dust and fine sand, and Davenport scratched away at it with the back end of the pen.

‘You trying to dig your way out?' Brinkman asked.

Davenport glanced up. ‘Can you shine your torch down here?'

With more light, Brinkman could see that Davenport had drawn a circular pattern, with intersecting lines spiralling in towards the centre.

‘I didn't realise it at first,' Davenport said, ‘but I've been here before.'

‘What?'

‘Well, in a manner of speaking. Not actually
here
here. But I've seen a map of this place. Or of a section of it anyway.' He straightened up, putting the pen away and dusting his hands together. ‘I've been keeping track of where we go, where the entrances and exits are and how the passageways interconnect, so far as I can tell.'

‘And you can find the way out again?' Brinkman asked hopefully.

‘Steady on, I didn't say that. But there's a definite structure to it, so we can start to make sensible deductions about a route through rather than just guessing.'

That sounded hopeful. Brinkman felt his head clear and the tension in his neck and shoulders ease a little. ‘So where did you see this map?'

‘In the Vril base in North Africa. Guy and I thought it was a puzzle, a maze we had to solve. Well, maybe it was. But this place seems to follow the same principles.'

‘And you remember it?'

‘I remember everything. Well, nearly everything. There are a few notices and reviews I do my best to forget. Now then, you ready to test my theory?'

‘What had you in mind?'

‘I suspect,' Davenport said, ‘that if there is anything useful for us to find here, it will be at the centre of the Labyrinth.'

‘Makes sense,' Brinkman agreed. ‘So we head for the centre, following the map you remember so well.'

‘That's the idea. Also, have you noticed how the ground slopes slightly? I think the centre of the Labyrinth will be the lowest point. And if we can find the centre of the maze, I'm pretty sure I can find the way back out again. Though, actually, that's not the bit that worries me.'

‘Oh? What is it that worries you then?'

Davenport pointed to a doorway, and led the way through it and into the passageway beyond. ‘What worries me,' he said, ‘is what we'll find at the heart of the Labyrinth.'

*   *   *

The SS standartenfuhrer stood watching the fire, his gloved hands clasped behind his back.

‘They have no idea how it started,' Hauptsturmfuhrer Grebben reported. ‘But obviously, with the fuel so close it's a worry.'

Standartenfuhrer Nachten shook his head. ‘It is a distraction.' A thought occurred to him as he spoke. ‘A distraction in more ways than one, perhaps.'

‘Sir?'

‘We know the Allies are interested in the same myths and legends that brought us here, Grebben. Perhaps they are here already.'

‘Then we should not delay.'

‘No, indeed.'

Grebben pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and slid out the aerial photograph inside. Together they examined the image, locating the fuel tanks, their current position, and the recessed area that looked so uncannily like an axe-head.

‘That way,' Nachten decided, pointing away from the main installation and the noise and confusion of the fire. ‘Bring the men.'

Nachten did not wait, but set off with his hands still clasped behind his back, his head slightly lowered and turning slowly from side to side as he scanned the surroundings like a hungry bird of prey.

*   *   *

The figures appeared out of the smoke, solidifying from vague shapes. Guy pulled Sarah back down into cover, beyond the lip of the recessed area. There were scattered clumps of ragged bushes here which afforded some cover. They crouched behind one, watching as the soldiers approached.

‘Six of them,' Sarah whispered, though they were not close enough to hear unless she called out.

‘SS,' Guy said grimly. ‘Led by a standartenfuhrer – that's the equivalent of a colonel, so pretty high-powered stuff.'

‘Do they know we're here?' Sarah wondered. Her voice was trembling slightly.

‘I don't see how they could. Unless they guessed the fire was a deliberate distraction. But even then they wouldn't know exactly where to look for the culprit.'

‘Could they be after the same thing as us, then?' Sarah asked. ‘It's a hell of a coincidence if the SS just turn up at this exact spot out of the blue.'

‘I suppose it's possible,' Guy said. ‘You said Wiles was worried we might have company. Though how they know about it…' He shrugged.

The six men had spread out and were walking slowly across the area examining the ground. It did seem more and more likely they were indeed searching for something. For a moment, it looked as if they would walk right past the narrow opening. But just as Guy was about to heave a sigh of relief, one of the soldiers spotted the dark patch in the stone and went over to look at it. Moments later, the standartenfuhrer and the others were there too.

Guy and Sarah watched in horror as one of the soldiers – a hauptsturmfuhrer – clambered down into the narrow crevice. The standartenfuhrer followed, and then one by one the others also descended into the ground.

‘We have to warn Leo and the colonel,' Sarah said. She hurried over to the opening, Guy close behind.

‘I don't see how we can,' he told her. ‘We just have to hope they don't run into each other.'

As they neared the crevice, they could hear the Germans speaking to each other. Guy gestured for Sarah to keep quiet. He lay on the ground, as close to the hole as he could without blocking any of the light and risking being seen.

‘It's a maze down here,' one of the men was saying. ‘Tunnels in every direction. We should prepare properly, sir. Come back with equipment.'

‘The men have torches,' came the reply – from the standartenfuhrer, Guy assumed, speaking to his captain probably. ‘And I have all the equipment we need here.'

Guy strained to hear. Was that the rustling of paper?

‘I found this in Hoffman's notebook,' the standartenfuhrer said.

‘A drawing? But, forgive me, how is that of help?'

‘I don't know how he came by it, how he knew about this place, but I think it is a map.'

The voices faded.

‘What did they say?' Sarah asked. ‘Are they staying down there?'

‘They are. And you're right, we have to warn Colonel Brinkman and Leo. Those Germans seem to have a map, or think they do. It's from Hoffman, so it's possible.'

‘But, didn't he help you?'

‘He did. From what they were saying, I don't think Hoffman knows they have it. Probably doesn't even know they're here.'

‘So what do we do?'

‘Only one thing we can do,' Guy decided. ‘We go down there after them, and hope we find Leo and Brinkman before the Germans do.'

*   *   *

‘I think this is it.'

Leo Davenport's torch picked out snatches of detail in the large chamber. A vaulted ceiling rose high above the circular space. At one end was what looked like a stone altar, or possibly a tomb. Its surface was adorned with runic symbols carved into the surface. There were two similar but smaller structures on other walls.

Brinkman paused as they made their way across the chamber, shining his torch down at the ground.

‘You're the archaeology expert, Leo. What do you make of this?'

In the centre of the room was a large circular design, about six feet across, apparently engraved into the stone. A central circle, with jagged lines reaching out to the circumference. Leo stooped down, shining his torch round the edge.

‘I think it's separate.' He ran his hand over the pattern. ‘Ah – look!'

Brinkman watched as Davenport shone his torch into a cavity at the edge of the design. It was a shape he recognised at once.

‘The same shape as the ground outside. The axe-head.'

‘And about the same size as the artefact Miss Diamond saw at Sumner's house in Los Angeles. There are raised symbols in the indented area. How much would you bet that they fit into the engraved symbols in the axe-head?'

‘There's another one over here,' Brinkman pointed out.

‘And a third here,' Davenport said, shining his torch on it. ‘Three axe-heads, and three sockets, or whatever they are.'

‘But what's it for?' Brinkman demanded.

‘Without the axe-heads, I have no idea. So, what else can we find in here?'

*   *   *

The sounds of the Germans' voices were getting fainter.

‘We must have taken a different turning somewhere,' Sarah said.

They had been following, but now they seemed to be going in a different direction. Their only light came from the tiny flickering flame of the Dunhill lighter. They were standing at the intersection of several of the tunnels.

‘Maybe no bad thing,' Guy said. ‘Just because the Germans think they know where they're going, that doesn't mean that Leo and Brinkman have a clue. Given the size of this place we'll be lucky if any of us find the others.'