Temple of Fire (8 page)

Dragons of the Night

Temple
of the Moon

 

Will Langhorne stared at the seven commandos in the chamber below the once-glorious
Nizian
Temple
of the Moon.  His abductor, the muscular baldheaded man, sat against a stone wall, completely silent.

The commander of the Chinese forces stood before Langhorne, hands on her hips.

“You could have asked politely and I would have come,” Langhorne said glibly.

“Lieutenant
Cho
tends to take commands very literally,” said the commander.  “I asked him to bring you here as soon as possible.  That’s exactly what he did.”

Commander
Saturo
Aiko
was a slim Asian with short black hair, dark eyes, and a white scar running up her left cheek.  Her beauty was apparent, but it also had an unforgiving quality about it.  Her features rarely betrayed humor or a smile.

“Is Lieutenant
Cho
even human?” asked Langhorne.

Aiko
nodded. 
“Quite human.
  He had biological parents like anyone else.  He has been modified, however.”

“Modified?”

“He has received synthetic implants.  His eyes are artificial and can see far more accurately than yours or mine.  His heart is also artificial, giving him superior endurance and strength.  His brain is connected to sensors beneath his skin, so that he can sense the proximity of life forms and electronic signals.  He also has a separate set of sensors that can generate a force field around his body.”

“A
cyborg
,” said Langhorne.

“Yes,” said
Aiko
. 
“A prototype, but very efficient.
  Many others are being created for our army.”

Langhorne paused, looking at both
Cho
and
Aiko
.  “So why did you ask the Incredible Hulk over there to fetch me, Commander?”

Aiko
didn’t smile at Langhorne’s sarcasm. 

“Because,” she said, “I require your aid.”

“I magnanimously tipped off Li
Soo
Yang,” he said, shrugging innocently.  “I’m now a humble treasure hunter.  I don’t have a dog in this fight.”  Smiling, he bowed from the waist to indicate his service to the Chinese, waving his hand in a mock flourish.

“On the contrary,”
Aiko
said.  “You will do whatever we ask until our mission here is completed.  You will help us find the Americans.”

“To what purpose?”

“So that we may kill them.
  Except for the operative named Hawkeye.  He is returning to our base in
China
.”

“And how will I accomplish this?  Why not just
have
Robo-Cho
round up these people?”

“You can minimize our casualties if we can position our forces correctly.”

“So I’m the bait,” said Langhorne.

“Yes,” said
Aiko
.  “Cooperate fully, and we will show you where your treasure can be found.  It’s everywhere — if you know where to look.”

Langhorne nodded.  If he were going to be a mercenary, he would make sure that he would be richly compensated.

 

Titan Six

Temple
of
Ashtak

 

“Do you read, Titan Six?” asked Touchdown.

“We’re here,” said Hawkeye.  “I have a broken leg. 
Hairline fracture, according to Christian.”

“Releasing calcium and phosphorous into your bloodstream,” Touchdown said. 
“Also some anti-inflammatory agents to prevent swelling.
 
A few endorphins for the pain.”

“I’m wrapping the leg to provide the muscles with support,” said
Madison
.

Hawkeye stood tentatively and took several deep breaths.  “It’s a little sore, but nothing I can’t handle.  We’re moving on to the temple.”

“We’ve lost contact with Gator and Tank,” said Touchdown.  “I believe they’re beneath a temple in the southern half of the crater.”

“We have to go after them!” said Hawkeye.

“Negative,” said
Caine
.  “I require
intel
on that crater ASAP.  Our readings indicate that it might be destabilizing very quickly, but I need some firsthand info.  Tank and Gator know how to take care of themselves.  Their life signs are stable.”

“Very well,” said Hawkeye with exasperation.  “You’re the boss.”

“This is Quiz breaking in.  I’m at the
Temple
of the High Priest.  Name was
Ixmilan
, if anyone’s interested.  These people called themselves the
Nizia
, and this city was called
Raj
Kithune
.  Hawkeye, you’re headed for the Temple of
Kalpur-Az
.  He was the sun god.”

“How did you get separated from Gator and Tank?” asked
Caine
.

“They were scouting our position.  I began to pick up a strange energy reading and pursued it.”

“You should have waited,” said Mrs.
Caine
sternly.

“I found the source of the energy flux,” said Quiz.  “Believe
me,
you wouldn’t want the Chinese to find it.”

“Return to the EFV,”
Caine
ordered.

“Commandoes approaching you!”
Touchdown warned.

The sound of gunfire filled the
Ops
Center
.

 

Aft Cargo Hold 6

Aboard the
Alamiranta

 

Pyro
had disconnected a dozen wires inside the torpedo.  The ship had completed its turn, leaving the cargo hold level once again.

Pyro
deftly placed his right hand on a yellow wire leading to one of the torpedo’s many batteries.  Tugging gently, he disconnected it from the power source.

“Shit!” he cried.

“What happened?” asked a member of the bomb squad.

“Look at the readout,” said
Pyro
grimly.

3:29

 

3:28

 

3:27

 

Three hours and twenty-seven minutes.

“We just lost more time,”
Pyro
said. 

Caine
broke in from the
Ops
Center
.

“
Pyro
, why can’t we just push the damn thing gently into the sea?”
Caine
asked.  “It doesn’t sound like we’re going to be able to disarm it.”

“
It’s
way too unstable, ma’am.  The gyroscopes inside the torpedo would almost surely detonate it immediately.”

“Do your best,” said
Caine
.  “Let me know if the readout loses any more time.”

“If it loses too much time,” said
Pyro
, “the whole ship may know about it simultaneously.”

Caine
made no reply.

 

Quiz and Dante

Temple
of the High Priest

 

Quiz turned around and began firing at the three Dragons that had darkened the entrance to the temple.  Two fell, but a third charged the young Titan member.

Quiz put his right hand behind his back.

The commando was just ten feet away.

Quiz steadied his nerves, his right arm tensing,
muscles
taut.

Five feet.

Quiz brought his right arm from behind his back.  His hand was holding a pearl-handled knife with a seven-inch blade.

Two feet.

At the very last moment, Quiz thrust the blade into the Dragon’s belly.  His fingers tightened on the pearl handle as he twisted it with determination, driving it deeper into the Dragon’s stomach.

The commando exhaled a long, rancid breath as Quiz pulled the knife back, drops of blood beading on the blade.

The Dragon’s eyes were still open, filled with terror, as he stammered backwards and fell to the floor.

Quiz wiped the blade clean, sheathed it, and then scrubbed the blood from his right hand.

* There’s no one else approaching. *

You’re as handy as Touchdown sometimes.

* Glad to be of service. *

Quiz gazed at the eight-inch-long blue crystal resting on the stone floor — the energy source his
Digi
-Palm had registered.  It was pulsing at ten-second intervals.

* It’s an incredible power source. *

No doubt.  But used for what?

*I don’t know, but I think you should wrap it up.  It may be light-sensitive. *

Quiz took a piece of bandage from his first aid kit and gently wrapped the crystal.  The pulsing stopped.

Quiz took a deep breath and looked at his
Digi
-Palm. It was called the
Ruba-schal
.

* It obviously comes from the Ancients. The
Nizia
were advanced, but I don’t see anything here resembling a scientific technology that could utilize crystals as an energy source. *

I agree.  Let’s get this back to the EFV.

 

Temple of
Kalpur-Az

Ruins of
Raj
Kithune

 

“The temple is clear — for now,” said Touchdown.

“We’re climbing the steps,” said Hawkeye.

Ten steps up, Hawkeye winced.

“I can walk with a limp, but climbing all those steps . .
. ”
Hawkeye shook his head.  “Not
gonna
happen.”

The leader threw his arms around Shooter and Madison, who flanked his sides.  Hawkeye hopped on his one good leg the rest of the way up.  The three figures stopped on the porch of the temple.

“Pictures of the sun are carved everywhere,”
Madison
observed.

Many of the glyphs showed a humanoid figure, the head replaced by the sun, complete with grooved lines representing rays of light moving outward from the body.

Madison
looked at the temple and the other
Nizian
structures in the distance.  “The layout is similar to Mayan cities in
Central America
.  It was probably a well-manicured city with plenty of green spaces and plazas.  I’ve also seen stone channels running through the city and what appear to be fountains and dried-up pools.  These people had a sophisticated irrigation system.”

“Let’s get inside,” Hawkeye said.  “We shouldn’t stay exposed for too long.”

Inside the temple, the Titan members beheld hundreds of pictures of mating couples on the walls, although many were partially eroded.

“A randy bunch,” Shooter remarked.  “This resembles a
Nizian
Kama
Sutra.”

Ambergris broke in from the
Ops
Center
.

“It’s unusual for a sun god to be equated with fertility,” he said.  “In most cultures, fertility gods were lesser beings and had their own temples.”

“It’s awfully damn hot in here,” said Shooter.

“Ops,” said Hawkeye, “we have flames coming through cracks in the floor.  I’m also reading pockets of methane, sulfur, and other volatile elements.”

Shooter cautiously entered the interior chamber.  “In here,” she called.  “There’s a winding stairway that leads below.”

“We’re going to descend,” said Hawkeye as he and Madison joined Shooter.

“I’m reading intense geologic activity down there,” said Touchdown.  “The temperature is just this side of hell.  I advise you to activate the oxygen canisters in your backpacks and take slow, steady breaths.”

“Roger that,” said Hawkeye.

A narrow stairway was carved directly into the stone floor of the temple.  It was dark except for an occasional red glow that illuminated the steps, as if a light was
strobing
somewhere beneath the main chamber.

The team descended single file.

 

Subterranean Chamber

Temple
of the Moon

 

Will Langhorne walked into a chamber adjoining the room where he had spoken with Commander
Aiko
.  The space was lit with a portable light panel in the corner.

“So I’m not the only prisoner of the Chinese,” Langhorne said affably as he approached two soldiers sitting in the corner.

The Titan members got to their feet.

“I’m Tank and this is Gator.  We’re part of a special ops force from Titan Global.  We were captured while doing some recon.”

“I’ve heard of the outfit,” said Langhorne, raising his eyebrows. 
“Very impressive — and very hush-hush.
  I used to work in
Washington
for the U.S. Geological Survey.  There’s a lot of gossip in that town.  I’ve been stationed in
Nevada
lately and thought I’d have a look-see after the explosion.  I fell into the crater and was investigating when the Chinese knocked me out and brought me here.”

“What do they want?” Tank asked.

“I haven’t the faintest idea.  Couldn’t understand what they were saying.  I do know a way out of here, however, assuming we could distract our hosts.”

Tank and Gator exchanged glances.

“That can be arranged,” said Tank.  “If you can spring us, we’ll take you to the rest of our team.”

“Deal,” said Langhorne.