The sound of the air pump grew louder and the blow of air seemed stronger, though Vaughn figured that was just his imagination working overtime. He froze when he saw a metal grate at the far reach of the red light, immediately switching the light off.
He and Tai waited in the darkness, and gradually they began to see a faint light on the other side of the grate. Vaughn got down on his belly and crawled forward, careful not to make any sound. Tai was right behind him, her face scant inches from his boots.
The light grew stronger as he got closer to the grate. He arrived at it and peered through. All he could see was a gray plastic tube that curved down. Warm air blew on his face, pumped up into the tube. The light was dimly coming through the plastic. The sound of the air pump was loud now, right ahead of and below them.
Vaughn scooted as far to one side as he could, and Tai crawled up next to him. Their bodies were pressed together as they considered their situation. Vaughn looked at the grate. The metal strips were only about a quarter inch thick, spaced every three inches or so. He was sure it was designed more to keep animals from coming in than to prevent human entry. He reached out and tugged on it, and the entire thing gave about half an inch. He looked over at Tai and raised his eyebrows in question.
She nodded and grabbed her side of the grate. Together they pushed inward until the metal gave and then popped loose. Twisting, they slid it over their heads and farther down the tunnel.
"Hey," Tai hissed, pointing to the left. Engraved in the metal were Japanese characters and a series of numbers.
"So this was built during the war by the Japanese."
"Looks like," Vaughn agreed. He pointed forward.
"Take a look. I'll hold you."
Tai scooted forward as Vaughn moved back, wrapping his arms around her thighs. She moved farther into the plastic tube, and he had to exert more effort to keep her from tumbling forward. Finally he felt her pull back and helped her, bringing her back into the steel tube.
"There's a damn big fan at the bottom of that thing, about eight feet down from the curve," Tai reported.
"We do not want to go into that."
Vaughn slid his knife out of its sheath. She nodded. He moved to the edge and put the tip of the knife against the plastic. Bearing down on it, he broke through the thin material and then began to cut. On the other side, Tai did the same. They met in the middle on the bottom, having severed the lower half of the plastic tube. Securing his knife back in the sheath, Vaughn grabbed the plastic and pushed it open. A dirty tile floor was about twelve feet below their position in a narrow space between the large machine holding the fan and the rock wall. The space was about two feet wide.
Vaughn moved forward but Tai grabbed his arm.
"How do we get back in here?"
"If we need to leave this way," he said, "we crab up between the wall and the machine."
Tai nodded, and Vaughn edged out, swinging his feet down. His toes scrambled for purchase, one foot on the wall, one on the machine. He flexed his legs, pressing outward, then began his descent. Within seconds he was on the floor. He quickly scooted to the edge of the machine and looked, half expecting to see some sort of custodian or engineer. But the ten-by-twenty-meter cavern was empty. At the far end was a steel door.
Tai was right behind Vaughn, weapon at the ready. He nodded toward the door and they moved forward.
Sinclair walked into the latrine and heard the sound of vomiting from one of the stalls. He walked over and, given that Kasen and Orson were still in the planning room, knew that it was Hayes occupying the stall.
"You all right?" Sinclair asked.
The noise had stopped and now there was a strange silence.
"Hey?" Sinclair tapped on the door.
"Hayes. You okay, man?"
There was no reply. Cursing, Sinclair pulled his knife out and slid it between the door and the jamb, releasing the latch. The door swung open, revealing Hayes passed out next to the toilet, bloody vomit everywhere.
"Goddamn," Sinclair muttered. He reached down and grabbed the man. He pulled him out of the stall and then into the operations room.
"Hey, guys. We need a medic."
Orson and Kasen ran over as Sinclair put Hayes on one of the planning tables. Sinclair slapped his face a few times and Hayes's eyes flickered, then opened.
"What happened?" he muttered.
"Clean him up," Orson snapped.
Sinclair grabbed some paper towels and dabbed off the blood and vomit on Hayes's face while Kasen offered his canteen. Hayes weakly took the canteen as he sat up, his upper body wobbly. He took a swig, washed it around in his mouth, then spit to the side. Then he took a deep drink.
Orson was standing still, watching, hands on hips.
"We need a medic," Sinclair repeated.
Orson slowly nodded.
"All right. I'll take care of it."
He went over to the phone linking them to the ASTs and quietly spoke into it.
"An ambulance is on the way," he said afterward.
Then he went to his laptop, typed in a message and transmitted it.
Ruiz wiped the sheen of sweat off his forehead as he stood in the warehouse. Behind him were three large wooden crates resting on pallets. They contained the rest of the Golden Lily treasure from the cave that was supposed to be auctioned this evening. He checked his watch once more. It was time, but where was -
He looked up as the small door set into the large sliding door for the warehouse opened. The Japanese woman walked in. She was dressed all in black: slacks, shirt, and leather coat. She was carrying a metal briefcase. She walked up to the small table set in front of Ruiz and put the case on it without a word. Then she gestured with one hand, indicating for him to open it.
Ruiz hesitated as he considered the possibility the case was rigged. But his greed overcame his fear and he flipped the two latches and swung the lid up. Stacks of cash along with a plane ticket were lying on top, and a Japanese passport.
"As promised," the woman said.
"Only half the money. The other half will be given to you at the airfield after we ensure you have given us what we paid for and to make certain that you truly are gone. We don't want you having second thoughts."
A second thought was the last thing on Ruiz's mind as he checked the plane ticket and saw his picture in the passport along with a new name.
"Is this real?" he asked, holding up the passport.
"Yes."
He stared at the cash.
"Everything remaining is in the crates."
"I'm sure it is," the woman said. She was looking at him strangely, and he wondered what she was thinking.
His focus shifted back to the case and the money.
"Abayon," she said. Ruiz was startled.
"What?"
"Abayon. Why did he put these pieces out for auction? He's been sitting on them for over half a century."
Ruiz shrugged.
"He wants to help fund other groups. He has so much there…" He paused, not sure how much he should say.
"He has the Golden Lily, of which this is only a taste," the woman said.
"You knew that," Ruiz said.
"Or else you would not have sent the envoy."
"Who you killed."
Ruiz licked his lips.
"Abayon did that. I wasn't even there."
"What else does Abayon have planned?"
"Nothing."
"You lie."
Ruiz took a step back from the table.
"No. I have no idea. This was my job…" He indicated the crates.
"Abayon is very good at keeping things compartmentalized. I only know what I needed to know to do this."