Rudetsky gave up at last. 'Nothing doing,' he said, and looked at his watch. That was Camp One's last transmission of the day. If they fix up their transmitter they'll be on the air again as usual at eight tomorrow morning. There's nothing we can do until then.'
He didn't seem unduly worried, but he didn't know what I knew. He didn't know about Jack Gatt. I said, 'All right; we'll wait until then. I'll tell Fallon what's happened.'
That proved to be harder than I anticipated. He was totally wrapped up in his work, brooding over a golden plate and trying to date it while he muttered a spate of Mayan numbers. I tried to tell him what had happened but he said irritably, 'It doesn't sound much to me. They'll be on the air tomorrow with a full explanation. Now go away and don't worry me about it.'
So I went away and did a bit of brooding on my own. I thought of talking about it to Halstead but the memory of what Pat Harris had said stopped me; and I didn't say anything to Katherine because I didn't want to scare her, nor did I want her to pass anything on to her husband. At last I went to see Rider. 'Is your chopper ready for work?' I asked.
He looked surprised and a little offended. 'It's always ready,' he said shortly.
'We may need it tomorrow,' I said. 'Get ready for an early start.'
VII
That night we had a fire -- in the radio shack!
I woke up to hear distant shouts and then the closer thudding of boots on the hard ground as someone ran by outside the hut. I got up and went to see what was happening and found Rudetsky in the shack beating out the last of the flames. I sniffed the air. 'Did you keep petrol in here?'
'No!' he grunted. 'We had visitors. A couple of those goddamn chicleros got in here before we chased them off.' He looked at the charred remains of the transmitter. 'Now why in hell would they want to do that?'
I could have told him but I didn't. It was something else to be figured into the addition which meant isolation. 'Has anything else been sabotaged?' I asked.
'Not that I know of,' he said.
It was an hour before dawn. 'I'm going down to Camp One,' I said. 'I want to know what's happened down there.'
Rudetsky looked at me closely. 'Expecting to find trouble?' He waved his hand. 'Like this?'
'I might be,' I admitted. 'There may be trouble here, too.
Keep everyone in camp while I'm away. And don't take any backchat from Halstead; if he makes .trouble you know what to do about it.'
'It'll be a pleasure,' said Rudetsky feelingly. 'I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what's really going on?'
'Ask Fallon,' I said. 'It's a long story and I have no time now. I'm going to dig out Rider.'
I had a bite to eat and then convinced Rider he had to take me to Camp One. He was a bit uncertain about it, but since Fallon had apparently abdicated all responsibility and because I was backed up by Rudetsky he eventually gave way and we were ready for take-off just as the sun rose. Katherine came to see me off, and I leaned down and said, 'Stick close to the camp and don't move away. I'll be back before long.'
'All right,' she promised.
Halstead came into view from somewhere behind the helicopter and joined her. 'Are you speeding the hero?' he asked in his usual nasty way. He had been investigating the Temple of Yum Chac above the cenote and was chafing to really dig into it instead of merely uncovering the surface, but Fallon wouldn't let him. The finds Katherine and I had been making in the cenote had put his nose out of joint. It irked him that non-professionals were apparently scooping the pool -- to make a bad pun -- and he was irritable about it, even to the point of picking quarrels with his wife.
He pulled her away from the helicopter forcibly, and Rider looked at me and shrugged. 'We might as well take off,' he said. I nodded, and he fiddled with fee controls and up we went.
I spoke to Rider and he merely grinned and indicated the intercom earphones, so I put them on, and said into the microphone 'Circle around the site for a bit, will you? I want to see what it looks like from the air.'
'Okay,' he said, and we cast around in a wide sweep over Uaxuanoc. It actually looked like a city from the air, at least the part that had been cleared did. I could see quite clearly the huge platform on which was built the Temple of Kukulkan and the building which Fallon referred to jocularly as 'City Hall'. And there was the outline of what seemed to be another big platform to the east along the ridge, but that had only been partially uncovered. On the hill above the cenote Halstead had really been working hard and the Temple of Yum Chac was unmistakable for what it was -- not just a mound of earth, but a huge pyramid of masonry with a pillared hall surmounting it.
We made three sweeps over the city, then I said, 'Thanks, Harry; we'd better be getting on. Do you mind keeping low -- I'd like to take a closer look at the forest.'
'I don't mind, as long as you don't want to fly too low. I'll keep the speed down so you can really see.'
