Serpent

throughout the Southwest. This is why we cannot afford to. have our glorious past rewritten. I have spent a fortune to buy territory, voting, and political influence. Halcon Industries is stretched to the limit. I built this new Chichen Itza to be the capital of the new country. But even the vast resources of our cartel can't equip an army to defend itself against a United States that might not recognize the trend of the future. This is why it is vital that we find. the vast riches that will enable us to carry out our plan. It will not succeed without the treasure.'

'We are close to assembling all the pieces of the puzzle. Our agents have acquired documents from a number of sources in Spain and other countries.'

'Has there been any outcry?'

'Not yet. The International Herald reported the unexplainable theft of Columbian memorabilia from auction houses and museums, but nobody has put it together yet.'

'Not until now,' Halcon said with a sly smile.

Guzman raised a frosty eyebrow.

'Our experts have analyzed the old documents,' Halcon went on. 'They have located the key that will open the secret that has baffled us for so long.'

'Congratulations, Don Halcon. I'm most pleased:'

'You won't be when you hear the details. You see, the key we seek lies on the bottom of the ocean in the hold of the Andrea Doria. '

Guzman was stunned. 'Not the artifact? How could that be? Your father ordered me to sink the ship.'

As I said, my father was not infallible. He thought the artifact could destroy us.'

'There's no mistake?'

'I've had the documents checked again and again. I have read them myself. No, my friend, I'm afraid there is no doubt. The artifact that my father once thought would end the Brotherhood will show the way to greater glory. I want you to fit out a salvage project right away. You will have all the resources of Halcon Industries at your command. This should be done as quickly as possible.'

'I'll start work as soon as we are through here, sir:'

'Excellent. Are there any more archaeological expeditions that could derail our plans in the meantime?'

'There seems to be a freeze on activities around the world. Except for the shortlived NUMA project in Arizona, of course.'

'My compliments for cauterizing that infection so quickly. How much of a threat is NUMA?'

'I wouldn't underestimate them. You saw what happened in Morocco.'

'I agree: I think it best that you remain in charge of all operations where NUMA is concerned. Use all force necessary.'

Guzman's cell phone rang, and he excused himself to listen.

'Yes. Immediately. Patch it into Don Halcon's closed circuit.

A moment later the television screen blinked into life and showed a wooded scene in black and pale green.

'What is it?' Halcon snapped impatiently.

'This was taken with a surveillance camera in the small rise on the north of the complex.'

As they watched the colors were manipulated so that the face of a man running through the woods was enlarged to fill the screen.

Guzman swore under his breath.

'Do you know him?' Halcon asked.

'Yes. His name is Zavala, and he was with the NUMA team on the Arizona project.'

'You're correct about NUMA not being a toothless dog.' Halcon stared at the screen, thinking. 'You said there was another man, the leader of the team.':

'Kurt Austin. He was running the project.'

'They'll do for a start. Have him and this man. killed. Put the salvage plans off if you have to.'

'As you say Don Halcon.'

Halcon dismissed Guzman and went back to his map.

Guzman had no illusions about Halcon. He had known him since he was a boy hovering over him like a guardian angel. He thought Halcon's  megalomaniacal scheme had more to do with his selfish pursuit of power and riches than restoring the lost grandeur of those he called his people. He was using those. of Indian blood toward his own ends and would enslave them much as his conquistador ancestors had. What he was proposing would mean civil war, certain bloodshed, possibly the death of thousands.

Guzman knew all this and didn't care. When the old master took the young blond boy under his wing, he created a being of undiminished loyalty. Killing highly placed NUMA operatives could be a big mistake, Guzman thought as he left the room. But he had become bored with his work in recent years, and what had become important was the game. The NUMA men would be worthy opponents. His mind began to work on an assassination plan.

The Yucatan, Mexico

34 THE YUCATAN HAMMOCK WAS NEVER meant for a man as long as Paul Trout. The handwoven fiber sling was designed with the diminutive Mayan stature in mind. When he wasn't swatting mosquitoes Trout was trying to find a place for the arms and legs that dangled to the dirt floor of the Indian hut. Dawn's first gray light was a welcome relief. He extricated himself from the sack, smoothed the wrinkles out of his suit as best he could, decided he could do nothing about his morning beard, and with a bemused glance at Morales, who lay snoring in another hammock, emerged into the morning mists. He trekked across a cornfield to the edge of woods where the helicopter lay on its side resembling a big dead dragonfly.

The pilot had tried to land in the field as the helicopter used up the fuel vapors powering its engine. The aircraft plunged into the canopy of foliage that was so deceivingly softlooking from above. The fuselage crashed through the treetops accompanied by a horrendous racket of snapping branches and the screech of tortured metal.

Trout had the wind knocked out of him. The pilot hit his head and was knocked cold. Morales was dazed. Ruiz, who'd been awakened by the racket, sat there in bewilderment with drool on his whiskered chin. Morales and Trout dragged the pilot out of the chopper, and he came around in the fresh air. Everyone had bruised knees and elbows, but no serious injuries were noted. Trout was glad Ruiz had survived; he might prove a valuable source of information in finding Gamay.

With his hands on his hips Trout surveyed the damage and shook his head in amazement. The trees had cushioned the copter's momentum. The runners had collapsed, and the main and tail rotors were history, but the body remained miraculously intact. Trout rapped on the mangled fuselage. There was a stirring inside. The pilot, who had chosen to spend the night in the helicopter crawled out, stretched his arms, and opened his mouth in a bellowlike yawn. The noise awoke Ruiz, who was on the ground with his hands cuffed to the useless runners. He blinked sleepily when he saw Trout. The mosquitoes didn't seem tohave bothered him. Smelling like a swine pen had its advantages, Trout guessed. He walked around the chopper and thought again that it was a miracle they'd got down in one piece. He had counted seven bullet holes in the helicopter including the lucky fuel tank shot.

Minutes after the JetRanger hit the ground a figure had approached from across the cornfield. An Indian farmer who lived nearby had seen the crash. He greeted them with a friendly grin from under his straw hat. He was unperturbed, as if strange men dropped out of the sky every day. The pilot did a quick damage assessment and found that the radio was useless. They followed the farmer to his hut, where his wife offered food and water and four young children eyed them warily from a distance.

Morales questioned the farmer at length, then turned to Trout.

.'I asked him if there is a village or town near here with a telephone. He says a priest in a nearby village has a radio. He will go there to tell him about us and ask to send help.'

'How far is the village?'

Morales shook his head. 'It's a ways. He will spend the night and come back tomorrow.'

Thinking of Gamay Trout chafed at the delay, but there was nothing he could do. The farmer's wife packed food in a cotton, sack, and her husband climbed onto a grizzled burro, waved goodbye to his family, and set off on his grand adventure. Trout watched the burro plod down a trail and prayed the unsteady animal would last the trip. The farmer's wife offered the use of her home and said she would stay the night with relatives. She was back by the time Trout and the pilot returned to the but to see if Morales was awake. Then she prepared tortillas and beans for