raised their MP-5s and Steyr-AUGs and fired hard.
They all stood around the temple's open portal, facing outwards, aiming up at the source of the lethal arrows—the rim of the massive crater.
From the cover of the portal's walls, Gunther Kolb peered up into the darkness, searching for his enemy.
And he saw them.
Saw a collection of shadowy figures gathered up on the rim of the canyon.
There were maybe fifty of them in total—thin human shapes loosing a barrage of primitive wooden arrows at the German commandos on the tower top.
What the hell—? Kolb thought.
Race listened in stunned amazement to the German voices coming in over the little television's speakers.
'Temple team! What's going on up there?'
'We're under attack! I repeat, we are under attack!”
“Who is attacking you ?”
'They look like Indians! Repeat. Indians. Natives. They're firing down on us from the upper rim of the crater! But we seem to be pushing them back—wait. No, wait a minute. They're pulling back. They're pulling back.“
A moment later, the roar of automatic gunfire ceased and there was a long silence.
Nothing.
More silence.
The Germans on the screen looked cautiously around themselves, their guns smoking.
In the Humvee, Race exchanged a look with Chambers.
'A tribe of natives in the area,' Race said.
Gunther Kolb was shouting orders.
'Horgen! WellI Take a squad up there and form a perimeter around the rim of the crater!' He turned to face von Dirksen and his entry team. 'All right, Captain. You may enter the temple.'
The five members of the entry team gathered in front of the open portal.
It yawned before them, dark and menacing.
Captain von Dirksen stepped cautiously forward—gun in hand—and stood at the threshold of the portal, at the top of the set of wide stone steps that led down into the bowels of the temple.
'All right,' he said formally into his throat mike as he took his first step downward. 'I can see some stone stairs in front of me. Descending—”
'—the stairs' von Dirksen's voice said over the Humvee's speakers.
Race stared intently at the image of the five commandos as they walked slowly into the portal until finally the last soldier's head disappeared below the floorline and he saw nothing but the empty stone doorway.
“Captain, report,' Kolb's voice said inside Kurt von Dirksen's headset as the young German captain reached the bottom of the damp stone steps, the beam of his flashlight slicing through the darkness.
He was now standing in a narrow stone-walled tunnel. It stretched away from him, bending around and down to the right in a smooth curve. It sloped steeply downwards, spiralling down into the gloom of the temple's core. Small indented alcoves lined its walls.
'We've reached the base of the stairs,' he said. “I see a curved tunnel ahead of me. Moving toward it.'
The entry team spaced themselves out as they began to move cautiously down the steeply graded tunnel. The beams of their flashlights played over its glistening wet walls. An echoing, dripping sound could be heard from somewhere deep within the temple.
Von Dirksen said, 'Team, this is One. Call in.'
The rest of the entry team responded quickly: 'This is Two.'
'Four.'
'Five.'
They ventured further down the tunnel.
Race and the others watched the Humvee's television screen in tense silence, listened to the hushed voices of the German entry team. Race translated.
“Its so wet in here, water everywhere—”
'—stay sharp. Watch your step—'
Just then, a loud burst of static screeched out from the television's speakers.
“What was that?” yon Dirksen said quickly. “Team, call in.”
'This is Two.'
'Three.'
'Four.“
