fortress's walls meant that any external enemies couldn't hope to budge the great stone from the outside.

The stone rolled into place—although Lauren and Copeland deliberately left a small crack of air between it and the doorframe. It was important to the plan that the cats be able to detect them inside the citadel.

After all, they were the bait.

Inside the ATV, everyone stared intently at the live satellite image on the viewscreen.

The cats came in two distinct 'teams'—one team coming directly from the plateau to the west, the other swinging up and around from the north.

Race felt a chill as he watched their bodies—glowing white on the infra-red—their tails curling and uncurling slowly behind them.

It was disturbing, he thought. Disturbingly coordinated behaviour for a pack of animals.

The cats crossed the moat at various locations. Some went over the western log-bridge, others just leapt softly onto the fallen tree trunks that littered the dry moat-bed and then hopped effortlessly up onto the other side.

They entered the village.

Most of the rapas, Race saw, headed straight for the citadel and the scent of the people inside it.

Just then, however, he saw a lone, white blob on the screen appear alongside the stationary ATV.

Race spun instantly to his right—and saw the enormous black whiskers of one of the cats right outside the slit-like window next to him!

The rapa snorted once, registered the foul-smelling monkey excrement that had been smeared on the sill of the slit.

Then it ambled off to join the others at the citadel.

'Okay,' Nash said. 'All of the cats appear to be converging on the citadel. Lauren, what's happening over there?'

'They're all over here. They want to get in, but the citadel's sealed tight. We're safe in here for the moment. You can send the boys out now.'

Nash turned to the three Green Berets beside him. 'You ready?'

The three soldiers nodded.

'Then get to it.'

And with that, Nash pushed opened a pop-up hatch in the rear of the ATV and Cochrane, Van Lewen and Reichart—their helmets and clothes smeared all over with the putrid brown monkey shit—climbed up and out through it. As soon as they were out, Nash quickly shut the hatch behind them.

'Kennedy,“ he said into his mike. “Anything on the SAT- SN?”

“There's nothing within a hundred miles of here, sir,” Doogie's voice came in from the citadel.

As Nash talked, Race stared intently at the satellite image of the village.

He saw the pack of cats gathered around the citadel. Saw their slithering tails, their cautious, inquisitive movements.

At the same time, however, on the bottom of the screen, he saw three new blobs sneak out from the ATV and race westward, across the western log-bridge and away from the village, toward the dark mountain- plateau.

Cochrane, Van Lewen and Reichart.

Going after the idol.

The three Green Berets burst through the veil of mist that covered the riverside path and raced toward the fissure.

They were running fast, breathing hard. All three of them wore helmet-mounted cameras.

They came to the fissure.

It too was cloaked in a thick grey mist. The three soldiers didn't miss a step. They dashed into it at full speed.

In the ATV, Nash, Schroeder and Renee were all watching the video monitors intently, watching the feed coming in from the three soldiers.

On the monitors, they saw the walls of the fissure streak ing by at phenomenal speed. On the wall-mounted speakers, they heard the three soldiers' heavy panting breaths.

Race stood a few paces away from the video monitors.

He didn't want to get in the way.

It was then, however, that he noticed that Nash and the two Germans were now watching only the pictures coming from the three helmet cameras. Their interest in the soldiers' mission was paramount, and as such, they were completely ignoring the satellite image screen.

Race turned to look at the satellite picture.

And then he frowned.

'Hey' he said. 'What the hell is that?'

Nash glanced around idly at Race and the satellite monitor. But when he saw the image on the satellite

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