Gillian stepped forward. 'Going somewhere, lard arse?' She could not resist the jibe although she knew it may come back to haunt her.

Arun looked as if he was about to explode. 'Get them!' he screamed to Samuel and Fred.

'With pleasure.' Fred complied immediately but Samuel hesitated.

'Move now or you will suffer for your disobedience later,' said Arun.

Samuel lunged forward. It was almost as if someone had flicked the switch from light to dark and Samuel represented the darkness. His eyes had transformed from a typical compassionate human to a blank, unthinking robot. His body language became stiff and defensive and his expression was one of extreme anger. Gillian had seen this look when he'd tried to kill her after her escape from Tikal. He was to be feared and she reacted immediately.

Gillian spun and instinctively veered to her right. She moved in between Adam and Georgio with the intention of forming a solid line, but Fred was ready for them. Gillian was well aware that Fred was a karate expert, but so was Samuel and they ran at them like bulls to a gate. Adam and Georgio ducked, Gillian twisted and let loose with a kick of her own. She collected Fred on the shin and wore his wrath with a striking blow to the cheek. Gillian yelled, catching a quick glimpse of Arun in the background as she turned. He was enjoying the scene so much that he resembled a fan at a ballgame. Gillian was so sickened that she almost missed Fred's next punch to her stomach.

She reacted just as he connected with her skin, dredging up a fist from her own armory and hitting Fred where it hurt his balls. He stumbled forward but grabbed her ankles and yanked her forcefully to the ground along with him. She fell, instinctively calling to Adam and Georgio for help, but they were already struggling to contain Samuel.

Fred snarled. 'You bitch. You always did think you were better than me. Well, this time you are wrong. You are going to die and your dear friends will not be able to help you.'

Fred had rolled onto Gillian's body, pinning her feet with his own. He reached for a nearby piece of wood, ignoring her attempts to wriggle free, and raised the stick above his head. Fred whopped Gillian over the top of her head, but he had misjudged his angle and instead of a deadly strike, it was merely a glancing blow.

'Shit,' he swore as he spat at her face and raised his weapon for a second attempt.

A gun fired and everyone stopped to locate the cause.

Gillian cried in fear and relief as Fred slumped forward, leaving blood smears over her face and clothes. He was dead and a moment of disturbing realisation flooded her mind. She had shot Fred. The man she had been prepared to marry. She had shared her soul with him and now he was dead by her own hand. Horror and disbelief at the reality of her actions threatened to overwhelm her and she felt sanity slipping from her grasp. Gillian longed to retreat into the depths of her mind, to seek relief from her guilt until her inner strength came to the fore. Damn it, he was going to kill her. He would have murdered her and suffered no regret. Gillian was merely defending her own life, and she deserved to live. She had every reason to enjoy a full and happy life as the next person. Fred had no right to take than from her.

Gillian sat up. She had expected Georgio and Adam to come to her aid, but they were still in a violent fight with Samuel. To their credit, they did not look like they were losing but neither were they any closer to winning. Punch was met with punch, kick with kick and each was as bloodied as each other.

Gillian fondled the gun in her hand. She had the option of ending the fight with a simple gunshot, but she was well aware that shooting was not her strong point. She dared not risk the lives of her friends.

Gillian contemplated her options and just as she moved to join the fight, a large arm wrapped itself around her neck. Her first reaction was to pull away, to strike at the owner of the arms of steel. She struggled and fought, finding that it was no easy task. Despite the immense size, the owner was extremely strong and Gillian knew without looking that it was Arun.

He had made his way from the Jeep to her side whilst she had been busy dwelling on her supposed guilt. She had let her guard down. She was an idiot.

'Ahhh, my pretty. You've already murdered one of my people. There is no way that I will let you take the life of my son.'

Gillian felt enclosed, smothered by a whale as he used his immense bulk to limit her movement. Still she continued to fight, even when Arun placed his hand over her mouth.

'You have done enough damage and whilst I admire your intelligence and determination, I no longer need you. My work here is done and even though I may have failed for the moment, I will come back. I will find the treasure I have been seeking, but in the meantime, I need that box of papers you have been carrying about. Long after you've expired, I'll be able to continue with my quest for wealth and riches. There is no stopping me. I am God,' and with that Arun ripped off Gillian's small brown leather satchel and put his hand over her mouth and nose.

Gillian fought at first. She sought to keep what little oxygen remained in her body circulating for as long as possible, but it soon proved too difficult. She began to give in until a small amount of hope came her way.

It was not the person she expected. Gillian knew Georgio was the logical choice to save her life. He was stronger and far more skilled in combat than Adam and he could easily overwhelm Arun despite his bulk. Adam would also give it his best. She knew that he had come to care about her and he continually proved his loyalty and bravery despite the trials he faced.

But it was neither of them.

Gillian recognised Samuel's voice instantly. He was not pleading or talking, he was shouting. The words he said imprinted themselves in her brain for all eternity.

'You will release her, or by the will of the gods, I will shoot you.'

'You stupid boy. You have feelings for this woman. How can you be such an idiot. Women like her are only good to fuck. They do not obey and are certainly not loyal. No, my dear son. She deserves to die and you will not defy me.'

'For the first time in my life, I will not do as you have ordered. I will not be bullied by a fat tyrant who masquerades as a father. If you do not let her go, I will kill you and you know that I'm more than capable.'

Arun did not reply, his retort interrupted by a stampede of feet encroaching on their position.

Gillian realised that the army had come to their rescue and, true to form, they arrived on the scene within seconds. But the feet stopped. What were they doing? Why did they not rescue her?

Gillian suddenly realised that they must have recognised the threat on her life and considered it safer to wait for the outcome between Arun and Samuel. Interceding now would only cause Arun to react impulsively and remove the problem between them her.

Samuel was her only hope.

Arun removed his hands from her face and clinched her neck in a vice-like grip. She struggled to breathe.

'Okay, boy. Give me one reason why I should not snap her neck like a bird.'

Samuel leaned forward and placed his mouth near Arun's ear. Gillian listened intently, knowing that the information she was about to hear would be fundamental in her release. She wanted to know what Samuel could possibly say that would convince Arun to let her go.

'She is my sister.'

Arun gasped and dropped his hands immediately. His eyes did not reflect an understanding of how Samuel's revelations could be true, but the memory of a wife and a young daughter passed off as his own came to the fore and he screamed. 'She is dead! I made sure of that!'

He went into an absolute flurry, his total loss of control allowing the army to grab him and place him into custody. His charges were imprisonment, desecrating a world heritage site and attempted murder, but no one was cheering.

They were shocked.

Arun did not give up as they hoped. He continued to fight, continued to defend his honour. He loudly accused his advisers of leading him astray and confirmed that his principal conspirator was Samuel.

'He may be my son, but it was his visions that I followed. I would never have come to Tikal if he had not encouraged me to do so. If anyone should be accused for the mess here, for the desecration of this site, the imprisonment of the men, it should be my son. It was entirely his fault.'

Samuel scowled and lunged for his father before being restrained by the army. 'You lying bastard!' Samuel screamed as he struggled to free himself before continuing to curse the men holding him.

'Don't touch me! Fucking let me go! I'll rip those traitorous eyes from his head, strip the adulterous heart from his chest, cut his head from his body and leave it as a warning for all who want to be like him!' Samuel screamed and could barely be controlled as they dragged Arun away. He wanted to kill him and those who knew Samuel did not doubt that given the opportunity, he would do it in a minute and without regret.

Gillian did the only thing she could, the only thing that seemed right. She went to Samuel. For some inconspicuous reason, she was not afraid of him. She was more afraid of potential disaster if he was allowed to escape and play out his fantasy.

Killing Arun was not an option. They needed him as an example to the world.

She placed her hand on his arm and stared at him. Her words were firm, short and to the point. 'He has controlled your entire life. Don't let him manipulate you now.'

Samuel's rage did not to abate, but a shadow of doubt flickered across his face. He lowered his murderous eyes and looked at her for a moment, considering her comments despite an overwhelming anger that required revenge to quench.

Gillian saw the inner battle that he fought, the desire to show Arun just how much he hated him. Samuel was a killing machine and she knew that it would take very little to murder the man who had influenced him for so long. She stared at him and for the second time saw a new side to the man who had declared himself her brother. A man who momentarily resembled the boy that stirred her distant memories. Gillian had no love for him, but there was the stirring of empathy that broke open new feelings. She had no aspiration to see him pay for the death of a man who had murdered so many.

Extreme self-control reigned and Samuel tossed his hands in the air in a desperate move to gain control. He knocked over the men restraining him with little effort and walked away.

A collective sigh ensued and Gillian felt a sense of achievement. It had worked, but there was another urgent matter at hand that required their immediate attention.

She turned to Georgio and Adam with pleading in her eyes. She did not need to speak; Georgio knew exactly what she wanted.

'Let's go and find them,' he said.

'Do you think they are still alive?' she asked.

'I don't know. I truly don't know.' Georgio shook his head.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.

They had successfully rallied the troops and those who remained collected around the entrance to the original dig site.

Gillian took control. 'These are the facts as far as I know. The lift fell, but there was no evidence of bodies and Fred had also intimated that they were alive.'

Tom interrupted. 'But how did Fred make it out?'

'Fred always came prepared for any situation. The failure of the ancient lift rope would have come as a surprise, but it was likely that he used an abseiling harness to escape death.' Gillian could barely mention his name. The hurt and betrayal she felt was extraordinary, but there was also a sense of relief. She was so much better off without him.

Gillian continued, her voice projected so everyone could hear her. 'I do know that Kinix would have had a small room built at the same time that the tunnel was excavated. This would be to avoid the exposure of his secret and to ensure all tools and equipment were on hand. The power of deduction concludes that this is the only way my friends could have survived.'

'So, where do we start looking?' asked one of the soldiers.

'Your guess is as good as mine although it is not likely that it will be near the base of the tunnel. Easy access would demand it to be closer to the surface, so I would suggest digging from the top down,' replied Gillian.

'Damn obsidian is going to cause problems though. I have no idea how we are going to cut through without shattering the entire tunnel. It was the reason why Arun avoided the passageway altogether whilst excavating,' said Georgio.

'Diamond drill,' responded Adam brightly and suddenly.

Georgio chuckled. 'You could be onto something, but where are we going to get one of those in time. Unless I'm missing something we are many miles from a manufacturer.'

'I know where to find one.'

Everyone turned in response to the booming voice of authority.

It was Samuel.

Gillian raised her head and waited for him to answer.

'We have one here, Ahaw ... ' he paused for a moment, seemingly in pain, 'I mean, Arun ... had almost every drill available.'

'So, why didn't you use it?'

'There is no real way to determine if it's going to work and Arun did not want to risk damage to any treasure, so we used the traditional method.'

'Well, what are we waiting for?' asked Gillian as she clapped her hands and gestured impatiently. 'Let's go and find them.'

Everyone rallied. A few people ran to get the drill and various digging equipment whilst Gillian located the top of the tunnel which lay thirty feet from the ancient residence.

Within minutes they had begun to dig through the dirt and antiquated rubble, revealing a myriad of items used on a daily basis by the Mayans. In normal circumstances, Gillian would have been enthusiastically rummaging like a dog for a bone, but today the thousand year old plate and the hand-modelled figure of Chac meant nothing. All she cared about was her friends.

She was becoming increasingly impatient the longer it took, although in reality it was less than thirty minutes before they reached the top of the tunnel marked by a solid stone roof.

Again, another thirty minutes passed before they were able to see the first signs of the obsidian which, true to form, was black and ominous and as sharp as if it had just been cut.

Gillian felt a tremor of excitement. They were close and the moment the drill began to pierce the stone without so much as a wayward crack, Gillian relaxed. She allowed herself a rare moment to think that everything was going to be okay.

She had to believe that she was not too late. That her friends had survived.

Gillian suddenly felt ill. Bile rose in her throat and she bent forward to regain her balance.

Adam placed his arm over her shoulder.

'It'll be all right, Love, you'll see.'

Gillian half smiled. She longed to believe him, but fear overwhelmed her. Perhaps they were too late after all.

A large piece of obsidian broke away and fell all the way to the bottom. Sunlight burst into the tunnel and Gillian was able to witness the exquisite precision of the passageway for the first time in 1500 years. Kinix did not do things by halves and this was the perfect example of his unique craftsmanship.

Although it was made of many pieces of obsidian, barely a join was visible which made locating the larger seams of the small room extremely easy.

It was positioned about twenty feet from the surface and as Gillian had predicted, the expected panel that would have been placed over the opening of the tunnel had been removed. They were inside.

To their credit, Georgio and Adam both offered to be the first to view the feared disaster, but Gillian felt it was her duty. She did not want anyone to soften the blow. She wanted to see what had happened for herself.

Gillian buckled up the harness and looked at Adam. He winked at her in encouragement.

Gillian smiled. Adam always supported her no matter the situation.

'Okay, I'm right to go,' determined Gillian as Georgio waited for her to find her footing and lowered the rope.

Although she was an experienced rock climber, Gillian moved one step at a time. The obsidian was highly polished and extremely slippery and she did not want to make a false move which could potentially spell her death. As a result, her progress was slow and infuriating, giving her plenty of time to dwell on her thoughts. A nagging feeling of disaster had infiltrated her like a death wish and even though she fought to push it aside, she did not have to delve too deeply to discover the cause. She knew that if her friends were alive, they would have heard their voices and shouted for help.

They heard nothing. It was as silent as a tomb!

Gillian reached the entrance of the room in a little over ten minutes, pausing momentarily to switch on the torch and move to the edge. Before she entered, she shone the torch above her to check that 1500 years had not compromised the internal structure of the roof which remained as solid as the day it was built. She sighed in relief, lingering on the original eyelet that still contained remnants of the shattered rope. Her assumptions about the failure of the lift had been correct, but how her friends had managed to make it into the tool room from the lift in the first place was a mystery. Undoubtedly the plan would have been Richard's, reconfirming her conviction that he was the most resourceful man she had ever met.

Gillian swallowed. Her throat was dry and her palms sweaty. What would she find?

She was so frightened that it took a moment of extreme bravery to lower her body to the same level as the opening and shine the torch inside.

The room was approximately ten feet wide, twelve feet deep and six feet high. It was plain and clean, with the only remaining implements lined up along the back wall. An out of place, large, flat block lay at the entrance, bringing forth memories of an old-fashioned trigger that Gillian immediately recognised as a trap. It was missing the projectile it had been designed to hold.

Her eyes scanned the floor. She did not see what she was looking for. There were no bodies.

Gillian began to doubt her convictions. How could she have been so wrong? Where the bloody hell were they?

'Gillian, what do you see?!' yelled Georgio.