The Admiral sat back. ‘Everything on schedule?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘What happens to Romero and his friends after they leave the Catalina?’
‘They’ll be picked up by a member of our Egyptian bureau and driven straight to Italian territory.’
‘Excellent.’ Canaris smiled. ‘Not long now, Hans.’
‘No, Herr Admiral.’
‘Carry on,’ Canaris said and Ritter went out.
TWELVE
THE MOON HAD RISEN over the rim of the gorge and the valley was filled with its eerie radiance, when Muller had them taken down to the encampment. Emerging from the cave, Kane stretched to ease his tired muscles and paused at the sight of the temple, bathed in moonlight. It looked incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring, but the guards apparently felt otherwise. The muzzle of a rifle dug painfully into his back and he was urged on down the slope.
It was quiet in the valley and the shadows and loneliness moved in from the desert as they passed between the tents and entered the trees. Somewhere, a camel coughed and an Arab stood knee-deep in the pool and washed himself, pausing to watch curiously as they passed.
On the other side of the trees they halted beside a small horseshoe of rock that surrounded a round, black hole, perhaps five feet in diameter. A heavy rope was secured to a nearby palm tree and one of the guards picked up the free end and tossed it down into the darkness.
Cunningham went down first, straddling the rope, holding it tightly between his hands and walking backwards over the rim of the hole. When the Somali had followed him, Muller turned to Kane and spread his hands in a characteristic gesture. ‘I am sorry about this, my friend, but Skiros insists. He considers you to be a very resourceful man.’
‘Save your breath,’ Kane said coldly. He picked up the rope without another word and began the descent.
The shaft had been hewn roughly from solid rock and his feet gripped the sides easily. He paused once and looked up at the stars gleaming in the round opening and then, all at once, they seemed very far away, and beneath him, there was a slight movement.
Hands reached out for his feet, guiding him down as the shaft widened, and he dropped into soft sand. As he picked himself up, the rope disappeared into the darkness above, brushing against his face. The sensation was so unpleasant that he moved back sharply and bumped into someone.
‘Stay where you are,’ Cunningham said. ‘They usually send down a basket with food in it.’ A moment later he grunted in satisfaction. ‘Got it!’ He took Kane by the elbow. ‘Six careful paces and you’ll find the wall.’
Kane moved through the darkness, hands outstretched until his fingers brushed on stone. He sat down, back against the wall, aware that Jarnal was beside him, and Cunningham shared out the food. When they had finished eating, they discussed the situation.
‘Have you ever tried to get out?’ Kane said.
Cunningham got to his feet. ‘If it were daylight I could show you. The shaft widens about five feet above our heads. If it were not for that, there might be a chance of scaling the main shaft. It’s narrow enough and the walls are of roughly hewn stone.’
Kane fumbled in his shirt pocket and took out a book of matches. As the first one flared, he held it high above his head. Cunningham was right. The bottom of the shaft widened considerably. The match burned his fingers and he dropped it with a muffled curse.
He turned to Cunningham ‘I suppose you know we’re living on borrowed time? We’ve got one more day at the most. Frankly, we’ve got two choices. We either get out of this hole or die.’
‘I’m with you there,’ Cunningham said. ‘But how the hell do we manage it?’
Kane moved across to Jamal, squatted in front of him, and started to speak slowly and clearly in Arabic. When he had finished, the big Somali squeezed his shoulder to indicate that he had understood, and got to his feet.
Kane turned to Cunningham. ‘Jamal is so incredibly strong, he might be able to push me high enough into that shaft to get some kind of grip in the narrow part. I’ll climb on to his shoulders and I want you to stand behind to steady me.’