CHAPTER 53

Remember those three angry old men dressed in traditional Quechuan costumes we’d bumped into back at Qurikancha, the Incan temple in Cuzco?

Well, we’d bumped into them again. They were fifteen yards in front of us and they weren’t alone. They were standing with a pack of young warriors, all of them decked out in what looked like the kind of clothes ancient Incan warriors would’ve worn when they battled the Spanish conquistadors way back in the 1500s.

Several of the young guys were holding long blowguns. I had to figure they were the ones who’d nailed us with their tranquilizer darts the night before.

One of the older guys was wearing the high priest’s headdress Merck had stolen from us on Cocos Island. He was also holding the golden staff (which Merck had also stolen) with the yellow sapphire (which Merck had stolen most recently) mounted on top in the corncob.

Now it seemed that these angry guys had stolen it all from Merck! Because they had him and his three French henchmen trapped and suspended in a hunting net.

“Mr. Collier tells us he no longer needs you, Guy Dubonnet Merck!” decreed the elderly man wearing the high priest’s headdress and holding the golden staff with the sparkling jewel in its tip. “He says you have found everything we shall require to perform the sacred ritual.”

“Everything, that is, except for that which is most important,” added the spookiest-looking old man in the group. “A human heart to offer to Inti, the god of the sun!”

“Sacré bleu!” shouted Merck, trapped in the net. “Nathan Collier and I had a deal.”

“This is a very high honor, Mr. Merck,” said another one of the elders. “Those of us in this cult seek to revive the ancient powers of the Incas. To fulfill our destiny, we must offer a human sacrifice. You will be our messenger to the supreme sun god!”

“Can’t you just send him a text?” squealed Merck. “Maybe an e-mail?”

“Do not mock the all-powerful, almighty, and most benevolent Inti!” cried the priest. “Prepare your soul for its journey to the sun!”

Wow. They were really going to do this. The crazy cult dudes were going to slay Guy Dubonnet Merck.