Notes: There's trouble south of the border down Mexico way.

Chapter 10

Jake and Julia drove out of the airport and headed due north through the suburbs of Mexico City. When they got onto Highway 132D, México-pirámides, they started to make good time.

17 miles later they were on the outskirts of the city and moving into a more rural environment. After another 15 miles, they were approaching Teotihuacán on a tree lined road simply called Pirámides.

They were surprised at how close people lived to these ancient monuments, as they drove along. They could see small holdings and buildings, in amongst the stone ruins of the ancient city.

On the righthand side of the road they saw a turning and a large board telling them that they had arrived. There was a metallic blue SUV parked in front of the gates and a middle aged man got out as they pulled up.

Jake and Julia climbed out of the Jeep and approached. "Marcos Becerra? Mi nombre es Julia De Graff, esta es mi socio de campo Jake Simmonds." They shook hands.

"Your Spanish is good, but so is my English. I studied for my degree at York university."

"No kiddin'," Jake said with a grin.

"The Embassy tell me that someone has been interfering with our magnificent edifice," he said.

"That's right," Julia replied. "We're on a tight deadline to to investigate and correct any wrongdoing."

"Then let us get started, follow me." Marcos unlocked the gate and set off in the direction of the pyramid complex. They walked down a road that went past the large carpark and onto the Calzada de los Muertos. The large, 233 feet high Pyramid of the Sun loomed in front of them, brooding against the backdrop of the magnificent star field of the night sky.

"I've read that there is a tunnel that leads to a cave under the pyramid." Jake said, trying to get as much information as he could.

"Ah yes, that was found by some archeologists. The entrance is on the Avenue of the Dead," Marcos told them.

"Ugh. That's an ominous name for a road," Julia said.

"Yes, they had a very different view of death in those days."

They reached the entrance and Marcos took a torch out of his pocket. Jake and Julia took out their headlights and put them on. They also took out there scanners, ready to use when they entered the tunnel.

The tunnel was about 350 feet long and sloped gently downwards to end in a cave. It appeared to be a dead end.

"We believe this chamber was the tomb of an ancient ruler, but it was robbed out centuries ago," Marcos explained.

"Are there any other entrances or passageways?" Julia asked.

"Not that we've been able to find."

"That sounds like our cue," Jake said with a smile. They started to scan the chamber with their high tech scanners. After a few minutes they came together and compared the data.

"The walls seem to be solid and seamless," Julia said. "Are we directly under the apex of the pyramid?" she asked Marcos.

"Yes we are."

"Well, if the walls are solid, what about the ceiling?" Jake said looking up.

They started scanning the low roof of the chamber, and started moving toward the centre.

"I think you might be on to something," Julia said, reaching up and touching the stone. "Here, give me a boost up."

Jake spread his legs apart so that Julia could stand on his thighs, holding onto his head for support. She reached up and felt the stone, testing and pushing the stability of the structure.

"I think this might be on a cantilever," she said as she gave a big push.

She fell backwards off Jake's legs and Marcos caught her before she hit the floor. A stone slab in the ceiling pivoted to reveal an opening.

"Madre Dios," Marcos exclaimed.

"It looks like we've found you some more archaeology Marcos," Jake said with a laugh. "Give me a hand and we'll boost Julia up through the hole."

They grabbed Julia's legs and on a count of three, lifted her up into the darkness. They felt her weight reduce as she pulled herself up, and her legs disappeared into the hole in the ceiling.

"Are you okay up there?" Jake asked.

"Fine. Come on up." Her arm reached down for him.

Marcos linked his fingers together and formed a stirrup for him to stand on.

"Thanks man," he said as he put his foot in his hands and reached up into the hole.

"I guess this is where we leave you for now," he called down through the hole.

"No problem. I can come back tomorrow with a ladder and some colleagues. All I ask is that you do not disturb any archaeology," Marcos replied.

"You got it. We'll see you later."

They looked around their new surroundings and saw that they were in another chamber of similar dimensions. In the wall opposite was a doorway, so they made their way over and looked in. It was a narrow passage with stone steps to the right that went up and then turned right again around a corner.

They followed the steps up and around, up and around, up and on until after climbing about 150 feet, they came to another chamber that was filled with a blue ethereal light.

Julia gasped at the sight. "Oh God, that is SO beautiful."

"It looks like we've found what we were looking for. C'mon lass, let's get ready."

"Alpha One to Despatch. Inductance coil in position and ready to proceed. Over," they heard John say into their headsets.

Julia took off her backpack and crouched down at the base of the pedestal. She took out the inductance coil and fastened it around the pedestal. She held her scanner and reported in.

"Delta One to Despatch. Inductance coil in position and ready to proceed. Over."

They were waiting for Jack and Gwen to report in and then they would be ready to go.

"I hope they've made it okay," Julia said with concern.

"They'll be fine. Knowin' Jack, he's probably been distracted by some gorgeous hunk smilin' at him," Jake said with a grin.

And sure enough, a few minutes later, Jacks dulcet tones came over their headsets.

"Beta One to Despatch. Sorry for the delay. Inductance coil in position and ready to proceed. Over."

"Despatch to all teams, activate induction coils on my mark, in three…. two…. one…. mark."

Julia flicked the switch and the ethereal blue light dimmed and went out. She checked the readings and saw that the energy was being diverted from the crystal.

"Alpha One confirms power diverted from crystal," they heard John report.

"Delta One confirms power diverted. Over." Julia reported.

Jack also reported a successful 'switch off' of their ruby.

"Despatch to all teams remove crystals on my mark, in three…. two…. one…. mark."

Jake lifted the dead sapphire off the plinth and looked at it in the light of his headlamp. It was a bit of an anticlimax really, nothing happened. His headlamp shone through the blue crystal and sent shards of light bouncing around the chamber.

"Is that it then?" he asked. "Have we saved the world?"

Julia laughed. "It would appear so. Put that in your backpack and let's get out of here. We can hand that over to the authorities for return to the American Museum of Natural History in New York."

They made their way back down the steps, heading towards the underground chamber and the tunnel that would take them out into the fading light of the Mexican night.

"Julia. Don't you think it's odd that this crystal was just left in the middle of that pyramid with no guards or anything?" Jake said, thinking out loud.

"Well firstly, it was well hidden. Someone knew how to get into that pyramid, where the archaeologist didn't. And secondly, it's a tourist attraction. Heavies with guns and stuff would draw a lot of attention to what was going on."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

They dropped down into the cave and pushed the ceiling stone back into place. Marcos would be able to find it in the morning, although they thought it strange that he hadn't waited for them to come back.

"He must still be around because he has to lock the gates. He's probably gone to his car to phone someone about the discovery. He was kind of excited," Julia said.

"Yeah, that'll be it," Jake replied.

They walked along the tunnel and turned their headlamps off as they saw the entrance ahead of them. It was dark outside and their eyes were quite well adapted to the darkness.

Julia stepped out into a hail of bullets from automatic weapons and fell back into the entrance where Jake caught her.

"JULIA! Are you okay?" he asked urgently as he gently eased her to the floor.

"Aaagh, my arm. Damn! I think it's broken. Shit!"

Jake switched his headlamp back on and inspected her right upper arm. The sleeve of her black blouse was dark and wet from blood oozing out of a bullet wound. He took off his backpack and rummaged through to find the combat issue first aid kit.

He ripped the sleeve to expose the wound and took out the tourniquet, tightening it around her upper arm above the wound.

"Aaaagh!"

"Sorry Sweetheart." He found a spray can and sprayed the area with an antiseptic and anaesthetic. He then sorted through the kit and found what he was looking for, a tampon. He unwrapped it and inserted the sterile tampon into the hole in her upper arm.

Andy McNab had brought this idea with him from the SAS, where they used to use them as an absorbent plug. They had apparently saved many lives on the field of battle.

He took a field dressing out of its packet and placed it over the wound. The high tech material 'sucked' itself onto the wound, forming a tight, sterile dressing.

"Right, you okay?" he asked. Julia nodded. He took out a triangular bandage and made a sling which he fastened around her neck. When he had finished and was still close, she reached up with her left hand and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him into a long, chaste kiss.

"Thanks," she said simply. It was probably just the adrenalin and the emotion of nearly being killed. But every working day their lives depended on each other, and it was about time she said thank you.

Jake blushed. "Your welcome. And don't you dare tell Sarah you did that, she'd kill me," he grinned. Julia laughed and then winced at the pain it caused.

"Delta Two to Despatch. Condition red. We are under attack. Automatic weapons fire from an unknown number of assailants. Over."

"Roger that Delta Two. I am contacting the Mexican authorities. Over," Welsh Pete said back calmly. All agents knew that when you were on despatch, you had to keep your voice calm, even if inside you were screaming in panic.

"What is your current status? Over."

"Delta One is injured. One civilian missing, presumed dead. We are secure in a tunnel for now. Over."

Julia winced as she made herself more comfortable against the wall of the tunnel. Jake was kneeling with his back to the entrance, when he heard a voice in a thick Mexican accent.

"Do not move! You will hand over the crystal, NOW!"

Jake raised his hands and realised that the gunman wouldn't be able to see Julia fully. "I'm just treating my partner. She's been hit and is unconscious."

He winked at her and she smiled. She carefully removed her stun gun from its holster on her utility belt.

"I am not concerned with the health of your partner, I am concerned with the whereabouts of the crystal," the gunman said in a menacing tone.

"It's in the backpack." Jake pointed to the pack on the floor, thinking that the gunman would look where he pointed.

ZZAP!

Julia fired past Jake and hit the gunman square in the chest.

"Ooh, nice shootin' Tex," Jake said with a grin.

He ran to the downed gunman, grabbed his Kalashnikov and pulled him into the tunnel.

"There may be more of them out there. Are you up for a bit of flying?" he asked her.

"Yeah, pass me my tablet." She took the tablet PC and selected the 'spy-fly' app, whilst Jake took a small black ring case out of a side pocket of the backpack and flipped it open.

Sitting inside the case was something that looked like a bluebottle fly. It was the ultimate in nano technology, crammed full of high tech surveillance equipment. To date, it was one of Dr. Smith's most successful inventions for Torchwood Special Operations agents.

"Fly my beauty. Be free," Jake said as the fly took off and disappeared out of the tunnel.

From the aerial view, they could see four gunmen spread out and hiding behind low walls. Julia brought the fly down and around the nearest gunman.

"Right, time for some payback," Jake said as he took out his Glock and prepped it for firing, turning on the laser sight as he did so.

He walked up to the entrance and put his left hand around the corner. He wasn't a natural left handed shot, but McNab's training meant that all agents could shoot with either hand.

"Okay, start raising your aim," Julia told him.

Through the fly she could see the red dot crawl across the ground and up the low wall to the level of one of the gun men's heads.

"Stop! Now pan left." The dot moved across the top of the wall.

"FIRE!"

BLAM!

A single shot rang out in the Mexican night and Julia saw a splattering from the man's head as it disappeared behind the wall.

"One down, three to go," she said.

Jake looked back at her. "Maybe not." He turned back to the entrance and called out into the night.

"Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands on your heads," he shouted, his voice echoing over the site. There was no response.

"Try, 'Tiren sus armas y salgan con las manos en la cabeza'," Julia suggested. Jake called out again with prompting from his partner.

There was still no response.

"I have killed one of you, and I can see the three of you remaining. Surrender or you will suffer the same fate as your friend."

"He matado a uno de ustedes, y puedo ver que ustedes tres restantes. Rendirse o sufrirás la misma suerte que su amigo," Julia helped him to shout.

There was still no reply.

"Oh well, it was worth a try," he said. "Find me another target."

Julia directed the laser dot to another target and waited for the head to pop up for a look.

"FIRE!"

BLAM!

Jake called out into the night again. "And then there were two. Hands up who wants to be next." He glanced over at Julia who shook her head.

"Which one will I choose?" he called. "Eeny, meeny, miney, mo."

"Hold on Jake, they're throwing down their weapons and standing up. They have their hands on their heads."

"Result!" he said with a grin. In the distance they could hear the drone of a gunship approaching. "And the cavalry have arrived."