Evil Star

as the passenger door of one of the police cars opened and a man got out. It was Captain Rodriguez. He was standing directly under a streetlamp, which cast a glow across his face with its rough, pitted skin and heavy moustache. He looked like a boxer stepping into the ring, and as his eyes swung across the square, Matt knew without any doubt at all that his tele-phone call to Fabian had been intercepted and that he had walked straight into another trap.
    He stood up, forcing himself not to panic. Rodriguez hadn't seen him since the Hotel Europa and didn't know what he looked like now that he was in disguise. There were still plenty of people around.

    Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star The two of them could just walk away, mingling with the crowd.
    Pedro dug his hand into his trouser pocket. When he brought it out, he was holding his rubber slingshot. Matt shook his head.
    "Not now, Pedro," he said. "There are too many of them."
    Pedro frowned, then seemed to understand. He put the slingshot away again.
    The scream of a whistle cut through the air.
    It was as if someone had thrown a switch. Suddenly, all the policemen were running toward them as if they had known where they were all along and had simply been play-ing a game. Another car cut in from behind. Rodriguez was pointing directly at them and shouting. Tourists and travel-ers stood gaping, afraid, finding themselves caught up in the middle of something they didn't want to see. The friendly face of the country they had come to visit had slipped to reveal the brutality beneath. There were armed police everywhere.
    Matt saw at once that all four corners of the square were cut off. The trap had closed in from every side. There were two police cars speeding toward him . . . they would reach him in seconds. That left just one direction — up. The cars couldn't follow him up the steps.
    He looked round and saw that Pedro had worked this out for himself. He was already halfway up, heading for a group of Europeans, standing together at the top. They'd been about to have their photograph taken in front of the cathedral when the police raid began, but now they were just staring out, slack-jawed. Matt saw Pedro barge through them. Why? He glanced back and understood.
    Some of the policemen had taken out their guns. Pedro had seen the danger — but at the same time he had guessed that they weren't Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star going to fire anywhere near tourists. He was using the Europeans as a human shield.
    Matt joined him, clambering up the last five steps and then across the top, next to the cathedral. The tourists scat-tered. Someone cried out. Pedro was moving like the wind, and Matt wondered if he would be able to keep up. Already he had discovered something he had guessed all along: It was almost impossible to run in Cuzco. The air was too thin. He couldn't have been going for more than half a minute and his head was pounding, his throat was sore, and he felt as though he was about to faint. He forced himself on, not wanting to be left behind. Pedro was one of the five. Matt couldn't lose him now.
    Luckily, Pedro was looking out for Matt. As a police-man swung round the corner, Pedro shouted out a warning. Matt ducked low.
    There was an explosion and one of the stone steps spat dust. They were shooting at him! Matt Celt a tremor of disbelief. Rodriguez had given orders to take them dead or alive.
    The gunshot had been a mistake. Now everyone in the square was panicking, running in all directions, desperate to get away. For a moment, the police found themselves powerless. The boys were out of sight. Then something strange happened. The policeman who had fired the shot threw himself backward and lay sprawling. Matt twisted round and saw that the slingshot was in Pedro's hand. He certainly knew how to use it. The policeman had been standing in front of a road that was otherwise unguarded. Matt forced some air into his lungs and set off.
    Out of sight. That was the key. Matt knew they had to get under cover. They had to find somewhere to hide. Give them a bit of time and maybe they could work out what to do next. Pedro ran through Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star an open gateway, leading off the street, signaling Matt to follow.
    Matt did just that and found himself in a rough courtyard with patches of grass growing through the rubble and the dust. There was another market here. Stalls, lit by oil lamps, stood