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An edifice on the top of the building, flanked with two large sculptures of a feathered jaguar ings, she tentatively identified as a palace of the death gods It was sitting in a sly constructed and lavishly decorated The variety of architecture was astonishing

Soraceful balconies Most were coular bases

Shannon was speechless For a few ht overwhelreat complex of structures became immediately apparent If what she saw before her was to be believed, the Shining Path terrorists had discovered an incredible lost city One that archaeologists, herself included, doubted existed, that treasure seekers had searched for but never found through four centuries of exploration-the lost City of the Dead, whose s in ancient Egypt

Shannon gripped Rodgers tightly about one arm "The lost Pueblo de los Muertos," she whispered

"The lost what?" he asked blankly

"No talking," snapped one of the terrorists, jaers's side just above the kidneys

Rodgers gave a stifled gasp He staggered and almost went down, but Shannon bravely held him on his feet, tensed for a blow that mercifully never came

After a short walk over a broad stone street, they approached the circular structure that towered over the surrounding ceremonial complex like a Gothic cathedral over a hts of an extraordinary switchback stairway decorated with ns Shannon had never seen before On the upper landing, beyond a great arched entrance, they entered a high-ceilinged rooeometric motifs cut into the stone walls The center of the floor was crammed with intricately carved stone sculptures of every size and description Ceraant ornately painted vessels were stacked in cha off the h with beautifully preserved textiles in every in and color

The archaeologists were stunned to see such an extensive cache of artifacts To theypt's Valley of the Kings before the treasures were reist Howard Carter and put on display in the national museum in Cairo

There was little time to study the treasure trove of artifacts The terrorists quickly led the Peruvian students down an interior stairway and imprisoned them in a cell deep beneath the upper temple

Giordino and the rest were roughly thrown into a side roouarded by two surly rebels who eyed the a spider's nest Everyone except Giordino sank gratefully to the hard, cold floor, fatigue etched in their drawn faces

Giordino pounded his fist against the stone wall in frustration During the forced march, he had watched intently for a chance to fade into the jungle and uards taking turns training their automatic weapons at his back with cold steadiness the entire trip, the opportunity for escape neverthat they were old hands at rounding up hostages and driving the Pitt noas sli the march he had sated Except for a doughty display of concern for Doc Miller, he did nothing to invite a torrent of bullets to the gut He had to stay alive In his mind, if he died, Pitt died

If Giordino had the slightest notion that Pitt had cli over the old stone trail only thirty e to attend church at his earliest opportunity Or at the very least, he iven the idea brief consideration

With the flashlight carefully hooded to prevent being seen by the terrorists, and its bea the soft earth that traveled into the darkness, Pitt plunged through the rain forest He ignored the rain with utter indifference He moved with the deter, not once did he glance at the luh the rain forest in the dead of night becahten and he could put away the flashlight did his spirits take a turn for the better

When he began his pursuit, the terrorists had ap, walking at a steady gait when the trail ran steeply upward, jogging on the rare stretches where it leveled briefly He never broke his stride, never once stopped to rest His heart was beginning to pound under the strain, but his legs still puhtness When he ca becahts of the unseen horrors of the jungle had been cast aside, and throughout that seeht, all fear and apprehension becaely remote