Fault Line by Chris Ryan Page B

the open as soon as possible. You know that other mask I talked about? The other gold one?’
    Amber nodded as Li handed the mask back to him.
    Felipe took something out of his other pocket. It looked like a black handkerchief but as he shook it out they realized it was Hex’s T-shirt. ‘It was me who found it. I took it to the museum in Guatemala, where I was working. A government official was visiting when I brought it in. Everyone was very excited, especially when he asked to see it. He said he’d pay to have it tested so that we could see where it was made and when. The director of the museum couldn’t refuse – he had to let him take it away.’ Felipe wrapped up the mask as he talked. Cotton wool came out of more pockets and was carefully inserted as padding. ‘We never got the mask back. A week later, he sent back something else, a really bad fake. It was nothing like the mask – didn’t even look like it, wasn’t even gold. The real thing was worth millions – solid gold and incredibly rare. And this minister just took it from under our noses. There was nothing we could do, because we hadn’t gone public. No one knew what the real thing looked like. So today when John Middleton called me, I thought, That’s not going to happen again. Now the whole country’s seen it. The cameras did a good close-up. No one will be able to walk off with it in a hurry.’
    ‘Hey, we’ve still got an audience,’ said Paulo. The school party was standing watching them with interest.
    Felipe grinned. ‘Why don’t we give a few more people a close-up?’ He took the wrapped mask over to the little group. There was a buzz of excitement as they crowded around him.
    If Carmela was a pro with the camera, Felipe was a natural with the kids. ‘For over a thousand years,’ he said solemnly, ‘this mask has been buried in a tomb, on the face of a great Maya lord.’ He flipped back the black material. The party gasped in wonder as they saw the ancient mask up close. ‘And these people over here are the brave people who discovered it,’ he went on, indicating Alpha Force. ‘They found the tomb being robbed and brought the robber back to face justice too.’
    Several small faces looked at Alpha Force in wonder. Hex turned round to escape their gaze, but he could still feel them looking at his sweaty back. ‘Tomorrow could be really embarrassing,’ he hissed to the others.
    ‘Oh I don’t know,’ whispered Paulo. He winked at a couple of pretty girls who’d decided he was more interesting than the mask. ‘I don’t mind being treated as a hero once in a while. Real-life Indiana Joneses. Dashing, brave—’
    ‘Just so long as my uncle doesn’t see the show,’ muttered Amber.
    ‘Can’t we just go back to the jungle?’ said Alex. ‘Tell them we’ve got to look for the Ark of the Covenant?’
    At that moment, the bones of the great tyrannosaur skeleton began to shake. Felipe stopped mid-sentence and looked up in alarm. The whole room was hushed. The bones of the giant shuddered and the wires that supported them blurred as though something had plucked them. The great skull nodded; the clawed front legs twitched.
    Then, the next instant, it was still again.
    Felipe relaxed. ‘That happens all the time. You get used to it. That’s why it’s held up with tensioned steel cables.’
    The three teachers looked unhappy. ‘Is this the room we’re sleeping in?’ said one. She was plump and wore a chunky pendant set in Mexican silver.
    ‘Take your pick,’ said Felipe. ‘You can sleep in here, the room next door, or—’
    ‘I think it would be safer to sleep in the next room,’ said the teacher. She glanced at her colleagues. ‘Don’t you?’ The other two teachers – a well-built man in blue cords and fierce spectacles, and a petite woman wearing a simple gold chain – agreed.
    The children seemed to have other ideas and made noises of protest.
    Felipe hit on a way to keep the peace. ‘Next door is where we keep