The Rules of the Game

"Our team of raiders has just arrived there, so we're hoping it'll take them no longer than a few days to get what we need. Once we're sure everything is all right, you and your team can go." Bellamont opened a drawer from her desk and pulled out a small stack of papers. "Here is some information on Vetula and Venezuela you might need. Quarters have been prepared here for you and your team."

She was signalling the end of their conversation and Doyle knew it.

He accepted the papers and got up. "All right," he said, "I'll be waiting."

With a curt nod, he left. His boots not making any sound against the polished floor.

*

When Bellamont had said she had prepared quarters for Doyle, what she really had meant was that she had made room in one of her linen closets for him and his team of two other people.

Three beds and one desk had been fitted all into the space. There was one small window above one of the beds and there was no toilet, much less a bathroom. Only a small refrigerator had been squashed under the desk, containing a few sandwiches, bottles of water and a few blood bags for Doyle.

"This place sucks," Chuck, who was Doyle's linguistics and could speak almost every language that ever existed, said. He had thrown himself onto the closest bed and was currently inspecting the numerous dust bunnies under his pillow.

Summer, who was too much of a hippy for her own good, inspected the fridge with distaste. "Pity we couldn't have gone to Venezuela earlier. I would have liked seeing Rani again," she said, sounding like her voice wasn't quite attached to her body.

Doyle turned to look at her. "Rani?" he repeated dumbly.

Chuck shot Summer an evil glare. To Doyle he said, "Nothing, boss. Summer's not use to tight spaces. It's affecting the little brain she has left."

"Rani is in Venezuela?" Doyle asked. "How do you know this?"

Summer gave him an aloof look. "I'm surprised Bellamont didn't tell you. Serge told us while you were talking with her."

"And we weren't suppose to exchange that information," Chuck snapped.

"Well, I didn't know Bellamont didn't share that information with him," Summer said. "Besides, she is his ex-wife. It's in his right."

Chuck looked at Doyle, who was flexing his fists and looking positively livid.

"Gather everything and hitch the first portkey to Puerto Ayacucho?" Chuck offered.

"Precisely," Doyle said. "Bellamont made this a big deal by not telling me Rani was there. I want to know why."

*

Bill's team had worked efficiently the next morning after their arrival. They wanted to waste no time in Vetula, so they quickly set out to work. Eddy was the first in preparing things. A variety of technological equipment had been set out before him, and he was carefully tinkering with each one.

In five minutes, however, he was prepared and held out to Bill a small black device that closely resembled one of Berttie Botts's Every Flavoured Beans.

"What is it?" Bill asked.

"Just fit it in your ear," Eddy explained. "That way I can speak onto my little microphone here and you'll hear me. Also it's attached to its own microphone - a pretty good one - so I can hear you speak as well as any other sound nearby. Both you and Rani will be carrying one."

Bill did as he was told and was once again amazed at the Muggle invention.

Eddy was handing Rani two contact lenses which she proceeded to put in her eyes. Bill noticed their colour had darkened a bit and asked Eddy what that was for.

"What she'll see is what I'll see," Eddy said, "so don't do anything forbidden in there, ok?"

Rani punched him lightly. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Not that I have on hold," Eddy said. "It's really up to your own skills."

Bill closed his knapsack and swung it on top of his shoulder. "We've packed water, torches, first aid kit, food, rope, compass... anything else we're missing?"

Rani raised her gun. "I know it's dangerous, but just in case. We also have our wands."

"And you'll be taking Zorro," José added. "He'll help you if you get lost in there."

Bill nodded and Zorro licked his ankles. "Ok, we're all set then." He turned around towards the direction of the tomb. "Ready, Ran?"

"I'm ready," Rani said, a smile on her face. "Let's go save the world from future elimination."

*

The walk to the tomb was long and the jungle was filled with humidity. Bill and Rani trudged forward. They listened to every sound, almost expecting some big troll to jump out at them. Zorro followed, not leaving Bill's side for long times, but still running a bit ahead and the running back as if to tell them the path was clear.

There wasn't the slightest breeze and Bill's shirt was drenched in sweat and his ponytail clamped to the back of his neck. Despite the fact that he was wearing sunglasses, he took them off because the trees loomed high enough to make their path darker than usual.

Rani's breath was shallow and while she showed visible signs of being tired she didn't complain and moved on in a steady pace. Every so often she'd stop to stare at a space among the trees then hurry on.

They reached Vetula in thirty minutes and Bill allowed himself a bit of rest. The tomb was indeed quite large and seemed to run on for a couple of kilometres. It was high enough to go on above the trees, but it didn't look to go much higher.

"Wow, it's a beauty," Eddy said, and Bill looked around him before remembering about the thing in his ear.

"Let's look for the main entrance first," Rani said. "From there we can calculate how far off the hidden entrance would be."

"Go left," Eddy instructed through the earpiece. "According to the data, it's due west. It shouldn't be too far off. Quite visible, really. Watch out for any traps, though. Someone fell through a pit once."

Rani and Bill moved carefully, both quite trained at spotting anything that could lead to their doom. They didn't walk together, but instead several feet apart. Bill moved forward and Rani trailed behind.

"I think I found it," Bill said, touching one of the walls. "It's different than the rest of the building." He looked at it carefully than yelled, "Eddy?"

"Don't shout!" Eddy grumbled. "I told you I can hear you even if you whispered. That looks like the door. One of the bricks in the wall should be removable. Let's see here... Tenth brick top from the ground, then third to the right. Tap it three times."

Bill did as asked. The brick on top of the third to the right seemed to rumble and then it popped out, almost hitting Rani in the stomach. Inside the vacant hole was a tiny gold knob.

"Pull?" offered Rani.

Bill pulled and the earth beneath him promptly gave away.

"Bill!" Rani yelled, rushing to the edge of the pit and looking down. It was pitch dark and only a small glow of light came from Bill's wand.

"Nothing's broken," he yelled back, sounding upset. "But I don't think I'll be climbing up any time soon."

"Eddy, what happened?" Rani demanded, quickly unbuckling her bag and pulling out the rope. Who knew they'd have to use it so early?

Eddy's voice echoed throughout both the pit and Rani's ear. "Sorry, it was the fifth brick to the left. I read the activation to the welcoming trap instead."

"Brilliant," muttered Bill. There was a pause as Rani slid the rope down and then Bill exclaimed, "Hold on! I think I've found the second entrance. There's some sort of door here."

"What, right beneath the first one?" Rani said incredibly. "It's a trap, not a lift to the ground floor, Weasley."

There was no answer and then, "Yeah, I think you're right," Bill said. "I just ran into a bit of a problem."

"What's that?" Rani asked.

"A lot of scorpions."