by K. T. Tomb
“I’ll kiss all of you on the mouth if I make it out of here alive,” Antoine commented.
“Eehh,” Thorin and Tony growled in unison as they narrowed their eyes and glared at him.
“I’m just sayin,’” he said.
“How’d they capture you two?” Chyna asked after a long silence lingered amongst them.
“Same as you two, sounds like,” Lana responded. She motioned with her head in Tony’s direction and mouthed some words to Chyna. “Ask him how he’s doing?”
“Hell no,” Chyna mouthed back. She had an instant pang of guilt come over her the moment after her response. The guy had played square with them. He’d attempted to make things right. He had, evidently, been right on the money concerning the madman who now had them as captives. He’d sacrificed so much believing that he could keep what was about to happen from happening. At that moment, it sure looked like he’d failed, losing everything in the process.
“You’re pretty quiet there, Tony,” she finally said. “You okay?”
“I’m sorry, guys,” he said, just above a whisper. “I blew it. Worse yet, you’re all going down with me.”
There was no way to respond to that, but Chyna’s coldness toward him was beginning to melt. If they got out of there alive, it was going to take a very long time for her to trust him again, but she had, at least, started to understand that he had been doing what he had to do. He had done it out of a sense of duty for the greater good of mankind. There was nobility in that, even if his execution of his duty had torn her heart into tiny little pieces.
For what seemed like an eternity, they sat in silence. No one really seemed to have anything to say. All of that changed as close to two dozen soldiers, similarly clothed and armed like those who had captured them and brought them into the cavern, filed in and stood in three neat rows before the raised dais of stone. Chyna looked in that direction and began to study what she saw there.
Above the dais, in the stone ceiling was a large elliptical opening. Through it, she could see twinkling stars and something even more frightening; the soft glow of the leading edge of the full moon that was creeping into place above. Time was running out and there was nothing that they could do about it. Stop thinking like that, Chyna. Oscar and the rest of the team are coming. Stay positive. Stay focused.
She was speaking in that manner to herself when she saw Louis appear once more. He ignored them completely and focused all of his attention on the dais. He placed two items upon the narrow stone table that was directly below the opening in the ceiling. Those two items were the Jeweled Crown and the All Seeing Eye. He bowed before each of them in reverence and then stood, raised his hands and began a chant as a procession of items were brought in and placed on the dais in front of the stone table. The Ivory Bow, the Minoan Mask, the Babylonian Basilisk, the Phoenician Falcon, the Mummy Codex and the Aquitaine Armor were all placed in a circle surrounding the final piece, the Rosary of Isabella. The bearer of that particular piece, after having placed it in its position was quickly escorted out of the cavern, his insanity already well advanced after just a few moments of contact with the potent artifact.
Chyna felt a thick lump in her throat. She had found all of those pieces. In so doing, she had, inadvertently, provided them to the madman who was about to draw omnipotence from them. She watched the scene unfolding in front of her, helplessly, shouldering the shame and guilt for the contribution that she had made to the coming doom. She saw the moon steadily creeping forward, filling the elliptical opening more and more.
Louis took the All Seeing Eye between his palms and raised it above his head in the thickening moonbeam. They had failed. At any moment, the power of the full moon through the crystal center of the All Seeing Eye would consolidate all of the supernatural power of the universe into the Jeweled Crown, which Louis would use to crown himself as the supreme emperor of the entire world.
The intensity of Louis’ chanting increased in both tempo and volume. The congregation of soldiers standing before the dais kept a perfect, disciplined, cadence as the power of heaven moved closer and closer to the ultimate end of the freedom of mankind. And then, a single shot rang out in the cavern.
There was an instant in which time stood still as, at the very same instant that the moonbeam activated a laser-like stream of light, the bullet from a rifle shattered the crystal and caused it to explode. After that moment, chaos ruled.
Louis screamed and pointed in the direction from which the shot had come and ordered the soldiers in front of him into pursuit.
Chyna turned her head in the direction of Louis’ extended finger and, for only an instant, saw Oscar, bearing a rifle retreating from their onrush. “Oscar?” she cried aloud; an involuntary reaction of her complete shock. She’d never have expected that.
Her shock was replaced by another feeling of helplessness as she realized that Oscar was severely outnumbered by his pursuers and she could do nothing to help him. He had stopped Louis from obtaining omnipotence, but his own life might not last long.
But then, the bodies of the rushing soldiers began to drop, as well armed troops began to open fire from their position above. The Interpol team had arrived.
***
Conciergerie, 16 October, 1793
It is to you, my sister, that I write for the last time. I have just been condemned, not to a shameful death, for such is only for criminals, but to go and rejoin your brother. Innocent like him, I hope to show the same firmness in my last moments. I am calm, as one is when one's conscience reproaches one with nothing. I feel profound sorrow in leaving my poor children: you know that I only lived for them and for you, my good and tender sister. You, who out of love have sacrificed everything to be with us… in what a position I leave you! I have learned from the proceedings at my trial that my daughter was separated from you. Alas! Poor child; I do not venture to write to her; she would not receive my letter. I do not even know whether this will reach you. Did you receive my blessing for both of them? I hope that one day when they are older they may be able to rejoin you, and to enjoy to the full your tender care. Let them both think of the lesson which I have never ceased to impress upon them, that the principles and the exact performance of their duties are the chief foundation of life; and then mutual affection and confidence in one another will constitute its happiness. Let my daughter feel that at her age, she ought always to aid her brother by the advice which her greater experience and her affection may inspire her to give him. And let my son in his turn render to his sister all the care and all the services which affection can inspire. Let them, in short, both feel that, in whatever positions they may be placed, they will never be truly happy but through their union. Let them follow our example. In our own misfortunes, how much comfort has our affection for one another afforded us! And, in times of happiness, we have enjoyed that doubly from being able to share it with a friend; and where can one find friends more tender and more united than in one's own family? Let my son never forget the last words of his father, which I repeat emphatically; let him never seek to avenge our deaths.
I have to speak to you of one thing which is very painful to my heart, I know how much pain the child must have caused you. Forgive him, my dear sister; think of his age, and how easy it is to make a child say whatever one wishes, especially when he does not understand it. It will come to pass one day, I hope, that he will better feel the value of your kindness and of your tender affection for both of them. It remains to confide to you my last thoughts. I should have wished to write them at the beginning of my trial; but, besides that they did not leave me any means of writing, events have passed so rapidly that I really have not had time.
I die in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion, that of my fathers, that in which I was brought up, and which I have always professed. Having no spiritual consolation to look for, not even knowing whether there are still in this place any priests of that religion (and indeed the place where I am would expose them to too much danger if they were to
enter it but once), I sincerely implore pardon of God for all the faults which I may have committed during my life. I trust that, in His goodness, He will mercifully accept my last prayers, as well as those which I have for a long time addressed to Him, to receive my soul into His mercy. I beg pardon of all whom I know, and especially of you, my sister, for all the vexations which, without intending it, I may have caused you. I pardon all my enemies the evils that they have done me. I bid farewell to my aunts and to all my brothers and sisters. I had friends. The idea of being forever separated from them and from all their troubles is one of the greatest sorrows that I suffer in dying. Let them at least know that to my latest moment I thought of them.
Farewell, my good and tender sister. May this letter reach you. Think always of me; I embrace you with all my heart, as I do my poor dear children. My God, how heart-rending it is to leave them forever! Farewell! Farewell! I must now occupy myself with my spiritual duties, as I am not free in my actions. Perhaps they will bring me a priest. I here protest that I will not say a word to him, but that I will treat him as a total stranger.
Marie.
Epilogue
Louis had been put in cuffs and led out by Interpol officers.
Tony, Antoine, Thorin, Lana and Chyna had all been cut loose and then their wounds from their respective automobile accidents treated. Though Antoine vouched for Tony’s role in an elaborate undercover operation, Tony was still led out in the custody of Interpol, having earned his way onto their most wanted list. Chyna had watched him go, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes as she saw him look back at her and smile. It was that very same smile she’d seen every time they’d successfully completed one of their missions. While her eyes followed him out of the cavern, she was assaulted by Sirita, Mark and Oscar as they were finally allowed to come back into the cavern; Oscar being detained after he’d been seen fleeing from the cavern with a rifle in his hands. Oscar had received his kiss on the mouth from Lana and Chyna’s team, along with her Wolves, had taken a moment to celebrate before they were offered a ride back to their hotel. They packed and were on the next available flight out of Belgrade. No one had wanted to hang around.
Belgrade, Serbia had become a memory among the many others that Chyna had tucked away in the back of her mind as she strolled along the boardwalk and looked out across the Atlantic. She’d found herself being a lot more reflective of things in her life. The trials that she’d been through, which had all come to an enormous culmination in Belgrade had made her aware of the simpler and more meaningful things that life had to offer.
In a way, like Marie Antoinette, Chyna’s life had followed the exact path she’d set herself on from the beginning. However, it had managed to take a very different turn in the outcome. The dauphine had dreamt of being a queen and ruling an influential country alongside her husband. When the end came, she was the Queen of France, but her husband had been executed and she was on her way to the guillotine as well. Chyna had dreamt of being a famous archeologist and adventurer, just like her father. She’d achieved that but at what cost? Would she still be paying the price of it all at the end like Marie?
With a heavy sigh, she lowered herself onto a bench and watched the sun moving steadily higher above the morning horizon. The morning had had just a nip of frost in it; a mid-September warning of autumn being just around the corner. Her gaze was locked upon the horizon when she felt someone sit down on the bench beside her. In New York, a person rarely looked to see who had joined them on a bench and she thought nothing of it, until the person spoke.
She whirled toward the sound of Tony’s voice.
“Where the hell did you come from?” she asked. It wasn’t exactly the best words for greeting him, but the sudden surprise hadn’t given her much time to form the right ones.
“Good morning to you too, Chyna,” he grinned.
She placed her hand over her thundering heart and took several deep breaths. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You startled me.”
“I figured as much.”
“I’ll try again.” She sat up straight, looked directly at him and said. “Good morning, Tony.”
“That’s better.”
“So, I guess Interpol didn’t lock you up and throw away the key, then?”
“It took a few months of debriefing and we made a few more busts in Europe off of information that I’d obtained, but, yeah, they let me go.”
They sat quietly for a few moments. Chyna wasn’t sure what conversation she was ready to have. There were plenty of things that the two of them needed to say to each other, but the relative peace of the morning might have been spoiled if either of them brought them up.
“Looks like you got out of Belgrade and back to the States just fine,” Tony started in, keeping things casual, to Chyna’s relief.
“Yeah. We didn’t hang around much after that one.”
“How about that shot that Oscar made, huh?”
“I didn’t know that he was a marksman. I even asked him about it and he informed me that there were a lot of things about him that I didn’t know.”
“He damned sure placed it right on the button and right in time.”
“I don’t suppose you’ll have to pay for the damage to the All Seeing Eye,” Chyna laughed.
“No, it’s insured,” he responded.
The two of them burst into laughter after that comment, as much out of relief as Tony’s ludicrous comment. Their laughter died out.
“Chyna,” he said after a few minutes, “I have to apologize. I never meant to hurt you. I really…”
“Stop!” she ordered, holding up her hand. “Let’s not go there right now, okay?”
“I want you to forgive me. I want you to trust me again.”
“I said stop, Tony. Don’t spoil things. We’re just two people enjoying a morning on the boardwalk, okay? Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Fine,” he replied.
“It’s peaceful and beautiful here in the morning, you know? I like to come down here and clear my head, get ready for the day that’s coming, you know, take in the simpler things,” Chyna said in a low tone after a few minutes. She didn’t want to push him away, but she wasn’t quite ready to get into forgiving and trusting him yet.
“I can see that,” he answered. “After seeing the world on the brink of coming to an end, it tends to bring things into perspective, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” she said, lifting her face toward the sun and taking in a long, deep breath. She rose from the bench. “It really does.”
She started to walk away and she heard Tony rise to follow along behind her. She turned back toward him. “Don’t follow me,” she said. “If you ever want me to trust you again, don’t follow me, don’t show up wherever I am unannounced. Don’t surprise me. Don’t track me. Don’t stalk me. Don’t know every move that my team and I make. And don’t apologize for something that you had to do. Got it?”
He let his chin sag to his chest. “Got it.”
Chyna stood there for a moment, allowing what she had said to sink in. “Good. I’ll meet you right here tomorrow morning,” she said and turned to walk away.
The End
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DINOSAUR ISLAND
by
K.T. TOMB
Islands That Time Forgot #1
Dinosaur Island
Published by K.T. Tomb
Copyright © 2015 by K.T. Tomb
All rights reserved.
Dinosaur Island
Introduction
Aberdour Castle
Fife, Scotland
They were half way through the annual lecture series at Quests Unlimited and the excitement was still mounting among the attendees. For the third of the five scheduled presentations, the group would hear from Savannah Summers, a professor of Ancient History at Yale University and a member of the Alpha Adventurers team.
Donovan had not been surprised to find how palpable the excitement of the team was to recei
ve Savannah. It built up steadily all week long leading up to the lecture; clearly both she and the Alphas had many fans at Quests.
As he took his seat on the edge of the first three rows, the area reserved for administrative staff, he let out a deep sigh. He felt anxious and excited at the same time. Perhaps he was finally admitting to himself that he too was a fan.
He’d had the pleasure of meeting Travis Monahan when he’d visited the club a few months before. In fact, Travis had even asked to join him and Lucy at their lunch table later that day for afternoon tea. In Donovan’s opinion, there wasn’t a group quite like theirs active in adventure at the moment, and they seemed to be constantly on the job, too.
Soon enough, the lights dimmed and silence descended over the Great Hall and when Librarian Morton stepped out onto the stage, it was to modest applause.
“Good morning, everyone,” Ophelia said to the audience gathered in the huge room. “Welcome to another installment in this year’s staging of the Quests Unlimited Annual Lecture series. Today’s presentation is the third in a series of talks delivered by our most esteemed members and some rather distinguished guests, too.
“Our speaker this morning falls into both those categories. Though part of the infamous Alpha Adventurers, Miss Summers became a member in her own right several years ago for her explorations in Siberia and Mongolia. She is also a tenured professor at Yale University specializing in Ancient World History.
“So without further ado… especially since its quite obvious that some of you are about to burst from the anticipation… let’s give a warm welcome to Miss Savannah Summers!”
Everyone stood, applauding loudly, as Savannah walked onto the stage and shook Ophelia Morton’s hand vigorously. It was obvious she was excited to be here too.
