Joe Hawke Series Boxsets 4

by Rob Jones

  Seeing his old friend out for the count reminded him how hard they had all worked to get this far and if maybe the end of this mission would be a good time to call it quits. He and Lea were engaged, for one thing, and she had been dropping some pretty unmissable hints about maybe trying for a baby, but she was right about him – being a father scared him more than an outright assault on a machine gun nest.

  He walked over and nudged him. “Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey, Ryan.”

  The young man’s head jerked up to reveal two sleepy red slits where his eyes could usually be found. “What the fuck?”

  “You fell asleep, mate.”

  The others walked into the wardroom. “Aww,” Lexi said. “He looks like a teddy bear.”

  “Piss off, Zhang.”

  “Woah,” her face crumpled up in mock horror. “A really aggressive teddy bear.”

  Eden walked in and closed the door. “Right, to business everyone. Ryan and I made good progress so listen up.”

  Ryan took over. “As we all know, there are eight golden rings, and that these eight rings will somehow reveal the location of the Hidden Citadel. We already have one – the one we found on Alexander’s finger, but we have to locate the other seven and we all know who else wants to find them.”

  “The Oracle,” Hawke said.

  “Exactly,” Eden said, resuming his presentation. “When he was a young man, Alexander was a tutored by the famous ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. It’s during this time he learned not only about the ancient civilization at Sumer but also about the far older civilization that was there before, including the Citadel.”

  Sipping his coffee, Ryan started to come back to life. “The Codex tells us so much. The Citadel was the capital city of an ancient civilization that far predates even Sumer. As far as I can make out from what is at times some pretty cryptic writing, this ancient civilization was the first to harness the power of immortality, and its leaders were sent to seed the world and spread their civilization around the world.”

  “Holy shit in the Pope’s mitre,” Lea said. “This is getting real.”

  “It’s going to get a lot more real too,” Ryan said. “As with Sumer, the cradle of this civilization started out on the banks of the Euphrates, and we think the purpose of the idols was to enable their priests and holy class to take an image of their gods to the new lands they were seeding. That’s why the idols are always of the creator gods or goddesses of the various cultures around the world, and why they all share the same symbols and features, including the intricate ziggurat in the base which we believe is some kind of key.”

  “I like keys,” Scarlet said. “They open doors to treasure.”

  “Always about the money,” Ryan said, sighing. “Anyway, the statues that archaeologists have been finding in these places were reproductions of these idols, and that was how they spread their culture. Whether or not they really were gods or just their kings or queens, the Codex isn’t clear.”

  A groan of frustration went around the wardroom.

  Ryan raised his palms. “This just means that Alexander the Great never knew, that’s all. It’s his Codex remember, and his research. I suspect we’ll find the answer to this question and a whole lot more when we finally locate the Citadel.”

  Reaper smacked his hands together. “And it all starts with the rings, mes amis!”

  “So where are they?” Lexi asked.

  “That’s the interesting bit,” Ryan said. “As we now know, Alexander only found one of the rings, but he moved heaven and earth to locate the other seven.”

  “So why did we only find one on him?” Lea asked.

  “Because he died before he could secure them for himself, and then he had their location buried with him in this Codex.”

  “I ask again,” Lexi said with a sigh. “Where are they?”

  “According to Alexander, the seven rings had traveled down through the ages and found their way into the possession of various great rulers – Tutankhamun, Ramesses II, and Akhenaten in Egypt, Cyrus the Great of Persia, Romulus and Remus in Rome and King Sudas in India. Alexander the Great’s ring makes eight.”

  “But if I’m not very much mistaken,” Lea said, “all of those people’s tombs have been opened and catalogued.”

  Eden shook his head. “Not when Alexander was alive, no. He spent his life searching for them and never found them.”

  “But today, yes, they’ve been found and excavated.” Ryan said.

  Lexi looked confused. “So the rings could be anywhere?”

  Ryan smiled. “These tombs have been discovered and opened and their contents catalogued, but there are problems. First, there’s never been any way to tell if they’d been raided before their official discoveries, and second, many of the relics from these hoards were stolen after their discovery. What we can say is that the rings Alexander described never made it to the official inventories of these hoards.”

  Eden tried to control his excitement. “But thanks to the Codex, we’ve been able to ascertain that the rings are all very different in appearance.”

  “And Alexander was very specific in describing them,” Ryan said. “So we took the descriptions of the various rings Alexander wrote in the Codex and got busy while you were all sleeping.”

  Eden tossed his pen on the wardroom desk and lifted his coffee cup to his lips. “After a somewhat tedious process involving online searches and several telephone calls to various auction houses and security service contacts, I can tell you that the first ring is accounted for, so no groping around in dark tunnels.”

  “I’m sorry for you, boy,” Scarlet said. “I know how much you enjoy groping around in dark tunnels.”

  “Pack it in, Cairo,” Lea said.

  “And pack your bags, too,” Eden said. “Because you’re going to Malaysia.”

  “Eh?” said Hawke.

  “Malaysia,” Eden repeated. “One of that country’s richest criminals is an avid collector of ancient world relics and we’ve already worked out that he has Tutankhamun’s ring. He’s especially obsessed not only with ancient Egypt but also with anything from Sumer or the Indus Valley, and he’s rumored to have some sort of a god-complex. Thinks he’s descended from a long line of Sumerian gods.”

  “That makes even your ego look normal, Cairo,” Ryan said.

  “Not even bothering to look at you, boy.”

  “Where in Malaysia?” Hawke asked.

  “We’re not one hundred percent sure because he has several properties in the country, but he, and more to the point his guards, divide most of their time between his luxury apartment in the Petronas Towers and a large rubber plantation in the Temenggor jungle.” The corner of Eden’s mouth twisted up as paused a beat, and then he said, “So guess what?”

  “We’re paying him a visit?” Reaper said.

  “You are,” Eden added. “There is no way for us to know in which of the properties he is keeping the ring. However, we think it’s more likely he’s securing it in the diamond safe in his apartment in the towers, so you’re going there first. I’ll stay here on the Duncan and work on the location of the second ring.”

  Eden saw the concern on their faces as they learned the Codex would be out of their hands. “We’ve made a copy of the Codex so Mr Bale here can work on it while you’re on the road, so to speak, but it’s worth all of us remembering that this Codex was in the Oracle’s hands for more than long enough for him to make his own copy and work out the location of the rings just as we are doing.”

  “In other words,” Lexi said, “this is going to be a race to the finish to secure the rings and find the gateway?”

  “And one hell of a battle,” Hawke said.

  “And if that weren’t bad enough, there’s more,” Eden said. “In the last hour I received a call from Alex Reeve in the United States. You’re all aware that she’d heard rumors about some kind of plot?”

  Lea nodded. “That’s why we sent Kim and Camacho over.”

  “Right,” he
said firmly. “It appears we’re no longer dealing with simple rumors. Alex had been briefed by US Secret Service Agent Brandon McGee concerning quality intel regarding the plot. It appears it’s real and that the Vice President is behind it, but we’re very short on details.”

  “Oh my God!” Lea said.

  “Exactly my sentiments,” Eden said. “Kim and Jack Camacho are on their way, but this has the potential to turn into something very nasty indeed. Of course, I’ll be monitoring it and will keep you updated, but for now I want you to focus on the rings.”

  Lea could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Thanks, Rich.”

  Hawke looked his team in the eye. “It’s time to start that battle.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  The US Marine Corps Super Stallion raced over the surface of the warm waters of the Malacca Strait on its way to the military airbase at Kuala Lumpur. Crossing the border over the private island resort of Pulau Tengah, Hawke was astonished all over again by the beauty of the Malay Peninsula.

  Tropical white-sand beaches lined with coconut palms encircling emerald-green isles were jewels set in a dazzling turquoise sea, but things became less beautiful as they flew at low altitude over Port Klang. He saw jaded, crumbling buildings and pot-holes in the streets, but no one else was looking out the windows. Sitting in the back of the heavy-lift cargo chopper, the rest of the team had prepared for the landing and were sharing a few laughs. Even Zeke and Nikolai, both of whom had begged to come on the mission, were settling in and sharing jokes.

  Scarlet was searching through her pockets for a lighter while Reaper was studying Lexi’s new steel fingernails. He called them talons and she nearly slapped him, but then laughed. Lea and Ryan were leaning back in their seats with their eyes closed, trying to get some shut eye before the trouble started. If this was like any other mission, sleep would be hard to come by for the next few days, and something told him it was going to be a hell of a lot worse than just any other mission.

  On top of the worries here in South East Asia, he was also thinking about Alex and what his old friend was up against in Washington DC. Sending Kim and Camacho back was a good move by Eden. Both strongly trusted by the President and Alex, either would fight to the death to protect him. He just prayed it wouldn’t come to that, and cursed Faulkner for trying to get Brooke out of the Oval Office. What the hell was going on over there? He had no idea, but at least now it was all starting to make sense. The US black ops guys who attacked Elysium must have been sanctioned by someone near the top, and now that someone had a name: Davis Faulkner.

  Damn, is he working with the Oracle? That was something Alex, Kim and Camacho would have to work out under the command of the President. The ECHO team were here in Malaysia with a different fish to fry, and his name was Razak.

  They flew over the Brickfields district and swung around to the north over the Ritz-Carlton before descending and landing on the shores of Simfoni Lake. Climbing out of the chopper, he stared up. All eighty-eight floors of the enormous Petronas Towers loomed up above them in the sweltering Malaysian sky. Completed in 1996, the towers were the tallest in the world until 2004, standing at a dizzy 1,483 feet in height and Razak’s apartment was at the top of the east tower.

  “That’s a long way up,” Reaper said.

  Lea shielded her eyes from the sun and looked up into the sky. “Serviced by an elevator.”

  “Plus the bastard doesn’t know we’re coming,” Hawke put in.

  As they were expecting, Eden’s contact Farish Awang was waiting for them at the base of the towers. A young man in his twenties with a crew cut, he and the two men beside him were dressed in civvies so as not to attract any unwanted attention.

  “How’s it going?” Hawke said.

  “We don’t know if Razak’s in there or not,” Farish said. “He’s a very private man and the building is not normally under surveillance. It’s possible he’s on his rubber plantation.”

  Hawke heaved out a sigh. “No biggie. We want the ring more than Razak, and this is where he keeps his diamond safe.”

  “These towers are beautiful,” Lea said. “Never seen them before.”

  “Each tower is based on traditional Islamic geometry,” Ryan said. “Their floor-plates are formed of two squares on top of each other to produce an eight-pointed star. That’s why they’re this amazing shape.

  “There’s that number again,” Reaper said. “Huit…”

  They followed Farish across the expansive lobby, a stunning space combining postmodern glass and steel architecture with traditional Malay songket weavings. The Special Actions Unit officer flashed his badge at the people on the front desk and spoke to them in quiet Malay for a few moments.

  He turned. “The bad news is that they don’t know if Razak’s in the apartment or not either.”

  “And the good news?” Lea asked, hopeful.

  “The warrant we have allows us acces without any problems.” He held up a plastic key-card in front of their faces. “So we can walk right in.”

  Farish led them over to the executive elevators and they stepped inside. The high-speed, double-decker elevators could carry up to fifty-two people, but they were traveling in one of the four plush executive elevators. It rapidly whisked them up inside the building to the sky lobby. Here they changed to another elevator that took them the rest of the way to the upper zones. “One more change,” Farish said with a smile.

  He slotted the key-card into the side of Razak’s private elevator and moments later they were stepping out into the deep, patterned carpet of the top floor.

  “This is the life.” Scarlet traced her finger over a golden lion sculpture.

  Farish slapped her hand away from the lion. “Please, it could be alarmed.”

  They continued walking down the wide corridor until they reached a large set of double doors with polished golden handles. “This whole floor is Razak’s,” Farish said. “But through here is where his private residence is.”

  Using a keycode obtained from the front desk, Farish opened the penthouse suite door and the team filed inside the luxury apartment. A plush room of thick white rugs and polished mahogany floorboards stretched in every direction. The entire floor was double-storey height and diamond chandeliers hung down from the ceiling, each one worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  Farish glanced at the schematics of the apartment on his phone. “The safe is through here. Follow me.”

  They followed him into Razak’s private study, a smaller space filled with studded leather chairs and paneled wooden walls. On one of the walls hung an original Pissaro landscape which instantly captivated Ryan’s attention. “Nice – I presume the goodies are behind here?”

  Farish shook his head. “No, the safe is built into the floor – here.”

  He bent over and pulled a large circular rattan rug away from the center of the floor to reveal the brushed steel door of a safe. It was neatly incorporated into the study floor, perfectly flush with the floorboards and hidden from the world – unless you knew it was there.

  “Anyone know the combo?” Lea said.

  “I do,” Hawke said, reaching into his bag. “It’s C4.”

  She smiled. “I do love you, Josiah.”

  “Everyone take cover,” he said, placing the explosives around the safe door.

  “Maybe we could get a safe cracker,” Farish said, looking nervous. “Is this really the best way?”

  “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Hawke winked as he detonated the C4 and blew the doors from the safe. The sound generated by the explosion was deafening in the enclosed study and the force ripped the door from one of its hinges so now it was hanging from the other one, bent and scorched.

  “Christ, I’m going to need to get some ear-cancelling head-phones,” Ryan said.

  Lea ran forward and peered inside the safe. “Good news if you like diamonds or what is obviously counterfeit American dollars, but bad news if you’re looking for an ancient ring that once belonged to a god-ki
ng.”

  Scarlet sighed. “You’re fucking kidding?”

  She turned. “Nope, not unless he keeps it under his pillow because it’s not in here.”

  “Then that means the plantation,” Ryan said, deflated by their failure to locate the ring.

  Farish radioed in the failure to his team leader and turned to Hawke. “As far as that goes you’re on your own. We’re only authorized to facilitate the search of this penthouse.”

  “I hope everyone packed their mosquito repellent,” Hawke said. “Because things are going to get nasty out there.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The dense jungles of Western Malaysia are some of the most remote and rugged on the planet. At over 130 million years old, the steamy, lush slopes of these region host one of the world’s oldest rainforests. Some parts have been tamed for tourists and offer river cruises, and some parts offer tours of the highland tea plantations.

  But not this part.

  Razak’s rubber plantation was buried in Belum-Temenggor, the deepest tropical rainforest on the peninsula. The jungle here was thick and luscious and a hundred shades of green. Teeming with insect life, it gave an atmosphere of danger and foreboding.

  Hawke swung the machete for the thousandth time, hacking his way through the rattan vines. Their spiny tendrils flicked back on him and scratched at his face as he cut ever deeper into the tropical nightmare.

  “Are you sure this is the right way?” Ryan said.

  “Yes.” He sounded like he was in a bad mood.

  Skirting a mangrove swamp filled with leeches, they continued on their path east toward Razak’s plantation.

  “It’s just that if we’d turned left instead of right back at the entrance to Dulles Airport last time we were there we’d all be hanging out in a New York bar right now instead of, well… here.”