by Rob Jones
This time it broke through, and the sharp adze split a neat crack in the rock.
“About time.”
Working a large hole from the crack, they wrenched a number of loose stones out of the way and created a space large enough to crawl through. Hawke peered inside with his Maglite and swept the beam up a long dark tunnel.
“What do you see?” Ryan asked.
“Funnily enough, a Greek bistro specializing in Mussels Saganaki.”
Zeke’s eyebrows rose an inch. “No kidding?”
“Sorry.” Hawke emerged from the hole. “It’s just a dark tunnel covered in cobwebs.”
Zeke waggled his finger in his face. “I thought as much, you old kidder.”
“What are you waiting for, you big girls?”
Hawke turned to see Lea already halfway through the hole. “You heard the lady. Will all big girls please step this way.”
“After you, boy,” Scarlet said with a smirk.
“Thanks, C.”
“Cheeky bastard.”
The dry and dusty tunnel descended deep inside the heart of the mountain. Narrow and oppressive, small holes carved into the stone walls at head-height had held candles to light the way in busier times. Today they were empty and the team used their flashlights to see through the dark.
The tunnel soon levelled out and they found themselves standing in a small antechamber. With a roll-up cigarette hanging off his lip, tip smouldering in the darkness, Reaper raised his glowstick and lit the chamber’s rough rocky walls a warm amber color. “No doors.”
The others joined him, sweeping flashlights over the walls, ceiling and floor in search of some kind of exit to the next level. Hawke saw a frieze running around the top of the chamber full of tiny, intricate hieroglyphics and what looked like a long crack running down the center of the ceiling.
Looking over at Reaper, he gave his old friend a desolate smile. “No doors.”
Lea pursed her lips and checked her watch. “Dimitrov and his men won’t be much longer before they’re down here. I hope Jack and Kolya are all right.”
“They’ll be fine,” Hawke said. “And we need to get on. Time’s running out.”
He walked over to the corner where the crack was at its widest and shone his flashlight beam into it. Any hopes he’d held that it might reveal a mysterious source of light or a trace of some water were quickly dashed. “Nothing.”
Behind him, Ryan had dropped to his knees and was sweeping dust and dirt away from the floor tiles with the heels of his hands. “Maybe one of these tiles is loose.”
Hawke crouched down and followed suit. “Come on everyone, get digging.”
Fighting to be the first to make the discovery, the team dug quickly, running their fingertips around the edges of the tiles and searching for any sign of a loose tile. Lexi won the race when she called out from the south end of the antechamber.
“I’m through!”
Before the others could walk over to her, she had already pulled the tile from the floor and was peering down inside the hole. When she pulled herself back up, she was smiling from ear to ear. “Looks like I found the tomb, bitches.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Hawke broke open a glowstick and dropped it down to the floor. Looking back up at his team he nodded appreciatively. “At least there’s no snakes.”
“Good for you Indy,” Lea said.
Ryan peered down inside. “But it’s definitely Orpheus’s mausoleum, or at least another antechamber to it.”
Without speaking further, Hawke secured a nylon climbing rope and rappelled down into the amber glow below. He landed with a thud on the mausoleum’s smooth, tiled floor and pulled the Maglite from his belt. After sweeping his flashlight around the chamber, he craned his neck up and called out to the rest of the team. Seeing Lea already halfway down the rope and Scarlet right behind her, he couldn’t help but smile. “I was going to give the all clear, but I can see there’s no need.”
“Someone’s got to keep you out of trouble, Josiah.”
“Fair enough,” he called back. “Reap, you stay up there and keep a look out for Jack.”
“Pas de problème. Gives me time for a smoke.”
Landing beside him, Lea shone her flashlight around the tomb. “No sarcophagus.”
“No.”
“What do you mean?” Scarlet touched down behind them and pulled a Maglite from her belt. “I broke a nail coming down that bloody rope so this had better be worth it.”
As Ryan and Lexi joined them, Hawke gave Scarlet a withering glance. “Can we get on?”
“Lead the way, maestro.”
“What do you make of it, Ryan?” Hawke asked.
“This looks way older than a regular tomb from the classical Greek period,” he said distractedly. “The design of the whole place more closely resembles the tholos or beehive tomb layout developed during the Mycenaean Era, but not exactly. There are important differences and if you ask me this style came first.”
After a long silence, Scarlet said what had to be said. “All right, I’ll ask. Why?”
“Because it’s simpler and yet makes use of the same strange material we found in the Citadel. If it was built after the tholos design, we’d be seeing more intricate corbelled vaults and ashlar masonry, but as you can see, none of that can be found here.”
“Saved me having to say it.” Lexi shrugged leather jacket-clad shoulders.
Ryan gave her a look. “You’re more than welcome.”
Lea smiled. “So when were these tholoses built?”
Ryan sighed. “The tholoi,” he emphasised, “really took off after around 1500 BC with the design quickly spreading all over the Mycenaean homelands. This is way older than that. In my opinion this is another example of the architecture belonging to the world that existed before our world.”
A longer silence followed.
“And of course, the final resting place of old Orpheus,” Zeke said. “Right?”
Ryan nodded. “The ancient Greeks believed that the dead had to be remembered for them to go on existing in the afterlife. To forget them was to kill them. Every anniversary of the death of a loved one, relatives would visit the mausoleum and speak their name out loud to ensure their continued existence. Neat, eh?”
“Sounds creepy to me,” Kamala said.
“Not me,” Lea said quietly. “I like it. I like that idea. I talk to my dad all the time, so I don’t see the difference.”
Kamala turned to Ryan. “Tell me again why there’s so little evidence of this ancient civilization.”
“The flood,” he said flatly.
“Huh?”
“The great flood. There’s one in the folklore of practically every culture on earth so there’s no doubt it happened. It covered most of the earth. That’s why there’s no evidence of the ancient culture.”
“I see.” She didn’t sound persuaded.
Hawke broke the tension. “Anyway, what have we got so far?”
Lea said, “Still no sign of any sarcophagus but there’s a pile of stones over in the corner and what looks like an altar against the far wall.”
“It’s an altar, all right,” Ryan said, approaching the exquisite marblework. “And a pretty bloody amazing one at that – especially these carvings along the top. It’s the best rendering of Orpheus and Eurydice I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s the certainly the best one I’ve ever seen,” Lexi said.
Hawke angled his flashlight downwards. “I’m more interested in what’s at the base, mate.”
Ryan saw it too. “Curious.”
They were looking at a raised pool built into the marble floor, half-filled with smooth, cool water.
“For drinking?” Lea asked.
Hawke shook his head. “I wouldn’t.”
“Me neither,” Cairo said.
“And she’ll drink literally anything,” Ryan said. “So that’s really saying something.”
“So it’s ornamental?” Kamala asked.
After a long, tense silence, Ryan laughed. “No, but thank you, Aesop!”
“Mate?”
“It’s similar to the Crow and Pitcher.” He lowered his kit bag to the floor and approached the marble altar. “One of Aesop’s fables. A thirsty crow finds a pitcher of water in the woods but the water level is too low for it to reach with its beak.” He turned to face his friends with a smug smile on his face. “Yet he still got his drink. How?”
Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Oh goody – a test.”
“He can’t tip the pitcher over or the water will go on the ground, right?” Lexi said.
“Congratulations,” said Ryan. “You’re officially not more stupid than a crow.”
She raised her middle finger and held it up to his face. “Decipher this, propellerhead.”
He ignored her. “Besides, the pitcher was stuck to the ground.”
“You never said that!”
“All right, settle down everyone.” Hawke inched closer to the altar and studied the pile of rocks and the stone pool. “Don’t you want to hear the answer?”
The squabbling stopped and all eyes turned to him.
“You know?” Scarlet said.
“I’m not just a pretty face.”
“Get on with it, Joe,” Lea said.
Hawke made no reply but turned and lifted one of the large pebbles into the pool. He repeated the process until all the rocks were inside the pool and the water level had risen to the top. Then it began flowing through the overflow slit.
Lea folded her arms. “Smartass.”
Before he replied, a low, dry grinding noise emanated from the wall behind the altar.
Reaper leaned his head down inside the hole. “What’s going on down there?”
“We might be getting somewhere, Reap,” Scarlet called back up.
“Looks like something’s definitely happening,” Lexi said.
“The altar’s moving!” Lea said.
Hawke took a step back and shone his flashlight at its base. “You’re right – it’s moving down into the floor!”
Seconds later the altar was flush with the floor, but it continued to descend below ground level, creating a smooth stone shaft on one side of which was a rectangular hole.
“An archway!” Hawke said.
The altar came to a stop six feet below the floor they were standing on and Lexi shone her flashlight inside the archway. “Orpheus certainly took his personal security seriously.”
Without saying a word, Hawke jumped down inside the shaft and turned his own flashlight into the darkness behind the arch. “There’s another long tunnel, and I think I see a sarcophagus at the end of it in some kind of chamber.”
He moved inside the burial chamber and the others quickly dropped down into the shaft and followed him. All of them were anxious to make their search before Kashala and his mercs made an appearance. It was a confined, enclosed space and an aggressive fire fight with heavily armed mercenaries was not the recommended course of action
When they reached the end of the tunnel they emerged into a magnificent tomb, surrounded on all four sided by rows of columns and high, stone arches. In the center of it all was the sarcophagus Hawke had partially seen from the other end. Dark, cold, and surrounded by another pool of water.
“It’s the sarcophagus, all right,” Ryan said.
Lexi laughed. “You think?”
Kamala shuddered. “Creepy.”
“No time to be creeped out,” Lea said. “We need to get the lid off.”
Working together, they prised the heavy marble lid away from the main body of the sarcophagus and lowered it to the floor in a cloud of dust. Peering cautiously inside, Hawke was first to speak. “It’s him.”
“Oh my God!” Kamala looked away, her heart pounding in her chest. “This is too much.”
Lexi gave her a sympathetic look. “This is what we do, cookie pops.”
Kamala took a step back. “Cookie pops?”
Lexi gave an innocent shrug. “I give people nicknames. I’ve been looking for one for you since we met.”
Kamala’s face was stony. “Keep looking.”
“Wait, this is the map,” Ryan said, reaching down inside. “It’s in a codex. Written by Orpheus himself after his journey to the Underworld and back!”
“Let me see!” Lexi snatched the codex from his hands and shone her flashlight onto it.
“Give that back!”
Scarlet pushed into the throng. “Children, children! Give it to mummy.”
Swiping it from Lexi’s hands, she now shone her flashlight onto the codex and started to open its pages. Staring blankly at dozens of rows of faded, inky symbols she pursed her lips and held it back out so Ryan could take it back.
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically.
“Turns out my ancient Greek isn’t so hot today.”
Lexi sighed. “Mine neither.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ryan said. “We all have our skills. You’re really good at hitting things.”
Lexi scowled at him. “You wanna test that out?”
“Wait.” Scarlet took out her phone and started snapping pictures of the dusty pages. “We’ve been here before, and this time I want a backup copy of this thing.”
When she had finished, Ryan took the codex back, laid it out flat on the floor and shone his flashlight over it as he started to turn its ancient, papyrus pages. “It’s in the same style as the symbols on the lyre,” he muttered. “This has the hand of Orpheus written all over it. It’s definitely in his style.”
“Well, duh,” Zeke said. “We just pulled the damn thing out of his tomb!”
“Sarcophagus.” Ryan corrected him without looking up from the text. “We’re standing in the tomb.”
“Whatever you say, chief. Anyone who can read that stuff has my undying respect. Just looks like a bird with inky feet has run all over the page to me.”
“Me too,” Kamala said.
Lexi raised her hand in agreement.
“Good,” Ryan sighed. “Now we’ve established that I’m the only one who can read it, maybe we can move on to the next step – shutting up and giving me some peace and quiet.”
Scarlet smirked and gave him a wink. “You’re a rude twat but I can’t help but like you.”
“Why thanks,” he said. “Now, can I study this in peace? If we want to find out how Orpheus reached the Underworld, then it’s going to take some time.”
A profound silence descended on the small team and Ryan worked through the codex as fast as he could. Deep underground, they had just made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. After a few minutes, and in the stone-cold silence, Lea’s Irish accent brought everyone back to life. “So where is the Underworld? What does he say?”
“Yeah,” Scarlet said. “Where the hell is Hell?”
“Did we not just cover this?” Ryan waved the codex in front of them and they all saw yet more pale black marks drawn on the papyrus. Line after line of incomprehensible glyphs and symbols even more complex than those at the start. “Oh, wait,” his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Let me just look for the big red cross.”
“All right boy,” Scarlet said. “We know the drill. You need some quiet genius time to decipher it, but we have to get of here in a hurry before…”
“Too late,” Reaper’s face appeared in the archway at the end of the tunnel. “I just got a message on the comms. It’s the Blood Crew. They got past Jack and Kamala on the surface and they’re on their way down right now.”
“Are they all right?” Lea said.
“Reaper nodded. “They’re fine. They’re going to follow them down into the tunnel so we can get them in a pincer movement. It’s the only way we stand a chance against so many.”
Hawke agreed. “And we need to get out of here in a hurry, just like Cairo says. To say it would be like shooting fish in a barrel is an understatement. They throw one fragmentation grenade in here and we’re shark chum.”
&nb
sp; “Mmm, what a lovely image,” Lea said.
“Welcome to Hawke,” Scarlet said. “Saying it like it is since 1970.”
“Hey,” Hawke said. “That is nowhere near my age and you know it.”
Scarlet raised an eyebrow and regarded him with a cool smile. “Come now, darling. It’s somewhere near it.”
The banter was cut dead by the sound of Camacho firing his SIG Sauer in the mausoleum. They watched the muzzle flash lighting the darkness in a terrifying strobe effect and prayed he was safe. When he tumbled down the shaft and rolled into the burial chamber, they had their answer.
“Jack!” Scarlet said. “Are you okay?”
He scrambled to his feet and brushed the dust from his shoulders. “Sure, but it’s too late to use the mausoleum as a way out. Kashala’s men have taken it over and they just saw me dive into the altar.”
“Oh, happy day,” Scarlet said. “What about Kolya?”
“Crazy son of a bitch ran off to save Jazmin! She’s in one of their trucks.”
Lea turned anxious eyes on Hawke. “What was that you said about fragmentation grenades?”
“And shark chum,” Ryan said.
“Mate, you know that thing you do when you find a hidden escape route from burial chambers?”
Ryan’s shoulders slumped. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?”
“Not in any way,” he said, glancing around the mausoleum. “That water around the sarcophagus has to be coming from somewhere. Start behind the wall where it’s entering the tomb.”
“On it.”
The sound of gun fire and men screaming as Kashala’s men made their way across the mausoleum and surrounded the altar. “Hey, ECHO!”
