“I hope it’s a hoax,” Dahl said. “Better for everyone.”
“Agreed,” Drake said. “But we can’t afford not to find out.” He fixed on Luther. “Do you understand that?”
“I’m no thinker. No strategist. I’m a bloodhound—they point me in the direction they want me to go and slap my ass. I’m tenacious. Raw. I get the job done without relying on fancy gadgetry. So no, Drake, I don’t understand it. And even if I did you lot would still be my prisoners.”
“Look.” Alicia struggled to turn around and look the big man in the eye. “Whilst I like the imagery of you being slapped on the ass, you—my old-style, simple, loutish beast—are talking up a steaming pile of crap. Open your damn eyes and wake up to the fight. Soldiers shouldn’t deal in black and white anymore. There’s adversity in much of the world right now, most of it caused by the people that pull your strings.”
“And dude,” Drake added, “it’s not as if they try to hide all of it.”
Luther couldn’t twist his body in order to address Alicia, but replied to Drake. “You think I haven’t heard this before? A hundred, desperate times from outta the mouths of a hundred desperate criminals? Shit, I could have made the speech for you.”
Kenzie groaned. “Well maybe some of them were telling you the truth. So what does that make you?”
Luther hesitated just for a moment. “You guys came outta hiding to chase down some ancient weapon that may or may not exist? Why the hell would you do that?”
“Now that—” Alicia banged the seat “—is a great question. Drake?”
“You’re asking me?” Drake felt defensive. “We all agreed. Even Smyth. We all agreed.”
“I came with you. You came for Crouch. Kenzie came for Dahl.”
“No. We all came to help.”
Alicia shrugged. Kenzie tried to catch Dahl’s eye through the window. “She’s right, Torst. I’m not here to save the world.”
Drake heard the outer shell at work and ignored it. Dahl called back inside whilst nobody could see his face.
“We are not together, Kenzie. We never will be.”
“Now I know that’s not true. You wouldn’t lead me on all this time.”
Drake heard the warning note in her voice and how Dahl fell suddenly silent. A taut silence filled the car.
“Did I lead you on?” the Swede finally asked.
“Stop it with the jokes. You’re scaring me.”
Drake frowned at the tone of her voice and the heat in her eyes. Kenzie had proven she could care and that she could fit in with the good guys. He hoped this wasn’t some kind of degeneration.
Smyth, driving the car, spoke up then out of nowhere. “It was me,” he said. “Luther? It was me, anyway. You shouldn’t be chasing these guys.”
Drake both saw and heard the guilt. “Shut up, mate. This isn’t the time.”
“I’m willing to accept any judgment.”
“There were circumstances,” Drake said. “And the guy was a murderer. Nobody should ever shoulder another man’s sins.”
“This is interesting,” Luther grumbled. “But what are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Drake said. “Sunstroke has made the dumb American delirious.”
“Ah, great. And we’re good with him driving the car?”
Crouch stepped in, seeing a chance to gloss over it all. “The fifth seal is the pyramid and we must go there in all haste. There’s a lot of ground to cover. Of course, these tombs are still being excavated. Almost eight million dog mummies were found a few years ago. Who knows what else lies beneath those sands?”
The car slowed as they reached the outskirts of a town. Drake thought this might be the perfect chance to procure an extra vehicle and maybe dump Luther and his two comrades. In all honesty though, what he wanted was something entirely different.
“Luther,” he said. “I hate to tell you that you’re working for the bad guys. I hate to tell you that there’s a rogue cell in the American government searching for terrible weapons. I hate to see your loyalty, your faith and your training betrayed at the highest level. So I’ll say this—find someone you trust in DC and ask them to check. Stick with us whilst it happens. Call a truce. And if, at the end of it you still think we’re all guilty of treason, then we will come quietly. You have my word.”
Drake held his hand out.
Alicia practically squawked a rebuttal. Dahl tried to wriggle back inside but couldn’t get near. Drake had chosen the perfect time.
Luther considered it. “We stick with you? We have full weapons? Alone time?”
“Yes, but no communications. We don’t want have the Air Force dropping down on us.”
“I always go dark,” Luther reminded him. “Only chatter is between the team.”
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
The Pyramid of Djosser, built in the 27th century BCE, was fashioned by the great Egyptian architect, Imhotep. It stands at the center of an immense mortuary complex surrounded by grand structures and ritual adornments. By building this, Imhotep himself was laying the groundwork for all those greater structures that came in later dynasties, including the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Three cars arrived, all air-conditioned and with extremely grateful and weary soldiers resting inside. When the vehicles pulled up to a tire-grinding halt nobody moved for an entire minute. About an hour ago they had pulled over to the side of the road, nursing and cleaning cuts and wounds, tending to bruises. Their injuries were painful, but not debilitating.
“Oh, my legs,” Alicia groaned, having just finished off a sandwich and a Pepsi, wedged in the front seat. “I can hardly open them.”
Kenzie snorted comically. “A new first for the English harlot.”
Drake was with Alicia, nursing a dozen aches and pains, and still nowhere near fully recovered. They had weapons, and bullets were in good supply but T-shirt and camo-trousers would have to fulfil the dress code.
“We must be extra careful,” Hayden told them. “These injuries will affect our reaction time, our range of movement and, hell, our pure damn skill. Take care out there.”
Crouch was out first, a testament to the man’s desire for the job. Drake struggled to follow but had the fun job of yanking Alicia out of the passenger seat.
“Ow, ow, be bloody careful! Kenz, is that my ass or your face? Never can tell. Whoa, steady Drakey!”
“You’d think dehydration and hunger would shut her up for a while.” Dahl stared at her speculatively. “Maybe a day at least.”
“There’s a reason they called her Taz.” Mai laughed and mimed a spinning devil, never stopping, always moving, even though it had no idea where it was headed.
Alicia offered to help Kenzie out of the car, face neutral. Surprisingly, the Israeli refused and pulled and pushed herself out.
The team gathered in the heat, to the front of the parking area and with Djosser’s pyramid in plain sight. It was large, stepped and flat-topped, different to the pyramids common in modern culture. Drake raised his face to the breeze, enjoying the coolness on his skin and the chance to slow down for just a moment.
“Let’s reccy the tomb,” Hayden said, and the moment was gone.
From afar, splitting and acting like tourists, they viewed the pyramid from every angle. Drake and Dahl walked with Luther, Pine and Carey; Mai close behind to help watch for any sign of trouble. So far, the conventional crusader had taken it easy, watching and taking no sidebars with his colleagues. The entire team met around the front of the tomb and compared notes.
“We’re good,” Crouch decided. “I’m headed inside.”
Drake went with him as Hayden assigned Smyth, Mai and Kinimaka to stay outside with Luther and his soldiers. Luther declined the offer, wanting in, but acquiesced to Pine and Carey staying back. Crouch was already inside, Yorgi and Kenzie trying to keep up. Drake studied the dark entrance to the tomb, checked around with suspicion once more and then ducked inside.
It would be good to have five on the outside. Safer.
Crouch was searching by flashlight, scanning the inner walls of the pyramid and wandering toward the funerary chamber. Yorgi backed him up with Kenzie checking ahead. It was quiet down here, cooler and secluded. An atmosphere of ancient repose filled the passageways, as if this place might see humanity out and then the next upstarts. A fitting resting place for what some may once have seen as a god.
Drake knew all about men elevated to the status of gods. He’d come across it and proved it during the Odin thing, and later by discovering more tombs and more evidence. Did it disprove the theory of real gods?
No, not really. But maybe they went the same way as the people with real wealth and power. Nobody ever knew who they were.
“I have it,” Crouch said at length. “Just down here.”
“You have what?” Luther asked. “Let me see.”
Drake was pleased he was taking an interest. Crouch took a picture and then let Luther in. Drake stared at the image.
“What is that?”
“The capstone,” Crouch affirmed. “And a coffin laid by the banks of the River Nile. I think the contours here—” he pointed at a peculiar bend in the river crowned by a peak “—tell us the location.”
“And they’ve all been like this?” Luther asked, still staring. “I guess they’re clearly timeworn, of Egyptian origin and potentially indicative. You guys managed to follow four of these already?”
Drake nodded. “And now five, once we decipher this picture. Mate, I was cynical at first too. The only reason I came was because Michael here—he has a reputation and is rarely wrong. Now, it doesn’t sound unreasonable that the Egyptians left a trail for someone to find, does it?”
Luther rose now, shaking his enormous head. “Nah, I guess not. The issue comes when Michael here brings up an ancient doomsday machine.”
“There are precedents,” Crouch asserted. “Archimedes for one. He designed and built the Iron Hand, a weapon that withstood Roman invasion for three long years. He also tried to build a death ray out of mirrors. Nikola Tesla did the same and called it the Teleforce. Aristotle spoke, quite plainly, of a doomsday machine, so what did he know back then? The capstone is the right size, has the heritage and the ancestry. It follows the pattern. ”
Luther didn’t answer. The group began to walk, in single file, back toward the daylight. Luther stopped them just before they reached the exit.
“Look here,” he said, face open and honest. “I’m nothing but plain-speaking. I see you as fellow soldiers. I realize I’m just like you. I am you, but better.” He grinned. “Naturally. I don’t entirely trust you, but once . . . I had a similar problem.”
“You were burned?” Alicia asked.
“Not exactly. But I submitted to the suits and found a way through. You could do the same. But you run from me and I will come back down on you like Nemesis, the Greek god of vengeance. I ain’t exaggerating when I say you will feel my fucking wrath.”
Drake let out a long sigh. “The men that sent you are corrupt. They have parted ways from your government, and real society. They’re using you, Luther, using your team. If it wasn’t for them your friends would still be alive today. We are not the enemy here.”
“I know you believe that, but—”
They exited into the sunlight, an overpowering glare. Crouch put a hand out close to Luther’s arm. “What if they could prove it?”
Drake tried not to look surprised. How can we . . .
“Give them a scrambled satphone,” Crouch said. “I know you have one. Not for reporting in to the suits, but for reaching out to vital contacts. Believe me, I’m in exactly the same boat. Sometimes, it’s the only way to move forward.”
“A satphone?” Luther looked surprised.
“To call our woman on the inside,” Hayden said. “To call Lauren Fox.”
Luther struggled with it for a long minute, but then perhaps understood they’d seen fit to take him into their confidence. A little reciprocation couldn’t hurt.
Taking a black phone from a backpack, he handed it to Dahl. “Knock yourself out.”
The Swede didn’t hesitate, but turned his back to Kenzie and walked away. They stood by the cars now and their surroundings were clear, bright and peaceful. Whichever enemies were abroad today were not here. Life had gifted them a good day.
Drake listened to Dahl and watched Kenzie. The signs were not good.
“I miss you all. God, I can’t wait to see the kids again, and you. We will sort it, I promise. Just hang in. I’ll be home soon. Kiss my girls . . . kiss Isabella and Julia for me . . .”
The Swede ended the call then, since he could hardly form another syllable. Kenzie glared at the floor as he walked by, her face set grim. Smyth plucked the phone from Dahl’s hands.
“Is that wise?” Hayden asked him. “We need Intel.”
“I will get Intel,” Smyth snapped. “But I’m talking to her.”
Drake and Alicia stood by Luther and Carey, chatting comfortably about recent missions and scars. Dahl joined them after a while and then Mai, conversing like the old friends that they were. When Smyth had finished, Mai went away to call her sister and Yorgi joined Drake.
It was peaceful, nice for a short while.
Luther loosened somewhat, telling a story of his own, but Carey never spoke, this being one of her peculiarities. Her eyes followed everyone though, and took it all in, and occasionally her lips curled.
Smyth broke it up to report Lauren’s status. “They set her free,” he said anxiously. “Finally. They let her go and she’s been wandering randomly for a day, checking for tails. Seems there are none.”
“Lauren’s in the clear?” Hayden said. “That’s great news.”
“For your proof?” Luther asked.
“Aye,” Drake said. “See, now you can relax. We concentrate on finishing this seven seals bollocks and then we’ll have your proof. How does that sound?”
“Apart from the gibberish—I can live with it.”
“Sweet.”
“I think this is the place.” Crouch held up his cell and displayed a map app. “See how the river bends and that mountain lies right in its lowest curvature? I think the place was chosen on purpose. Landscape like this never changes.”
“How far?” Drake was acutely aware of time constraints.
“Thirty minutes.” Crouch was happy. “North toward Cairo and the Giza pyramids and then a fifteen-minute drive east.”
“Great news,” Yorgi said. “We could finish this today.”
Hayden padded over to Kinimaka and the two enjoyed a quick private conversation. Drake hoped they might make it back together, he knew how deeply they cared for each other, but Hayden had hurt the big Hawaiian quite profoundly. She would have to work hard and show sincerity to make it happen.
Then Luther dropped a bombshell.
“I just realized something,” he said. “There’s only one hour until FrameHub’s deadline.”
“It really makes you wonder,” Alicia said. “SPEAR would have been all over their operation. I really believe we would have destroyed it. If the same splinter group that took us out also burned many more similar teams—who’s now protecting the people against threats like this?”
Hayden came over after hearing Luther’s words. “Nobody,” she said. “That’s why FrameHub haven’t and won’t be stopped.”
“Then two of those poor countries is about to become hell on earth?” Kinimaka asked.
“I’m afraid so. It’s gonna be Dark Age stuff. Or post apocalypse. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Do we know which ones?” Yorgi asked. “Since we have a vested interest?”
Luther had popped a set of earphones in and was listening to the news on his cell. “Not announced yet,” he said. “They’re holding what they call an awards ceremony in twenty minutes.” He shook his head. “Crazy, crazy men.”
Dahl came running up. “Hey, I was patrolling the perimeter. The mercs are here, but they pulled away over
to that side. If we leave now we can probably sneak out without being noticed.”
Some good fortune for a change. Drake smiled.
“We should go anyway,” Luther said. “If your coffin’s a thirty-minute drive away we should be there before FrameHub potentially launch a devastating strike on this country.”
Together, they marched out.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Alicia listened as Drake, Dahl and Hayden worked on Luther to try and get him to see things their way. He was one tough nut, but then Alicia barely expected less. His protégés, Pine and Carey, were hardly less resilient, the first never cracking that boyish face and the second never speaking. Pine reminded her of Zack Healey, who had died in the Caribbean recently. Healey had been a fine warrior, a trusted friend. Maybe Pine would be too.
The minutes ticked down; time drifted away. Their mission was fraught with anxiety now as FrameHub’s deadline drifted inexorably closer. Alicia recognized it as one of the few times she had felt truly helpless. Usually, they were the team running toward the death threat, fighting in the shadows for those that never truly knew, but on this day they could do nothing about it.
All they could do was wait and see.
Alicia held memories and friends close to her heart. “Hey.” She leaned through the front two seats. “Are we there yet?”
Dahl glared back at her. “Sit still. Another ten minutes and you can have a reward candy.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
The landscape changed as they drove through a small town and approached the banks of the River Nile. The streets were clean and narrow, full of people brightly dressed. Young children carried and traded handmade necklaces to all that passed. Every man and woman, it seemed, called out to every other, seeking something. Men sold piles of oranges off the back of carts. A man walked his child along the street because there were no sidewalks. As they approached the banks of the Nile the landscape flattened and Alicia got her first view of the longest river in the world.
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