Order of the Black Sun Box Set 11

by Preston William Child

  He turned away from them. “Leave. Now. Do not come back to this place. Not ever. If you do, we won’t be as welcoming then. I promise you that.”

  Nina's colleagues started shuffling backward a couple of steps, away from Odion. She didn't even consider retreating, not now. That slab could give them a big clue as to the whereabouts of Caesar's sword. Without it, they would be stuck and the search would come to a very abrupt halt. They would be trapped in some kind of purgatory until they eventually gave up altogether on ever finding the sword of Caesar. Santino Rossi would never come close to seeing that sword in his museum, and Nina's first time leading a venture for the new Order of the Black Sun would always be remembered as a failure—she’d especially recall it that way herself.

  They couldn't just give up now, not at such a pivotal crossroad. She understood Odion's resistance. She really did. She didn't want to go back on what she had said before. She fully meant every word of it, but this wasn't her trying to steal some random Egyptian trinket. This was something that had real worth to her: it was connected with what they convinced him they were searching for formerly. They weren't trying to steal Odion's Egyptian heritage. They still just wanted the sword, that was all. This slab was just a means to an end, nothing more, and nothing that she wanted to dishonor or ruin.

  Odion clearly noticed that she wasn't budging and took a threatening step forward. Riley and August each put a hand on one of her shoulders, trying to tug her away and bring her along with them on their retreat. They were worried, and though she wouldn't admit it, but Nina was, too. That nervousness couldn't control her, though, and she wouldn't let it. Odion and his men weren't the scariest threats that she had faced. She reasoned with them before, maybe she could negotiate with them again? If she couldn't, then she would find another way to get that slab.

  Odion was right in her face, a vein bulging on his bald head. “Did you not hear me? You need to leave. Right now.”

  “I'm not going anywhere,” Nina said, standing her ground. “Not without that.”

  Odion got even closer and she prepared herself for the worst. Maybe he would try to strike her, spit on her, or something much worse? She refused to step back and she would do her best not to flinch if something came her way. She wouldn't even bat an eye if he decided to start using physical force to make her leave.

  August stopped trying to pull her away and instead, placed himself between Nina and Odion, like a massive brick wall. He was bigger than them both, staring down at Odion.

  “You heard her,” August said, putting a big hand on Odion's chest to keep him an arm's length away from Nina. “We aren’t going anywhere until we get to look over that rock. So hand it over and this doesn't get bad.”

  “It’s already bad.” Odion pointed to something behind them.

  Nina and August both looked back and found Odion's gang closing in around them, looking ready to finish what they started in that alleyway. They were itching for a fight. August was tough, strong, a capable fighter, and was larger than any of them, but even he wouldn't be able to take them all on. He especially wouldn't stand a chance since they were all waving around their weapons. They looked like they wanted to finish the fight that almost broke out in the alleyway.

  Odion started speaking again, looking so confident now that his men were surrounding his enemies. He reiterated his point but it was even more threatening this time. “You’ll leave immediately. You’re going to forget this place. If you do not, then my friends will make sure that your brain won't remember much of anything at all. The brain might not even remember how to make your body work when they’re through with you.”

  “Let's get out of here,” Elijah spoke up behind Nina, busy cleaning his glasses and looking bored. “We can't fight all of them, and this embarrassing negotiation isn't exactly working. We can find something else...we don't need some Egyptian rock to tell us what we need. We can figure it out on our own. We will.”

  Nina was furious that Elijah would even say those things. He couldn't have been more wrong about needing that slab. Elijah Dane spent his whole life looking at old slabs and rocks and knew that potential value of them probably even more than she did. Yet, here he was, acting like it wouldn't be a big loss for them. He was always so passionate about the items brought to him to curate...so why was he referring to something with real worth as nothing more than a rock? It didn't make sense. He had to know how important this was to finding Caesar's sword...he must!

  As Elijah continued scrubbing his glasses with his shirt, he flashed a quick wink that Nina barely even saw. It was so fast—maybe even just a twitch—but it seemed to be directed right at her. If that was the case then...this was an act. He knew exactly how valuable that “rock” was to their mission after all. It was surprising, but she had to admit, there were times when Elijah wasn't quite as pretentiously aggravating as he seemed.

  “Listen to your friend and walk away,” Odion said. “Go, and don’t ever dare of coming back.”

  Nina didn't know what Elijah's plan was but she went along with what she assumed was what he hoped she would do next. It wasn't hard to pretend to quit when the odds of winning looked to be so badly stacked against her.

  “Fine,” Nina said, looking to the ground. “You win. We won't bother you again.”

  Nina turned to leave and August flanked her, making sure Odion didn't try anything once her back was turned. She walked by Elijah who finished cleaning his glasses and then put his glasses on his face. He didn't turn to follow her to leave. He just offered an awkward smirk as she passed him.

  “What are you doing?” She muttered, barely even opening her mouth.

  “Curating.” Elijah said and started walking forward toward Odion.

  Nina stopped her departure to watch Elijah as he approached the Egyptian with that cold determination that he applied to most challenges. Elijah observed Odion like he was looking over one of his relics in the deep vaults. It was the same analytical gaze, like he was trying to learn everything he could about the man or find any flaws that might have found themselves along his surface.

  “Excuse me for a moment,” Elijah said to Odion and turned his attention toward some of the Egyptian artifacts lining the room. “I was just looking at some of these...” Elijah chose his words carefully, tiptoeing around upsetting Odion further. “As you and Dr. Gould were having your...passionate discussion...I couldn't help but notice that totem over there...the statue of Anubis that you have there in the corner.”

  “What about it?” Odion asked, flashing a narrow glance over to where Elijah was looking.

  “Well...I hate to tell you this, and forgive my terrible timing but...that totem is a fake. In fact, quite a few of these items in here are fakes. Good imitations, I'll give them that...but most certainly forgeries. Believe me, I spend all my time looking at the real deals. I even have some of the real ones stored in the vaults where we keep our artifacts.” Elijah stepped up to the Anubis totem and pointed out the pointed ears of the stone statue. “You can see the warp on the left ear, can't you? Compared to the first? An imperfection like that didn't happen back in the day. Ancient Egyptians wouldn't have been so sloppy when it came to paying tribute to one of their gods...and this one...” Elijah pointed out another item and started going on and on about the indicators that they weren't the real artifacts.

  Odion listened and watched Elijah closely but was looking angrier by the minute as Elijah continued showing him evidence of forgery.

  The stone slab was lying on the table fifteen feet away from Nina. She barely noticed it was unguarded now but when she did, she saw the opportunity that Elijah was making. Elijah had diffused the tension in the room, made it seem like they were giving up, but in actuality was just making an opening to start an even bigger conflict...but a conflict that would end with them having the slab and on their way to finding out the next clue to the whereabouts of Caesar's sword. It was a gamble and could very easily lead to all of their deaths, but there was also a chance it cou
ld work.

  There was an exit in the far corner of the room. She didn't know where it went but she could run to it, grab the slab on her way, and make her escape. That was their chance, and might be the only way to get out of here with the information that they needed.

  Nina glanced to Elijah and as he was speaking about an old Egyptian urn, he flashed her a look that told her to act now. Nina nodded and nudged August. She peered over her shoulder and saw Riley with that gang of Egyptians standing a short way behind her with their weapons. Hopefully, Riley would follow her lead and bolt out of there with her and August and the slab. She didn't know how Elijah planned on getting away from them, but hopefully he would get out, too.

  “And this sarcophagus...” Elijah cracked open one of the Egyptian coffins leaning against the wall. He peeked inside like he was inspecting every minor detail about it. “Well...this was probably made in some warehouse in Beijing or Taiwan.”

  Odion looked over the sarcophagus with him with his arms folded—nice and distracted.

  Nina launched herself forward, sprinting toward the slab on the table. August was right behind her and she hoped Riley was close behind him. She heard one of the Egyptian gang members yell out a warning, but it was too late to stop her. She was already at the table and scooped the slab into her arms. She glanced back and saw Odion yelling, but Elijah grabbed him and pushed him into the sarcophagus they had been looking over. Elijah slammed the door of the coffin shut on him, trapping Odion inside, giving him a firsthand view that so many dead pharaohs endured.

  Elijah hurried away from the sarcophagus as the gang chased after everyone, managing to keep ahead of them and followed his allies out of the room. August shut the door behind them, blocking off Odion's cronies from pursuing.

  Nina was so relieved that all of them had gotten out of that room—and with the slab. They found themselves in one of the warehouse's corridors. Thankfully, it wasn't a dead end and she could see the exit to the outside world, far away from the foes trying to murder them. They headed straight for that door and burst out into the sunlight, hopefully going toward the next stage of their search.

  “Thank you, Elijah,” Nina said as they hurried out of there. “I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't pulled that off. I maybe would have thrown August at them and hoped for the best. Your plan was much cleaner.”

  “Cleanliness is important in all parts of life,” Elijah said proudly. “I had to do something since your plan was crashing and burning.”

  “It wasn't...” Nina couldn't even finish the sentence. She couldn't deny that he was right, even if it felt insulting. He wasn't wrong. “Thank you. I guess it's just lucky that you had a good distraction. How quickly could you tell that we were surrounded by a lot of fakes?”

  “They weren't fake,” Elijah said with a thin smirk. “All of those items that they had there were very legitimate. I just had to make him doubt that for a few minutes. He cared so much about protecting Egypt's history. I knew he’d get a bit frazzled at the thought that he’d been spending so much time guarding nothing but fake replicas. Those boys may have been violent, but they’ve amassed quite the collection of valuables.”

  “Good call,” August conceded.

  “I knew there was a reason I brought you along,” Nina said. “Besides to have someone to constantly doubt every decision we make...”

  “Those boys back there might have been violent, but they’ve undeniably accrued quite the collection of valuables, especially given their limited resources. Have to give them some credit for that. I might even suggest recruiting them to the order...”

  Nina rolled her eyes. “Let's wait until they're not trying to kill us to drop off that invitation.”

  They made their way through the crowded streets of Alexandria, hoping to blend into the crowd to escape any potential pursuers. Odion and his men seemed like the type of people that wouldn't just let them get away after taking from them. If they were giving chase, they still had the numbers and the weapons to beat Nina and her group down and retake the slab.

  Nina looked around carefully through the hundreds of faces that passed by. Across the street, she saw the familiar bald head of Odion, who saw her just at the same moment. He shouted, presumably to his friends nearby, and then yelled across the street to Nina.

  “Return the slab! Now!”

  “Come on!” Riley said, taking Nina's hand and weaving through the crowds. She was a petite young woman who was also quick on her feet, a good combination when they needed to get through a packed street. August and Elijah had a bit more trouble keeping up, especially August, who had to practically knock people over that were in his way.

  “Where are we going?” Nina called to Riley.

  Riley pointed up at something high up and Nina recognized one of the buildings ahead. It was near the private landing they’d used to land the private jet. Their ride was waiting over there, and a time like this, a private jet would make an amazing getaway vehicle. Riley had spotted their way out of there. The two women shouted out the plan to August and Elijah who kept looking behind them at their pursuers. If they could just make it to the jet, they might make it out of there okay.

  August glanced back again and shouted. “I don't see them! I think we lost them!”

  There was the sound of an engine roaring and they looked to the road beside them. A jeep was swerving in and out of traffic, coming up right beside the curb. Odion was in the passenger seat, shouting out orders to the driver. Apparently, Odion and his crew had hitched a ride with one of their friends to catch up.

  They cut through an alley and watched as the jeep nearly collided with another vehicle, losing it around the corner, though maybe only temporarily. They saw the private landing strip and all sprinted toward the plane as quickly as they could. There was no telling how long they would have before they were overtaken by Odion's gang.

  Once they reached the private jet, they hurried up the ramp onto the private jet. Nina was at the back of the pack and watched as the jeep full of angry men came to a halt nearby. Odion and his men leaped out of the vehicle and were running toward the plane.

  “Return the slab!” Odion roared as he approached. “Return it now! You won’t take it from here! I won't let you!”

  Nina climbed into the jet and closed the door behind her, sealing it shut.

  “Get us out of here!” She called up to the pilot as Elijah and August hurried to the cockpit to relay the message and make sure it was heard.

  The plane started to move, preparing to take off. Odion and his crew ran up the ramp and slammed their hands against the jet's door but to no avail. There was no possible way for them to get inside. The plane started moving along the runway, pulling away from the ramp. One of Odion's men tried to take hold of the wing, even jumping onto it from the ledge. The man clung to it for a moment before he slipped off the plane and went tumbling to the ground. If he wasn't dead from that, then he would definitely be maimed or very seriously injured.

  The private jet rolled down the runway until takeoff, bringing them into the air and far above their imminent graves.

  Nina took a seat, looking over the rock that she had taken from the Egyptians. She still had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty over how she pulled off getting the tablet. It wasn't the way she liked doing things. She usually didn't break her word with people, especially people who seemed like they had the potential to be allies, or at least some connection. It would have been nice to have a connection in Egypt given how much history was there but now, there was no chance of that happening.

  “Shall I?” Elijah asked, standing over and holding out his hands. Despite his vagueness, she knew exactly what he meant. He wanted to take a close examination of the slab of stone, so he could translate it for them. “It's what we took it for, remember? You almost got me killed for it.”

  “I almost got you killed!?” Nina couldn't believe it. “You threw yourself into that situation.”


  “Only because I had to,” Elijah said with a shrug. “Your plan wasn't working. Someone had to do something if we wanted any chance of getting that. A distraction was our best option...so I distracted. Simple as that.”

  Elijah took the slab and then took a seat, examining it closely. As obnoxious and unfriendly as Elijah Dane could be, Nina always admired how observant he was with pieces of history that he found. She had first noticed it during the time she had spent with him curating in the deep vaults but those were much more in-depth examinations. Still, at a time like this, when he didn't have his equipment, he still made do with what he had and could find clues all the same and rather quickly. He hummed to himself, pushing his glasses up his nose.

  For a few minutes, Nina stared at him but then found herself getting up, drawn to the slab like it was a magnet. Riley and August did the same, all of them being pulled in by their own curiosity. It was up to Elijah to figure out the next step. Nina just hoped that this wasn't another dead end. If it was, and this slab wasn't as helpful as she hoped, then she’d feel even worse about what happened with Odion.

  They all hovered over Elijah's shoulders as he translated the writings on the old slab.

  “Well?” Riley asked, fidgeting around with her fingers and looking anxious. “Does it say anything helpful, or did we just almost die for no reason?”

  Elijah just mumbled under his breath and kept looking it over. After a few more minutes of inspection, he started gently bobbing his head.

  One word left his mouth, one name. “Commodus.”

  “Commodus? That was the emperor that traveled to Egypt?”