THE MAHABHARATA QUEST:THE ALEXANDER SECRET

by CHRISTOPHER C. DOYLE

  Colin grinned up at him like the Cheshire Cat, which Vijay was accustomed to by now. But Alice smiling up at him at the breakfast table; he had to calm himself down all over again.

  ‘Did you sleep well?’ he enquired of Alice, more out of politeness than genuine concern. Though there had been something that had stayed on his mind from the conversation last night.

  Alice nodded. ‘Umm hmm. I did, thanks. Did you?’

  Vijay didn’t respond. His mind was now ticking away, focused on what Alice had mentioned last night.

  ‘You said that you found an ivory cube in the tomb,’ he said finally, between mouthfuls of masala omelette and parantha.

  Alice looked at him, surprised. She hadn’t thought that anything about her experience in Greece had registered with Vijay, considering the background of their conversation last night.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘It had inscriptions carved on it.’

  ‘And when Marco came back for you, he told you that Damon had asked you to carry the cube back to the hotel.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Alice wondered where Vijay was going with this line of thought.

  ‘And what did you do with the cube?’

  ‘I put it in my backpack.’ The realisation struck Alice hard. In her panic and wild attempts to get away, she had forgotten that she still carried the cube, safe in its container inside her backpack, which she had brought with her to India.

  ‘So that’s what they wanted,’ Vijay murmured. ‘The cube.’

  Alice shook her head. The images from two nights ago were burned into her mind as if they had been seared by a red hot branding iron. ‘They were after me because I had seen the tomb. Marco had nothing with him. But he was in the tomb with us. So they killed him, too. They just wanted to kill everyone who was there that evening.’

  Vijay looked thoughtful. ‘What did you do with your laptop and camera?’

  ‘Left them both in my room at the hotel.’

  ‘So they would have the photographs of all the artefacts with them.’ Vijay looked puzzled. ‘That doesn’t explain anything.’

  Alice’s eyes widened. ‘No, they wouldn’t,’ she said. ‘I didn’t have time to upload the photographs to the laptop. I thought I’d do it later so I took out the memory stick and put it in my waist pouch. I still have it with me.’

  Vijay slapped his thigh. ‘It has to be the cube,’ he persisted. ‘Two good reasons why. First, the cube is the only artefact that is missing from the collection. And since they don’t have the photographs either, they need the original. Right?’

  ‘Right,’ Alice murmured, still doubtful.

  ‘Second, you mentioned that you discovered the cube right at the end since it was hidden behind the tablets and statues and Damon had left the tomb by then.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Alice realised what Vijay was leading up to. ‘So you’re wondering how Damon could have known it was there when he hadn’t seen it. It is possible that he saw it while he was examining the artefacts in the hidden chamber.’

  Vijay shook his head. ‘That’s not it. What I’m wondering is this. The co-directors had given instructions to remove all artefacts and place them in the dig hut. Correct?’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘So why did Damon ask you to bring only the cube with you to the hotel? Why was the cube so significant? And, more importantly, Marco told you that Stavros was reprimanding Damon for asking you to bring the cube to the hotel. According to Stavros, Damon should have brought it himself. Which could mean that Damon had been told that the cube was significant in some way and should be brought back to the hotel. Which begs the question: how did Stavros or Peter, or anyone for that matter, know that the cube was down in that tomb when they weren’t there to see it?’

  Alice mulled this over. ‘It is possible,’ she said slowly, thinking aloud, ‘that Damon told them about the cube and they asked him to get it to the hotel.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Vijay argued, ‘there are too many coincidences for your explanation to be acceptable. First, Damon would have needed to have seen the cube before you discovered it. Unlikely. And then, it is also very unlikely that Damon would have told Stavros about it and would be asked to bring only that particular artefact to the hotel without there being any particular significance attached to it. And, why did they want to see only the cube? Why not any of the other artefacts from the tomb? Finally, the cube is the only artefact not in their possession and they don’t have a photograph of it either. So it has to be the cube that they are after.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Alice replied. ‘You could be right. Your logic certainly makes sense. The cube was intriguing. But there was nothing special about it. Other than the fact that it was made from ivory and it had unintelligible inscriptions on it.’

  ‘Why would an old ivory cube in a tomb drive people to kill?’ Colin wondered. ‘Whose tomb was it anyway?’

  Alice smiled at him. ‘Maybe I should give you a background of this excavation, so you can get an idea of what we were looking for.’

  ‘Guys,’ Colin interjected. ‘If we’re going to be discussing archaeological ruins and tombs and such like stuff, can we please move to somewhere more comfortable? I know how these discussions can get and I don’t want to be in the middle of one at the dining table.’

  Vijay smiled. ‘Sure,’ he replied. ‘Study?’

  ‘Great idea,’ Colin responded. He loved the study that Vijay’s uncle had created for himself in the fort. ‘The sun’s up today so hopefully it will be nice and sunlit.’

  They headed up to the study and sat around the glass coffee table that occupied one corner next to a wall mounted LCD television.

  ‘I was approached eighteen months ago,’ Alice began, ‘by the Wallace Archaeological Trust, to be a leading member of the team for this excavation.’ She looked at both men. ‘How familiar are you with the history of Alexander III of Macedon?’

  ‘Who’s that?’ Colin asked, leaning comfortably against the white leather cushions. ‘Any relation to Alexander the Great?’

  Alice sighed. ‘Alexander III was Alexander the Great.’

  Colin smiled sheepishly. ‘Oh. Sorry. History has never been my strong point.’

  ‘Anyway,’ Alice continued, ‘Kurt Wallace personally wanted me on this mission for some reason. And since Hellenistic history is one of my areas of interest, I agreed to sign on.’

  ‘There must have been something that drew you to this mission,’ Vijay said. ‘I know you. You wouldn’t get involved in something unless you were passionate about it.’

  Alice smiled. This was why she had fallen in love with Vijay. Somehow he knew her so well. Why couldn’t it have lasted?

  She opened her mouth to respond, but Shivjeet the butler appeared. ‘Hukum, Radha ma’am is here with Dr Shukla.’

  Radha entered the room, smiling, followed by Shukla. ‘Shivjeet,’ she remonstrated, ‘you don’t have to announce us!’ She stopped short as she saw Alice and her smile faded.

  Colin quickly did the introductions. He knew how possessive Radha was about Vijay so he was careful not to introduce Alice as Vijay’s ex-girlfriend. Vijay would have to do that himself at a time of his choosing.

  Vijay got up and greeted Shukla with a warm embrace. ‘I’m glad you came, too,’ he told the linguist.

  ‘I thought I’d come along and spend some time with you guys,’ Shukla smiled. ‘I haven’t seen Colin since last year!’

  Vijay turned to Radha and kissed her. ‘Hey,’ he beamed at her. ‘I couldn’t wait for you to get here.’

  Radha smiled back. ‘Me too.’

  They sat down together on a sofa as Shukla took a seat next to Colin. ‘Alice had a terrible experience in Greece,’ Vijay explained. ‘She was just telling us about it.’

  ‘Go on, Alice,’ Radha smiled. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m also curious.’

  Alice smiled back at Radha and continued. ‘Kurt Wallace told me about a clue that his team had unearthed which could lead us to solv
ing one of ancient Greece’s most enduring mysteries.’

  ‘Kurt Wallace is a billionaire who funded her excavation,’ Colin enlightened Radha, who nodded her understanding.

  ‘And what was that mystery?’ Shukla looked interested.

  ‘The tomb of Olympias, the wife of Philip II, and the mother of Alexander the Great. Her tomb has been the subject of much speculation but there was never any evidence that it even existed, leave alone its location. Until now.’

  Something tickled Vijay’s memory. That name. Olympias. Where had he encountered it before? And fairly recently, too, maybe in the last month or so. But the answer to that question eluded him. So he just said, ‘Wow, that sounds big.’

  Alice smiled at him. ‘I don’t know how much you guys know about Greek history, but Olympias had a tumultuous tenure as Queen. After Alexander died, she indulged in power politics with the aim of securing the throne for Alexander IV, the son of Alexander the Great. She allied with Perdiccas at first and then with Polyperchon, both Macedonian generals with ambitions of their own. After shuttling between Epirus and Macedonia, she was finally besieged at Pydna in 316 BC by Cassander, the son of Antipater who was Alexander’s viceroy in Macedonia during his Asian campaign. She was then executed by the relatives of Macedonians whom she had put to death and who were instigated by Cassander, who didn’t want to do the deed himself. Cassander hated Olympias and refused to have her body buried, decreeing that it should be cast away in the open. However, apparently, there was a surreptitious burial, and a tomb was subsequently constructed, possibly during the reign of Pyrrhus of Epirus, who was, like Olympias, an Aeacid.’

  She looked around. ‘Go on,’ Shukla encouraged her. ‘This is really interesting.’

  ‘We found the tomb.’ She was surprised that she could summarise the momentous discovery in four words.

  ‘How do you know it was the tomb of Olympias?’ Radha wanted to know. She hadn’t liked the way Alice had smiled at Vijay when he had complimented her on her discovery. Who was this woman? Vijay had never mentioned her to Radha.

  ‘Well, to start with, there have been references to Olympias’ tomb on inscriptions discovered in the early 20th century in the village of Makrigialos. There has even been speculation that Makrigialos is the site of ancient Pydna. And Kurt’s research team unearthed an obscure news item relating to a stele that was half eroded. They were able to locate it and purchase it. The inscription on the stele had a direct reference to the tomb, indicating that it was nearer to Korinos than Makrigialos. So we began excavating on the site that was mentioned in the inscription after satellite remote sensing showed evidence of a tomb-like structure buried deep within a mound. Though, we still weren’t sure about the occupant when we entered the tomb,’ Alice admitted. ‘But when we saw the sculptures on the walls…’ She paused, thinking about the snakes all over the burial chamber. ‘You see, according to legend, Alexander was not begotten by Philip. Olympias had told Alexander that he was the son of Zeus, who had come to her in the form of a serpent. Legend also says that she had a strange fascination for snakes – she even used to sleep with them. That’s also, perhaps, how the legend of Alexander’s birth was perpetuated.’ She described the paintings on the walls of the ante-chamber depicting a queen, the snakes on the walls of the burial chamber and the discovery of the third, hidden chamber, with the statues and tablets.

  ‘And the cube?’ Vijay pressed, his curiosity getting the better of him. ‘Can we see it?’

  14

  A riddle in ivory

  Alice excused herself to fetch the cube from her room. While she was gone, Vijay updated Radha and Shukla on her traumatic night in Greece and their discussion regarding the cube just before she arrived.

  ‘So, she didn’t go back to the US,’ Radha remarked. ‘She came here.’

  ‘She called me when she was trying to get away,’ Colin said quickly, detecting an acerbic note in Radha’s voice. ‘Maybe she thought she would be welcome here.’

  ‘And she is, isn’t she?’ Radha observed.

  Just then, Alice returned with the container and opened it, placing it on the coffee table for everyone to see. Four heads bent over the cube, studying the face that was visible.

  ‘What does the text say? Can you read this?’ Radha looked at Alice.

  Alice shook her head. ‘The script is unknown to me. But the inscriptions look like verses. I could be wrong, though.’

  ‘This is the Brahmi script,’ Shukla announced. He had been studying the cube intently. ‘The language is, strangely, Sanskrit. Which is odd, since Brahmi was not often used as a script for Sanskrit. This cube could have originated in India.’

  Alice, Colin and Vijay exchanged glances. ‘What’s a cube from India doing in an ancient Greek tomb?’ Alice wondered. ‘That’s a long way for a cube to travel. I wonder how it got to Greece in the first place.’

  Shukla looked up at Alice. ‘Do you mind if I take it out of the container and examine it more closely?’

  ‘Sure.’ Alice nodded. She was as eager as the others to learn what the inscriptions said.

  Shukla turned the cube over and studied all six faces. ‘Interesting,’ he observed.

  ‘Go on, Papa,’ Radha pressed him. ‘Read us the inscriptions.’

  Shukla peered at the face of the cube. ‘One face of the cube is blank. The others are inscribed – five verses in all. This one says:

  Above the river on the ridge

  Where day and night together meet

  And Sukra points to Shiva’s staff

  The herald to the mighty snake

  Five crowned, eternal guardian of

  The portal that will give you life.’

  Colin groaned. ‘Oh great! Not another riddle or a verse with a cryptic meaning buried in it! We just went through a whole bunch of those barely a year ago.’

  ‘Yes, but it was fun deciphering those and finally finding the location of the secret, wasn’t it?’ Vijay grinned at him.

  ‘Except for the part where we got kidnapped,’ Radha reminded him. She had still not forgotten the raw terror she had felt during that experience. ‘And you were the one who actually deciphered the last verse and found the location of the secret, Colin.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ Colin grumbled. ‘But I’m not keen to get into another chase like that one. Looks like every time I come to India, I get caught up in verses and riddles.’

  Radha’s eyes were shining with the anticipation of the challenge of interpreting this riddle. ‘We might be able to decipher these riddles. The allusions are Indian in nature. Shiva’s staff, for example, could be his trident.’

  Alice shrugged. ‘I have no clue. You guys would know best. But it is intriguing how an ivory cube with inscriptions connected to India ended up in a Greek tomb.’

  ‘It has to be Indian in origin,’ Shukla said. ‘The allusion to Sukra is also from Indian mythology. Sukra was the son of the rishi Bhrigu. According to the Mahabharata, he was the chief priest of the Asuras and was learned in the science of revivification. The Danavas who were killed by the Devas were revived by Sukra using this science.’

  ‘What do the other faces say?’ Vijay wanted to know.

  Shukla turned the cube over. ‘This is further proof that the cube is Indian in origin. The inscription on this face says:

  Across the swiftly flowing eye

  Beside the deep and saltless sea,

  Three brothers cast their shadow on

  The arrowhead that shows the way

  To enter the embrace of Pataal.

  Dig deep beyond the serpent’s seal

  And find the kernel of your quest.’

  He looked up from the cube. ‘Pataal in Indian mythology refers to the netherworld or the underworld. Technically, it is one of the seven regions of the netherworld.’

  ‘You mean, like, hell?’ Colin asked.

  ‘Not really,’ Shukla clarified. ‘Hell is a western concept, invented to keep people to a path of righteousness out of fear. There i
s no concept of hell in Hindu philosophy or mythology. It is truly a netherworld, a world that exists below the surface of our world.’

  Alice looked around. ‘Any ideas? Doesn’t make sense to me. Except it seems to be some sort of instruction for a quest that needs to be undertaken.’

  ‘The only thing that I can see,’ Colin said, ‘is that this verse is urging people to enter the netherworld. I don’t see the connect with reality here. Isn’t the netherworld a myth?’

  ‘Perhaps we’ll get a better idea once we translate them all,’ Radha pitched in. ‘Go on, Papa,’ she urged. ‘Let’s see what the other verses say.’

  15

  More riddles

  ‘Okay, here’s the next one.’ Shukla turned the cube over

  once again.

  ‘And from the lands around the rock

  Pluck the fruit and leaf and bark

  The first with many stems and fruit

  Dark purple, clothed in grey and white

  And green or brown. The next is smooth

  Of texture, bearing violet fruit

  Beware for burns will greet the touch.’

  ‘Pretty clear instructions,’ Colin remarked sarcastically, ‘if you knew what you were looking for.

  ‘But it does seem to confirm what Alice said just now,’ Radha countered. ‘This cube could be a secret guide to a quest. The only problem is we don’t know what the objective of that quest is.’

  Shukla read out the next inscription.

  ‘Remember, adventurer, bold as you are

  Ignore the warnings at your peril

  The elements must come together

  Protected by the fiery gaze

  Of the serpent – disregard

  And forfeit your most precious gift.’

  ‘Okay,’ Colin interjected. ‘I can decipher at least one line of this riddle.’ He grinned at the others. ‘This is what we would call a disclaimer today. What this one is saying is that if you don’t follow the instructions and ignore the warnings – whatever they are – you will lose your life. That’s the “most precious gift”. It can’t be anything else.’