THE MAHABHARATA QUEST:THE ALEXANDER SECRET

by CHRISTOPHER C. DOYLE

  ‘I recognise those names.’ Van Klueck’s tone was sharp. He hadn’t forgotten the people who had thwarted the Order’s efforts the previous year to get their hands on a secret from the Mahabharata which had been hidden away for over two thousand years. ‘They are a pain in the arse. We lost an important member of the Order last year because of them.’ He quickly briefed Cooper on the events of that misadventure.

  ‘Why didn’t we eliminate them?’ Cooper was surprised that the Order had let these people off so lightly. The fact that they were still alive didn’t fit in with the way they worked. “No survivors, no witnesses” was the guiding principle of the Order. Everyone who worked with the Order had been indoctrinated with this principle. There could be no exceptions. He couldn’t understand the deviation from this principle in this case.

  Van Klueck realised that Cooper wouldn’t understand. He was not really a member of the Order; just an employee. ‘The Order has been around for as far as anyone can remember; right from the dawn of history. It is bigger than personal vendettas. No one knows what the Order exists for. That is only known to members of the Order. But enough people who matter, know what we can do. And that has been achieved by lying low, operating behind the scenes, manipulating politics, war, economies, trade and the financial markets. If we had succeeded in our mission last year, we would have had the ultimate weapon that would help us rule the world. But, even then, we partnered with terrorists who served as our front to the outside world. We stayed behind the scenes, hidden, pulling the strings that manipulated events. Had we gone after these people, the governments of the US and India would have immediately noticed the connection. As things turned out, everyone thought that, with the death of one of our members during that mission, the case was closed. And we were left free to carry on our work. And pursue our other missions, including the one you are responsible for.’

  ‘That’s going to pose a problem,’ Cooper rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘It’s going to be more difficult to achieve anything with the Indian intelligence involved.’

  ‘There’s a difference between last year and this year, Cooper.’ Van Klueck allowed himself the shadow of a smile. ‘This year, no one knows about our mission. And there is no way anyone can connect events back to us, especially if you are in charge. I know you. You’ll cover your tracks. These people are of no importance to us. And we do have an axe to grind. So, if anyone gets in your way, do what you have to. No survivors. No witnesses. You know the rule.’

  Cooper nodded and the line went dead.

  There was a knock on the bedroom door. It was Krishnan. He looked perturbed.

  ‘Trouble?’ Cooper queried.

  ‘The IB officer and Radha Shukla are both at Titan Pharmaceuticals.’

  Cooper was in the living room of the suite in a flash. ‘It

  can’t be.’

  Krishnan pointed to one of the monitors where two red lights were blinking. ‘That’s Titan. And those are the two targets.’

  Cooper couldn’t believe his eyes. Had the Indian intelligence agencies got wind of their plans? It just wasn’t possible. No one knew. Even he didn’t know the complete details. All he knew was that this was a mission that had begun over twenty-five years ago. He had been given a brief to enlist Stavros and co-head the excavation at the tomb of Olympias. He had been told what needed to be recovered from the tomb. And he had been instructed in what he needed to do once the artefact had been recovered. He knew nothing more than that.

  What did the IB know that he didn’t?

  Nevertheless, he had to act. He immediately decided on a course of action. First, he had to make a call. And then he had to eliminate his targets. They were getting too close to the truth.

  And he couldn’t allow that to happen.

  24

  A missing link

  Vijay read out the six verses, pausing only to prefix each verse with a number and skipping over the missing words.

  ‘Verse 1,’ he began. ‘This is the most complete verse of the lot.

  Then… birthplace of the ruse

  Born of death, sworn vengeance

  That felled the line of a mighty king

  Adventurer… roll the dice!

  And… fortune guides you!

  ‘Verse 2 onwards have many more words missing,’ he added before reading on.

  ‘Across… swiftly…eye

  Beside the…saltless sea,

  Three brothers…on

  The arrowhead that…way

  To enter…of Hades.

  Dig…the serpent’s seal

  And find…quest.

  ‘Verse 3,’ he continued.

  ‘And … the … rock

  Pluck the … and … and bark

  The first with … and fruit

  Dark … clothed … white

  And … or … next is smooth

  Of … fruit

  Beware … burns will … the touch.

  ‘Verse 4:

  Then enter … the portal …

  The valleys … east …

  Choose … here, remember where

  You … Apollo lies.

  ‘Verse 5 is:

  Above the … the ridge

  Where …and night…meet

  And… Poseidon’s staff

  The … to the … snake

  Five … guardian

  The portal … will give…life.

  ‘And, finally, here’s verse 6:

  ‘Remember … bold as … are

  Ignore the … at your peril

  The elements … together

  Protected by … gaze

  Of the … disregard

  And forfeit … most precious gift.’

  Vijay looked up from his notes. Silence greeted him.

  ‘So there’s a connection between the parchment that Alexander carried with him and the ivory cube Alice found in the tomb of his mother.’ Colin was the first to speak. ‘Apart from the first verse, all the others seem to be identical to the ones on the cube. You can see that even with some of the words missing.’

  Shukla nodded. ‘I had a feeling this was the case,’ he confessed. ‘When you described the mission that Callisthenes undertook in the woods of Bactria, my mind immediately recalled the verse about the leaf and bark and the detailed description of the plants in one of the verses. And when you mentioned that Alexander’s quest ended with a snake with five heads, it seemed to reinforce my conclusion. One of the verses on the cube talks about a five-crowned snake being the guardian of the portal, which could be interpreted as a five-headed snake. But I wasn’t sure if I was merely making a big leap to connect the dots and establish a connection that didn’t really exist.’

  ‘This is interesting,’ Alice said slowly. She seemed to be thinking as she spoke. ‘The cube mentions Indian gods and is written in an ancient Indian script, using an ancient Indian language. The parchment that Alexander had, on the other hand, replaces the Indian gods with Greek gods. Apollo replaces Surya. Poseidon replaces Shiva. And not just the gods — Hades replaces Pataal. The parchment was most probably written in Greek. Which means that the cube probably originated in India and was translated by someone into Greek. This would make the verses more relevant and more easily understood by Alexander than the original Sanskrit verses.’

  ‘This only raises more questions,’ Vijay admitted. ‘Where did the cube come from, for one? And who translated the original Sanskrit verses into Greek? It would have to be someone who knew both Sanskrit and Greek. Then, what was the quest that the parchment led to? It must have been really important for Alexander to have undertaken the quest all the way from Greece until India. According to Eumenes, the quest was to find the secret of the gods. But that doesn’t explain anything.’

  ‘What about the letter?’ Alice asked Vijay. ‘You said there was a letter along with the journal.’

  Vijay nodded. ‘According to Fuller, the letter seems to be a kind of a covering letter for the journal. It was written by Eumenes and addressed to Olympias. Fu
ller believes that this letter, along with the journal, was despatched by Eumenes to Olympias. Perhaps he sent it off to Olympias shortly before he died?’

  Alice frowned. ‘Eumenes died in 316 BC. So did Olympias. She may never have received the letter. Perhaps Fuller’s hypothesis is correct. And somehow, the entire set of documents found their way to Egypt.’ She shrugged. ‘This is all conjecture. We don’t have any facts or evidence to go on.’

  Vijay smiled. The archaeologist in Alice was coming to the fore, unwilling to accept any explanation for deviations from the historical record without archaeological or archival evidence.

  ‘Anyway,’ he continued, ‘the letter informs Olympias that Alexander’s mission to the land of the Indus was successful. The letter also tells her that the circular metal plate she had given Alexander was buried, in accordance with her instructions, under an altar to Zeus, Alexander’s divine father. It was one of the twelve altars Alexander constructed on the banks of the Hyphasis river before retracing his steps back to Babylon. And Eumenes refers to the metal plate as being the key to finding the secret of the gods.’

  ‘So you think that this metal plate may be the means to work out what the verses on the cube mean?’ Colin guessed what his friend was thinking.

  ‘It could be possible,’ Shukla agreed. ‘The verses on the cube make no sense at all unless, as Radha said earlier, we have a reference point to understand what they mean. Perhaps this plate could provide the reference point. And if it is, indeed, a key, then it makes sense that Olympias asked for the key to be buried. After all, she wouldn’t want anyone else finding the secret of the gods after gifting it to her son.’

  ‘What I still don’t understand is where Olympias got possession of the cube and the metal plate from,’ Alice was still puzzling over this conundrum. ‘Who could have given them to her? And why? It would have been nice if the metal plate had also been buried with her in her tomb. That way, we could have studied it and seen for ourselves whether it could be linked in any way to the cube.’

  Vijay grinned at her. He still had a surprise up his sleeve. He patted the box file in which he had found the reference to the journal.

  ‘I told you about the file which led us to Eumenes’ journal,’ Vijay explained. ‘This is it. For some reason, my father had catalogued a bunch of newspaper articles and other documents relating to archaeological digs around the world. I have no clue why he did this, but when I was reading the journal, something struck me about one of the newspaper articles in this file.’

  He leafed through the papers in the file until he located the article he wanted. ‘This is a news item from 1985. Shall I read it out to you?’

  The others nodded and waited.

  ‘Remains of altars built by Alexander the Great found,’ Vijay read out the title of the article. ‘Archaeologists excavating for Indus Valley ruins near the town of Dasuya in Hoshiarpur district have excavated what appear to be the mud brick foundations of a large number of massive structures. Based on the foundations, each structure’s base would have been at least 17 metres square. Archaeologists have speculated that these may be the remains of the twelve altars that Alexander the Great was supposed to have built on the banks of the Beas river before commencing his long march home. For two thousand years, these altars disappeared from sight, even though for 400 years after Alexander, Indian kings were reported to have worshipped at these altars.’

  He looked up at them. ‘Now listen to this. While investigating one of the altars, a small circular metal plate, made from an unidentified black coloured metal, was discovered, buried under a cornerstone. The nature and origin of the plate and how it got there is a mystery since it doesn’t seem to be of Greek origin. The excavation team is tight-lipped about the discovery, only revealing that the metal plaque looks ancient, much older than Alexander’s time, and has mysterious symbols carved into it that appear to be hieroglyphic or pictorial in nature. The plate is being sent to the National Museum in New Delhi where it will be studied and preserved.’

  Shukla smiled. He knew what Vijay was leading up to. ‘So you’re taking another big leap, and assuming that this mysterious metal plate is the one that Eumenes has referred to in his letter?’

  ‘Right.’ Vijay put the file back on the table. ‘I don’t think it is such a big leap. First, the plate seems to be much older than Alexander. Second, how did it get under the cornerstone of Alexander’s altar? Unless Alexander himself put it there? Which is exactly what Eumenes says Alexander did. ’

  ‘I still see gaps in the logic, Vijay.’ Lines creased Alice’s forehead as she articulated her thoughts. ‘There’s a more basic assumption that even the archaeologists made: that these structures were the remains of Alexander’s altars. Once again, there’s no concrete evidence to substantiate this claim. What if they’re just two-thousand-year-old ruins with no connection to Alexander the Great?’

  Shukla frowned. ‘The plaque was discovered in 1985. I’ve never seen it at the National Museum.’

  ‘Suppose we call up the Museum and ask them?’ Colin suggested. ‘Maybe it isn’t on public display. Lots of museums have stuff buried away in cartons or crates in their basements. I know the museum in Cairo does. Normally, the public aren’t allowed to see stuff that is stowed away like that, but Alice here is an archaeologist. Suppose she says that she would like to take a look at it for her research?’

  Alice nodded. ‘Sure. I’m curious to know whether the plaque really does have a connection to the cube or not. It would be great to be able to either validate the claims in this journal or determine if this is all part of the fantasy built up around Alexander.‘

  ‘Worth a shot.’ Vijay rose and made his way to the desk where his mobile phone lay.

  ‘Perhaps I can help,’ Shukla said. ‘I used to have a friend who was a curator at the National Museum. He may be able to pull some strings for us.’ He gave Vijay the number.

  Within the next few minutes, Vijay had spoken to Shukla’s friend, obtained the number of the curator of archaeology, who was also the Keeper of the Collection, and fixed up to visit the museum to study the plaque.

  Vijay put the mobile phone down, his eyes shining. ‘Let’s see if our speculations make any sense. In any case, we’re not going to be able to solve the riddle of the cube. We don’t even know how Alexander’s mother got hold of the thing. But, as Alice said, it will be nice to piece together an ancient mystery and see whether there is truth behind the story in the journal.’

  ‘You are so damn right that we aren’t going to solve the riddle of the cube,’ Colin said, forcefully. ‘The last time we set out to decipher verses, we ended up tangling with terrorists and almost got our asses blown sky-high. This was an interesting discussion but here’s where it ends. We look at the metal plate, see if Eumenes was a fart or not and close the chapter there.’

  Vijay smiled. ‘Sure. I’m with you. I’m not going to be stubborn this time around. This cube is of no relevance to us. Whatever its secrets, they will remain buried forever.’

  He didn’t know how wrong he was about to be proved.

  25

  Evil designs

  ‘They’re on the move,’ Krishnan reported.

  Cooper stared at the cluster of dots on the screen. He smiled. ‘They’re leaving the fort. Good.’ This was the opening he had been looking for. Outside the fort, they were vulnerable. ‘Track them and keep me informed.’

  He turned to a muscular young man standing next to him, 6 feet tall, with wavy blonde hair cut in a tousled fringe, and striking blue eyes. Riley had joined his team of killers just one year ago, but had impressed him with the way he killed – cold blooded and with precision. Unlike Cooper, Riley preferred knives, cords and his bare hands. ‘I like to feel my targets when they die; the touch of a body going cold with death, the last gasp – that’s what I like,’ he had once explained to Cooper when questioned about his antipathy to guns.

  It was this inclination of his that led him to work out rigorously and pum
p up his body with physique enhancing steroids to increase his physical strength. For close contact killing, you needed to be stronger than your victim. You wouldn’t be very successful if your victim could overpower you.

  He had hated it when he had to use guns twice in the same night, two nights ago in Greece. His orders that night had been to plant explosives in the tomb Cooper and Stavros had excavated and blow it up. But the woman archaeologist had unexpectedly turned up at the site while he was there. He had been compelled to shoot at her to prevent her from getting away, but guns had never been his first choice of weapon and he hadn’t been very accurate. He had encountered the woman again on the highway when he had landed his helicopter. He had reluctantly resorted to guns a second time that night when the woman had brazenly brushed past the helicopter to make good her escape. She had lived. And fled the country. But they had caught up with her now.

  ‘I want you to handle this personally,’ Cooper told Riley. ‘Find out what they know. Then eliminate all three of them. If they head towards Delhi, leave immediately and rendezvous with our team there.’

  Riley nodded. This was his chance to complete what he hadn’t been able to finish that night. He had a score to settle. ‘Sure. I’ll take care of it. You’re going after the other two?’ His voice had just the trace of a southern drawl, from the long years spent in Texas.

  Cooper nodded. ‘We’ve decided to bring in the woman alive. We need to learn what she knows before we take care of her.’ He pointed to a red dot on another screen. ‘But before that I’ll take care of the other target.’ He grinned at Riley. ‘I’d have sent you but we’ll need long distance weapons for this one.’

  ‘Cheers.’ Riley’s voice was bland.

  Cooper left the suite and jabbed at the elevator button. If things went according to plan, this phase of the mission would be over tonight. As usual, there would be no survivors.

  26

  New Delhi