The Emperor Awakes

by Alexis Konnaris

  Vasilis indicated the screen. ‘Look at the dates of the satellite geological scans. They only came out yesterday. And they were done by the Valchern Corporation’s mining division. I wonder whether my mother has seen this stuff. This material is amazing. They’ve done a lot in only a few days. They’ve practically cracked the mystery of the location of that construction which could be the tomb.’

  ‘These subterranean scans that show the area under the Church of Ayia Napa are a bit fuzzy. It says here that’s because of a mineral interfering with the satellite instruments. I wonder whether it was placed there deliberately. However, you can still see the outline of what’s underneath. It looks very complicated. I bet once we are there the detail must be extraordinary, probably beyond what we may expect.’

  Giorgos had the foresight to include a description and a plan of the wall concealing the opening to the tunnel. On one of the plans there was a red dot indicating the exact place under the castle.

  Katerina turned to Vasilis who was already surfing her mind-waves and believed he could anticipate her thoughts. He saw the look they exchanged as confirmation of that. Vasilis started saying what was most probably on both their minds.

  ‘The tunnel must lead to that huge construction under the Church of Ayia Napa. Imagine living here all our lives and not knowing what wonders existed under our feet. The same goes for the generations that came before us. And that’s not to say there are not enough wonders above ground.

  ‘The Church of Ayia Napa has always been a favourite of mine. Its design is sublime and elegant. It’s at the same time weightless and with impressive gravitas pulls the eye to its perfect dimensions and mesmerising form. You know, I was baptised there and have always had a soft spot for it.

  ‘I was very saddened with the large damage it suffered in the earthquake of 1996. As a result its interior that had the most extraordinarily beautiful decoration and frescoes was controversially whitewashed. The Bishopric of Limassol said that they had to do that because the damage was so extensive that nothing could be saved or repaired.

  ‘They should have found the money to bring it back to its former glory. I bet you that they could have raised the required amount of money from the local people. And there are enough rich people who could, and I believe would, have done it.’ He paused. ‘Anyway, I’m sorry for this sermon, but I had to get it off my chest. Come on, we need to get down to the castle and check it out. It will be closing in an hour.

  ‘We need to leave now, if we are going to make it today. The important thing is to at least get in. As long as we are in we can hide when the castle closes until all is quiet and then go about our business.’

  ‘OK. Let me print out some of this stuff and let’s go.’ Katerina said and she began clicking, opening files and sending them to the printer.

  ‘Is it wise to have these documents with us? What if the people looking for the tomb, our friends the Ruinands, intercept us and relieve us of our precious weight?’

  ‘I guess you are right. Let’s take a few minutes to memorise the important stuff, especially the plans, the geological scans and parts of my brother’s notes.’

  ‘Alright, but let’s hurry.’

  * * *

  On their way out, Katerina remembered what Vasilis had told her about the other thing her brother had discovered. Before she had time to ask her mother about it, she heard Anna calling her. They were standing in the entrance hall and they both turned.

  ‘Katerina, wait. Giorgos gave me this for you.’

  Anna handed Katerina a small package and then ran back to the kitchen. Katerina unwrapped the package. It was a small box. She opened it. Inside was a key with a number on it.

  Knowing her brother and his love for his clandestine ways and tricks because of his natural suspicion, she checked the wrapping and the ribbon for any clue or message, but there was none.

  Her eye then caught a tiny flash of white on the inside of the round handle of the key. She tried to feel it carefully. It felt like leather. She managed to remove it and unfurl it. On it was one word: ‘Gym’.

  Katerina raised her voice so that her mum would hear her. ‘Mum, which gym does Giorgos go to?’

  There was silence, only broken by the distant noise of the extractor in the kitchen and the crickets outside whose din seemed to be rising in intensity and volume with every passing minute. Katerina waited. She knew her mother was trying to remember.

  ‘It’s the Antillos Gym on Karageorgis street. He took me there once when I expressed an interest in losing weight. It was my first and last visit, sadly.’

  ‘Thanks, mum. We have to go. See you later.’

  Anna knew her daughter would not be late for dinner that night, so she did not say it.

  Katerina turned to Vasilis and whispered. ‘He seems to have done a bit of legwork in the last two days since you saw him.’ Vasilis nodded and smiled.

  They offered rushed final goodbyes and they were off. First stop was the gym. Katerina spoke with the owner who briefly flirted with her and was extremely forthcoming and helpful once she introduced herself.

  She said that her brother had asked her to get something from his locker and she showed the key to the owner. He nodded and led her to the locker area. The owner left them alone and went back to the main area of the gym. He had been giving a personal training session to a guy who obviously did not need it.

  Katerina put the key in the lock and it fitted perfectly. She turned it and yanked open the door. She was amazed. She would never have thought her brother so tidy.

  The locker was immaculate. It was not in a suitable condition to hide something in, but maybe she was wrong and the surprise at the order reigning inside would deter a potential thief. She chuckled to herself at that preposterous thought.

  She checked the contents of the locker carefully without putting anything out of place. And, lo and behold, it was staring her in the face. She had almost missed it.

  There, next to a tube of toothpaste was what looked like a small pipe, but which on closer inspection, when she picked it up, proved to be a parchment-like material. It was a scroll. She unrolled it carefully and was dazzled by the characters and diagrams on it.

  Vasilis was speechless too. They both thought back to the plans and geological scans and Giorgos’ notes and realised the scroll’s significance. Vasilis was astonished.

  ‘So this must be what he so eagerly tried to tell me about. Damn. I wish I had known that night.’

  ‘Why? What would you have done?’

  ‘I would have stayed with him and I would have provided protection. I wouldn’t have let him out of my sight. I know. Don’t say it. I should have done it anyway. But I was in such a hurry to get back to my meeting that, as the immediate danger had passed, I stupidly and rashly assumed that there was nothing left to do there. Damn.’

  ‘Don’t blame yourself. You did a lot and you are doing more now with me. We are going to figure this out together, for Giorgos. And then we’ll try and find him. Although, now that I think of it, if we are successful and the Ruinands will surely find out if we are, my brother will have outlived his usefulness and you know what that would mean. We need to get in touch with Elli. She could help us locate him. Let’s get out of here.’

  ‘OK, let’s.’

  * * *

  In the car on their way to the castle with only half an hour to spare to closing time Katerina’s mobile started ringing.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Katerina?’ It was her mother and she had been crying. Her voice was hoarse and she was blowing her nose.

  ‘Mum, what is it?’

  ‘On the news …’ sniff, blowing of nose, tears … ‘ … your brother…’

  ‘Mum, you are not making any sense.’ As she spoke she knew what her mother was going to tell her. ‘What about Giorgos?’

  ‘It’s just been on the news. They said they have information he’s disappeared.’

  ‘What? But how? How could they know that?’ She looked at
Vasilis who was driving. They were almost at the castle. He glanced quickly in her direction and met her eyes and then brought his attention back to the road.

  ‘Darling, do you know anything about this?’

  ‘No, I don’t. Mum, is dad with you?’

  ‘Yes, he’s here. Do you want to speak to him?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ She waited while Anna put Andros on the phone.

  ‘Hi, love. I gathered you hadn’t heard.’

  ‘No. Dad, stay with mum. I can’t come right now. I am at this moment in the car with Vasilis at the other end of the city. We have to do something. I’ll call Elli Symitzis. She may be able to do something about tracking down Giorgos.’

  ‘That’s a good idea. You do that.’

  And dad … I’ll try and get there earlier than planned tonight. OK?’

  ‘OK, love. Take care. See you later.’ He almost hung up when he remembered something and he, quickly, called into the mouthpiece, hoping that Katerina was still on the line. ‘Katerina?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘You don’t know what he’s been working on, do you?’

  ‘I do. But I can’t tell you about it now.’

  ‘So you are involved too … in this thing?’

  ‘Yes, and where we are going now has to do with that, but I can’t tell you more.’ She wanted to say that they were completing Giorgos’ work and that what they were doing could either save or most likely condemn Giorgos to his fate, but things were bad enough already and she didn’t want to pile more misery onto her parents.

  ‘I understand.’ He wanted to say to his daughter to be careful, but he saw there was no point. It was something important she had to do. He would not show that he was worried either. ‘Let me know if I can help.’

  ‘I will. And dad… be careful who you allow into the house, just in case. Are you alone with mum there?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Don’t open the door unless you know who it is.’

  Andros wanted to ask “is it that bad?” but again refrained from doing so.

  ‘Katerina, just do what you have to do. I can see you are in a hurry, so I’ll let you go. See you later.’

  ‘Thanks, dad. See you later.’

  As soon as she hung up she turned on the radio. The news update was coming up.

  “We have unconfirmed reports that Giorgos Markantaskis, the well known archaeologist, and son of the businessman Andros Markantaskis, recently the head of an archaeological expedition in Cappadocia in Turkey, is missing. It is believed that he was taken from his home sometime during the night.

  “We have no information as to the reasons of his disappearance. Sources in the local police tell us that an inspection of his house and forensic evidence taken from the scene could indicate that he may have been forcibly taken after having put up a fight. We will bring you more on this story as it develops during our bulletins every fifteen minutes.”

  Katerina could not believe what she just heard. ‘That’s quite a lot of accurate information. How could they have known all that? I wonder who’s feeding them the information. We’ve just found out. How could the police have been involved already?’

  ‘It’s a set up. A trap.’

  ‘But with so much attention on this now, won’t it make it more difficult for them and easier for Giorgos to be found?’ She answered her own question. ‘No, of course not. It’s deliberate. It must be. They are counting on stirring as much fuss about this as they can. You are absolutely right. The publicity is for our benefit.

  ‘They want us to know that they have him. They want to show us how powerful they are and that we could have the same fate. And they must be confident that Giorgos is in such a safe place that there is not even the slightest chance of finding him unless they want us to do so.

  ‘They want us to stew in our inability to do anything about it or even force our hand to act rashly by concentrating on finding him and being distracted from our main quest. Then again perhaps they want us to act rashly and reveal what we have found out regarding the quest. Vasilis, we have to continue as planned, but be extra careful.’

  They had just parked outside the castle and were getting out of the car when Katerina’s mobile went off. She took it out of her bag. She could not tell the identity of the caller, but it was clear that it was from abroad.

  ‘Hello?’

  A small and faint female voice barely came out through the other end of the line. ‘Is that Katerina Markantaskis?’

  ‘Yes, who’s that speaking, please?’

  ‘You are Giorgos’ sister?’ Katerina tightened her grip on the mobile expecting the worse, blackmail perhaps or news of her brother’s death. She could not decide which was worse. She could not begin to contemplate what she would do upon receiving the bad news.

  ‘Yes.’ She made it sound like a question, but she meant for the caller to continue.

  ‘I am sorry to trouble you. I tried to contact Giorgos, but there was no reply. Could you please tell me how to contact him?’

  Katerina felt guilty relief wash over her, but it would prove to be short-lived. She wondered whether to tell the caller about her brother’s disappearance. It was on the news already and it was only a matter of time before this woman found out, if she didn’t know already. ‘My brother is missing.’

  ‘Missing? What do you mean missing?’

  ‘I’ve just found out myself. It was on the news. Excuse me, but you haven’t told me your name.’

  ‘I’m sorry. It’s been a very difficult few hours. My name’s Naomi. I am the sister of James Calvell, the deputy director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. James was your brother’s best friend. They were at university together.’

  ‘Yes, I know.’ Katerina paused. There was something the other woman said that triggered the concern part of her brain and then she picked up on it. ‘Did you say “was"?’

  ‘My brother was found dead this morning in his office. I believe it was murder, even though whoever killed him went to great lengths to make it appear like a suicide. That would be preposterous. He’s never in his life shown the slightest sign of wanting to end his life. On the contrary, he’s never been depressed.

  ‘Furthermore, he was the most optimistic person I knew. And when I spoke to him earlier this morning he seemed absolutely normal, his usual cheerful, determined and efficient self. There was nothing in his voice to ring alarm bells, not in the least. I’ve told the police all this. But they refuse to treat it as anything else but a suicide.

  ‘The detective in charge of the investigation is an idiot who is clearly in a rush to wrap the whole thing up, close the file and bury it in a storehouse somewhere, or wherever it is they put their closed files or files of cold cases, which in itself is strange as you would think that he would welcome the publicity of such a case, the benefits to his career, fast-track promotions and rise to the top, running for political office and all that. That’s how things often work here in the States.

  ‘We are talking about the death of the deputy director of one of the world’s greatest museums after all. And there is another thing. John Halland, a restorer at the museum specialising in Byzantine icons is missing too.’ She paused.

  Katerina could tell she was rolling something in her mind and decided not to interrupt her train of thought. When Naomi’s voice next came down the line, the unmistakable signs of fear came down the line with it. ‘Do you think my brother’s death could be connected with your brother’s disappearance? Do you think the restorer was involved in my brother’s death in some way and has fled? Or perhaps he has been kidnapped? Were our brothers, and maybe that restorer as well, working on something together?’

  ‘It could be. Did they find anything, any clue on the scene? Was there anything missing?’

  ‘Forensics haven’t found anything, but yes, some items may be missing. The secret door in his office that led to a secret tunnel and his safe was ajar. Someone had been inside. The only sign that items may be missing comes from the fact th
at there were marks left on one of the shelves to indicate that something had been there recently.

  ‘We cannot tell whether whatever items were there were taken by the intruder and murderer or whether the items had been removed before then for some reason, be it for restoration, research, an exhibition or something else, perhaps. Has your brother told you of any items that might have been there? Items they had found and were studying? Something of significance?’

  Katerina thought hard, racked her brains for a memory. And then she remembered the icon and the ring found inside it. They had been kept at the Metropolitan where they were supposed to have been safe.

  She decided not to divulge the information to this woman she didn’t know whether she was James’ sister or not. She could be an enemy or rival or a journalist fishing for information for all she knew.

  When she answered Naomi’s question she didn’t hesitate. It was a strong confident voice travelling down the line to Naomi in New York. ‘No, I cannot think of anything. I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s alright. I hoped … Could you please tell your brother when you see him?’

  ‘I will, of course. Naomi, I’m very sorry for your loss. Please let me know if there is anything we can do for you.’

  ‘Thank you. Please, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.’

  Katerina had to hang up, but she had to end this conversation as gently as she could, without appearing insensitive and abrupt. Getting on with the mission was now more urgent than ever. She assumed an apologetic tone. ‘Naomi, look, I’m sorry, but I really have to go.’

  ‘Yes … yes, of course. I understand. I know, you are busy. I’m keeping you from something. I’m sorry again for troubling you. Thanks for listening. Good-bye.’

  ‘Goodbye, Naomi.’

  Katerina hung up and looked at Vasilis. He got her drift. ‘The plot thickens.’

  ‘Giorgos will be devastated. He and James were very close while at university and they have stayed so since leaving university. They used to go on climbing and other extreme expeditions together.’ She paused. ‘And now there’s the icon and the ring to find as well. The Ruinands are definitely behind this. Do you realise that they now not only have the ring, but both Likureian icons and possibly the third one that was stolen from the auction, as well?’