by Nick Thacker
The cracking continued, though it was almost inaudible. It was emanating from within the thick floor and walls of the tunnel, and Bryce knew he wouldn’t be able to hoist the man up and over the ledge without the shaft crumbling away.
The Israeli cursed — he heard it too. “Hang on,” Bryce yelled, not even sure the man understood English. “We’re going to get some rope or something,” he said. A louder crack rang out.
He heard footsteps coming up from behind. Wayne must have found something. Bryce shifted his position, trying to get as much leverage as possible to buy them time.
“Hey, I got something,” Wayne shouted. The footsteps were now accompanied by a heavy dragging, clunking sound.
A few more chunks of floor fell away, and Bryce knew Wayne wouldn’t reach them in time. The Israeli, muttering something to himself, pulled himself up on his elbows.
He looked at Bryce, nodded once, and released his grip on the gun.
“No!” Bryce knew it was too late. The man was already gone. He didn’t scream as he plunged to his death, and they couldn’t hear him hit anything at the bottom — if there was a bottom. Bryce was stunned, knowing the man had sacrificed his own life to save the team.
Wayne, Jeff, and Sean all watched over Bryce’s shoulder. They stood for a moment in silence, then Wayne spoke up.
“Found this.”
He was holding one end of a large gold chain, the rest of it trailing on the floor at his feet. It looked heavy — each link was about half an inch thick, and the whole thing must have weighed almost seventy pounds.
But how to get it over the gaping hole in the floor? Deja vu, Bryce thought. Although the gap this time was much shorter — probably no more than eight or ten feet — this time the opposite side was slightly uphill. He looked at the chain, then back at the hole.
Without a word, Jeff suddenly burst past him.
Bryce only had time to look up before Jeff launched himself from their side of the broken passageway into the air. He flung his body forward with a grunt, his arms outstretched toward the far edge of the tunnel. With a heavy thud, he landed awkwardly, his arms barely holding on to the floor, the rest of his body dangling in space — just as the Israeli had done.
It seemed impossible, but Jeff slowly pulled his torso, then his lower body up and over the edge. Finally he collapsed on the floor. “Nothing to it!” he shouted back. “Send the rope!”
Bryce shook his head and grinned as he hurled the end of the gold chain up and over the gap. Jeff caught it with one hand. Pulling it tight, Jeff and Bryce braced it for the other two men to cross.
Wayne, the largest of the four, almost dragged the three of them into the hole, but luckily there wasn’t far to go. Bryce motioned for Sean to follow, but Sean hesitated.
“I’m a little smaller than you,” Sean said. “I should go last, since I’ll need to jump. I’ll tie the chain around my waist in case I can’t get over.”
Bryce agreed, and climbed hand over hand to the other side. He reached the edge with no trouble, and the Thompsons lifted him onto the ledge.
Three down, one to go.
Sean breathed deeply a few times to calm his nerves, and looped the heavy gold chain around his waist.
He took a few steps back, to give himself room for a running start. He pictured Jeff making the jump a few minutes earlier, and tried to memorize his technique. Another deep breath, and he started running. At the extreme edge, Sean leapt as high as he could and felt the sudden sensation of flying.
The others gathered on the far side, holding out their arms to grab him. Then he began to fall, and like Jeff, he hit the opposite floor with the upper part of his torso.
Unlike Jeff, however, Sean wasn’t able to get a grip on the ledge, and he bounced back and down, until the chain jerked tight around his waist. He held on like a rock climber waiting for the rope to stop swinging, and looked up at Bryce, peering over the edge. “Hey boss,” he said, grinning. “I think you’re gonna have to pull me up.”
The three men hauled on the chain, slowly raising Sean toward them.
There was a sudden splitting sound. Bryce and the others froze. Sean looked up and saw a new crack forming in the floor, where the chain and the rock met.
“Guys…”
Sean noticed a single weakened link in the chain just above his head, now close to separating from the rest of the chain. It had been pulled tight, and the soft gold had stretched slightly under the weight of the men hanging and pulling on the chain. Now it was barely holding together as Sean dangled helplessly, inches from safety.
They started pulling again, slower this time, not wanting to widen the crack in the floor. Sean held as still as possible, and looked at the chain.
His eyes widened as the single link of gold that held his life in the balance was now almost bent completely straight. “Shit,” he muttered to himself. Slowly, carefully, he reached with his left hand up and over his head, trying to grab the chain above the weakened section —
The chain snapped.
Sean seemed to hang in the air for a brief moment, as his left hand closed around empty air. Sudden weightlessness pushed his stomach into his throat as the animal fear of death took over. He writhed around, looking for something — anything — to grab. The lights from his teammates’ flashlights flickering above him receded into tiny pinpricks of light. He didn’t scream — he couldn’t. He swallowed once, then again, and tried to turn his body around to see —
Everything went black.
Bryce and the Thompsons stared helplessly down into the depths, their lamplight lost in the immense darkness.
Bryce clenched his jaw, his eyes darting around, hoping to see Sean hanging on to something below. But he knew the answer — Sean hadn’t hit anything. They’d heard only the faint metallic snap of the chain as the weak link had separated.
“Oh, man,” Jeff said. “What the hell?!” Wayne frowned, not saying anything, then pulled the rest of the chain up and heaved it away. It disappeared into the darkness.
The three turned and wordlessly continued along the shaft. Bryce didn’t need to give orders — they would regroup at ground level and figure out what had become of the rest of the group. If Whittenfield was still online somewhere out there, he’d brief him and ask if anything new had happened.
And he would make sure somebody would pay for this.
43
6:07 am
The shaft dumped them out slightly to the southwest of the Treasury, facing south toward Petra’s Sacrificial Palace. Again, the exit was hidden from the world by a strangely misleading right-angled crack in the cliff. Without having a beacon of blue light to guide the way, it would have been impossible to find.
Cole, Corinne, and Jensen squinted and blinked in the dawn light. It wasn’t necessarily bright, but the morning sunlight was a marked difference compared to the heavy darkness and light blue hue their eyes had grown accustomed to in the passages below. Madu and Aines were busy jabbering about something, but Cole could only tell that it wasn’t in English. A few seconds later, Madu looked to the three civilians, scowled, and turned on his heel toward the south. Unsure, Cole looked at Aines.
Aines glared back and waved them over. In halting, choppy English, he said, “My commander has ordered me to remain with you until he finds the crystal. We are to head to the island as well, but he has insisted that he not waste any more time — how should I say? Yes, babysitting you.”
Cole hardened his eyes at the scrawny man in front of him.
“Why do we even need to be there?” he asked. “This whole wild-goose chase hasn’t turned anything up anyway.”
“Yes, well,” Aines said. “I would happen to agree with you. My commander is not one to be questioned, however, and it seems he’s also now searching for some sort of lost part of his childhood. Nonsense or not, I have my orders.
“We are to go to the helicopters; about a kilometer south of here. Commander Jabari is meeting with the rest of our men, and they shoul
d be reaching the lift-off point in about ten minutes. I would like to be not much longer.” Aines looked pointedly at Professor Jensen, huffed in disapproval, then collected his gear and walked away. “Let’s go,” he called over his shoulder.
Corinne seemed to be growing more worried as her uncle’s strength diminished. Cole wasn’t sure what to do, so he grabbed Jensen’s left arm, steadying him, and began walking. He thought he heard a sniffle from Corinne but kept his eyes focused on the ground ahead, unwilling to embarrass her.
They were halfway across the plaza when they heard a shout from behind. Turning, they saw Vilocek, Karn, and Beka emerge from the passageway in the cliff. Cole didn’t see anyone following them — he knew what that meant.
Professor Jensen let out a yelp, and Cole felt the man being tugged backwards. He turned to see Aines holding the professor by a tuft of his hair. Aines held his sidearm to the professor’s right temple. Jensen’s face was contorted in fear and surprise; his hands hanging limply by his sides. “What is this? Take your hands off me!” he protested.
The three Vilocorp men were closing in. Aines shouted for them to halt and drop their weapons.
Cole launched his body at Aines in an attempt to tackle him from the side, knock the professor from his grasp and hopefully give Vilocek and his men a shot.
Cole’s aim was spot-on, but his strength had suddenly left him. His legs were moving, but they felt rubbery and weak. He couldn’t build any momentum as he lunged at the Egyptian. Aines was focused on the advancing Vilocek and his men. Cole brought his arms up, hoping he had enough power to knock Aines down before he saw the attack coming.
Then Cole’s face was crushed by a devastating left backhand. Aines was much stronger than his wiry frame had led him to believe, and his reaction time took them all by surprise.
Cole’s nose erupted in a spattering of blood and mucus, and his eyes teared up, blinding him. He collapsed to the ground beside Aines and Professor Jensen. Corinne cried out and knelt beside Cole, who was groaning and spitting blood.
“You’re lucky I have this sack of bones to contend with, boy, or I would have ended you.”
Vilocek and his men spread out, and a standoff ensued. “Let that man go — he’s innocent,” Vilocek said, putting on a mask of nonchalance.
“I believe he is of no help to us,” Aines replied.
“Actually, you’re right,” Vilocek said, his voice raspy and dry. “This man is of no use to us either. He has played his role, but now he seems to be slowing things down.”
Vilocek suddenly flipped his wrist, unholstering his pistol in a blur. He fired twice in rapid succession, and Jensen Andrews crumpled, slipping from Aines’ grip. The gunshots reverberated through the canyon, ringing in their ears.
Corinne stared, bewildered and unbelieving. Her mouth opened slightly, but no words escaped. Cole blinked a few times, still trying to clear his head and unsure of what had happened.
“You bastard!” Corinne screamed. “You killed him!” She ran at Vilocek like a deranged cat, rabid and fearless. Karn stepped forward to grab the kicking, screaming young woman.
“Calm down, girl. He was not going to make it much further, anyway.” Karn said, as he pinned her arms at her sides.
Tanning addressed the dumbstruck Aines. “I do not like it when my plans are changed — especially when it is not my idea. That little stunt back there in the shaft is a good example.”
Rather than wait for a response, he fired once more. The soldier dropped to the ground, dead immediately.
Opening her eyes, Corinne was horrified at what lay in front of her.
Aines lay twisted and sprawled on the ground, blood and sand mixing in an ever-increasing puddle of thick black liquid around his body.
Vilocek kicked a bit of dirt at Aines, spat, then stepped over the dead Egyptian. Beka, grinning, followed his boss. Karn, with a shocked Corinne in tow, pointed his gun at Cole and flicked the barrel in Vilocek’s direction.
Cole picked himself up — still shaken from Aines’ backhand — and started to walk.
He looked once more at Aines, laying on the ground next to the corpse of Professor Andrews, and wondered how he’d somehow ended up in this hell.
44
6:12 am - Atlantic Ocean
“I’m going to kill him, Whittenfield.”
“Bryce — calm down. What’s the situation?” Whittenfield’s voice was distant in Bryce’s earpiece.
Bryce breathed a deep sigh. “We got separated from Vilocek’s group. Bartlinski is dead. I’m with Wayne and Jeff. We’re following the Egyptian convoy heading out of Petra. Corrine and Jensen said they are heading to Easter Island.”
“Yes, what about the civilians?”
“Jensen is gone — Vilocek murdered him. The girl is with Reed and they’re under the guard of two Vilocorp men and the last Israeli soldier.”
“I see. That’s unfortunate. And this other team? The Egyptians?”
“Vilocek murdered their second in command before he bugged out. The rest of the Egyptians left before we got there. We probably cut down about half of them in the fight at the plaza, but I saw at least twenty, maybe thirty more.”
“Right — listen to me, Bryce.” Whittenfield’s tone grew dire. “We absolutely must get to Easter Island and intercept them. I know this has been mostly a business and philanthropic venture for me, but I think there’s reason to believe now that we’re running out of time. We can’t afford to let Vilocek get there first, and we really cannot afford to let this situation go unresolved.”
Bryce frowned. He was getting angrier as the conversation went on. “What does that mean? Unresolved? Can’t we just steal the crystal from Tanning later?”
“No, we can’t,” Whittenfield answered. “Bryce, I’m uploading a video feed from the night before my facility was breached. One of my computer scientists recovered it from the Vilocorp Laboratories headquarters in New Mexico. It seems the break-in was initiated because Vilocek discovered something about the crystal that puts this entire expedition in a much different light.”
Bryce was confused, but he let Whittenfield finish.
“I’ll let you watch the video for yourself, but Bryce — we need that kid. Reed is now playing a larger role in all of this than I’d expected, and we’re going to need his full cooperation.”
“Affirmative, sir,” Bryce said. “I’ll take a look at the video, and report back after we get to Easter Island.”
“Very good, Bryce, thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing you and your mother again. I’ve been told that my research team has been getting closer to a breakthrough. I’m optimistic.”
“Me too. Thanks for that,” Bryce said, thinking of his mom. He’d have to see if there was a way to call her from the plane later.
“Bryce, there is one more thing,” Whittenfield said.
“Yeah?”
“You asked about this character Jabari.”
Bryce paused. Something about Whittenfield’s tone struck him as odd. “Yeah — thanks for reminding me. What about him?” Bryce asked.
“I don’t know him personally, but I know of him,” Whittenfield said. “He’s a politician; a snake. He’s also a treasure hunter — it’s his hobby. He’s after the crystal, like Vilocek, but he wants it for himself. As a prize.”
“I gathered that,” Bryce said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “He seems to be pretty intent on preventing us from getting it, by the way.”
“Yes, he’s got quite the temper, I’m afraid. My recommendation is to stay away from him — just get to the crystal first, and get it back to me. Work with Vilocek only if necessary, but under no circumstances let either of them get away with the stone.”
“Fine,” Bryce said, his voice hardening. “See you on the other side.”
He switched off his headset and turned to the Thompsons.
“All right boys. Looks like we’ve got one more stop before home.”
45
8:02 am - The Next D
ay
Bryce could tell Whittenfield was getting impatient, unsure of how much time they had until the crystal broke down. After leaving Jordan they’d made one stop to refuel the plane. The 90 minute layover had barely broken up the monotony of the insanely long flight. The trip gave everyone ample time to rest and prepare for whatever lay ahead, but Bryce was unable to get more than a few brief hours of sleep.
He thought about the men that had been lost in pursuit of the prize Whittenfield and his enemies were seeking. He thought about Vilocek, the cold, calculating man who unflinchingly murdered — in cold blood — an enemy and a feeble old man. He thought about Madu Jabari, a man he initially thought was only interested in revenge, but who for some reason was now leading the charge toward Easter Island, apparently intent on acquiring the crystal for himself. None of it made sense, Bryce thought. But he had a simple solution.
Get to Easter Island, find and secure the crystal, and keep it out of the wrong hands.
He thought about Cole — he’d seemed distant the whole time, sort of lost in his own thoughts. Through it all, Cole hadn’t tried any kind of escape, and that somehow surprised Bryce. He knew that the boy was strong and smart, and probably capable of making a run for it without getting caught. Especially since the old professor was now gone, Bryce would have almost bet that Cole would make a break for it with Corinne. Something was keeping Cole grounded, and Bryce couldn’t figure out what it was.
Bryce also thought of his mother. Linda, his mother’s caretaker, had left three messages since he’d left America. He knew that they were most likely just updates; he’d asked her to check in once a day to keep him posted. He knew he could use the plane’s phone to check them later.
Finally, Bryce thought about the video Whittenfield had uploaded to his server before leaving his personal jet to Bryce and taking a commercial jet home. Bryce had watched it alone in the airborne lab, and he was still shaken by what he had seen.
