by Alex Lukeman
"I do," Nick said. "Ronnie, go do your thing. Diego, you get some sleep. Selena, you too. I'll wake you for the next watch."
Selena moved away from the others and relieved herself in the dark, hoping there weren't more snakes in the rocks. She rearranged her uniform and went over to where Diego was already lying down with his eyes closed, his head resting on his pack. She checked the ground for anything that might bite and lay down nearby. She'd camped in the wild parts of the world many times before joining the Project. Feeling the hard ground of Saudi Arabia under her body reminded her that she wasn't twenty years old anymore and this wasn't a vacation.
She looked up at a black night sky lit with an ocean of stars. A three-quarter moon floated over the horizon in the West, casting soft, silvery light on the bleak landscape, turning it into an Escher etching of dark angles and shadows that blended into each other. It was eerily beautiful.
"A lot of stars up there," Diego said.
His voice startled her.
"Yes."
"They look different in this part of the world. I used to look up at the sky when I was a kid and think about what it would be like to fly there in a spaceship. Out where I lived was away from the city lights. I had a good view."
"Colorado, right?"
"High plains. It was flat all the way to Wyoming, which wasn't that far. When I was a teenager I'd go to Cheyenne for the big rodeo."
"Did you want to be a cowboy?" Selena asked.
"Nope. I used to watch old black-and-white Westerns with my grandpa. I wanted to be the town marshal, like Wyatt Earp. Carry a pair of six shooters and corral the bad guys. In a way, I guess I got my wish."
"What do you mean?"
"An MP5 isn't a six gun but it'll do. Seems like there are plenty of bad guys to go after. I never thought I'd find myself doing something like this."
"I know just what you mean." Selena said. "Is your family still there?"
"Yeah. It's not the same as it used to be. With the water gone, the only crop is winter wheat and that's pretty iffy. My dad gets by doing a bunch of different jobs. He's good with horses and fixing things."
"I know you're not married. Is there anyone special back there? A girlfriend?"
"There was someone a few years back," Diego said. "She decided she didn't want to be married to a soldier."
"I'm sorry."
"Nah, it wouldn't have worked out. Last I heard she got married and turned into a real nag. Joining up was the best thing I ever did."
Selena closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, Nick's touch on her shoulder brought her awake.
A little before three in the morning the team lay outside Al-Bayati's campsite. Snores broke the chill silence of the night. Sleeping bodies were spread in a rough circle around the dying fire, the coals a deep, red glow in the darkness. There was one tent, a lightweight model meant more for privacy than comfort. Nick guessed that Al-Bayati was inside it.
The Land Rovers and the remaining Toyota were parked nearby with men sleeping inside them. One man stood watch, sitting on a flat rock. He had an AK lying across his lap and he was nodding, half asleep. He was also on the other side of the fire. One of them would have to work around the camp and come up behind him.
Nick checked his watch. It had taken longer than he'd planned to crawl through the moonlit rocks and juniper bushes to reach the campsite. There were six minutes left before the charge went off.
He tapped Ronnie on the arm, pointed at the sentry and made a slashing motion across his throat. Ronnie nodded and crawled off, another dark shape among the dark shadows of the bushes. Nick laid his sights on the sentry, just in case. He watched the man yawn and stretch.
Ronnie rose up behind him, wrapped his hand over the sentry's mouth and pulled back his head. At the same time he drew his knife across the throat. Blood fountained out, black in the light of the fire and the moon. The man made a wet, gurgling sound. His AK clattered against the rocks.
"Hey." One of the sleeping men sat up and grabbed for his rifle. Diego shot him.
Al-Bayati's men woke and scrambled for their weapons.
Inside the tomb, the C4 went off with a sound as though someone had struck an enormous drum. A tongue of yellow flame shot from the fissure and lit the night before it died away. The narrow passage wasn't big enough to relieve the pressure of the explosion. The force of the blast had nowhere to go inside the confined space. It slammed against the hollowed out core of the pillar.
The base of the column split open, sending a burst of jagged stone hurtling into the night. Pieces rained down on the vehicles in a metallic tattoo of rock on metal. A large rock struck Diego's forearm, knocking the rifle from his hand.
The gigantic column tottered and fell in on itself like a child's tower of building blocks. Hundreds of tons of rock cascaded down the hillside. Nick wrapped his arms around his head and made himself small and prayed none of the boulders would hit him or the others. The noise was like nothing he'd ever heard, a crashing and thumping and splintering as though the end of the world had come.
Somewhere in all the noise men were screaming.
Then it was quiet.
CHAPTER 36
Al-Bayati woke when a jagged chunk of rock ripped through the top of his tent and slammed into the ground next to him. The sound of an explosion echoed from the cliffs bordering the valley. An ominous, rumbling sound urged him out of the tent. He pulled back the flap and scrambled out as an avalanche of stone rolled over the campsite. A huge boulder bounced past inches away and crushed the tent he'd just left. The air was thick with dust and screams.
The sounds of falling stone died away. Someone moaned in pain. One of his men called out to Allah, his voice strange and wet. The cry ended abruptly in a strangled cough. An automatic rifle began firing into the camp. A second joined it, then a third.
An engine started up. One of the Land Rovers careened through the destroyed campsite and pulled to a hard stop beside him. Rhoades was behind the wheel.
"Get in."
Al-Bayati scrambled in as bullets struck the car. Rhoades jammed down on the accelerator. Ahead lay what was left of the second mechanical, crushed by the rockslide. Rhoades slid around it, straightened out and headed down the valley. More rounds smashed through the rear window. Then they were out of range.
Al-Bayati looked behind him through the opening left by the shattered glass. There were only two columns standing on the hill. The third was gone.
"What happened? Who attacked us?"
"I don't know who," Rhoades said. "They blew up one of the columns and it came down on the camp."
"But why?" As soon as he said it, Al-Bayati knew the answer. "The tomb. They must have found the tomb. Or at least something like it, the place described in the scroll."
Rhoades dodged a boulder in the middle of the dry riverbed. "Makes sense."
"Get us back to the plane. I can't do anything from here."
"What are you going to do?"
"Find out who they are and what they found. If they'd found Solomon's treasure inside that column they wouldn't have destroyed it. They would have to get the gold out of there and there hasn't been enough time for that."
"Then what was there? Why blow it up?"
"To hide something. They didn't want anyone else to know what was in it. It must've been something they couldn't move."
"Then the treasure is still out there somewhere," Rhoades said.
"That's right. That means we keep looking for it."
"There aren't any more scrolls to tell us where to look."
"No. Whatever was in that column was important enough that they had to destroy it so no one else could know what it was. It could be something about the true location. We'll find out who was there. Then we'll make them tell us."
Al-Bayati's face was ugly with anger. Rhoades had seen that look before.
I wouldn't want to be one of them when he finds them, he thought.
CHAPTER 37
A flying chunk of s
tone gashed Selena's scalp. Blood streamed down over her face and into her eyes. She couldn't see. Next to her, Nick fired into the camp. A few of Al-Bayati's men began returning sporadic fire. She wiped her sleeve across her eyes, raised her rifle and shot at blurred shapes running through the campsite.
Ronnie's weapon began chattering. Diego, she thought, where's Diego?
A Land Rover wheeled crazily through the debris of the campsite and stopped while someone clambered in. It took off down the valley. Nick emptied his magazine after the fleeing vehicle. It kept going, leaving a billowing trail of dust in the moonlight.
The sounds of the firefight died away. Selena wiped blood away from her eyes.
"You're hit," Nick said.
"No, it was a rock. It's just a scalp wound. I'm all right."
She looked around. Diego sat on the ground, holding his right arm by the elbow. He looked like he was in pain.
Nick gestured. "Ronnie, with me."
The two men walked through what was left of the camp, looking for anyone left alive. Someone raised a rifle toward them. Ronnie shot him. The man fell back against the hard earth.
"Stupid," Ronnie said. "If Al-Bayati was still here I'm sure he'd appreciate the loyal gesture."
"He was in that Land Rover?"
"Yeah, I saw him get in. Rhoades was driving."
"Damn."
"Yeah."
There was no one left alive. They walked back to where Selena knelt next to Diego. She'd cut his sleeve away past the elbow. The forearm was bloody, the flesh ripped open.
"Que pasa, hombre?" Nick said.
"People shooting at me for years and the worst hit I've taken is from a rock. I can't believe it."
"I don't think it's broken," Selena said. "It's a nasty wound just the same. I'll bandage it up, but you need antibiotics and stitches."
"I heal quick. If it's not broken I'm not gonna worry about it."
Nick looked up at the hill. The moon was sinking. There was still enough light to see a jagged stump rising up out of the ground where the column had stood.
"You could have used a little less C4," Nick said.
"I wanted to be sure," Ronnie said.
Nick activated the encrypted satellite comm link.
"Director, you copy?"
"What's your status Nick?" Elizabeth's voice came back with an echoing delay.
"The stone is gone. So is Al-Bayati. Get us out of here."
"Is everyone all right?"
"Diego is injured. Selena got hit with debris. We're at the foot of the hill below the columns. Send the chopper here."
"What debris?"
"The column went down when we blew up the stone. She was cut by a piece of flying rock."
"The Arabs are going to love that," Elizabeth said. "Wait one."
Nick heard her talking in the background. She came back on the satellite link.
"Extraction is on the way. ETA forty minutes. Keep the link open. Out."
Selena finished wrapping Diego's arm. She stood.
"You want morphine?"
"Nah. We're not out of here yet."
Nick squatted down next to him, his MP5 cradled across his chest.
"Now you've been on a mission, what do you think? Exciting enough for you? I wouldn't want you to get bored."
"Well," Diego said, "it's not the Rangers. I guess it will do."
CHAPTER 38
Three days later. Everyone was back in Elizabeth's office in Virginia. Joe Eggleston sat off to the side.
"Did you have to blow up that landmark?" Elizabeth said.
"You told us to destroy the stone. It was the only way." Nick scratched his ear. "You have to admit, it did the job. No one is ever going to know what was there except us."
"The Saudis are going crazy over this."
"They don't know we were there. The only thing they're going to find are dead mercenaries who worked for Al-Bayati. The Saudis will probably think it's some kind of terrorist operation out of Yemen that went wrong."
"Let's hope you're right," Elizabeth said.
"Is Steph coming back anytime soon?" Selena asked. "She could help us find out if that diagram from the stone is a map."
"She went home yesterday. She's not going to be in for a while yet."
"It is a map," Eggleston said. "I looked at the pictures you sent and began a geographical pattern search, comparing the lines of the drawing with satellite photographs. It seemed reasonable to start in the immediate area. I got a hit right away."
Nick gave him an approving look. "Where is it?"
"The lines of the drawing form a distinctive pattern. It's a map of the Red Sea between the horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Let me show you."
Eggleston tapped a key on his laptop and a satellite shot of the Red Sea and the Middle East appeared on the monitor. He zoomed in. Then he superimposed the drawing from the stone onto the photograph.
"As you can see, it's a pretty good match."
"Someone knew what they were doing when they made that," Diego said.
He was wearing a sling, mostly to keep the bandaged arm from bumping into anything. He was going to have an interesting scar. There'd been no permanent damage.
"Ephram would've been familiar with the Red Sea and the coastline," Selena said.
"Those three lines on the right could be a symbol for the three pillars," Nick said. "They're in about the right place."
"That small star of David. Where is that?" Selena wanted to know.
"Ethiopia," Eggleston said.
"And the dot near it? What do you think that is?"
"I think it's a town or settlement. The only thing in the area is a market town called Adigrat. It was there back when that stone was carved."
"What's the country like?" Ronnie asked.
"The town sits on a high plain at about six thousand feet. West from there it's all mountains and canyons."
"Sounds like a good hiding place," Nick said.
"Canyons have always been good places to hide," Ronnie said.
Selena looked at the photograph and map. "That star could mark the location of the tomb."
"What about the writing?" Elizabeth said. "About the soul of wisdom sheltering with his consort?"
Selena said, "I've been thinking about that and I still think that when Ephram says wisdom he means Solomon. If you read it literally, it says that Solomon shelters with his consort in the queen's land, meaning he's buried with her in her own country."
"But who's the consort?" Diego asked.
"I think it's the Queen of Sheba. I wasn't sure until Joe showed us this. Scholars have always argued about the Queen of Sheba, about who she was or where she came from or if she was even real. A lot of people think she ruled in Yemen. A lot of others..."
Nick interrupted her. "... think she came from Ethiopia."
"Yes. It would explain why she's called the Black Queen. In the Gospels, she's Queen of the South. That would be anywhere south of Galilee."
"I wish Lamont was here," Nick said. "His people were Ethiopian, back a ways. He even speaks the language. He could open doors for us over there."
"You think we have to go over there?"
Nick shrugged. "Is there any other option?"
Elizabeth said, "Let's not get into mission planning yet. We need a better location than a vague mark on an old drawing."
"Sure, but you know we have to pursue this. It's the only thing we've got. If Solomon's body or relics from the Temple still exist, chances are they're in those mountains."
"Going to be a bitch to find," Diego said.
"I can narrow it down some," Joe said. "If we assume the map is reasonably accurate we have enough known points of reference. There are those three marks that represent the rock columns. Then there's the dot that's probably Adigrat. Assuming the star represents the location of the tomb, I can get you in the area. After that, you're on your own."
"Work it up, Joe," Elizabeth said. "Nick, what you said about Lamont makes sens
e. Give him a call. See if you can get him up here for one more mission. It should be straightforward without a lot of complications. His leg shouldn't be a problem on this one."
"I'll call him when we're done."
We've never had a mission without complications, Nick thought.
CHAPTER 39
Lamont Cameron had retired to the Gulf Coast of Florida, where he'd leased a small dive shop. He'd talked about opening a shop for years before leaving the Project. Now he'd made it a reality. Nick dialed the shop number.
"Dive Paradise."
"I'm looking for a broken down, gimpy ex-Navy Seal with an attitude. You know where I can find him?"
"Nick. What's the haps, amigo?"
"How's it going down there in retirement land?"
"The fishing's good, business sucks and the women are all too old. I'm bored out of my skull."
"I can fix that. How about a little break?"
"What kind of break?"
"Africa. Ethiopia, to be exact."
"Ethiopia? What's going on in Ethiopia?"
"Adventure. Excitement. Big doings."
"It's always big doings."
"Harker wants you back for this one. Hell, I want you back. We all do."
"Nick, you know my leg isn't as strong as it was. If we have to make a break for it on foot I'll slow us down."
"This is just an easy stroll in the mountains. Hang a closed sign on the door and get your ass up here and I'll tell you what it's about."
"Just a stroll in the mountains?"
"Yep."
"No one shooting at us?"
"Nope. No reason for anyone to know where we are."
"You want me along because I can speak the language and I look like a native?"
"Now that you mention it. Are you sure native is politically correct?"
Lamont laughed. "Why don't you ask Ronnie about that?"
"I did, once. I asked him what he thought about calling Indians Native Americans. He told me it was something some white Ivy League professor dreamed up to make himself feel better about killing all the savages. He said Indians call themselves the people or they call themselves Indians."
