The Chatelaine gave a pleased smile. “I’ll tell them you gave a glowing report of how well they handled the recovery.”
Faye poured a cup for Maddie and handed it to her. “Speaking of our latest recovery, I haven’t had a chance to see it yet.”
“Someone will bring it along in a minute,” the Chatelaine replied. Changing the subject, she asked, “Who’s minding Hannah while you’re here? It’s not a school day.”
“No, but her time is being spent in academic pursuits nonetheless,” Faye replied. She served herself from the tray and then returned to her plush armchair. “Zachary and Hannah are acting as ‘study buddies’. Even as we speak, they’re preparing for their midterm examinations. I’ve been told that these things called midterms are a source of dread to teenagers everywhere.”
“Good,” the Chatelaine murmured. “I’m all for anything that keeps your grandkid out of my hair even for a day.”
“Isn’t Zachary’s orientation going well?” Faye asked innocently.
“He’s got more hands than an octopus when it comes to grabbing artifacts he shouldn’t and more unanswerable questions than the sphinx,” Maddie countered.
“Perhaps you should drop him from the program then.” The Memory Guardian’s voice held a mischievous challenge.
“He’ll pass muster,” the Chatelaine relented with a grudging smile.
Another figure entered the room. “Hey guys.”
Griffin shot out of his seat. “What’s he doing here?”
Cassie’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Relax, I come bearing gifts.” Erik strode forward, carrying the Kailash artifact. He placed it on the coffee table.
“Oh my goodness!” Faye’s hand flew to her mouth in astonishment.
The Paladin took a seat on the arm of the sofa next to Maddie.
Griffin sat back down but both he and Cassie continued to glare at the new arrival.
“If looks could kill,” Erik quipped.
Maddie ran interference. “Chill out, you two. He’s here because there’s something he wanted to get off his chest.” She gave her protégé a sharp nudge in the ribs. “Isn’t there, Erik?”
The Paladin dropped his gaze to the floor. “Yeah, there is.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably and then looked at his former teammates. “I came to apologize.”
Cassie and Griffin traded startled glances before directing their attention back to Erik.
“Dude, I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth,” Cassie said.
“Better late than never, I suppose,” Griffin sniffed, still obviously offended.
Erik continued. “Here’s the thing. I’m not sorry that I came back to the Vault to take on a new assignment but my timing sucked. I should have finished the Tibetan mission first.”
“Apology accepted,” Cassie said warily.
“What new assignment?” Griffin’s eyes narrowed.
“Infiltrating the Nephilim.”
“What!” Cassie and Griffin exclaimed in shock.
Maddie intervened once more. “Hey, dial it down! It’s not the death sentence we all thought it would be. Turns out Boy Wonder here came up with a good plan. He’s been taking odd jobs with the contractors Metcalf hired for his secret projects. Kept his ears open and learned a few choice tidbits.”
“Did you indeed?” The Scrivener remarked archly. “What sort of tidbits?”
“For starters, I got a line on the guy Metcalf hired to run his lab operation. The director’s name is Rafi Aboud. He’s spent decades developing biological weapons in the Middle East. Now that he’s working for Metcalf, it looks like Aboud is experimenting on something a lot bigger than guinea pigs. I’ve seen Nephilim walk into that hole in the ground but never come out. They go up in smoke—literally. A giant incinerator disposes of whatever mistakes the good doctor makes.”
“So the Diviner is allowing fatal experiments to be conducted on his own people?” Faye’s face had drained of color. “That is very disturbing news.”
“What toxin do you think he’s cooking up?” Cassie asked.
Erik shook his head. “Not sure yet—something uber-lethal. I’ll find out more in the next couple of weeks.”
“I suppose it’s unnecessary to tell you to keep your guard up,” Griffin cautioned, his anger apparently abated. “It sounds as if this Aboud would welcome another test subject, no matter what the source.”
“Yeah, I know,” Erik agreed. “I’m not looking for a one-way trip to the doc’s easy bake oven.” Changing the subject abruptly, he asked, “So how did your bait-and-switch operation go?”
Cassie gave a shudder. “It was the longest night of my life.” Turning to her partner, she asked, “How about you, Griffin?”
“I heartily concur. We’re lucky to be alive at all.”
“Did Maddie tell you we got jumped by bandits on the way down the mountain?” The Pythia directed her question to Erik.
An unreadable expression crossed his face. “Yeah, we all got the short version of your last phone call to Home Office but not the details. How did you get away?”
“By the barest stroke of luck, that’s how,” Griffin replied. “We managed to untie ourselves and subdue the evil-looking bloke who’d been set to guard us. A few moments later, we heard the rest of his associates coming down the trail.”
Cassie picked up the thread of the narrative. “It was a good thing it was still dark. We tore out of that tent and never looked back. Behind us, we could hear a ruckus when the gang discovered their buddy trussed up in our place. They got sidetracked trying to bring him around which gave us some lead time. We ran for town as fast as we could.”
“The Land Rover had already been loaded in anticipation of our pre-dawn departure,” the Scrivener explained. “Needless to say, we made a speedy exit out of Darchen just as the sun rose.”
The Pythia eyed Erik with a woebegone expression. “For what it’s worth, you weren’t wrong about the snow.”
“Huh. How about that.” The Paladin crossed his arms, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“From the condition of the sky, we could tell a storm was already building as we drove out of Darchen,” Griffin added. “We’d only just crossed the Nepalese border when a blizzard struck. All the roads to the north were closed.”
“If that snow had hit an hour sooner, we might have been cornered in town with those bandits still chasing us,” the Pythia speculated. “As it was, we were looking over our shoulders all the way to Hilsa. They could have followed our tire tracks through the snow pretty easily if they’d wanted to. What a nightmare!”
At her words, Maddie and Erik glanced at one another and chuckled.
“My dears, don’t you think your reaction is a bit inappropriate?” Faye’s tone was mildly disapproving. “After all, Cassie and Griffin just suffered a very narrow escape.”
The old woman’s comment only seemed to fuel the humor. Both Erik and Maddie burst out laughing much to the surprise of the other three.
Finally, the Paladin asked the Chatelaine, “Do you want to tell them?”
“Nope. You go ahead.”
Erik got control of his facial muscles and let out a deep breath. “OK, brace yourselves. You were never in any danger.”
“Are you delusional?” Cassie challenged.
Griffin squinted at Erik as if he’d lost his mind.
“How on earth is that possible?” Faye asked.
“I was in the office when Maddie got your report from Nepal that you’d been snatched by a pack of thieves on the mountain. She asked me to do some digging to find out if we had any new competition for the Sage Stone. After a few phone calls to the right people in Darchen, I was able to piece the story together.”
“We’re listening.” Griffin’s tone was frosty again. “Please do enlighten us.”
“Turns out you weren’t the only witnesses when Hunt and Daniel swiped the relic. There was a guy camping not too far from the cave. He saw the ligh
ts and snuck up to find out what was going on. He caught the part of the show where Hunt took the relic out of the case and Daniel hid it in his backpack. Of course it was too dark for the camper to see their faces. All he knew for sure was that two thieves were looting the sacred shrine so he ran down the trail to get help. By the time he pulled a posse together, the Nephilim had left town and you two were ambling down Kailash. It was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The camper and his buddies figured you stole the artifact.”
“That would be the reason they ransacked our belongings,” Griffin observed.
“Correct. And when they didn’t find it, they figured they’d better check out the shrine for themselves.”
“So that’s why they left and headed back up the trail,” the Pythia said.
“They were halfway to the cave before it occurred to them that leaving you two alone might not be the best idea.”
“And that’s why there was no guard initially,” the Scrivener said.
“Also correct. So they sent somebody back down to keep an eye on you.” Erik couldn’t help chuckling again. “From what I hear, you really did a number on him.”
“When I get tied up and thrown in a tent, I take that sort of thing personally,” Cassie retorted. “Who were those guys anyway?”
“That’s the funny part.” The Paladin grinned. “They were pilgrims.”
“Oh no!” Griffin gasped.
The Pythia couldn’t believe her ears. “Let me get this straight. The guy who sounded the alarm was just some random religioso who was camping out under the stars near the shrine. When he saw what happened, he got a bunch of other pilgrims to help him save their relic?”
“Yup. That’s about the size of it.”
“So we mugged an innocent codger.” Cassie cringed inwardly. “Granted, he was a sinister-looking old dude but in real life he’s probably a monk or a yogi or even somebody’s grandpa.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’m sure his efforts to preserve Shiva’s relic will erase at least five lifetimes of bad karma. Much better than simply walking the parikrama,” Griffin joked.
“Your great escape was the water cooler topic for days,” Maddie chimed in.
“We’ll never live this down.” The Pythia sank her head into her hands.
“But seriously,” Erik spoke up. “You made the right call.”
His former teammates stared at him vacantly.
“Trust me on this. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the scenario would have played out exactly the way you thought. Kailash is an anomaly because it’s a pilgrimage site. Ordinarily, you don’t meet nice people on artifact retrievals—mostly it’s gangs of thieves who want a pricey relic and don’t mind slitting a few throats to get it. If you’d been ambushed any place but Darchen, the night would have ended bloody for both of you.”
The Chatelaine nodded in agreement. “You should listen to him. Over the years, I’ve had teams who didn’t make it back from field missions because they couldn’t react fast enough in a crisis. Better safe than sorry.”
“Consider it a test run,” Erik suggested. “So you beat up a defenseless passerby. That was good practice for beating up a thief next time.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” the Pythia said half-heartedly. “Has anybody inspected the artifact that’s in the shrine now?”
Erik shook his head. “Nobody suspects a switch was made. The fake is safe and generations of pilgrims will believe it’s the real deal.” He shrugged. “Of course, the guy who spread the word about the theft got kicked out of town. Everybody is saying he was either drunk or lying and nobody is admitting to having helped him kidnap two Western tourists who mysteriously disappeared that same night. Those facts got buried pretty fast. I think you two are safe from any blowback about attacking a pilgrim.”
Faye diplomatically changed the subject and ended their embarrassment. “I’m sure Cassie and Griffin would like us to turn our attention to that intriguing object on the table and I don’t mean my silver tea service. I confess I’m quite curious to know a bit more about our latest acquisition.”
Chapter 53—A Hard River To Find
Five pairs of eyes converged simultaneously on the relic which had been forgotten during the preceding conversation. It was a remarkable sight. The artifact stood nearly a foot high—a golden serpent rising on three coils from its base. With bared fangs, it seemed poised to strike. Though the gold itself would have made the statue valuable, the gems it contained made it priceless. The serpent’s eye sockets were set with two large emeralds. A third rested on its tongue, visible between the snake’s gaping jaws. Three more emeralds were spaced along the length of its body. The middle of the second coil sported a ruby twice as big as any of the green stones. The glyphs of the newest riddle were inscribed in the golden spaces between the gems.
Faye focused her attention on the jewels. “Maddie, I’m sure your fingers shook as you wrote the check to cover the cost of those.”
“You better believe it.” The Chatelaine gave a wry laugh. “I almost had a coronary when I found out we needed two replicas. But I managed to save a little money by ordering gold plating and paste gems for the second copy.”
“You mean the one we put back in the shrine was a shoddy knock-off?” Cassie registered surprise.
Maddie shrugged. “Only Metcalf’s copy stands any risk of being authenticated. It had to seem genuine. Nobody’s going to inspect the copy in the shrine. Besides, it’s not their relic anyway. The Minoans left it there for us to find.”
“Speaking of which,” Cassie turned to Griffin. “You never did tell me why the Hindu pilgrims thought it was a gift from Shiva. Back in the cave, I remember you said something about the snake being part of Shiva’s iconography?”
“Quite so,” the Scrivener agreed. “Shiva is often portrayed with a cobra looped around his neck. Not merely looped, but looped three times as our Minoan relic is. The three coils represent the past, present and future. The serpent around the god’s neck is meant to symbolize his mastery over time. To a Hindu, such a familiar image found in a cave on Shiva’s holy mountain would certainly have been construed as a divine epiphany.”
“The relic is an impressive work of art by any standard,” Faye observed. “But what about the secret message it contains?” Resting her gaze on Griffin, she asked, “How much can you tell us about the glyphs?”
“Little enough, as per usual,” the Scrivener replied lightly. “Since we were somewhat distracted while fleeing for our lives, Cassie and I didn’t have much time to discuss the meaning of the riddle. However, I can certainly tell you what it says.”
They all waited for him to retrieve a notebook from his carrying case and check it. Griffin flipped through several pages until he found the right passage. “Ah, yes. Here it is. The inscription reads: ‘The kindred stir upon the high sharp peak where the river flows red to the serpent’s heart. Under the lawgiver’s glare, its coils tremble in the mirror at the lion’s feet.’”
Erik scratched his head. “It sounds to me almost like the last riddle. I mean you’ve got the kindred again which stood for the flock of doves and another reference to a lion which stood for the headwaters of the Indus. Do you think the next artifact might be hidden right around Kailash somewhere?”
“We should be so lucky!” Cassie shook her head. “When I picked up the relic, I got a vision of a mountain and it didn’t look anything like Kailash.”
“We also need to consider the phrase ‘the kindred stir’,” Griffin said. “‘Stir’ in this context would mean ‘awaken’ and awakening is associated with sunrise. Therefore, we’re looking for a mountain directly east of Kailash.”
“Why directly east?” Erik persisted. “Why not southeast or northeast?”
“Because of the kindred, dude.” Cassie’s clarification did little to help.
Griffin filled in the blanks. “Just as our dove of the earlier riddle was geographically identified with the latitude of the Tropic Of
Cancer, the dove’s kindred are identified with Saptarishi Cave. Therefore, our new heading is approximately thirty one degrees north. The riddle seems to be directing us to a mountain peak at that latitude somewhere east of Kailash.”
“But it could still be in Tibet,” Maddie observed cautiously.
“Perhaps, or it could be as far afield as China,” Griffin countered.
Wandering off-topic, Cassie remarked, “China is another country I’ve always wanted to visit. The perks on this job are incredible. You guys should print recruitment posters with the motto: ‘Join the Arkana and see the world.’ Of course, there’s a steep downside if you manage to get yourself killed in the process.”
“Whether it’s Tibet or China, this is still a good thing.” Maddie’s tone was encouraging. “You’ve got a course to start with. That means you won’t have as much downtime before the next mission.”
“Not exactly,” the Pythia demurred. “This unknown mountain is someplace where winter has already arrived with a vengeance.”
“So?” the Chatelaine retorted. “You’ve gotten around weather issues before.”
“I’m afraid this time we’ll have to wait for spring,” the Scrivener demurred.
“We’re looking for a specific river that flows from the high sharp peak that’s mentioned in the riddle,” Cassie explained. “And we don’t know the direction of its current. It would be too hard to find during the winter.”
“Hard as in difficult?” Erik asked in disbelief. “That’s a new one. You’re not one to run away from a challenge.”
“Hard as in frozen,” Cassie replied matter-of-factly. “And buried under a couple of feet of snow by now.”
“I see your point,” Maddie conceded. “I guess that means until the rivers soften up in the spring, it’ll be business as usual for the pair of you. Griffin, I know your department has a ton of data to catalog.”
“Brilliant!” the Scrivener exclaimed gleefully.
Turning to Cassie, the Chatelaine added, “And there’s a huge stash of artifacts in your office waiting to be authenticated.”
The Pythia gave a gloomy sigh. “When people come back from a successful field mission, they aren’t supposed to be punished.”
Into The Jaws Of The Lion (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 5) Page 29
