The four Russian men assembled around Jack, Javier, and Burt and waited for Serena and the other man to arrive. Shifting his weight from side to side, he eagerly tried to catch a glimpse of his daughter.
As Serena neared, she immediately recognized Jack and Burt, but had trouble identifying the short, thin man. Suddenly he smiled and her heart melted.
A moment later, Serena and her captor stopped several feet from the group of men. Her appearance was suddenly realized. Dirty, disheveled, and thinner, it was apparent she had not been well taken care of. Although, duct tape prevented her from speaking, her tears conveyed her momentary relief.
“Serena, you ok?” Javier asked, sympathetically.
He stepped forward and Nicolae immediately stuck his arm across Javier’s chest, preventing him from moving further.
“Not until we see the crystal. Where is it?”
“It’s in the last chamber inside the pyramid,” Jack replied.
“Let’s go. Anything goes wrong and the girl dies. Your fault, my fault, doesn’t matter. You understand?” Nicolae said bluntly.
They all nodded warily in return.
“Let’s move. You three lead the way.”
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
Moving through the narrow corridors, the nine worked their way toward the pentagon chamber. Guided by the light of flashlights, Jack, Javier, and Burt led the way, while Nicolae and Serena brought up the rear.
Excited and energized by such beauty, Nicolae stopped to view the etchings on the walls and floors. He stood momentarily and closed his eyes, immersing himself in the ancient wonders, picturing in his mind, the sights and sounds of seven thousand years ago.
“Magnificent,” he said under his breath.
“Nicolae,” Dimitri shouted from far ahead.
Nicolae’s eyes snapped open. Realizing his men were quickly fading out of sight, he hurried to catch up. Passing by the two stone warriors standing on guard, he rubbed his hand over them as he walked past.
“Amazing,” he said under his breath once more.
Minutes later, they came to the site of the collapsed trap. As Jack, Javier and Burt stepped across the sandy pit and onto the stone floor on the other side, the Russians viewed it with suspicion.
“No traps, yes?” Dimitri asked, nervously.
“You saw us move through it. Obviously, it’s safe,” Jack responded, sarcastically.
“It’s obvious only to you,” Dimitri replied. “We trust nothing.”
Dimitri nodded to his men in front to cross. Each man hurried across the pit and waited, followed by Dimitri, Serena, then Nicolae.
As he crossed, Nicolae stopped and stood in the middle of the sandy pit. He looked around him, taking in the grandeur of engineering. Shaking his head in amazement, he made the final steps onto the stone floor on the other side.
“Boss, we really should hurry,” Dimitri suggested respectfully.
Nicolae nodded simply, and waved his hand for all to continue.
Up through the next incline, the nine continued. They rounded the last corner that headed back to the pentagon chamber. The deeper into the pyramid they traveled, the more frightening the images of death were etched into the walls and floor.
Ignoring their warnings, Nicolae stared with deep appreciation, and envisioned the craftsmen at work while creating the works of art thousands of years before.
“Nicolae, we really should continue,” Dimitri said, delicately.
Hearing his name being called, Nicolae snapped from his trancelike state and continued on.
Leading the group, Jack was the first to enter the pentagon chamber. His stomach fluttered nervously as he eyed the large rectangular door off to his right. Filing in behind him, the rest of the group entered and stood in the middle of the room. For a brief moment, all eyes absorbed the architecture and hieroglyphics as the flashlights spotlighted every detail.
Nicolae moved to the altar and scanned its front with his light. His eyes were ravenous with excitement. He looked at the top of the altar, then back over to the door.
“This it! Behind that door is the tomb to the King of Atlantis. I must see it, NOW!” he exclaimed, barely able to contain his enthusiasm.
Dimitri stared at Jack intently, then said, “Ok, where’s the real crystal?”
“Behind this altar,” he responded, walking around to the back side.
He reached down and stood up. Staring back at him were four men with handguns trained on him.
“Whoa guys, easy. I’m unarmed. You’ve already checked us all for weapons. We’re clean, remember?”
“You could have hidden one behind the altar,” Dimitri responded.
Holding up his radar device, his said, “All I have is this. This crystal’s inside it.”
Jack sat the globe-shaped plastic device on the edge of the altar. As the Dimitri stared at it, his memory flashed back to the moment of the kidnapping.
“That? You hid the crystal inside that?” he asked rhetorically. “I kicked that thing across the sidewalk. If I had only known.”
“Clever,” Nicolae said simply.
Javier looked at Jack with admiration. “Very clever,” he added, momentarily forgetting his fears.
“Well, after you guys tried to steal it that first time, I knew I needed to find a way to both hide it and protect it. The radar device was the perfect cover,” Jack said, as he began to unfasten the wing nuts on one half of the plastic ball.
All eyes watched in fascination as Jack unscrewed each nut. When the last nut was removed, he held the bowling ball sized globe in his hands and lightly tapped it on the altar. Instantly, each half of the globe separated as he lowered it back to the altar. The plastic halves opened, revealing the ancient crystal.
Nicolae hurried over and lifted the crystal off the altar and rotated it in his hands.
“My crystal… and it looks perfect. No damage,” he said, eyeing Jack with contempt. “Lucky for you.”
Jack swallowed hard as Nicolae stared at him with burning anger. Coming around the back side of the altar, he continued his stare.
Suddenly, Nicolae flinched. Jack’s body jolted in reaction to Nicolae’s scare.
“Move away,” Nicolae said in a low, determined growl.
Jack quickly stood aside and watched. Nicolae stared up at his men, nodded, then lowered the crystal onto the pedestal. As the weight of the globe caused the pedestal to sink, he held his hands to the outside, guiding it lower like a parent guiding a child. The crystal sunk lower several inches and stopped.
Softly, a quiet "hissing" sound could be heard from behind the walls.
“Do you hear that?” Nicolae said excitedly to no one in particular.
As the noise grew in volume, the large door began to open. Every person spun on their heels and watched in fascination as the enormous block of stone slid from left to right. With each inch that it opened, lights strained through the opening as they all tried to see the interior of the new chamber.
“My God, it's beautiful,” Nicolae shouted as he darted from the altar and stood in front of the opening.
Inch by inch, as more of the chamber was exposed, he stuck his head in to investigate. Looking around, he noticed the large rectangular shape of the room, measuring twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide. Each wall had murals etched into it, showing the glory of Atlantis.
“Look, on the other side. Another door!” he shouted loudly.
Shining his light in, it traveled down another narrow corridor. Nicolae’s eyes instantly stopped. At the end of his light, a glint shined from another room.
“Oh my God! Look, GOLD!” he shouted, nearly unable to contain his excitement.
He hurried into the rectangular chamber, only to hear a shout from behind.
“WAIT!” Jack shouted out loudly.
Nicolae stopped, turned and stared. All eyes were now on Jack.
“We should be the first into the chamber, after all, we found this, dug it all out and made it safe to enter. I think we’ve earned
the right to be the first to lay our eyes on those riches,” Jack shouted. “I demand it.”
“Demand? DEMAND?” Nicolae shouted back incredulously.
He stormed from the rectangular chamber, back into the pentagon chamber, drawing his gun as he charged.
“Whoa!” Jack yelled, throwing his hands up in defense. “It’s not that important. We’ll wait here. It’s not worth losing our lives over.”
Nicolae stood in front of Jack and shoved his pistol into his face. He squeezed the trigger, only to realize the safety prevented him from firing.
Jack cowered before him and pleaded, “Don’t shoot, man. I’m sorry. I said something really stupid. I got caught up in the moment. We can wait here. There’s no reason to kill me over a stupid mistake.”
Nicolae pointed the gun at Jack’s head again and listened to his words. He lifted his knee and thrust it into Jack’s jaw, knocking him over backwards. He landed against the wall and slumped to the floor. Lying motionless on the floor, Jack pretended to be unconscious as he had done once before.
Nicolae pointed the gun at him again, then turned to the group.
“You all are pathetic and weak. You deserve nothing.” Pointing to his men, he continued smugly, “We will view the King’s chamber alone.”
He turned to the shorter Russian now guarding Serena. “Anatoly, watch them. If they move, kill ‘em… kill ‘em all,” Nicolae ordered.
A threatening quiet blanketed the room as Anatoly pointed his gun. Confident of his control over his captives, Nicolae turned to his remaining three men and nodded for them to follow.
“This way,” he said, growing excited once more.
Replacing their guns with flashlights, Nicolae shined his light into the rectangular chamber. His heart pounded with anticipation and he wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. Stepping through the doorway, his mind raced as he studied the ancient artwork etched into the walls.
Turning to Dimitri, he said, “This was well worth the wait. Thank you for this.”
“I knew you’d be pleased,” Dimitri responded proudly.
“And to think I almost gave up on it all. Sometimes I wonder how I ever became so rich and powerful with such limited patience,” Nicolae reflected as he continued further.
“What you lack in patience, you make up for in brute force,” Dimitri half joked, following right behind Nicolae.
Behind Dimitri, the other two men eagerly entered the chamber, their flashlights scanning the walls and corridor in front of them.
Moving toward the doorway on the far wall, the four lights flooded the corridor that led to the chamber just beyond it. Bright flashes of gold, red, and green reflected off the distant artifacts.
“Wow, rubies and emeralds,” Dimitri guessed. “Hope we can handle all this stuff.”
“No problem. We’ve got plenty of equipment back at the truck. We should be in and out in no time,” Nicolae responded optimistically.
Behind Nicolae and Dimitri, the two men following scanned the disturbing murals around them. Apprehension began to penetrate their thoughts as they viewed images that depicted savage brutality.
“These Atlanteans must have been a violent people,” one man said aloud.
“Nah, they just don’t want anyone stealing their treasures, so they created images to scare away people,” Nicolae said.
Three feet from the rear of the chamber, Nicolae heard a soft crunch under his foot. Deep behind the walls, a light "hissing" sound was created by flowing sand. Looking down, he shined the light on the floor. In front of him was an elaborate etching of a sunburst.
“Beautiful,” Nicolae said loudly. “Just look at the detail at this doorway.”
Dimitri came to Nicolae’s side and viewed the artwork.
“Hmm, very impressive. That’d look nice in front of your office door,” Dimitri suggested.
Suddenly, the floor trembled and a tremendous roar sounded from inside the walls of the chamber. A moment later, a door slammed closed to the corridor in front of the sunburst.
Nicolae turned and shot Dimitri a frightened stare. Dimitri’s face drained of all color. The last two men turned quickly and ran for the pentagon shaped room.
“My God, what have we done?” Nicolae cried out in fear.
“It’s a trap… RUN!” Dimitri yelled.
As they ran to escape, ironic etchings of men crushed by stone were boldly displayed on the walls before the exit.
Staring into the rectangular chamber, Anatoly watched in horror, the fate of his comrades. As the far chamber trembled, the heavy stone ceiling fell as one large tile. One second, he watched the horror in their eyes, the next he watched their bodies instantly crushed beneath the tremendous weight of stone.
Eerie quiet filled the chambers as each person processed the tragedy.
“Oopsies,” Jack shouted from behind.
Anatoly spun around and felt the crushing impact of stone against his face, as Jack drove a large rock against his jaw, instantly shattering it and knocking him to the ground. As he lay on the floor, Jack kicked the gun from his hand.
“In your face!” Jack shouted sarcastically. “No artifacts for you.”
Javier instantly turned to Serena and pulled the duct tape from her mouth. Even before she could speak, he pulled her close and hugged her tightly.
“I thought you were gone forever,” he cried, happy tears streaming down his cheeks.
Holding her dad tightly, her own tears flowed unabated.
“Dad, you’re so thin,” Serena responded. “I’m so sorry you went through this.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t get you out sooner,” he replied, barely able to speak.
Burt hugged both Serena and Javier. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he pulled away.
“Oh my God, what the hell just happened?” he cried out in shock.
Staring back at him, Jack smiled a great smile.
“I’ll tell you what happened. The bastards messed with the wrong comrade,” Jack replied proudly.
“What?” Javier said, Jack’s response not registering in his mind.
“Jack, you had a hand in this?” Burt asked, still unable to think clearly.
“To quote the great electronic gaming character, Duke Nukem, ‘No one messes with our chicks… and lives,’” he responded back in joking fashion. “You don’t think I was just going to stand around and let them sell Serena into slave trade, do you?”
“Slave trade?” Serena blurted out, completely unaware for her fate.
“Yup, that was their plan,” Jack replied in disgust.
“But Jack, how’d you know about the trap?” Burt pressed further.
“Well, I’ll tell you. After being pushed around by those bastards for months, then hearing about their twisted plans for Serena, I got real angry… the kind of anger that makes you do stupid things. So, after the collapse, I went back to the villa and grabbed the scrolls. I came back here to the pyramid and searched inside for anything I could use against them.”
“You went back in, alone… after they rushed me to the hospital? That was an awful risk, Jack,” Javier said, in light protest.
“Hence, the ‘stupid things’ comment,” Jack shot back in good humor.
“Dad, you were rushed to the hospital? Oh my God, what happened?”
“I got caught in a trap, but that’s not important now,” he replied. Turning to Jack, he pressed further, “Jack what’d you find?”
“As I was investigating this room, I studied the etching on the front of the altar. Take a hard look at it. What do you see?”
“I see the crystal shining on the door,” Javier replied.
“Yeah, me too,” Burt responded.
Jack smiled and said, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought too. But, the more I stared at it, the more something didn’t seem right.”
“Like what?” Serena asked, now equally puzzled.
Jack walked behind the altar, picked up a small backpack, and set it on top. He opened it and pu
lled out a newspaper. Separating out a couple of large sheets of it, he crumpled them up into two balls. On each side of the pedestal were two shallow concave indentations. He placed one of the balls of paper in each. Reaching back into his pack, he pulled out a small canister of lighter fluid and squirted it over the top of the two balls.
“Ok, notice the image on the front of the altar. The crystal is upside down, with the pyramid inside it pointing down,” Jack pointed.
“I’ll be… you’re right, Jack. I never would have noticed that if you didn’t just point that out,” Burt responded.
“Great eye, Jack,” Javier said, proudly.
Jack placed his hands on both sides of the crystal and rotated it around so the internal pyramid was pointing downward. Pulling a lighter from his backpack, he held it over one of the balls of paper.
“Ok, I think we’re all set. One more thing. Look at the image again. It shows the crystal shining on the door, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, so,” Serena said, now growing impatient.
“How can it shine without light?” he asked, cryptically.
He flicked his thumb over the dial on the lighter and a flame ignited. Quickly, he lit one ball of paper, then the other. As the fires grew larger, their light was absorbed by the crystal, reflected off the internal pyramid onto the “eye.” Like a high intensity flashlight, a beam of light shot out from the crystal and onto the wall next to the open door. Jack adjusted the crystal slightly and pointed out his discovery.
“Look… there on the wall. What do you see?”
“I’ll be darned,” Burt said, completely taken by surprise.
Javier and Serena darted quickly to the wall and examined a small round tile that blended in perfectly with its surroundings.
“In low level light, it’s impossible to see. I suspect that even in bright light, it’s probably still difficult to see,” Jack said.
Walking over quickly to the tile, Jack placed his hand on it and rotated it to the left. Instantly, a "hissing" noise could be heard.
“Hear that? That’s more sand locking the trap and unlocking the door to the final chamber,” he explained.
From inside the pentagon chamber, all four looked into the rectangular chamber and watched the far door slowly open.
Curse of Atlantis Page 24
