“Believe me, they have the resources in place. All it will take is a phone call from him, and the assets will be put in position. And after what we did for him, I have the feeling he won’t question my request.”
“You sure he’s going to honor that obligation?” Helen asked. “Those high up agency guys have a pretty short memory when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“He’ll remember,” Emily began dialing the phone. She put it to her ear as it started ringing. “One of the agents we saved was his son.”
Chapter 54
Armenian Mountains
The four men trudged forward, going deeper into the underground passage. The ceiling had dropped significantly, and was only seven or eight feet. It had narrowed, too, getting to only a few feet wide. Three flashlight beams barely illuminated the tunnel as they continued ahead.
No one said anything, though the special agent inside Sean’s head was constantly watching for a moment where he could turn the tables. So far, Will hadn’t made any mistakes.
Will Hastings made sure to stay close behind Wyatt, but far enough away that if his prisoner decided to try anything, he would be at a safe distance. Keeping Lindsey in the back of the group was the safest thing to do. While the old man had proven himself a little more spry than Will had thought, Sean Wyatt could probably find a weakness and exploit it.
It had only been five minutes since the group had left the bridge when they began to notice the air becoming warmer. The temperature increase wasn’t insignificant, becoming warmer by several degrees as they continued deeper into the mountain.
“Are there any underground volcanoes around here?” Firth asked, not really expecting an answer.
He unbuttoned his heavy coat as he walked ahead. Sean started to unzip his coat, but Will stopped him.
“Keep yours just the way it is,” he ordered. Sean obeyed, and kept marching forward.
Strange sounds began to seep into the corridor. The noise was faint at first, but the farther the men walked, the louder it became. What was more disconcerting was the faint glow that shone off the walls of the tunnel.
“It sounds like water flowing,” Firth stated as he rounded a curve in the passage. “And there’s a light up ahead.”
“Impossible?” Sean said, despite seeing the glow resonating from up ahead. “We can’t be on the other side of the mountain. Cold air would be blowing in. It’s way too warm.”
“Keep going,” Will ordered.
The professor moved ahead until he finally reached the end of the tunnel. The passage opened up into an enormous room. Every mouth gaped wide at the sight. The chamber was at least hundred and fifty feet wide and a hundred feet high.
The walls were covered in brilliant, sparkling gold that stretched all the way up to a dramatic, domed ceiling. Images of people and animals adorned the shiny yellow surface as far as their eyes could see. On the ground, a pathway made from solid gold wound its way across the stone floor to where a small creek flowed through the room. Various gems and precious stones littered the floor all over the place.
Lindsey’s eyes remained glued to the center of the room, fixated by what he saw. A gigantic tree soared high into the air, nearly brushing the ceiling. The plant was like nothing they had ever seen before, growing from two trunks, one on either side of the little river. The leaves were vibrant green, like shimmering emeralds. And the fruit dangling from the branches looked like something from an alien planet.
It was shaped much like a pear, but each piece had radiated a pale, glowing light. The men realized that was where the light had been coming from.
“Go on,” Lindsey ordered with a wag of his pistol.
The four moved slowly along the golden path until they reached the base of the tree. Standing close to it, they could see into the water. The liquid was as clear as glass, and they could see to the bottom where diamonds, gold, and precious gems lined the riverbed. It was like a scene out of a weird dream.
“This is it,” Lindsey stated. He motioned for the two captives to move aside, virtually pushing Firth out of the way. Will slid to the side, keeping his gun trained on Wyatt, but watching as his employer stepped over to a branch hanging just low enough to reach.
Lindsey extended his hand up and grasped one of the glowing orbs. “The wise will reach to the heavens, and find the path to immortality.” He plucked the fruit from the tree and brought it down to eye level, inspecting its strange beauty.
“What was that?” Sean decided to interrupt the man’s moment of triumph.
“It’s from the diary of Sir Francis Drake,” he said in a trance. “Many will wander in darkness, but the wise will reach to the heavens, and find the path to immortality,” he repeated the last part.
“Sir Francis Drake?”
“Yes. I happened upon a lost diary of his several years ago. It’s what led me to seek out the tree.” He waved around his hand in dramatic fashion. “This beautiful tree of life. With it, I will live forever. I will destroy mankind the way God did during the flood, and build a new, righteous kingdom on Earth.”
Sean’s eyebrows rose slightly. “So, you’re playing God now?”
“Sometimes,” Lindsey said, still clutching the fruit in front of his lips. “God waits too long.”
He looked back at the fruit again then sunk his teeth deep into it, taking a big bite. He pulled the orb away from his mouth, savoring the taste. A little dribble of juice rolled off the corner of his lips. His eyes closed as he chewed the piece.
“It’s so warm,” he said. “To the touch. On the tongue. It radiates warmth. And it’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. It’s so sweet and juicy.”
Will watched apprehensively as his employer took another bite of the glowing fruit. “I can feel the power already coursing through my body.”
Sean’s curious expression turned to one of concern as Lindsey took another bite of the fruit. The man’s eyes were beginning to glow like the fruit. Even Will took a step back.
Lindsey kept eating, not realizing the change in his appearance. “I am thinking so clearly now. I can feel my brain expanding. It is like seeing into the mind of God himself.”
Suddenly, his body froze stiff. The remainder of the fruit dangled in his hand for a moment before dropping to the ground. The gun in his other hand clacked onto the ground, temptingly close to where Sean was standing. A look of sheer horror filled the old man’s face. He glanced down at his hands. They were glowing like the fruit.
“What’s happening to me?” he looked over at Will. “It feels like my skin is on fire.” Desperation filled his voice as he began to stagger slightly, his body wavering as if he were about to lose his balance.
Will took another step back, unsure of what was going on.
“Help me, Will,” the old man begged, dropping down to his knees. His hand outstretched to the young apprenticed whose life he’d once saved. “Please.”
“What is this, Wyatt?” Will asked, glancing over at Sean. “What’s happening to him?”
Sean kept his voice even, and his face steady, though his tone carried a heavy dose of malice. “If I remember my Bible correctly, I seem to recall there being two trees in the garden.”
“Two trees?”
Firth took a step backwards.
“The tree of life was only one. The second was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was the one God told the garden’s inhabitants not to eat, and if they did, they would die.”
Lindsey interrupted with a piercing howl. “Help me!” he begged again.
“Where is the other tree?” Will asked frantically. “We have to find it to save him.”
Sean shook his head slowly, staring through his adversary. “There is no other tree, Will. Your prophet is as good as dead.”
“No,” Will shook his head.
Lindsey fell over on his side, his body convulsing violently. Blood trickled out of the side of his mouth. He rolled over on his back and took in a deep, gurgled breath. “Complete...the mi
ssion.” His head went limp, thumping against the ground. Wide eyes stared lifelessly up at the ceiling; the odd glow had already begun to fade.
“Prophet?” Will bent down to check the man who had taught him everything. It was the window Sean had been waiting for.
He launched at Will with his right foot, driving the top of his boot into Will’s hand, knocking the gun loose. It splashed into the river nearby, sinking to the bottom. Sean didn’t hesitate to strike again, sending a jab right into Will’s jaw.
The younger man stumbled backwards for a second. Sean was on him instantly, taking another swing with his right hand. The split second Will had fallen back had given him time to regain his wits. He caught Wyatt off guard by blocking the punch to the side and bringing his own counter straight into Sean’s stomach.
Sean doubled over right into an uppercut that sent him reeling back for a second before he rolled to the ground. Will quickly broke for the gun lying on the ground near Lindsey’s body. On the second step, Sean twisted around, swinging his leg across Will’s shin and tripping to the ground. Both men popped up simultaneously, facing each other again.
Will’s eyes were orbs of hatred, piercing through Sean. “I should have killed you a long time ago, Wyatt. I told the old man to let me. But he was convinced we needed you alive a little longer.”
“He should have listened to you,” Sean sneered and launched another assault.
His hands blurred in the furious attack. Will was equal to the task, dodging and blocking nearly all of the punches. Sean overextended on one strike, allowing Will to counter with a kick to the abdomen.
Sean crumpled over, dropping to one knee for a second. Will brought his knee squarely into Sean’s face, sending him flying a few feet to the side and tumbling to a stop near the river.
Firth stood off to the side, paralyzed with fear as Will walked over to the tree and plucked another piece of the glowing fruit from a low branch. Sean groaned, blood oozing from his bottom lip as he rolled over onto his back.
The room swirled in his vision as he tried to regain balance. His head and jaw were pounding. He squinted his eyes closed for a second, and tried to reopen them to focus. When he did, Will was standing over him with a piece of the deadly fruit.
“Open wide, Wyatt,” Will grabbed the back of Sean’s head and forced it toward the fruit.
Sean resisted, trying to twist his head back and forth, keeping his mouth closed as he did, but he was so dizzy. Will’s grip on the back of his hair was firm, making it difficult to move at all. Sean could feel the warmth of the fruit as it touched his lips. He kept his mouth shut, but Will was pushing so hard that some of the juice began to squirt out onto his face. It was all he could do to keep any of the liquid from squeezing in.
“Come on, Wyatt,” Will jeered. “Just relax and take a bite. It will all be over soon.”
More of the glowing juice spurted onto Sean’s face. He was having trouble breathing through his nose, a product of it being nicked during the fight. Not enough air was getting through the one clear nostril.
He grunted as he struggled, but there was no getting free. His lungs screamed for air. Just as he was about to open his mouth to inhale, a gunshot rang out through the room.
Will dropped the fruit onto the ground and turned toward the entrance to the chamber. Adriana stood just inside the room, a black pistol stretched out in front of her. He looked down at his side where a blackish hole was beginning to leak thick, red. He touched it for a moment and stared nostalgically at the blood before turning to face her. Will took one step toward her, but that was as far as he made it.
Adriana unleashed a flurry of rounds, emptying the entire contents of her magazine, each one sinking deep into Will’s chest. He staggered backwards and fell over next to Lindsey’s body, his face staring lifelessly up at the domed ceiling.
Sean fell over forward, bracing his fall with his hands. Adriana ran from the edge of the passageway, followed closely by Jabez. She reached Sean quickly, and bent down to see if he was okay while Jabez checked the two bodies.
“Are you okay?” she asked, putting a hand on Sean’s back.
He nodded, as he spit out a little blood onto the floor. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Just not as quick as I used to be, I guess.”
Sean pushed himself up off the ground with a little help from the Spaniard. Jabez was digging in one of Lindsey’s pockets for a moment before pulling out a leather bound book.
“What is this?” he wondered, examining the front and back of the object.
Sean winced, still trying to regain his balance. “It’s probably a diary. He mentioned something about a diary that belonged to Sir Francis Drake.”
Adriana’s face twitched sideways at him. “The privateer?”
“I don’t know of another,” he shrugged.
Jabez handed Adriana the book and fished around in another pocket of the old man’s coat. “What happened to Lindsey,” the Arab asked as he removed a small, stone disc from the body.
“That isn’t the tree he was looking for,” Sean pointed at the gargantuan oddity. Their faces seemed confused. “Our friend, The Prophet here, forgot that there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. This one isn’t the tree of life. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”
Sean reached out his hand to take the disc from Jabez, who was looking absently at the thing. “Do you mind?”
Firth had been standing silent for the last few minutes, his fears slowly subsiding. “If that isn’t the tree of life then where is it?”
“Thanks for your help by the way,” Sean said sarcastically. “That guy almost killed me.” Firth hung his head ashamed for a moment. “I’m just kidding, Doc. It’s okay. My guardian angel had it under control.” He smiled at Adriana.
His grin forced a small one onto her face. “That’s twice I’ve saved you.” She drew close to him as she spoke.
He could hear the voice in the back of his head telling him to jump. Despite having a bloody lip, he wanted so badly to kiss her.
Jabez’s voice interrupted the moment, though. “Yes, where is the tree if this is not it?”
Sean pulled away from her and looked down at the stone in his hand. “Lindsey said that in the diary, Drake mentioned that the wise will reach to the heavens to find the path to immortality.”
“What does that mean?” Firth questioned, coming near as he cleaned his glasses.
Sean ignored him and walked slowly past the tree, toward the far wall where the river disappeared under the golden façade. Among the myriad of images engraved into the yellowish surface, one stood out above the others. It was unmistakable, as if someone had recently created the image. Eight planets revolving around the sun, all in their designated orbits, were carved into the golden wall. Where the sun was located, a shallow recession had been cut from the surface. It was almost the exact size of the stone disc in Sean’s hand.
“Reach to the heavens,” he whispered quietly as the other three gathered around.
He lifted the disc up and pushed it into the hole. A deep rumble began from the depths of the mountain. The ground shook violently, causing the four companions to widen their feet so as not to fall over. A seam opened in the center of the golden wall, splitting it in half. The space continued to widen as the two giant pieces of wall opened up like two double doors.
A minute later, the grinding rumble had ceased and the huge panels had stopped moving. Beyond, they had revealed another chamber, smaller than the one with the tree, but no less impressive. Cold air wafted out of the new room, sending a cloud of chilly mist billowing over the astonished faces of the visitors.
Inside, the walls were carved from the rock of the mountain, unlike the gilded walls of the first chamber. Animals of every kind were represented in strange drawings along the surface. What caught everyone off guard however, weren’t the drawings. Shiny metal cabinets lined the walls, reaching up to five feet high, and wrapping around the entire room.
“Those containers appear as if they’
re made from chrome?” Sean observed as he stepped into the chilly room.
“They look like something you would see in a laboratory,” Firth added.
“Or a morgue.”
The four cautiously moved forward, none knowing what exactly they were looking at. The little river from the first room meandered through the second, leading to a pool in the middle of the floor. The pool emanated an eerie, white light that was reflected from the ceiling, casting the dim illumination all throughout the chamber. Placed near each corner of the room were four massive, stone tables. The heavy pieces almost looked like altars.
“What is this place?” Jabez whispered.
Sean stopped for a moment, scanning the room meticulously. He turned to the left and stepped over to the nearest metal cabinet. It looked much like a filing cabinet with four drawers. He reached out and grabbed the frigid metal handle. The drawer opened easily, sliding out from the cabinet on chrome rails. On the rack were sheets of glass, each about an eighth of an inch thick, and each with an image etched into the top.
He warily pulled up one of the panes and examined it. The glass was perfectly clear, with a yellowish piece in the center. Sean recognized it immediately. Amber. But he couldn’t make out what the two blots were inside of it.
“This is amber,” he stated. “But I’m not sure what this stuff is.”
The others huddled around, gazing at the artifact. Sean looked back up at the top. The image was an odd looking animal. He placed the glass back in its space, and pulled out another one. It was exactly like the last pane, except that at the top a different animal’s image had been engraved into the surface. Again, there was amber in the middle with two distinct blobs locked within the hardened residue.
“Is that what I think it is?” Firth spoke up.
The other three turned to him with questioning faces. “It can’t be. They didn’t have the technology or the knowledge to do that back then. How would they have known?”
“Doc,” Sean cut into the one-person conversation Firth was having with himself. “What are you saying?”
Sean Wyatt Compilation Box Set Page 91
