by Jim Plautz
The two Ethiopians paddled towards the small island less than eight hundred meters from Tana Kirkos. Before the water level of Lake Tana had dropped, the small island had been nothing more than a bunch of rocks sticking out of the lake. Now with the reduced water level, the size of the island had increased tenfold. Paddling around to the far side they noticed water flowing from a small opening that was partially covered by sea grass and coral. As the boat came closer the opening was larger than it first appeared. Abdul decided to investigate.
Hacking away seaweeds and coral that had taken hundreds of years to grow, the two men created an opening of almost four feet. Once inside the passageway increased in size and they were able to stand and move about freely. They proceeded a hundred meters into the heart of the island and to their surprise came upon a door that opened onto a small temple, not unlike temples they had seen on other islands on Lake Tana and outside the city of Gondar. The walls of the outer chamber were decorated and behind the altar there were golden goblets and platters that were worth a fortune. The two men stuffed their pockets with gold coins that were strewn across the floor and looked longingly at the heavy veil that protected the inner chamber, the Holy of Holies.
“I’m going to look inside,” Sanji decided.
“No, Abdul you must not violate the sanctity of the temple. Only the most senior priests are allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.”
“There are valuables inside, I can feel it. Why else would we have found such riches in the chapel?”
Sanji was afraid and waited outside as Abdul pulled back the veil and entered the inner chamber.
Moments later he let out a gasp. “It’s beautiful, Sanji,” he exclaimed. Abdul had never seen pictures of the Ark of the Covenant, but he had heard stories. The five foot wide chest, protected by two cherubs mounted on either end, rested upon a marble altar. The top of the chest was pure gold and the ends were decorated with rare gemstones. It was in perfect condition and looked like it had been placed on the altar only yesterday.
“There is a chest in here,” he yelled out to his friend; “I am going to open the lid.” Those were the last words Abdul would ever say.
Outside, Sanji waited in fear when he saw the bright light and heard Abdul’s lifeless body crash against the wall. He raced inside the Holy of Holies to help, but stopped in his tracks as he saw the chest aglow and sparks flying from the mouths of the two cherubs on either end of the chest. He saw Abdul crushed against the wall and raced out of the temple in fear. Moments later he was wildly paddling back to the project site.
Marco and Ken were inspecting the repairs made to extend the dock when they spotted the rapidly approaching boat. “What’s wrong with him?” Ken asked, “he looks like the devil is chasing him?”
“That’s Sanji, one of my most trusted men. I sent him and Abdul over to look at that little island, but I don’t see Abdul?”
“Where’s Abdul?” Marco asked as the boat drew up to the pier.
“He’s dead, the demons killed him,” Sanji reported as he fell to his knees and crossed himself.
“Take it easy,” Marco said, putting his arm around the frightened man’s shoulder. “Tell us what happened.”
Ten minutes later the three of them were sitting in my office and Sanji related the story once again.
“Could this be the Ark of the Covenant?” I thought as I listened to the man.
“Take a look at what he had in his pockets,” Marco said as he laid the gold coins and goblet on the desk. “These things are old.”
“Wow,” was all I could muster, “any ideas?”
“It must be the Ark of the Covenant,” the Ethiopian exclaimed.
“If it is, we must keep this discovery a secret for now. So far only the four of us knew and we keep it that way. This place will be a zoo if this gets out to the press. Sanji, we need to …” I started to say as I looked at the man who was slowly collapsing in his chair.
Sanji was dead before he hit the floor. We attempted to resuscitate him to no avail and we were stunned when we saw the spots and lesions over his chest.
“He must have seen the Ark of the Covenant and gotten too close,” I whispered aloud, trying to contain my excitement despite the death of these two men.
“Marco, can you hide the body until we determine our next step?”
“Sure, for a day or two, but then they will be missed.”
“Just for tonight; I want to call Father McGinnis and see if he can fly up from Somalia and help us out here.”
Father Sean answered on the first ring. “Jim, it’s good to hear …”
I interrupted, not able to hold back my excitement. “Father, I need you here as soon as possible; can you fly up tonight.”
“I’m in the middle of something important, can it wait until Friday?”
“No it can’t, Father. I really need you here tonight.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“Not on the phone, Father, but remember that evening in Milwaukee when you and Matthew both got upset?”
“Yes, don’t tell me …”
“Maybe,” I said interrupting him again.
“I’ll be there in four hours. In the meantime, Jim, find a Falasha priest from Gondar and ask him to join us on an excursion tomorrow. Don’t tell him why, but make sure he gets here. We need someone that is familiar with the traditions of the Ark.”
“I will, Father Sean; call me when you get in.”
“Marco, make sure we have a boat. I’ll see if I can get a hold of that priest we met with last summer.”
“Did they find it” Oleg asked as he reviewed the transcript of the phone call to Father McGinnis.
“They think they have. Simpson told the priest that it was urgent and they needed his advice on how to deal with an artifact they found. It has to be the Ark. What do you want us to do?”
“Do we know where it is?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s wait until we see what happens tomorrow? Keep an eye on them, but don’t let them know they are being watched. Meanwhile, I’m going to get some more firepower into the area. We’re not the only ones interested in finding the Ark.”
Chapter 21- The Game
