Operation Syria

by William Meikle

  Banks was smiling as he let Wiggins help haul him up and out of the room.

  *

  Banks and Wiggins stood in the dig chamber, feeling a wave of hot air and an acrid tang in the air waft out from the hole, weapons ready should anything come their way. But all they got was the extra heat and smell and even that faded as the cooler breeze from earlier eventually reasserted itself.

  “Was there a way out that way?” Wiggins asked.

  “Hard to tell,” Banks replied. “But there was definitely a way in for the beasties. So maybe aye, maybe no but at least we should have given them pause for thought about coming this way again for a while.”

  - 16 -

  Maggie accepted another smoke from Wiggins after the captain left the room, satisfied nothing else was coming through the hole. She sat with Kim, perusing as well as they could the photos she’d managed to take in the chamber on the other side. Some were slightly blurred and out of focus and the small flash on the camera hadn’t helped matters but she’d got enough clear images to show a good range of the painted carvings and more than enough to get Kim excited.

  “Definitely Babylonian,” Kim said. “And if I’m reading it right, they’re all of the same period, from the reign of Hammurabi, which puts the work at 18th century BC, around when he conquered this area as part of his empire building. This is major league, Maggie, fortune and glory stuff. It’s definitely the earliest find on this site and something no one has ever seen before. We could live for years off the research needed on this new room alone.”

  Maggie nodded in agreement.

  “You should see it, Kim. The photos don’t do it justice. It’s vibrant and dazzling, like it was painted yesterday.”

  “We can only hope that fire didn’t do permanent damage. It would be criminal negligence on our part if we found it only to fuck it up an hour later.”

  Wiggins spoke from the door.

  “The fire was all outside in another area beyond and a wee bit around the doorway. There’ll be a bit of smoke and maybe some ash, nothing that can’t be wiped off with a damp cloth. Your paintings and carvings are all okay, or were when I got my last look.”

  “I hope so,” Maggie said. “For I swear on my mother’s grave, I’ll be back someday, to make sure they’re preserved properly.” She echoed Wiggins’ words of earlier back to him. “This is who I am. This is what I do.”

  As soon as she said it, she knew it for truth. Despite, or maybe even because of, what she’d seen and experienced here, she had resolved not to let it scare her off what was her duty, her reason for being here in the first place.

  “And I’ll be with you,” Kim said, surprising her. The other woman had got over her earlier funk; Maggie guessed it was a combination of passing time, seeing the efficiency with which the soldiers had seen off any threat to them so far, and now a rising excitement at the implications of this new find.

  “I mean it,” Kim continued. “This is important, historically so. We can’t walk away. I know I couldn’t.”

  “Aye, well good luck with that, girls,” Wiggins said at the door. “This place is a war zone and will be for years yet. I know you got in this time but after this clusterfuck here, I don’t see anybody getting permission for a while. Besides, with these spiders about, it’s probably safer to fuck off and nuke the site from orbit.”

  “It’s the only way to be sure,” Maggie said, smiling thinly to show she got the reference. “But I have the photos. When I show them to top people in the field, they’ll be able to put the pressure on for the sending of a real relief team.”

  “As I said, good luck with that,” Wiggins replied. “But if you ask for backup, make sure I’m on holiday at the time. I bloody hate spiders.”

  *

  “Look,” Kim said, looking up from the phone. “They’re in groups, 10 rows of 6 to each. It’s definitely early Babylonian. They did all their counting in sixties; it’s why we’ve got 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour.”

  “A wee connection from them to us,” Maggie said, looking over to Wiggins. “It’s another part of why I do what I do; history isn’t something that happens and gets forgotten. We connect to it, in wee ways, ways we’d only notice if they were gone.” She motioned at the gap in the wall. “And that through there is a big bloody connection. We can’t let it be lost.”

  “Hey, it’s not me you’ve got to sell it to, lass. I’m only a lowly squaddie who goes where he’s telt to go. And don’t bother bugging the cap with it either. I can tell you now he’ll sympathize but he can do fuck all once the brass have made up their minds. Our job here is to get you home. So that’s what I’m going to do; I can at least make sure you get yon photies in front of somebody who might actually give a shit.”

  *

  Maggie spent a few minutes taking more photos, of the mosaic in the dig this time, making sure she catalogued it fully. It was while she was taking a close up of the depiction of the cave on the hillside that another thought struck her.

  “The tunnels you mentioned earlier weren’t as old as this new find, were they?” she asked Kim.

  “No. The ones I was talking about were built during the siege, when the Persians were trying to tunnel in and the Romans were trying to hold them at bay. The last big dig here, in 2009, found 20 dead men in one near the north wall and there was bitumen and sulfur coating the bodies. There’s another connection to the present, for that was a chemical warfare attack, with the Persians pumping gas into tunnels and suffocating the defending forces. The latest theory is that’s how the siege was broken”

  Wiggins stopped her and spoke to Maggie.

  “Go tell that to the cap,” he said. “I think he’ll be interested.”

  *

  “This tar and sulfur,” Banks said five minutes later after she’d relayed the info. “Do you know where it is? Have you seen any deposits?”

  “No to both questions,” Maggie replied. “But Kim said it’s by the North Gate.”

  “So it might as well be on the moon, for all the good it is to us here,” Banks replied. “But all intel is good intel, so thanks for that.”

  They stood at the main doorway and Maggie was glad that Banks blocked her view to where the rucksack sat against the wall outside. She saw that the shadows had lengthened considerably since her last look out, now covering the whole of the courtyard save for a small triangular patch in one corner. Up on the roofs, the rounded humps of the spider’s backs showed on the skyline.

  Banks saw her looking.

  “They’ve lost interest. There’s been no movement for an hour or more. It’s a Mexican standoff, for now. But it’ll be dusk soon enough and I’m going to have to break the deadlock without getting us all killed if we want to get out of here.”

  Maggie looked to where thick webbing covered the alleyways that were their exits from the courtyard. She saw the problem.

  “Even if you burned the mass of web there, the spiders could drop on us from above.”

  “Aye. And there’s no guarantee that there’s not a shitload more web beyond that. We’d be caught in a tight funnel, under pressure of numbers, with too little ammo for a prolonged firefight. That’s one of my problems. I’ve been considering a sneak getaway through the tunnels beyond your new find. But we already know that’s also spider territory and again it’ll probably be a tight space. I’m not sure which option gives us the best chance of getting away free.”

  “If I get a vote, I say try the tunnels,” she replied. “I never liked finding a spider in my hair.”

  - 17 -

  The spiders blinked first. Banks was on guard at the main door with Private Wilkins when the beasts made their move. The first sign of activity was a pair of legs reaching up to be silhouetted against the sky, then dragging a bulbous body up onto the parapet. The spider raised its front end and its fangs clacked out a rapid message that echoed long and loud around the courtyard. It was obviously a sign, a call to action, for within seconds several dozen of the dog-sized
beasts had joined the first on the edge the roof.

  “If they come, save your ammo, lad,” Banks said to Wilkins. “If you can’t put it down with one shot, don’t bother. And if they don’t stop after we get a few of them, we’ll fall back to the back chamber. We need to make sure we’ve got enough ammo to get us to the chopper when it comes.”

  It looked like the spiders were intent on pressing their numbers advantage. All of the ones visible on the skyline began a slow, steady descent of the walls, heading for the courtyard below.

  Wilkins’ face had drained of all color, his eyes wide and a bead of sweat running down the bridge of his nose.

  “Steady, lad,” Banks said. “They’re only beasties. It’s not as if they’ll be shooting back at us. We’ve got the firepower advantage for the present. Keep them at a distance.”

  The first one hit the ground and immediately scuttled forward, multiple red eyes fixed on their doorway. Banks waited until he was sure of his target and put a single shot into the middle of the red eye, blowing most of the front of the spider away in the process and sending the thing, now only a tangle of frantically waving legs, crashing to the ground.

  Wilkins’ first shot missed his target, as did his second. By that time, a dozen of the spiders were heading at speed across the courtyard towards their position. Banks put another one of the down with a well-aimed shot then, seeing that Wilkins’ marksmanship clearly wasn’t up to the target practice required, pulled the lad back into the hallway.

  “Back up, slowly,” he said. “We’re pulling back to a better position.”

  He got on the headset to Hynd.

  “Sarge, we’re coming in. All fall back to the chamber. But save ammo where you can. We’re going to need it later.”

  He was only able to watch as three of the spiders broke away from the main pack and took note of the remains of White in the rucksack. They tore at the material in frenzy, like starving dogs after scraps, throwing fragments of nylon far and wide across the courtyard and sucking greedily at the spilled contents. Soon there was nothing remaining of White but a damp puddle on the ground and even that was already drying out in the residual heat of the day.

  Hynd buzzed Banks’ headset.

  “Come on back, Cap. We’ve got you covered.”

  “We’ll be right there.”

  Then there was no time for more talk. The approaching spiders were too close. He had to retreat, keeping himself between the spiders and Wilkins as the creatures massed in the doorway. He was able to pick off two more of them with shots to the eyes when the attack hesitated at the doorway but all his shots did was spur the rest of the spiders into action and they came on fast. He had to expend more ammo than he’d hoped to keep them at bay, even when they reached the first room in the corridor and Brock and Davies joined them in covering fire for the retreat.

  They were at the second doorway and the door to the chamber opposite when more spiders scuttled in through the first room that Brock had vacated. Hynd stood at the second doorway, weapon ready, but couldn’t fire for fear of hitting the rest of them. The spiders swarmed, filling the corridor floor to ceiling, climbing over and around each other in their thirst to get at the men, the rat-a-tat clacking of their excitement as loud as the soldiers’ weapons.

  There wasn’t time to get them all back to safety and get the door closed before the spiders washed over them. Banks knew it would deplete their ammo far too quickly but he had no choice but to give the order.

  “Rapid fire. Take these fuckers out.”

  *

  The sound of them all firing at once was deafening in the confines of the corridor. Casings flew, the air filled with thin smoke, and dazzling muzzle flashes lit up the walls like a rock concert strobe. Bits of spider leg, body, shell, and internal fluids splashed as high as the ceiling and pooled on the floor and the noise was a deafening drum of thunder. It only lasted ten seconds but it felt like an eternity before Banks called a halt.

  “Cease fire. We got the buggers.”

  The corridor rang and echoed with their shots for a few seconds, then everything fell still as they looked across an expanse of torn remains of the dead beasts. Then they heard it, coming from out at the main doorway, a new, incessant rat-a-tat, sounding angry now, a chorus of spider talk, getting closer fast. A fresh attack was imminent.

  “Right, that’s enough fucking about. Fall back,” Banks said. “Into the chamber and shut the door and make it fast.”

  He stayed in the corridor until the last second, covering their rear while the squad filtered into the chamber. Wiggins and Brock put their shoulders to the door, inching it closed with a loud rasp and creak of stone on stone. It was nearly shut when Banks saw three more spiders appear at the far end of the corridor, already coming for him over the remains of their dead.

  He let off a quick volley of three shots, then squeezed inside, helping with his weight to close the door fully. It slammed into place, shearing off a single spider leg that had appeared in the gap. It fell to the ground quivering until Wiggins ground it to bits under his heel.

  “Have I told you how much I fucking hate spiders?”

  *

  “Well this is nice,” Kim said. “Back to square one.”

  “Not quite,” Banks replied. “We’ve made a dent in their numbers if nothing else.”

  He turned to Hynd.

  “Another inventory please, Sarge. I want to know to the exact bullet how low we’re running. And get these gas canisters together. They might end up as our last line of defense.”

  The scritch-scratch of spider feet on stone sounded from outside the door.

  “No offence, Captain,” Kim said, “but I’ve been in this situation already. It’s lost its appeal for me.”

  “And for me,” Banks replied, “but I don’t intend to stay around to experience it for any longer. We’re going out that way.”

  He motioned to the gap in the wall. Maggie spoke up.

  “You’ve made up your mind?”

  The scratching got louder outside in the hallway and Banks smiled thinly.

  “It’s not as if we’ve got much choice. I’ll go first, with Brock and Davies. Maggie, you and Kim in the center and the others will bring up the rear. We only move as a unit and we get out of the town the first chance we get. It’ll be dusk soon enough and yon chopper will be waiting for our call, and might not wait if we don’t, so we have to move fast and quiet. Are we all clear?”

  Nobody argued.

  He swung his rifle over his shoulder, stepped over to the gap in the wall, and hauled himself up and through to the other side.

  - 18 -

  Maggie went first after the three soldiers to show Kim how easy it was and waited on the far side to help the other woman through. Kim gasped aloud when she saw a piece of the rock carvings that were illuminated by the light on Davies’ weapon.

  “God, it’s beautiful.”

  Maggie could only agree but they didn’t have time to stop and look, for Wiggins was already coming through the gap above them.

  “Move over, ladies,” he said. “You wouldn’t want me falling on top of you. Though I might enjoy it.”

  “You should be so lucky,” Maggie replied and moved away quickly, leading Kim with her towards the doorway, where Captain Banks already stood, shining his light out into the chamber beyond.

  “Looks clear,” he said. He waited until Hynd and Wilkins came through, then went ahead down the steps out of the chamber. Maggie felt Kim’s hand find hers in the gloom, she gave it a squeeze that she hoped was reassuring, then followed the gun lights out into the wider cavern.

  *

  The place stank, an acrid taste akin to burnt rubber and fine gray ash coated the floor, crisp as fresh snow on a cold day underfoot. Black scars on the walls showed where the burning had been at its most severe. The air felt stiflingly warm, as if the rocks had retained heat and were still radiating it. As they followed Banks, Maggie had an eye open for any more carvings and fresh find of sign
ificance but this chamber looked to be mostly a natural cavern in the hill with little sign of any working beyond the steps and doorway they’d just left.

  Banks and the two privates, Davies and Brock, led the group directly up the center of the space, heading for a darker opening that could be seen to the north. They all soon had to step gingerly through the burnt remains of spiders, twenty at least of them, lying in heaps of ash and burned legs tangled willy-nilly together in their death throes. The smell was worse here, harsh in the nose and tickling at the back of the throat when she switched to mouth breathing. Despite holding a hand over her lips and trying to breathe shallowly, Maggie had to fight off a gag reflex. It got even worse when an incautious step meant her foot went down and into, the main body of a large spider, releasing a moist farting sound and an assault of acridity that choked her. She moved on quickly, fighting off an urge to scrape her shoe clean on the leg of her trousers, for that would only ensure the stench stayed with her all the longer.

  Fortunately, the dead spiders were all concentrated in one area toward the center of the chamber. In the space of half a dozen quick steps, they were able to move through and past them, to join Banks and the two privates as they reached the shadowed exit at the north end. A welcome breeze came from the passageway ahead, colder air, mostly clear of the stench of burning and Maggie took a grateful lungful as the captain called them all together into a huddle.

  “That was the easy bit,” he said, keeping his voice low. “The earlier burning cleared the way for us. If we’re lucky, the buggers have fucked off completely. But we can’t count on that. We don’t know what’s ahead of us, so stay close, don’t stray, and no shooting unless I order it. Sarge? Pass me one of the gas canisters. I’ll take point. And if I say run, don’t hang about. Understood?”