by Kevin Ashman
‘Still,’ said India, ‘they said forty minutes maximum. They are way over that.’ She turned to gaze back at the water where she expected them to surface.
‘It’s getting rougher,’ she said.
‘The wind has picked up,’ said Marcos looking upward. ‘There may be a squall coming. ‘
India turned back to stare at the surface.
‘Come on, Brandon,’ she said quietly, ‘where are you?’
Moments later a circle of bubbles appeared a few yards away and India gasped in relief as the two divers finally surfaced. They looked around before striking out for the boat and minutes later, both climbed safely aboard to remove their equipment.
‘Well,’ asked India, handing them both towels, ‘did you find it?’
Tarik looked toward Brandon with a quizzical smile on his face.
‘Well, did we?’
‘Oh yes, India,’ said Brandon, ‘we found it alright. Tarik was one hundred per cent correct, there’s a great big bloody pyramid exactly where he said it would be.’
‘Oh my god,’ said India, ‘that’s astonishing.’
‘Did you see the casing stone?’ asked Tarik, ‘that proves my theory that this pyramid was built by the Egyptians or at least by their ancestors thousands of years earlier.’
‘I saw it,’ said Brandon.
‘What about the glyph?’ asked India, ‘was it there?’
‘It was,’ said Tarik, ‘and we have pictures as well as measurements. Short of clearing the whole lot with a water cannon I would say we have done better than expected.’
‘Excellent,’ said India. ‘Marcos has some warm soup on his stove, you get dressed and I’ll bring it over.’
‘Sounds good,’ said Tarik before turning to face the captain. ‘Marcos, get us out of here before we attract any unwanted attention.’
‘Okay boss,’ said Marcos and gunned the engines to send the boat through the choppy waters and back toward the port.
----
Several hours later, India sat in the lounge of the hotel waiting for the men to join her. They had gone to their rooms to shower while she collected the maps and headed down to wait for them. She sipped on a lemonade and contemplated the lines already drawn on the map. Beside her lay the disc from the Cheops Pyramid. As she studied the document someone came across and sat opposite her. She looked up expecting to see Brandon but the person was unknown to her.
‘Hello,’ she said, ‘can I help you?’
‘I think you can, Miss Sommers,’ said the man, ‘my name is Captain Rashid of the Egyptian police.’ He pointed at a man sitting at the bar. ‘That is one of my men, as is the gentleman next to the television. We are all armed and I strongly suggest you stay calm.’
‘What do you want?’ she asked, fearing the worst.
‘You know what I want, Miss Sommers. I have information that tells me you are in possession of a sacred artefact stolen from the pyramid of Khufu. That is an offence recognised by all countries. I am here to arrest you and your colleagues and take you back to Egyptian justice.’
India’s eyes widened in horror and she glanced around, hoping Brandon would walk in at any moment.
‘I’m sorry,’ she stuttered, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about, and anyway, you don’t have any jurisdiction here, the Azores are Portuguese territory.’
‘Miss Sommers,’ sighed Rashid, ‘please don’t play games with me, you are an intelligent person. One call from me with the allegations and the Portuguese government will block your passport immediately and you will be in custody within the hour. Now, that is probably the easiest option but I am a reasonable man and feel there is a better way out of this.’
‘What do you want?’ asked India quietly.
‘I want whatever it is you found beneath the Pyramid,’ said Rashid, ‘and I want it now.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ lied India, ‘we didn’t find anything.’
‘Miss Sommers, you are now making me angry. I have watched you for the last twenty minutes and know you have something right beside you on that seat. Why don’t you just place it on the table and let me see what it is? Either that or I make the call and you spend the next few years in an Egyptian jail.’
India knew she was trapped and had no choice. Slowly she placed the disc on the table and stared at the policeman.
‘That’s better,’ said Rashid, ‘now slide it over.’
‘Interesting,’ he said, after she had slid it over toward him, ‘and what do you think this is?’
‘I have no idea,’ said India.
‘Again I think you are lying,’ said Rashid, ‘but it doesn’t matter, I have access to dozens of people who specialise in this sort of thing.’ He stood up. ‘Miss Sommers,’ he said, ‘a mutual friend of ours once warned you to stay out of his way. I reiterate that message because if you set foot in Egypt again, I promise you I cannot guarantee your safety. Now, I’ll leave you to ponder on your criminality and strongly advise you to get the next plane back to England.’
He turned to leave but suddenly turned back around.
‘Silly me,’ he said, ‘I almost forgot.’ He reached out and picked up the map. ‘I think I’ll take this. Have a good day.’
----
‘Brandon,’ called India, banging on the door, ‘open up.’
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Brandon as she barged past him, ‘India, are you okay? What’s happened?’
‘I was waiting downstairs for you,’ she gasped, ‘but Rashid turned up and demanded I gave him the disc.’
‘Did he hurt you?’ asked Brandon.
‘No, but he’s got the disc and the map. Brandon, he had a gun and threatened to have us both arrested if I didn’t hand them over.’
‘Forget the bloody disc,’ said Brandon, ‘I just want to make sure you are okay.’
‘I’m fine,’ she said, ‘just a bit shaken up. Damn, how could I have been so stupid? I should have waited for you in my room.’
‘You weren’t to know,’ said Brandon, walking over to look out of the window. ‘Do you think he has gone?’
‘I think so,’ said India, ‘he told me to get back to England or he wouldn’t be responsible for what would happen to me.’
‘Right,’ said Brandon, ‘enough is enough. Pack your case, we’re getting out of here.’
‘Brandon, we can’t just give up now.’
‘Why not, India? In the last few weeks you’ve been threatened by an Egyptian crook, fired at with automatic weapons, almost drowned beneath a pyramid and now warned off by a corrupt cop. We can’t keep riding our luck, India, at some point it will come to an end and someone is going to get hurt or worse.’
India placed her head in her hands and allowed the tears to come. Brandon’s temper instantly deflated as he sat beside her on the bed.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, smoothing her hair, ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘It’s not you, Brandon,’ she said, wiping a tear away with the back of her hand, ‘It’s just that we came so close and due to my stupidity, the trail has come to an end.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up, India,’ said Brandon, ‘like Tarik said, thousands of others have tried before you and failed. You got closer than anyone and there is absolutely no need for you to feel you have let anyone down, not even yourself. Besides, if anything had happened to you I don’t know what I would have done. Come here, give me a hug.’ He wrapped his arms around her for several minutes until finally she pulled gently away and looked up at him with a thin lipped smile.
‘You know, Mr Walker,’ she said, ‘underneath all that bravado and army barmy bullshit, you are actually a really nice guy.’
Brandon lifted his hand and gently brushed away a wisp of hair from her face, tucking it gently behind her ear as he gazed into her green eyes.
‘You’re not too bad yourself, Miss Sommers,’ he said and as India’s eyes closed, he leaned forward to kiss her tenderly on the lips.
----
> ‘Brandon, India, are you there?’ came the shout as Tarik banged hard on the hotel room door.
India and Brandon both smiled at the interruption and pulled apart.
‘That bloody man has the worst timing I have ever come across,’ she said.
Brandon took both of India’s hands in his.
‘Shall I let him in?’ he asked, ‘or shall we pretend there’s no one here.’
‘No,’ sighed India, ‘you’d better let him in and break the bad news, it’s only fair that he knows.’
Brandon stood and walked to the door.
‘Brandon,’ said India, before he turned the handle.
He turned to look at her.
‘Yes?’
‘Thank you,’ she said with a gentle smile.
‘For what?’ he asked.
‘For being you,’ she said.
Brandon smiled back and opened the door.
----
‘So,’ said India fifteen minutes later after bringing Tarik up to speed, ‘that’s where we are. Rashid has the map and the disc while we are left with nothing.’
Tarik stared back at her but was strangely unperturbed.
‘Well?’ said India, ‘say something.’
‘What’s there to say?’ asked Tarik, ‘what’s done is done and it’s pointless getting upset.’
‘But Rashid has everything and it won’t take him long to work out the correlation between the map and the disc.’
‘Perhaps not,’ said Tarik, ‘but let me ask you this. Did he mention the pyramid under the sea?’
‘No.’
‘And you didn’t mention it?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Good, then in that case all is not lost.’
‘What do you mean, all is not lost? He has everything while we have nothing.’
‘India, first of all let me assure you that Rashid has no interest in the artefact. In fact, he probably has no idea of what it is or what it is worth.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Trust me, I have worked with him for years and all he is interested in are the materialistic things in life. No. I believe he has recovered the disc and the map on behalf of someone else.’
‘Muburak?’ suggested Brandon.
‘Muburak,’ confirmed Tarik, ‘and he is a different beast altogether. He specialises in antiquities and the fact that he asked Rashid to obtain the disc means he knows it is worth something. Now, I agree that when it gets back to him he will waste no time in finding out its purpose, especially when he compares it to the map but the thing is, it will take at least a few days until he can work it out. On top of that, the lines on the map terminate between the islands and even if he knows about the pyramid, he will need to go down there and try and find the glyph. As you know, that in itself will take some time to arrange. We, on the other hand have all the information we need and can work out the next step, knowing we have a few days grace before he comes after us. What we have to do, however is get our heads together and see what we can come up with.’
‘No,’ said Brandon, ‘this ends here, Tarik. Let Muburak have whatever it is he wants, I’m taking India home.’
‘That’s stupid,’ said Tarik, ‘you saw the pyramid with your own eyes. We are so close, Brandon, why throw it all away?’
‘Because it has become too dangerous,’ said Brandon, ‘look at the state of her. This ends now and we are going back to England.’ He turned to face India, ‘Tell him, India,’ he said, ‘tell him you are ready to call it a day.’
India looked between the two men before looking back at Brandon.
‘I’m sorry, Brandon,’ she replied, ‘I can’t.’
‘What?’ gasped Brandon.
‘Brandon, Tarik is right. We have come too far to walk away now. I know I’m a bit upset but that won’t happen again. I chose this path of my own free will knowing it may hold dangers and now I have been faced with one, I’m acting like a teenage girl.’
‘India,’ gasped Brandon, ‘I thought we…’
The sentence went unfinished as they both stared at each other.
‘You thought what, Brandon?’ asked India.
Brandon shook his head.
‘You know what?’ he said, ‘forget it.’ He turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
India and Tarik watched him go and an awkward silence fell between them.
‘Shall I go after him?’ asked Tarik eventually.
‘No,’ sighed India, ‘give him some time to cool down, he’ll be alright in an hour or so. He’s just a bit stubborn, that’s all. Besides, you need to tell me what you found on the Pyramid.’
----
Chapter Twenty Three
The Azores
2014
Brandon sat alone in the bar, looking out over the Atlantic with a Jack Daniels on the table beside him.
‘Care for some company?’ asked a voice and he looked up to see India holding a glass of wine.
He smiled at her and indicated the seat.
‘Of course,’ he said, ‘sit down.’
‘Sorry about all that earlier,’ she said, ‘but you know what I’m like, once I get the bit between my teeth it’s hard to back down.’
‘It’s alright,’ said Brandon, ‘I guess I over reacted.’
‘You did a bit,’ said India and they both stared at each other before India gave a huge smile and Brandon burst out laughing.
‘Okay,’ he said, ‘so I did but to be fair I was thinking of you.’
‘I know,’ said India, ‘but I’m a big girl now and don’t need looking after.’
‘Accepted,’ said Brandon with a smile. ‘So, where is Tarik?’
‘He’s coming down in a few minutes,’ she said, ‘I asked him to give us a bit of time.’
‘Thanks,’ said Brandon.
‘So,’ said India, ‘Tarik told me all about the pyramid. He said you took some pictures as well, is that right?’
‘It is,’ said Brandon, ‘I transferred them to my laptop earlier. They don’t show much to be honest as though the water seemed clear while we were there, on the camera it’s surprisingly murky. You can see the spirals but they don’t tell you much.’
‘Perhaps Tarik will make more sense of it all,’ said India, ‘here he comes.’
Tarik got a glass of water from the bar before joining them at the table.
‘Hi,’ said Brandon, ‘about earlier…’
‘Forget it,’ said Tarik, ‘it’s understandable.’ He looked around the bar. ‘No sign of Rashid then?’
‘No,’ said Brandon, ‘I’ve been alone all afternoon.’
‘That’s something I suppose. So, what have we agreed, are we going ahead with this, or does it end here?’
India looked at Brandon.
‘No,’ he said eventually, ‘I’m happy to continue if you are. I’m not sure whether there is anywhere else to go but we may as well explore every last option.’
‘Good,’ said Tarik, ‘in that case, let me explain what I have worked out so far. While I was down there I made some diagrams on the wax tablet. What we seem to have is one continuous spiral starting at the centre and circling several times before reaching the outer edge. I have reproduced it here so it can be seen easier.’ He pulled out a folded piece of paper and spread it on the table. ‘As you can see the diagram seems to be of a double line design rather than a single one, similar to a tube. What was fascinating was at the very centre there seems to be the image of a moon. I have no idea why but it was very clear. The amount of full circles in the spiral was six but we ran out of time before I could see where they terminated.’
‘Is that it?’ asked India, ‘is that all we have?’
‘Unfortunately yes,’ said Tarik and turned to face Brandon.
‘How about you, Brandon, did the camera pick up anything interesting?’
‘No,’ said Brandon, ‘but I did see something strange on one edge, an anomaly in the surface.’
‘
Is that when I had to come and get you because we were running out of air?’ asked Tarik.
‘It was,’ said Brandon, ignoring the annoyed look from India. ‘Anyway, at first I thought it was just a lump of coral or something but as soon as I started moving the sand, I couldn’t believe what I found.’ He looked at India and Tarik.
‘Brandon,’ said India, ‘stop teasing us, what was it?’
‘A carving cut from a single block,’ said Brandon. ‘At first I thought it was a dragon’s head but after I cleared some more I could actually see it was the head of a snake, a Cobra to be exact.’
‘The head of a Cobra?’ said India excitedly, ‘that’s fantastic. Such animals had great significance in Egyptian culture.’
‘I know,’ said Brandon, ‘but there’s more, in its mouth it held a small carving of a pyramid.’
Tarik stared at Brandon with astonishment.
‘That’s unbelievable,’ he said, ‘why didn’t you tell us before?’
‘I was waiting for the right time,’ said Brandon, ‘but with the appearance of Rashid, it slipped my mind. Anyway, you know now so no harm done.’
India looked at Tarik who withdrew a pencil from his pocket and handed it over to Brandon.
‘Could you draw it for me?’ he asked.
Brandon did as he was asked and Tarik looked down at it with interest.
‘And it was definitely a pyramid in its mouth?’ he asked.
‘It was.’
Tarik picked up the pencil and re-drew the image at the end of the spiral before looking up at his colleagues.
‘That’s it,’ he said, ‘the image now makes sense. The spiral design is not some abstract art but represents the coiled body of a snake. Probably Apep.’
‘Sorry?’ asked India.
‘The Egyptian snake god was called Apep,’ said Tarik, ‘the god of darkness and eater of souls. It was a god of chaos and reviled by Egyptian society as everything that was bad. As Ra sailed his boat across the heavens each night, Apep was said to have fought him for the control of the heavens. Each morning the rising of the sun meant that Ra had defeated Apep but occasionally he fought back during the day in the form of eclipses and storms.’