Drake watched the Swede head out, assuming he’d take the chance to call Johanna. Their relationship remained up in the air, but the day would come, and soon, when somebody made an unalterable decision.
The day dawned, and the DC boffins came up with half a dozen sites. The team separated and started to dig, putting the great scenery out of the minds and hearts: the flashing blue snake of the Tisza, wide and then oddly narrow in places, the grassy rolling Carpathian hills, the endless clear skies. The cool breeze, blowing across the wide spaces, was welcome, easing weariness and soothing bruises. Drake and the others constantly wondered where their enemies were. The British, the Chinese and the French. Where? Over the closest hill? Nobody ever saw the faintest hint of surveillance. It was as if the other teams had given up.
“Not your most conventional relic hunt,” Drake said once. “I hardly know where I’m at next.”
“Agreed,” Dahl said. “One moment we’re all at loggerheads and the next it’s plain sailing. Still, it could be worse.”
The first day passed quickly, then a second. They found nothing. The rain came and then the blinding sun. The team took turns resting and then let some hired hands take over for a while. Men and women that spoke no English were appointed from a nearby village. Once, Alicia found a void in the earth, an old tunnel perhaps, but the elation was quickly quashed when her scrabbling came to a dead end.
“Useless,” she said. “We could be a meter away and still not find it.”
“How do you think it’s stayed undetected all these years?”
Dahl continued to scratch his head, sure there was something they were missing. “It’s right on the tip of my tongue,” he repeated more than once.
Drake couldn’t help it. “You mean Olga, don’t you? It was a very brief experience, mate.”
Dahl growled, still perusing.
Another night and another few hours in the tent. The most intense of these nights was when Drake brought the conversation around to Webb’s statement, his legacy and his secret stash of information.
“We have to concentrate on that next. The secrets he gathered could be destructive. Overwhelming.”
“For who?” Dahl said. “The ones directed at us weren’t so bad.”
“Except for the one we don’t know yet,” Mai said.
“Shit, really? I forgot. Which one is that?”
The Japanese woman lowered her voice and spoke softly. “One of you is dying.”
Silence reigned for a long, distressing moment.
Alicia broke it. “Gotta agree with Drake. It’s not just us. Webb was a specialist stalker and mega-rich asshole. He must have had dirt on everybody.”
A false alarm sent them scrambling out of the tent, into the soil and mud and down among the rubble and grit of an ancient burial site. To their deep annoyance, it turned out not to belong to Attila. At least, not as far as they could tell.
Later, in the tent, they returned to their thoughts.
“So much to confront,” Hayden said. “Perhaps this search for Webb’s stash, and what we subsequently discover, might protect us from what may be coming.”
“Joshua’s death in Peru? Our insubordination? Questionable judgment and indefinable leash? We have to answer to someone. One tarnishing you can get away with. But three? Four? Our accounts are in the red, people, and I don’t mean overdrawn.”
“Hence SEAL Team 7?” Dahl asked.
“Maybe,” Hayden muttered. “Who knows? But if they come at us with prejudice, by God I will strike back with comparative force. And so will all of you. That’s an order.”
Another day dawned and the hunt continued. Rainfall hampered their efforts. The DC think tank came back with seven more sites, making a total of twenty three. Most had yielded nothing but voids or old foundations, buildings long gone, skeletons that were in tatters. The majority of another day passed, and the morale of the SPEAR team went into decline.
“Are we even in the right place?” Kenzie asked. “I mean Hungary. Across from Attila’s palace. How long ago was the man born? Sixteen hundred years ago, right? That’s, what? Fourteen hundred years before Geronimo. Maybe Attila’s the wrong ‘scourge’. I assume the Catholic Church have labelled many.”
“We’re detecting a great variety of anomalies,” Kinimaka said. “Just so many, and none of them correct.”
Dahl stared at him. “We need a way to narrow it down.”
Lauren, always connected to the think tank, looked across. “Yeah, they say. Yeah.”
The winds blew softly through the Swede’s hair, but his face remained impassive. “I got nothing.”
“Maybe another look at Attila?” Mai suggested. “Something in his history?”
Lauren told the DC gang to get on it. The team rested, slept, looked out for trouble and found none, and attended two more false alarms.
At last, Drake rounded the team up. “I think we’re gonna have to call this one a failure, people. The Order say they found it, maybe¸ but if we can’t then the other countries can’t. Perhaps the fourth Horseman is best left where he was buried. If he’s even still there.”
“It is possible the grave was ransacked—” Hayden spread her arms “—soon after interment. But then surely the relics would have shown up. Clothing. The sword. Gems. Other bodies.”
“Hard to leave a weapon so potent out there,” Kenzie said with a faraway look on her face. “I know my government would not. They would never stop searching.”
Drake nodded in agreement. “True, but we surely have other crises on the boil. We can’t stay here forever.”
“Same thing they said in Peru,” Smyth said.
Drake nodded at Lauren. “Do they have anything for us?”
“Not yet, except for eight more potential sites. Readings all the same. Nothing firm.”
“But couldn’t that be just what we’re looking for?” Dahl said ever so softly.
Hayden sighed. “I think I may have to call this one, and contact the Secretary. We’re better—”
“Be careful,” Alicia warned. “That may be the signal the SEALs are waiting for.”
Hayden clammed up, eyes now unsure.
Dahl finally caught their attention. “Ground Penetrating Radar,” he said. “Searches for anomalies, gravitational or magnetic or whatever. It finds an awful lot, naturally, since this is a very old planet. But we can narrow it down. We can. Oh hell, how could we be such fools?”
Drake shared a worried frown with Alicia. “You okay, pal? Not still feeling the after effects of that Olga you tried to take, are you?”
“I’m fine. I’m perfect, as always. Listen—remember those bozos that found the tombs of the gods?”
Now Drake’s face grew serious. “That was us, Torsten. Well, most of us.”
“I know that. We found the bones of Odin, and Thor, Zeus and Loki.” He paused. “Aphrodite, Mars and more. Well, what were their weapons and armor made out of? Some of their gems?”
“An unknown substance that later helped us on another mission,” Drake said.
“Yeah.” Dahl couldn’t stop grinning. “And whose sword was buried with Attila?”
Lauren jumped on it. “Mars!” she cried. “The Roman god of war gave Attila his sword through the Scythians. It was called the Holy War Sword. But if it did originate from Mars’ own hand ...”
“You can recalibrate the GPR to look for just that element,” Dahl said. “And that incredibly rare element only.”
“And boom!” Drake nodded at him. “Just like that. The Mad Swede returns.”
Alicia still looked pained. “You couldn’t have thought of that friggin’ days ago?”
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Eight more hours and they were ready. The DC team reset the GPR after contacting the Icelandic archaeological unit who were still investigating what was left of the first tomb of the gods. It always comes back to Odin, Drake thought as he waited. Understandably, the Icelanders had kept much of the details of the find and all the samples. I
t was a matter of a few moments to send the rare element’s data to DC.
Or so they said, Drake later imagined. He’d be shocked if the Americans didn’t already have it on file.
A test and then a hot signal was sent down. A ping on a site they’d already skirted and the ancient Sword of Mars was a clear pinpoint on a map.
“That’s it,” Mai said. “The tomb of Attila the Hun.”
Excavations began in earnest. The villagers started widening the hole they’d already hollowed out. Before they reached a void that ran in perfect parallel with the sword, they paid off the villagers and pretended despondence as they watched them walk away.
“The other side of this,” Mai said, “is the immense cultural find.”
“We can’t worry about that now,” Hayden said. “This is the weapon of Death. It has to be neutralized before we declare anything.”
Smyth, Yorgi and Kinimaka jumped in, attacking the earth. Dahl still looked and felt a little woozy, though Alicia and Kenzie took the opportunity to call him every name from ‘idle arse’ to the Mad Sloth.
It didn’t take long to break into the void.
Drake watched as the trio widened the gap. Mai and Alicia were out checking the terrain, ensuring there were no surprises about to come creeping through the tall grass. Lauren was going to stay near the hole; a line of sight between the two women and those below.
“Since we don’t know how far down we’re going,” Drake said, “the comms may be useless. But I guess we’ll play it as we find it.”
“All we need is the box,” Hayden affirmed. “We don’t spend time staring at anything, or anyone, else. Agreed?”
They nodded. Yorgi went first, being the most agile of the team. Kinimaka came next, still nursing a head wound, and then Smyth. Drake jumped into the hole, followed by Hayden and Dahl. The Swede was to stay near the entrance. Drake ducked under the jagged earth and found himself inside a dark tunnel. One minute of crawling and squeezing between walls, led to the wider void, where the team turned left. Yorgi had the sword on a handheld GPS and shouted out the distance between them and it every few minutes.
Drake kept his flashlight steady, joining beams with those ahead. The passage never deviated, but skirted around the sword’s resting place until they were slowly headed away from it.
Yorgi stopped ahead. “We may have to break through.”
Drake cursed. “It’s solid rock. We’d need big machinery to break through there. Can you see how thick it is?”
Yorgi made an unhappy noise. “Twice the width of this passage.”
“And the sword?”
“Just on the other side.”
Drake felt the distinct impression that they were being toyed with. The old gods again, having fun. It sometimes felt as if they’d been dogging him this whole way, throwing him into this adventure and that, sometimes returning to make their presence felt.
Like now.
He made the decision. “Push on,” he said. “We need to see where this passage goes.”
“Well, one of the anomalies lies ahead,” Yorgi sent back. “A large unknown shape.”
Alicia’s voice crackled over the comms. “Is it moving?”
Drake knew the wicked tone of humor. “Quit it.”
“How many legs does it have?”
“Alicia!”
Everyone below ground took their handguns out. Drake tried to crane his neck to see ahead but Kinimaka blocked his view. The only thing he succeeded in doing was knocking the top of his head against the tunnel.
Dust sifted through the air. Drake was sweating, his fresh bruises throbbing. The team crawled on as fast as they could. Yorgi led them around a slow bend. It was only then that the young Russian stopped.
“Ah! I have something.”
“What?” Several voices rang out.
“Wait. You can come up here with me.”
Soon, Drake rounded the curve to see the side of the passage widen into an eight-foot-high, four-man-wide archway of rock. It was buff-colored, smooth and presided over a narrower hole that had been cut into the very rock—a small, door-like entrance.
Drake eyed the blackness of that opening. “So maybe they hollowed out the bedrock a little, ensuring Attila would remain here forever?”
“But there’s no river above us,” Yorgi stated. “That has been on my mind.”
“River courses change through the years,” Hayden said. “We can’t tell at the moment if the Tisza once flowed this way. As it is, it’s only a few meters to the south.”
Drake walked toward the darkness. “I’m game. Shall we see?”
Yorgi jumped up, maintaining his position in front. At first, the new door was just a shape of utter blackness, but as they approached and shone their flashlights, they saw hints of a large room on the other side. A room no larger than a good-sized dining room, full of dust motes and utter silence, and with a knee-high pedestal at its center.
Atop the pedestal sat a stone coffin.
“Incredible,” Yorgi breathed.
“You think Attila’s in there?” Kenzie asked.
“The sword is, I think.” Yorgi consulted his GPR. “So says this thing.”
“We stay on mission.” Hayden hadn’t even looked at the coffin. She was busy scanning the floor. “And that right there? That’s it.”
Drake looked to where she pointed. The team had moved through the entrance arch now and were fully inside the room. The familiar wooden box with the Order’s seal on top sat on the pedestal itself, at the foot of the coffin. Hayden strode toward it.
“Make ready,” she told Lauren through the comms. “We’re on our way. Tell DC we found the last box.”
“Did you open it up?”
“Negative. I don’t think that’s a good idea down here. We’ll wait till we’re topside.”
Drake stared at the coffin. Yogi moved closer. Kenzie climbed onto the pedestal and peered over the top.
“Anyone gonna give me a hand?”
“Not now,” Hayden said. “We have to go.”
“Why?” Kenzie remained bolshie. “It’s not like the other teams are here. Makes a nice change to have a minute to ourselves, don’t you think? A nice change not to have someone trying to restrain me.”
Drake keyed the comms. “Dahl? You’re a bastard.”
“Whaa?”
Kenzie inhaled. “It’s just a stone lid.”
Drake saw the relic smuggler in her, the passion for treasure. Of course, it would never quieten. It was a part of her. He nodded at Hayden.
“We’ll catch you up. Promise.”
He ran over to the other side of the pedestal, took hold of the stone and heaved.
Hayden hurried out of the tomb, Yorgi and Kinimaka close behind. Smyth lingered in the doorway. Drake watched as the treasures of Attila the Hun’s tomb were unearthed.
In the glow of the flashlight, his eyes were blinded; glittering green and red, sapphire blue and bright yellow; hues of the rainbow shimmering and free for the first time in almost a thousand years. The riches shifted, a sword unsettled by the movement. Other blades gleamed. Necklaces, anklets and bracelets lay in heaps.
Beneath it all, still wrapped in a few tatters of clothing, lay the body of Attila. Drake believed it so. This site had never been found by grave robbers; hence the presence of the riches. The Nazi’s required it only for their wider schemes, and drawing attention to a monumental find would only draw attention to them. Breathless, he jumped on the comms.
“Lauren,” he whispered. “You gotta get someone to guard all this. You just gotta make it happen. It’s ... incredible. The only thing is ...” He paused, searching.
“What is it?”
“There are no swords. The Sword of Mars is missing.”
Lauren breathed out. “Oh no, that’s not good.”
Drake’s face became strained. “After all we’ve been through,” he said. “I bloody well know that.”
Kenzie grunted. Drake looked over. “The Sword of M
ars is here.”
“Bloody hell, you are good. Relic smuggler and thief extraordinaire. You nicked that from right under my nose.” He stared. “It’s fabulous.”
“You can’t take anything.” He saw her lift out a bejeweled object. “But trust you to go for the most valuable item in there.”
“More than Attila?”
“Yeah, of course. You can take him. But, whatever you do, keep the sword.”
Kenzie laughed and withdrew her hand, leaving the bejeweled treasure behind but keeping the sword. “I’ve seen it all now,” she said with a kind of reverence. “We can go.”
Drake was happy that she’d shown an inner desire, and that he’d helped her fulfill it. “All right, then. Let’s go see what the Horseman of Death is all about.”
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
Kneeling in the direct sunlight, the SPEAR team studied the final box of the Order of the Last Judgment.
Kinimaka waited for approval as Alicia and Mai drifted in from the boundaries now that friendly choppers could be seen on the horizon. Hayden gestured to Kinimaka.
“Get on with it, Mano. We have to see what’s inside before company arrives; friend or foe.”
The Hawaiian nodded and snapped the lock. Drake leaned forward as the lid came up, knocking heads with Dahl.
“Fuck!” he shouted, blinking.
“Was that your attempt at a kiss, Yorkie?”
“I’ll give you a kiss if you stick that shaggy mop you call a head into my face again. A bloody Yorkshire kiss.”
Of course, nobody heard him. They were all concentrating on the new revelation.
Hayden peered inside, craning over Kenzie. “Sheeyit,” she said offhandedly. “I never imagined it would be that.”
“Nor me.” Mai was standing.
“The true last judgment,” Lauren said, reciting the text again. “The worst one of all.”
“Well, I don’t know about you guys,” Alicia muttered. “But all I see inside is a fucking scrap of paper. Looks like my shopping list.”
Mai looked over. “Somehow, I can’t imagine you inside a supermarket.”
Alicia shuddered. “Just once. All those trolleys, aisle-blockers and choices totally freaked me out.” She studied the approaching attack choppers wistfully. “This is much better.”
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