The Forbidden Script

by Richard Brockwell

  “There!” yelled out Helen. “The smoke! It’s being sucked in through the wall!”

  Jason then exhaled smoke again to see it pass right through the wall. They immediately shone their flashlights in the direction of the smoke. Jason ran his hands over the wall that seemed to be much smoother compared to the other wall surfaces. He then turned his attention to the statue.

  “It has got to be here somewhere. There has to be a way inside and this statue is the key.”

  Jason then tried to move it, but it was much too heavy.

  “Give me a hand here will you! The Egyptians used sand, just like we use hydraulics to move or open things. I’m sure there is a connection with this statue that will get us inside.”

  They all put their weight on one side and pushed, but it didn’t move an inch.

  Jason said, “let’s try from the other side.”

  Again they tried to move it, but it would not budge.

  “It’s not working Jason. This thing hasn’t been moved in centuries, it’s either stuck or has nothing to do with getting inside,” said Danny.

  Helen came up with an idea. She took out her water bottle from her backpack and poured the water around the base of the statue.

  “Lubrication! Smart girl,” said Jason with a wink.

  “Come on! Give it another try,” said Helen.

  Once again, they pushed as hard as they could, when suddenly they heard a grinding sound.

  “It’s working!” cried out Helen.

  “Again! Push harder!” She said.

  The next instant the figure moved six inches. They pushed harder, and it moved even further, when all of a sudden a huge amount of air came gushing out from beneath the statue. Instantaneously the wall began to sink into the ground, opening a five foot doorway. They let the dust settle before entering inside. Jason entered first. It was pitch black inside, and the air let out a bad smell from being closed up all these centuries. After a few paces inside, Jason’s flashlight lost all power. He dared not to venture inside without knowing what lay ahead of them.

  “My flashlight needs recharging,” he said.

  Helen and the others checked their flashlights, which were also drained of power.

  Helen then decided, “I know we are all excited to continue, but I’m not going to risk our safety. We will come back tomorrow with more lights and equipment.”

  Once they all agreed to Helen’s proposal, they began the long journey up the stone steps. Jason was at the rear. He turned around looking into the darkness. He didn’t need a flashlight to see inside. To him it was as bright as day.

  CHAPTER SIX

  It was late afternoon when Jason and the rest of the team stepped out into the jungle again. Helen was relying on the two local guides whom she had instructed to wait for their return to take them back to camp. But as they emerged from the dark passageway, there was no one in sight. She then turned towards the only remaining guide.

  “Do you think we can make it back to camp before dark?” He seemed uneasy but still nodded his head.

  “We should hurry. It’s not safe in the jungle after dark.”

  Jason stepped forward. He said, “what’s the matter? You afraid of the dark? Or maybe the jungle spirits might get you?”

  That instant before anybody knew what was happening, Jason took out his Colt and fired a shot at a nearby tree. The bullet hit its target, leaving a large hole right in the middle.

  “Nobody or nothing can survive a shot from this baby,” said Jason.

  Helen went up to him with a bewildered look on her face.

  “You crazy son of a bitch! You most probably gave away our location. Anyone close by will be heading our way now.”

  Danny shouted out to Jason, “put that away will you! We better get a move on before nightfall sets in.”

  Helen was right about Jason’s actions. The gunshot caught the attention of the two men, which were now heading their way, giving them the advantage of surprise. The men had reached the camp earlier, only to find it empty.

  The sun started its descent, causing shadows among the trees, putting everyone on edge. The local guide was not certain if they were going in the right direction. The jungle was silent as darkness set in. The hooting sound of an owl and the rustling of small mammals seeking food under the cover of the night could be heard rustling among the fallen leaves.

  They stopped to rest a few times to catch their breath, when Jason exploded.

  “For Christ’s sake! We’re going around in circles. This shit for brains of a guide has no idea where we’re going!”

  Helen came roaring up to him. “Oh is that right, Mr. Tough guy!”

  Jason went red in the face with rage. “I’m damn certain of it! We left base camp from the east. Which is the direction we should be going. This idiot here is taking us the wrong way. Every ten yards I marked a tree to make sure we used the same path by which we got here, and I haven’t seen one tree with a mark on it. Let me take the lead before we all end up ancient history.”

  Helen surrendered to Jason letting him lead them to camp. She handed her dimly lit flashlight to Danny, who walked side by side with Jason, checking each tree for markings. Jason’s flashlight was nearly drained of power, which he was only using to hide his ability of seeing in the dark. Nobody knew of his gift, not even his friend Danny. It was a secret he kept to himself.

  It was now completely dark as the two hired assailants were approaching Jason and the others. They walked through the jungle without a flashlight, carefully crossing over each fallen branch and rock. Now and then they would stop to listen for any sound from Helen and the others. They did not know Helen was being watched over by two FBI agents. They had no idea what they were up against.

  “I found one of the marked trees,” said Danny.

  Jason came to take a look, and then glanced over at Helen, saying, “this tree shows us the way back to camp.”

  His voice was heard by the two assailants, Carlos and Diego. They took cover behind a large boulder, waiting to see if the people approaching are Helen and her team. First, they saw Jason and Danny, then the guide and lastly Helen.

  Carlos the taller of the two said, “there she is.”

  Diego pointed at Jason and Danny.

  “Who do you think those two are? They look American. Maybe some friends of the woman.”

  “The big guy in front could be a friend of hers, but the other one looks like a cop,” said Carlos.

  They waited until Helen and the others passed them by.

  Diego, the short chubby one said, “better we wait until they reach camp. I say we shoot the three men while they sleep and then take off with the woman.”

  Carlos agreed and kept their distance.

  Not far ahead, Jason could see the camp tents through the trees.

  “We finally made it. Well, isn’t anybody going to thank me?” said Jason boasting.

  The camp was deserted, and the night was getting cold. Angelo quickly got a fire going, while Helen went to her tent to wear something warmer. Jason and Danny stayed near the fire warming themselves, keeping the fire alight as they placed new fire logs onto it. They felt relaxed, watching the flames rising higher and higher.

  Angelo went to the supply tent and came back with some canned food, beans and sausages followed by some dry crackers. He served the food on metal plates and handed one to Jason and Danny. Both men gratefully ate their food, having built up an appetite from the long trek through the jungle to the site and back again.

  Jason lit up a smoke and lay back gazing up at the stars. Danny placed some more logs on the fire, while looking back to see Helen stepping out of her tent with a bottle of Chardonnay. She had planned to open it after the discovery of the tomb. But unfortunately it never happened due to the deaths of her colleagues John and Paul.

  She had just taken a few steps, when somewhere behind her she heard the sound of a twig cracking within the jungle trees. Helen froze in her tracks, the hairs on her neck stood up a
s a cold chill ran down her spine. She dared not turn around, afraid of what she might see.

  Danny waved her over. “Hey Helen! Come on over. Your food is getting cold.”

  She was about to take another step when she heard another twig breaking, but this time it was much closer than before.

  Danny turned towards Jason. “What’s up with her? Why is she just standing there?”

  Jason sat up to take a look, sensing something was wrong. Then he saw movement among the trees that caught his attention. It was pitch black to everyone else, but not to Jason. He quickly got up, walking at a steady pace towards Helen, who was more than thirty yards away. With weapon in hand, he aimed it in her direction.

  Danny couldn’t believe it. “Jason, have you gone mad!” He shouted out.

  Jason blanked Danny out of his mind and shouted out to Helen, “get down now!”

  She threw herself to the ground. The weight from her body sent leaves flying up into the air. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, her movements, the leaves swirling around her, even the bullet leaving the barrel as Jason aimed and fired his gun. In a split second, she heard the bullet pass over her. Helen turned over onto her side as Jason fired another shot. She saw the bullet penetrate a tree that seemed to explode on impact. Then she felt Jason kneeling beside her, helping her to her feet.

  “Quick! Run for cover! Move it!” He shouted.

  Helen ran as fast as she could to her tent, confused at what had just happened. Danny was now beside Jason also with his weapon drawn.

  “What is it Jason? What are you shooting at for Christs sake? What do you see?”

  Before he could answer, a gun shot went off from among the trees. The bullet passed within inches of Danny’s head. Both agents got up and ran for cover behind the supply tent. More shots were fired, hitting almost everything around them. Fire logs and dirt flew in all directions as a continuous shower of bullets were fired. Both Danny and Jason waited it out, when suddenly it stopped.

  Danny said, “who the hell is firing at us?”

  “I don’t know! Maybe someone came back to steal more artifacts,” said Jason.

  They felt like sitting ducks out in the open, not knowing from where the next shot might come from. Jason decided to make his way over to the fire, hoping the flames would distract whoever was firing at them.

  “Danny! We have to get out of here. Go find Angelo, while I go for Helen.”

  He signaled okay and made his way to where Angelo was last seen. Jason fired a couple of random shots into the jungle in an attempt to distract the intruders. Danny looked around for Angelo while taking cover within the safety of the trees, but he was nowhere to be seen. Jason managed to make it to Helen’s tent. He rushed in expecting to find her crouched down somewhere. Then he saw the rear part of the tent ripped open, footprints were everywhere. He expected the worst. Helen had been taken from the campsite under his very nose.

  Jason called out, “Danny, are you alright? Where are you?”

  Then he heard something moving from within the trees.

  “I'm okay!” called out Danny as he emerged from the jungle.

  “Helen’s not here! They must have come specifically for her,” said Jason.

  “Angelo is also gone. I can’t find him anywhere. He must have made a run for it,” said Danny.

  They went over to the burning fire and put it out, feeling safer in the dark.

  Danny asked, “how many do you think were out there? Why would they take professor Shireberg?”

  “I’m not sure how many, maybe two or three. I’m pretty sure they took the professor to show them the way to the site. They were distracting us so one of them could get to her.”

  Danny said, “we better get after them before it’s too late. The footprints seem to be heading in the site’s direction.”

  “Grab as many supplies you think we might need. Nobody messes with me and gets away with it,” said Jason as he reloaded his gun.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  While Jason and Danny were collecting supplies, Helen and her aggressors were already halfway to the site. They bound her hands pushing her to the limits in an attempt to reach the site before Jason and Danny caught up with them.

  Diego did not agree with what Carlos was doing.

  He whispered to him, “we do not have time to go searching for gold! We should be heading back to our vehicle with the woman.”

  Carlos thought otherwise.

  “This will be our backup money if Mr. Tony does not pay us in full. If we do find treasures, it will be worth much more than what he is paying us.”

  They pushed Helen along both excited about finding something of value.

  Helen was thankful for Jason coming up with the tree notching as she relied on it to get to the site. She prayed for Jason and Danny to be alive. Helen was sure her assailants would kill her once they found gold. Helen had no idea she was to be taken back to the States to decipher the same tablet that she had discovered.

  “They have at least a twenty minute head start on us. I just hope I’m right about them going back to the site,” said Jason.

  Danny was walking behind Jason, trying to keep up with his long strides. He kept his flashlight low to the ground so as not to give themselves away. Jason didn’t need a flashlight but held on to one so as not to cause any suspicion to Danny.

  Then he saw fresh tracks, meaning Helen was taking the attackers to the site.

  Jason said, “good girl, she’s following my tree markings, leading them straight to the entrance. We have to get there on time. I’m sure they’re gonna put a bullet through her pretty head once they find the way in.”

  Danny agreed, saying, “the Chief will have our heads if anything happens to her.”

  Jason stopped and faced Danny.

  “Well, the stupid woman should have hid herself in a better place! It’s her own fault.”

  The agents tried to quicken their pace, but the jungle is a difficult place to navigate especially during the night. Now and then they would hear the hoot of an owl and even the growling of some wild animal. Jason was not bothered by the sounds, but Danny stopped now and then to check behind him, expecting at any moment to be pounced upon by the animal responsible for the growling sounds.

  It was after nine when Helen reached the entrance. She didn’t have her flashlight with her and was surprised when Carlos handed her one.

  “You show us where we can find gold, and I will let you live a little longer,” said Carlos, shoving her forward.

  They entered the narrow passageway making their way through the same rooms and started the descent down the long flight of stone steps. Helen was rather excited knowing she will soon be entering the area where she had stopped with Jason and Danny. But she wished the circumstances were different, exploring the site as an archaeologist and not as a hostage.

  They were now at the bottom of the steps. Helen shone her light upon the large statue. She was about to enter a place where nobody had been for many hundreds of years. Carlos and Diego stayed close behind. The only thing on their minds was finding gold. As they were about to enter the unknown, Helen’s heart began to beat faster, she could feel her chest pounding, the adrenaline surging through her body. She took the first step inside the pitch black cavern. With flashlight pointing in front of her, she could see the place was enormous. The height of the cavern exceeded well over seventy feet, not even her flashlight could penetrate deep enough to reach the other end.

  Hanging on each side of the walls were rows of wooden sticks with some sort of wicker wrapped around the top part. Helen knew immediately what they were used for. Below the first wooden stick was a bowl filled with thick liquid. She dipped her finger into it smelling the oil.

  She asked Carlos, “do you have a match or lighter?”

  He looked puzzled, but just the same he gave her his lighter. She unhooked the wooden torch from its holding place and dipped it in the oil. Next she ignited the lighter, and the wooden torch blazed
to life. She smiled to herself at the wonder of a thousand or more year old technology still very useful to this day. Approaching the opposite wall she did the same. Helen then encouraged Carlos to light up one row of torches while she lit the other side. After all of them were alight, she then turned around holding a flamed torch in her hands. What she saw next was astounding. She was looking into a deep underground cavern, so vast it would take more than a day to explore the entire place.

  In front of her were more stone steps leading down to a large precisely centered enclosure. It had twelve large statues representing the gods of the underworld. All twelve gods were placed in a circular fashion measuring over a hundred feet in circumference. Positioned below each statue were stone benches, probably used by the high priests while they sat in meditation, as they entered the spirit world in communication with the gods. Standing exactly in the middle was a large stone boxed like table where sacrifices were performed. On the outer side of the cavern walls were doorways waiting to be explored.

  Carlos walked past Helen and made his way down to the statues followed by Diego. Helen was now confused. She had a chance to escape or follow the two men. When Carlos reached the first statue, he began to pound on it with a large rock. Helen saw what he had in mind. Her heart was dedicated to archeology, and to see newly discovered masterpieces being destroyed right in front of her eyes was enough to forget about escaping. She ran as fast as she could down the steps shouting out to Carlos.

  “Stop! You’re going to destroy it! There is nothing of value here. They’re just made of marble and granite. We can search around. Maybe we will find something valuable.”

  Carlos put the rock down, saying, “okay lady we look around. Don’t you do anything stupid. I will not think twice to kill you.”

  Helen then convinced him that as long as nobody destroys anything, she will keep her word and not try to make a run for it.