Vanished

by S. L. Menear

  Mike frowned. “Only if there’s a good place on board to hide it.”

  I thought a moment, remembering all the specs for the Starr Corporation’s G650s. “I’ll need a Phillips screwdriver.”

  Everyone, including Lisa, reached inside their pockets and pulled out the equivalents of Swiss Army knives with all the attached tools.

  “I usually carry my Leatherman, but in the rush to pack for Africa, I forgot it.” I accepted the tool Mike carried on all his SEAL missions. “Thanks, brother dear.”

  “I want everyone on the team to know where you hide it, just in case, sis.” Mike followed me.

  I grabbed a small aircraft pillow, wrapped it around the cylinder, and held it tight. “There’s a small space in the lavatory that’s perfect.” With the pillow under my arm, I unscrewed a wall panel in the bathroom.

  “See? It fits in here.” I crammed the rolled-up pillow into the empty space and replaced the panel. “Problem solved.” I kept the tool.

  As each team member looked into the bathroom, I tapped the panel where the cylinder was hidden. “Okay, I’d better go forward and discuss our mission with the pilots.”

  I stuck my head in the cockpit. “Hey, Bill and Laura, change of plans. Request a cruise altitude of six thousand feet for a short flight to Cairo International Airport after you secretly drop two jumpers over the Great Sphinx.”

  Bill turned and looked at me. “How do we explain the deviation to ATC?”

  “Tell them your passengers wanted a brief aerial view of the ancient site under the full moon before landing. It shouldn’t be an issue this late at night.”

  “All right, but the only safe exit for a parachute jump is through the baggage door. That compartment is pressurized and has a door that connects it to the cabin.” He pulled out a diagram of the aircraft. “The baggage door is aft of the left wing and below the left engine intake, so you can make a clean exit from there without hitting the airplane or getting sucked into the engine.”

  “I know, Bill. Have you forgotten I’m checked out in all the Starr Corporation’s jets?”

  His eyes widened. “Of course, Sam. What was I thinking?”

  “You were doing your job, but no worries, I’ve got this.”

  He smiled. “I’ll depressurize the airplane before you jump and give you a five-minute and also a thirty-second warning before I announce when to jump.”

  “Perfect.” I grinned. “Can you arrange for an SUV rental to be ready for the team?”

  He nodded at the copilot. “Laura will take care of it. No one ever says no to her.”

  “Give us five minutes before you crank up the engines.” I left the cockpit. Are we doing the right thing? What if I miss the beast’s back and land in the sand?

  Mike glanced at me when I returned. “All right, let’s help Sam and Banger get geared up for the jump.” He opened the door that connected the cabin to the pressurized baggage compartment.

  At two in the morning, my ears popped as the airplane depressurized.

  Bill announced, “Five minutes to jump.”

  The jet cruised at six thousand feet with the cabin and baggage compartment unpressurized to facilitate our jump. Banger and I moved to the outer baggage door, and he opened it. The noise level shot up several decibels as rushing air hissed past the opening.

  Adrenaline surged through me as I rechecked my harness and the belly pack underneath that held the sphere inside the canvas satchel. Jumps like this were routine for Banger, but I’d never jumped from a jet—and never at night.

  Rushing air distorted the pilot’s voice. “Thirty seconds to green light. Wind is from the east at fifteen knots.”

  My jump partner’s sarcastic quip filled my earpiece, “Oh good, a crosswind for the landing.”

  Banger and I pulled on our jump goggles and stood at the open door. I gave him a thumbs-up, and he returned the gesture. Can he see me shaking?

  “Jump, jump, jump,” Bill announced.

  We dived into a bright night sky illuminated by a full moon and aimed for the Great Sphinx lying six thousand feet below us. Cool air buffeted my body. My plan was to land on the statue’s back in the shadow behind the head, but I’d be happy to land anywhere on top of him.

  Banger’s deep voice came through my earbud, “Check your altimeter. Pull at two thousand feet.”

  “Copy, pull at two thousand.” Shadowy ground covered in golden sand seemed to rush up at me, and my pulse quickened. “Try to land close behind the head.”

  “Wherever you land, I’ll land behind you.” His confidence reassured me.

  I searched the ground and could barely make out two distant figures strolling side-by-side down the length of the mighty beast. Had to be guards this late at night. They didn’t look up—at least, not so far.

  We maneuvered toward the target and opened our chutes at the designated altitude.

  My breath caught when a sharp jerk momentarily arrested my fall after my black rectangular chute deployed. Silence surrounded me as I floated downward, turning into the wind. We didn’t need night-vision goggles with the bright moon lighting our path.

  “Two good chutes,” I reported to Laura on the jet’s secondary comm frequency.

  “Understand two good chutes. Your team will be on the ground in a few minutes and will drive to the site ASAP. Gulfstream out.”

  We circled the Great Sphinx, slowly descending as the pyramids of Giza gleamed in the moonlight. The brisk crosswind made our approach more challenging. We’d have to favor the windward side and allow for side drift over the narrow back before turning into the wind right before touchdown. Timing would be critical.

  “Looking good for a landing on target.” I peered at the giant statue beneath me, judging my rate of descent. “One more turn over the big guy.”

  “Copy that. I’m right behind you.” Banger’s voice radiated calm.

  My final turn lined me up on the beast’s “runway,” which was about thirty-six feet longer and twelve feet wider than a basketball court. The head and front legs made up the rest of its two-hundred-forty-foot overall length. Its back didn’t look any bigger as I glided closer, favoring the windward edge. Near my touchdown point, the head loomed in front of me. I had to time it just right or I’d smash into solid rock.

  My heart pounded as I turned into the wind at the last second and yanked hard on the control risers, landing ten feet behind the massive head. The chute fell onto the Sphinx’s back, and before I had a chance to gather it, the wind dragged the billowing canopy over the side, pulling me behind it.

  Banger’s strong hands grabbed my harness and snatched me away from the edge. “Don’t unhook the chute,” he whispered through my earbud. “We don’t want it falling on the ground.” He helped me pull it up and fold it.

  His chute had already been secured. SEALs were so skilled they made everything look easy, and my big teammate was no exception.

  “Alrighty, my queen, lead us into the darkness.” His whispered words penetrated my earpiece as he grabbed the rolled-up chutes. “We’ll stow these inside the beast. Where’s the door?”

  “I’m hoping there’s one on the back of its head.” I ran my hands over the stone up as high as I could reach. “I’m checking for an area of strong electromagnetic energy.”

  He studied the statue’s head. “Well? Anything?”

  “You’re not going to like this, but the energy seems much stronger up there.” I pointed straight up.

  “Keep your legs stiff and I’ll lift you.” He bent down, grasped my ankles, and lifted me like I was weightless. He held my feet over his head. “How’s this?”

  I ran my hands over the stone. “A little to the left.”

  Banger sidestepped left, and my fingers tingled when they brushed a small area about the size of my medallion. I pulled out Mike’s multi-tool and scraped off ten thousand years of accumulated dirt. Gold gleamed underneath. A little more scraping revealed a mirror-image of my medallion.

  I whispered, “I fo
und it,” as my throat mike transmitted my words into Banger’s earpiece.

  “Good job.” He hesitated. “I hope the guards didn’t hear you scraping the stone.”

  After putting Mike’s tool away, I pulled the medallion out from under my shirt, fitted it over the reverse image, face-to-face, and waited.

  Nothing happened.

  Crap. I used the cuff on my long sleeve and wiped dust off the gold lock, then reinserted my medallion.

  No reaction.

  I blew into the mechanism to remove fine dirt. Dust filled my nostrils, and I sneezed, causing me to lose my balance and fall.

  “Ahhhhh!”

  A heart-pounding second later, Banger caught me.

  “That was scary.” I kissed his cheek. “Thanks for the save.”

  “What happened, Sam?”

  “I was trying to clean out the lock and lost my balance.” I sighed. “Sorry, Banger. Can you lift me again?”

  “No problem.” He bent down and grabbed my ankles. “Better hurry in case the guards heard you yell.”

  When I reached the gold lock, I tried my medallion key again. Deep vibrations erupted, followed by grinding and a dirt cloud where a stone had moved up into a slot on my left. Had that been as loud as it seemed?

  “Better hurry, Sam,” Banger whispered into my radio earpiece. “Guards must’ve heard that.”

  The door was two feet wide and five feet tall. Assuming he could get up here, Banger would have to turn sideways and crawl through it. Peering inside the dark interior, I could barely make out a six-foot-square landing that led to stone stairs. Was this a passage to the underground chambers?

  I pulled out the medallion, slipped the chain around my neck, and crawled partway inside, careful not to enter fully. Based on past experiences, entering all the way might cause the door to close. It wasn’t easy turning around with one foot sticking out, but I managed it and prayed the door wouldn’t slam down and crush me.

  Kneeling on the stone, I stuck my head out and looked at Banger, fifteen feet below me. “Toss one of the chutes up to me, and I’ll hook it to something so you can climb up.”

  He wadded one into a tight ball, secured by risers tied around it, and lobbed it up.

  I wasn’t at the best angle and missed it. “Oops, sorry.”

  “Here it comes again.” Banger threw it directly into my outstretched hands.

  “Give me a minute, and I’ll rig it for you.” I untied the lines.

  “It’s not like I have someplace else to be,” he said with his usual dry humor.

  My mini flashlight revealed another mirror image of my gold medallion above the door on the inside, meaning I should be able to open it if it closed.

  “Don’t worry, I think I can open the door from inside,” I whispered into my comm. “I just need to step away and secure the chute.”

  The door closed with a thud the instant I moved away from the opening. Sconces carved from the stone walls held ancient oil lamps. With my flashlight in my mouth, I tied the chute to a stone sconce and placed my medallion in the gold slot above the door. Nothing happened.

  Uh oh.

  I pulled my medallion out, brushed dust away from the slot, re-inserted it, and pressed hard.

  Loud rumbling heralded the door opening.

  Good, but I hope the guards didn’t hear that.

  “The chute is secure.” I dropped it out the door, then reached inside and pulled out my medallion. I hung the unusual key around my neck while being careful to remain in the doorway.

  Banger reached up and grabbed the silk chute and climbed hand-over-hand to the opening.

  “Now for the tricky part.” I looked into his face. “There isn’t room for both of us in the doorway, but if I move completely away from it, the door will close.”

  He held onto the chute just outside the door, cloaked in the moon’s shadow. “What do you suggest?” He wasn’t even out of breath from the climb.

  “Well, if I can keep my hands inside the door while I hang outside, then you’ll have room to get past me and enter.” I turned around, dropped to my knees, and backed out.

  He pushed himself to one side so I’d have room to lower myself next to him. I grasped a few parasail lines and kept my hands a foot inside the door opening as I eased down beside him. Good thing we were in a shadow cast by the moon.

  “Hold tight while I squeeze inside.” Banger pulled himself up and turned on his side to fit through the narrow door.

  Everything went as planned until his foot smashed my hands when he pressed down to turn around.

  “Ow, my fingers!” My right hand lost its grip, and my left hand slid several inches. I managed to clamp down an inch or two inside the door. Just when I thought I couldn’t hold on another second, he reached out and yanked me through the door.

  The instant my feet cleared the opening, the door slammed shut. Out of breath, I landed on his granite chest.

  “This place wasn’t built for big guys like me. You okay, Sam?”

  “It might take a minute or two for my heart rate to return to normal, but yeah, I’m good. Thanks for another save.”

  “No problem. Let’s go find that Blue Dragon.”

  “I’d better reopen the door first and pull in the chute before a guard sees it.” I inserted my medallion in the key slot again, and the door opened. “And I want to keep the harness in case I need it for something later.”

  Dropping to my knees, I grabbed the edge of the torn chute an instant before it would’ve dropped from the open door. “Whew, that was close.”

  A spotlight panned the head just below the chute as Banger kneeled behind me and helped me pull it inside. “Dodged that bullet.”

  We backed onto the landing at the head of the stairs, and the door closed once again. I pulled my medallion out of the slot and hung it around my neck, then stuffed the paraglider harness into my backpack and left the ruined chute by the door.

  He switched on his flashlight. “Looks like there’s oil in the sconces. Should we light them?”

  I nodded, pulled out my butane lighter, and flicked it on.

  When I held the flame to the oil lamp, an interesting thing happened. A narrow line carved into the wall filled with flaming oil and lit sconces down the length of the steep staircase on the left side. “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Sweet. I’ll try the other side.” He lit the lamp on the right, and another oil river illuminated the staircase.

  I switched off my flashlight. “May as well save the battery.”

  “Right, because that lithium battery will only last about a hundred thousand hours.” More sarcasm from my huge buddy.

  I punched his left arm, which only hurt my hand. “Ow! I’d be really annoyed if you weren’t so good looking.”

  He grinned. “That’s what all the girls tell me.”

  Fourteen

  Sam kicked hard underwater beneath a full moon. A spear flashed past her, and an enormous crocodile rushed at her, snapping jaws full of sharp teeth.

  Ross choked as if he’d breathed in water. The last thing he saw was Sam, riding on the crocodile with Banger and Mike hanging on behind her.

  Derek squeezed his shoulder. “Ross, wake up, mate. You’re having a bad dream.”

  He sat up and coughed. “It seemed too real to be a dream—more like a vision.” He explained what he’d seen, whispering so Sweetwater wouldn’t hear it on surveillance recordings.

  “Ever had a dream like that before tonight?” Derek stretched and glanced up at the stars.

  “No, but maybe I’m becoming more psychically connected to Sam.”

  “Good. You might be able to contact her, and then she’ll somehow figure out where we are.”

  Ross rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want her coming here. Sweetwater will feed us to the lions and enjoy watching how long I can protect her before the beasts devour us.”

  “Ah, but you’re forgetting we know something he doesn’t about Sam and dangerous beasts.” Derek smil
ed. “Call her.”

  The Great Sphinx

  I descended steep stone stairs, the clunking of my boots echoing off the rock walls. “Good thing we’re going down instead of up. It may be as much as a hundred feet.”

  “I’m counting on you finding another way out of here so we don’t have to climb back up.” Banger tightened the straps on his backpack. “But just in case we have to return this way, I have the good paraglider with me so we can fly down to the ground.”

  “It’s a long drop from the back of the Sphinx. I hope your paraglider can carry both of us.”

  “And I hope we never have to test it because the wind would have to be just right to inflate the chute before we jump. There’s bound to be another exit, like you’ve found everywhere else we’ve gone so far.”

  “I’ve got my medallion key, the Eye, and the sphere to help us with that, but first we have to find the Blue Dragon.” I stopped and turned around.

  “What?” He looked at me.

  “I just had a scary thought. If the Atlanteans built this, it might have defensive mechanisms like some of the ones we found in buildings in Atlantis.”

  “Like the trident spears in the obsidian pyramid?” Banger frowned. “I lost a teammate down there and almost got ventilated myself.”

  “If the Great Sphinx is like the other places they built, the defense system will recognize my body’s unique electromagnetic frequency and allow me to proceed safely. Stick close to my six.”

  He glanced around. “Count on it.”

  I started down again, then paused. “Thought I heard someone.”

  “Sam! Sam! Sam!” Ross yelled inside my head.

  I grabbed Banger’s arm. “Wait, Ross is calling.” I closed my eyes. “I hear you, Ross. Where are you?”

  “Sam? Is it really you?”

  “Yes, are you okay? Is Derek with you?”

  “Derek and I are in a cage inside a lion pen. We’re all right. Sweetwater is holding us somewhere in the jungle in one of his secret camps.”