by Nick Thacker
Bryce’s tongue pressed against the back of his bottom teeth as he clenched his fists at his side. He knew any escape attempt here would be futile, especially with the new mercenaries to consider. As much as he wanted to punch Vilocek in the jaw, he knew he had to wait it out until they’d found the crystal. There was no way to get himself and his men out of there alive — especially with three civilians in tow. The bastard might be in charge now, but Bryce had his own orders — and they didn’t involve Vilocek getting out of here with the crystal. He exhaled softly, choosing to bide his time.
The four Israeli men watched this exchange in silence. They didn’t know the details, but they weren’t paid to care. As the group started moving toward the opening in the cliff face, two of the Israelis jogged to the head of the line while the other two waited to bring up the rear with Beka.
Sunrise was at least three hours away, but the moon was just bright enough to see about a hundred feet ahead. As they neared the cliff face, they could begin to make out the details of the Siq and the surrounding rock walls. Formed naturally over countless years, the Siq — or shaft — served as the main passage into the city.
Part of the mystique of Petra was its isolation and inaccessibility. The Siq played a significant role in protecting the city, as it was one of the only entrances into the site, and it was easily defended. It was thought that the Siq was once actually a stream bed filled with running water, though it had long ago been filled in for use as a walkway for the burgeoning tourist industry in Jordan.
Vilocek held up his hand just before they entered, motioning for one of the Israelis and Karn to move ahead and recon the area. Several seconds later, Karn radioed back to Vilocek, whispering an all-clear signal. With that, Vilocek, Corinne and Professor Andrews entered the narrow chasm with the second Israeli soldier. The rest of the group followed at short intervals, two-by-two into the heart of Petra.
36
3:37 am - Petra, Jordan
As they walked, Bryce noticed a drop in temperature. He wasn’t sure if the weather was actually changing, or if he was simply hyper alert to his surroundings. His body tensed, though his eyes continued to scan the narrow path ahead. The Siq was only a few meters wide in some spots, and it made him feel caged in. He glanced over his shoulder, and the Israeli bringing up the rear returned his glance with a dismissive grin that seemed to say, “I’ve got it covered, mind your own business.”
Again, he noticed a chilling breeze that washed over his bare arms and face. He looked to the front of the line, but most of the group didn’t seem to notice anything.
But Vilocek did.
He suddenly whirled around, tense and alert. He stood still as his eyes darted to and fro, finally settling on the rest of the team.
Corinne was frozen in fear.
“Wh-what is it? Did you see something?”
Vilocek held a finger to his lips as he took another breath and held it. The others, eyeing Vilocek with interest, found themselves doing the same. He looked slightly silly, crouched there in front of them like an ape — but he radiated an energy that was contagious. The armed men each dropped wordlessly to one knee, training their weapons outward in every direction.
Vilocek cocked his head to one side and whispered almost inaudibly, “Stick to the sides. We’re not alone.”
The team shuffled around, unsure of what the older man had seen or heard. Bryce retreated to the safety of the canyon’s northern wall. His three remaining men, Wayne, Jeff, and Sean did the same farther ahead. Beka moved forward, passing Bryce and the two Israeli soldiers, and knelt at a spot farther up the canyon. They had all barely made it to the sparse shelter of the cliff walls when the world around them erupted in a chorus of gunpowder.
“Get down! Get to cover!” Beka shouted.
Bryce spun on the ball of his left foot and dove toward a protrusion of rock in the cliff face. As he crashed down to the hardened sand, he caught a movement from the corner of his eye.
Corinne was throwing her lean body over her uncle’s squatty bulk — what little help it would be — pushing them both into a small recess in the otherwise unbroken southern cliff face. Bryce watched her trying to protect her uncle, and he was struck with admiration at her selflessness.
A bullet ricocheted off the rock inches from his face, forcing him to get back in the game. He looked around, careful not to present an inviting target.
Then Beka’s strange weapon hummed to life with an other-worldly whirring noise.The rhythmic pulsation filled Bryce’s ears as the rest of the group finally began firing back at their unseen attackers.
Bryce heard the crack of a rifle frighteningly close to his position. One of the Israelis fell backward against the cliff face, shot through the throat, blood pouring from his open mouth. More bullets slammed into him as he fell.
Another Israeli stopped firing to turn and gape at his fallen comrade.
“He’s gone! Forget it — return fire!” Bryce yelled, unsure if he could be heard over the din.
The Israeli dove next to his dead countryman, lying sprawled against the wall.
“This guy has a death wish,” Bryce thought.
Bryce opened fire on the top of the canyon as the man grabbed the pack around the corpse’s waist and ripped it from its Velcro straps. Rolling back out of the line of fire, he pulled a small tube from the open pack, looked intently at it, and then heaved it toward the top of the cliff.
Bryce continued firing as bullets smacked the rocks all around him. He felt a controlled rage building, pushing aside the anxiety of being trapped and under fire in favor of a righteous indignation directed at the hidden attackers. As the Israeli rolled back to cover, the tube he’d thrown exploded with a fury.
The explosion ripped apart the upper tiers of the canyon walls. The beautiful sandstone rocks became a crumbling, smoking mess, smashed into a thousand pieces of sediment. Visibility was lost behind a thick wall of smoke and debris, and Bryce struggled to withdraw farther into the little recess.
Above him, the three men who had ambushed them got the full force of the explosion. Two had been kneeling on opposite sides of the crevice, firing down into the narrow defile. They were killed instantly, their body armor shredded by bits of stone and shrapnel. The third had turned to run when the Israeli threw the explosive. He only got a few steps before it went off, leaving him unconscious, bleeding and barely alive.
Now four more men had taken up positions on the cliff top and were pouring fire into the crevice.
Covered by the explosion, Bryce quickly shifted left to a spot that offered a better view of the cliff top. He could see two soldiers poking their heads over the edge, taking potshots at the group ahead. Wayne Thompson returned fire, hitting one of the men in the chest. The man slumped forward, then slid over the edge and fell the 100 feet to the canyon floor, nearly landing on Sean and Jeff, who were crouched directly across from Wayne. The remaining men above concentrated their fire straight down onto Wayne’s position.
Bryce found a target and took careful aim. He fired a quick burst, and the man lurched backwards and disappeared. As Bryce looked at Wayne to see if he was still in the fight, he saw his friend swing his rifle around and point it directly at him. He had no time to react before he saw the muzzle flash. He flinched as two shots snapped past his head. Opening his eyes, he caught Wayne grinning at him. Bryce turned, and saw two dead soldiers crumpled on the ground several yards behind his position. Wayne had just saved his life. When Bryce looked back again, Wayne was already scanning the wall above, searching for new targets.
Bryce and the Israeli soldier both turned to guard the way they’d come, wary of any additional troops creeping up from the rear. They didn’t have to wait long.
About two hundred yards from their current position, a small army of men came into view around a bend in the Siq. Bryce knew they were trapped. They couldn’t climb up the walls, and they couldn’t break through the larger force now blocking their retreat. Bryce knew that Jabari now had th
em exactly where he wanted them — their only option was to get through the Siq and into the main plaza — where Madu would certainly be waiting.
“Shit!” he yelled, as he and the Israeli fired a few shots down the canyon, then turned and ran the opposite direction. Wayne, Jeff, and Sean were busy fending off the men on the plateau above when their commander ran by.
“They’re behind us! We need to move, now!” he shouted as he passed them. The force coming up the Siq had broken into a run, every few seconds firing a wild shot or two. Bryce could see about twenty men, and he suspected there were more coming up behind them.
“Jeff — you got anything for that?”
“Already on it,” Jeff said, taking up a spot next to Bryce at the next bend in the path. He pointed his M203 9-inch grenade launcher down the Siq toward the advancing troops, fired a round that fell a few meters short, and reloaded. He took cover briefly to dodge return fire, then launched two more grenades. The second and third shots hit their mark, blasting a swath through the center of the advancing group and scattering limbs and bodies against the sandstone walls.
Meanwhile, Wayne and Sean ran through a hail of bullets to grab Corinne and her uncle. They had gone mostly unnoticed as they huddled together to one side, but their position was far from safe. Wayne grabbed her by her collar, causing her to yelp in surprise. Sean grabbed Jensen under his arms and dragged him to his feet, and the four retreated deeper into the twisting canyon.
About fifty feet ahead, Beka fired off a few carefully aimed rounds. He was flanked on one side by Vilocek, red-faced and barking orders that no one could hear, and on the other side by Cole, flat on the ground with his hands covering his head, trying to get as small as possible. Another Israeli was taking potshots at the men on the rimrock above, forcing their heads down.
“Keep moving!” Bryce shouted at them. “Get to the plaza!” Vilocek glanced up as Bryce’s group charged past his position. He opened his mouth to contradict Bryce’s order, then shut it when he saw the troops coming up the Siq from their rear. He yanked Cole to his feet and followed Bryce. As Vilocek moved, Wayne dropped into his spot and turned to cover their escape. He fired another grenade down the path, followed by two quick shots from his rifle at the men on the cliff. One toppled and fell into the chasm. His body hadn’t hit the bottom before Wayne was moving again, toward the main plaza and safety.
But as Bryce rounded the last bend in the Siq, he saw Karn and another Israeli busily firing away at another group of Madu’s forces — this time, advancing from the western side of the Siq.
This is getting ridiculous, he thought as he ran to join the new fight up ahead. The sooner they could punch a hole in one of these flanking units, the sooner they could concentrate their firepower on the remaining threat. Jeff and Wayne ran up the middle of the narrowing shaft to join them, while Vilocek, Beka, and the Israelis fanned out toward the sides of the Siq.
Even pinned down as they were, they formed a pretty formidable team. Between the standard military-issue weapons from Bryce’s team and the otherworldly weapons of Vilocek’s, Bryce knew they’d be a tough nut to crack — if they could just focus on one front or another. But if they got stuck in the narrow canyon and Madu was able to attack them from east and west — well, Bryce didn’t like their chances so much.
Finally they reached the western end of the Siq. The shaft ended in a narrow, craggy exit point that spilled out into a large, flat plaza, but it was the opposite side of the plaza that immediately held his attention.
37
3:45 am
Cole rounded the last turn in the Siq and almost tripped over his feet when the Lost City of Petra came into view. He’d seen pictures of the magnificent Treasury of Petra, but its grandiose artistry and sheer height — about 150 feet — was truly staggering up close. The perfectly symmetrical facade was lit by glowing spotlights, giving it a brilliant contrast to the dark surrounding cliffs. Ornate carvings surrounded the gaping door, which yawned wide like a huge mouth. Corinne drew in a sharp breath as she came alongside Cole and took in the incredible view.
They had only paused a moment before shouting and gunfire goaded them back into motion. The entire group poured out of the Siq and into the main plaza, breaking into pairs and taking cover in several small tombs and doorways along the cliff face.
Cole followed their lead, grabbing Corinne’s hand. “Come on!” She followed him to the right toward a large tomb cut into the side of the cliff, north of where the Siq opened onto the plaza. As they ran, Jensen grumbled something about the blasphemy of firing upon ancient treasures. No one was listening — self preservation trumping conservation.
Safely crouched in the opening of the tomb, Cole watched the firefight. Bullets spattered all around Jeff, who whirled and fired madly at two oncoming Egyptians. One crumpled, the other screamed in agony as a bullet tore through his left shin. He fired a wild volley as he collapsed on the plaza floor. From his perch, Cole couldn’t see many Egyptians — he wondered if the unit that had chased them here was close to his position, but he couldn’t see from this angle.
There was a few moments of desultory fire back and forth, with no result either way. Jeff seemed to be struggling to load a round object into his rifle, then — Boom! — an explosion rocked the tomb, filling the chamber with debris and dust.
Coughing, Cole looked again and saw Jeff yelling profanity toward the smoking mouth of the Siq. In the bright moonlight, he could see a mound of rocks and boulders at the entrance to the plaza. Bryce said something to Wayne and his younger brother, who grinned and kept firing at the Treasury.
Cole wanted to help them, but unarmed and unprotected, he knew there was nothing he could do.
“Any bright ideas?” he asked, glancing at Corinne.
“For what?” she said. “I don’t even know where the hell we are — we wouldn’t get ten feet without getting shot.”
Cole frowned. “That’s kinda what I figured, too. But this is a standoff, and I don’t think anybody’s spotted us yet. We could — “
Before he could finish a shadow abruptly appeared at the tomb’s entrance, blocking out the light. Corinne’s eyes widened as Cole turned.
“Good morning.” The man standing at the opening raised his assault rifle, pointing it at Cole’s chest. “Get up.”
38
4:05 am
They were taking major damage. Bryce looked around at the others — Karn and an Israeli in one tomb, Wayne and Jeff Thompson in a second, and Sean and himself in another. Vilocek, Beka, and the other two Israelis were somewhere behind them — and he knew they’d only be able to keep this up for another few minutes. The lucky avalanche of rocks that had blocked Madu’s eastern forces would only have killed a few men, and the rest were surely looking for a way around — or over — right now. The remaining force was spread out, sheltered behind the Treasury’s columns, the small alcoves in the rocky cliffs, and on top of the cliff itself. They’d only hit five or six men — even Wayne’s impeccable aim wasn’t much help from their severely disadvantaged position.
As much as he hated to desecrate an ancient structure, Bryce stubbornly kept firing on the Treasury; even an accidental collapse of a column or part of the facade would give them a small chance.
“Bryce!” Sean yelled. “Three o-clock!”
Bryce looked quickly to the north. In the distance, five people were running away from the fight. Three of them were indistinct in the poor lighting, but he recognized Jensen’s round shape and Corinne’s red hair immediately. “Shit!” he knew his options were drastically limited.
Run after the civilians, and he’d be hit. Stay and try to fend off the remaining men, and he might have a minute or two left before he ran out of ammunition and became a sitting duck. Jeff’s grenades were running out. He looked toward Vilocek and his two guards. The two men had switched their electronic weapons to fire standard rounds, and were doing their best to fend off the attackers, but they couldn’t keep it up indefinitely, either.
They had to get out of these tombs and make a run for it. Suddenly, Bryce had an idea. The plaza wasn’t very large — they just needed a decent head start. He shouted over the noise at Beka, who nodded back at him, grinning.
Seconds later, Karn and Beka opened up on the Treasury entrance, driving the men there under cover. “Now!” Bryce shouted. Simultaneously, seven grenades were flung toward the great Treasury’s rock exterior. As if on cue, the Egyptian men ceased firing as the strange counterattack took them by surprise. Before the Egyptians could return fire, the grenades exploded in a deafening reverberation that shook the canyon walls.
Perfectly timed, the explosion erupted from the sandy floor, shooting rock fragments, debris, and shrapnel straight up in a thick cloud.
At the same time, Karn and Beka switched their rifles back to the “stun” setting and fired them into the cloud of debris. The entire cloud immediately froze in place, a semi-transparent, sand and rock formation in some places more than twenty feet tall. The electronic wave that froze the air between the molecules of dust and debris hummed to life as Beka held the trigger.
The men in the Treasury stood stunned, their view suddenly blocked by a wall that hung in front of them, defying gravity and common sense. After a few seconds, two of the men clambered down the Treasury steps and tried to get themselves through the thin wall, noticing that they could see through it in most places. But as soon as they came into range of the invisible force holding the cloud together, they immediately froze in place as well — paralyzed with an arm or leg halfway through the wall. Confused and shocked, the rest of the Egyptians hesitated, wasting precious seconds before resuming their attack.
But it was too late.
Bryce and the others had made a break for the canyon to the north where Cole, Corinne and the professor had gone. Karn and Beka continued to fire their rifles towards the Treasury as they ran, holding the wall of sand in place. They were almost around the bend in the canyon when the Egyptians recovered and opened fire again. A few stray bullets bounced off the walls around them, echoing through the towering canyon, but no one was hit. Safely around the bend, they paused to catch their breath.