Then they would put to the test the theory that you could die of fright.
With her boots sticking to the guano, she tried to place her feet exactly where Lopez had. But the bat poop slipped and slid underfoot.
She couldn’t even see the other side the cavern, she just had to trust that Prenner was leading them out. Each step was a step of faith.
Rebecca’s eyes kept darting up, to make sure the bats continued their casual grooming. They couldn’t have any little misstep excite the flock.
Finally she could see an opening on the other side of the cavern. It was really just a slit in the rock. She hoped they could get through it without disturbing the bats. They were tiptoeing around like there was a new baby in the house. She should know, she had refined her tiptoeing skills to a fine art.
Once they were close enough, the slit was actually larger than it seemed, cutting into the rock and out into another cavern. Dear God, where there more bats there?
As she slipped through the narrow opening, Rebecca held her breath. It seemed the deeper they went, the worse things were.
She had to inch past the men as they all stopped just outside the tunnel.
Then her feet too stalled.
First off, there were no bats.
Really there was nothing inside the cavern, but on the walls? On the walls was everything.
There might not be a tomb, however the history of Noah was painstakingly drawn on the cavern walls.
From his birth, to his calling from God, to building the Ark, to his travel to Ethiopia, everything was documented in the murals.
Rebecca walked up to one of the paintings, touching the cool surface of the rock. Sallah followed suit, tracing the outline of the ark.
“Not even we had such a detailed history of the ark,” he whispered.
And detailed it was. There had to be at least fifteen different panels, each explaining a period of Noah’s life. It was quite possibly the most complete history of any biblical tale.
Quietly, so as not to disturb the bats in the other cave, Rebecca studied the walls. Most of it covered the conventional Judeo-Christian myth, however, it looked like livestock in the ark, which was more of an Islamic influence.
The paintings were so realistic and, it appeared, to scale.
“I thought Noah’s tomb was supposed to be here?” Prenner asked.
“It was, however they may have mistaken this temple as a tomb,” Rebecca replied.
“Um, they didn’t notice the lack of a dead body?” Lopez stated.
It did seem odd that there was no kind of crypt or shine to Noah. But with such ancient artifacts, it was always hard to tell. The tomb could have been stolen a millennium ago.
Rebecca turned to Sallah. “Well? Anything helpful here, besides me getting on the cover of Archaeology Today?”
“There is no mention of the second arc,” Sallah sighed.
That is what she thought. They couldn’t come all this way just to come out empty-handed. Not that a find of this huge significance was empty, but it didn’t seem to help solve the mystery that Chen had left.
A loud call echoed off the walls.
“Oh no,” Davidson moaned.
The voice sounded like the teenage boy they left at the entrance to the tunnels. Rebecca couldn’t make out what was being said, but, by God, he was loud.”
“We can’t respond,” Brandt stated. “It would only make things worse.”
“And we don’t want worse,” Lopez agreed.
They stood in silence, waiting to hear if the bats were agitated by the boy’s shouts. Of course they were agitated. They were bats.
The first shriek set Rebecca’s teeth on edge. Then there were hundreds of cries. Despite her horror, She had to give the bats credit, they flew skillfully through the crack in the wall to fill Noah’s cavern.
Great. Here we go again.
* * *
Brandt was on top of his wife, and not the way they liked it. He didn’t want to be afraid. He didn’t want to be freaked out. But he was.
There was something about the combination of their shrieking and the sound of those leathery wings beating against the air.
The flock swirled above them in a giant black Whirlpool. It was like their lives had descended into a very noisy Hell.
Then a human scream announced that bats must also have gone out the main entrance. Brandt assumed that the boy had fled. And he did not blame the kid at all.
It took a while, but the bats finally bled from the cavern. Only a few still flew high up near the ceiling.
Brandt rose cautiously, making sure that those last bats weren’t going to dive-bomb them.
Prenner held up a fist. Everyone stopped in their tracks. The point man indicated to his ear then to the crack. Prenner had heard something. And it wasn’t just bats. Brandt crept over and listened.
There were men in the bat cavern, stupidly trying to shoo the bats away. They were making quite a ruckus.
Brandt crooked finger to Sallah. “Are these the men from the lake?”
Sallah shook his head. “No, those are rebel militia. I think your accuracy on the lake informed them you were US Special Forces.
Dammit. They were Special Forces, but they weren’t after the militia. He wished they could go after the militia. Those men had committed some serious war crimes, but he wasn’t here for them.
Davidson waved Brandt over and whispered. “I think the bats found another way out.”
To sniper pointed above their heads, and sure enough a bat disappeared into what looked like the painting.
Brandt urged Rebecca over. He pointed to spot. “I think there’s a way out.”
Sallah pulled up next to them. “That is a very special door that God insisted was placed on the bridge of the ark.”
* * *
Davidson leaned against the wall and looked up. The mural was indeed an optical illusion. A piece of rock stuck out guarding the hole in the wall. It wasn’t very big, but it looked like it would accommodate a person, barely.
Brandt must have read the look on his face as he nodded. “Let’s do this.” The sergeant turned to Prenner. “Guard our backs.”
Patting his shoulder, Brandt indicated for Lopez to climb on. All smiles, the corporal did as instructed. Davidson was next. Using the wall as support to get up as high as he could.
Next was Rebecca.
As she climbed up, she smiled. “Don’t get any ideas.”
Davidson grinned back. This is very similar to their first mission together. He hadn’t got any ideas back then and he certainly wasn’t going to now. Not with her husband as the anchor at the bottom.
The ping of bullets upped the ante. Prenner did not fire back yet. The point man was nearly as patient as a sniper. He wasn’t going to shoot until it would do some good.
With a boot to Davidsons face, Rebecca made it up and into the narrow opening.
As she disappeared, Davidson had a flash of Bunny’s face. He had been doing such a good job compartmentalizing, but there was no keeping this much worry completely under wraps.
He blew out a deep breath and waited for Rebecca to throw down the rope.
* * *
Rebecca shined the small flashlight down the tight tunnel. It didn’t look far, and thank goodness, no bats.
She crawled down the stone passage until she came to an opening. She knew that she was supposed to go back and throw down the rope, but she had to see what was inside.
Reaching the ledge she looked down into a small cavern, and there in the center of the floor was a model of the ark, which must have been Noah’s resting place.
She had to suppress a squeal of joy.
This was it. This is what they’d come for.
Hurriedly she turned and headed back to the mural cavern. She tossed the rope down to Davidson. Prenner was firing into the narrow passage.
She backed out of the way as Davidson climbed faster than a person with all of his injuries should be able to. Rebecca could
n’t wait for the others. Instead she made her way back to the tomb.
Jumping down from the ledge, she walked a complete circle around the tomb. Even though it was smaller than the original ark, it seemed to be completely proportional.
Davidson joined her.
“Where is Sallah?” Rebecca asked.
“They’re having to pull him up by hand,” Davidson answered.
Yah, Sallah didn’t exactly seem to be all that fit. The only reason Rebecca had flexible strength was from chasing the kids around.
When he finally did arrive, his eyes dilated and his hands came together in prayer.
Rebecca was too busy taking reams of photos of the cavern and the ark from every angle to pray.
Brandt joined her. “This what I think it is?
“Oh, yah.” Boy was it ever. It appeared that the wood of this miniature ark had the same coding as the piece Sallah carried.
The tomb was a veritable treasure trove of Noah’s legacy.
“Look here,” Sallah instructed, pointing to a passage written on the wall. “This is for the Foremen to arise in the future. So that they may protect mankind once again. For a flood is coming that will consume the world.”
Sallah pointed to himself. “That is me. Noah is talking to me.”
That he was.
Rebecca had been on the inside of some of religion’s greatest mysteries, but never had a figure from the Bible shouted out to her.
CHAPTER 14
Stark jerked his head up. How could he have fallen asleep with all of the alarms and beeps going off around Bunny?
“Psst,” a whisper came from the door.
For a moment, with sleep-blurred eyes, Stark thought that it was Bunny at the door. That couldn’t be possible. He was holding Bunny’s limp hand.
He shook his head. It was Tika with her new hair color and makeup.
Stark rose and joined her at the door.
She held out a hospital food tray. But that was no ordinary hospital food.
Tika smiled. “Your mom took over the cafeteria kitchen and made you some of your favorites.”
And she pointed to the sandwich. “Grilled cheese, one third American, one third sharp cheddar, and one third mozzarella. Cut diagonally with one half of the crust cut off and one half on. A fruit salad with only cantaloupe and honeydew melon with five grapes on the side. And red Jell-O with one sliced strawberry inside.”
Oh, his mother knew him well.
Stark tried to take the tray, but Tika pulled it away. “You need a break. Go sit in the lounge and eat with your mother. I can take it from here.”
He looked back over his shoulder at Bunny. She looked so incredibly frail. He had only left her side to use the restroom, which was technically inside her room. He had not crossed the threshold for how many hours?
“I promise I will sit with her and if anything happens, you will be the first to know.”
Granted Tika was only offering the lounge, but right now it sounded like the Mexican Riviera. Bunny’s room smelled like an odd concoction of sweat, bleach, and talcum powder.
And would be nice to have a few minutes away from the constant tension of watching Bunny’s ever-changing monitors.
Stark nodded, walked back to the bed, and squeezed Bunny’s hand. “I’ll only be gone for a few minutes. Promise.”
He turned around, took the tray and headed out the door, went through the thick sliding double doors out into the ICU lounge.
The hospital had done its best to create a relaxing and comfortable space for visitors to the ICU. They understood that family and friends could be here for days on end. There was a complimentary shower and diaper-changing room. Stark feared that if she didn’t get well soon, he may have to start wearing diapers himself.
He found his mother easily enough. She was the only one in the lounge, parked in the far back corner, so that she could stay plugged in to the sole outlet.
“Thanks mom,” he said, indicating to the tray filled with his favorite foods.
She shrugged, but had a grin on her face. “I figured I should be helping out in some way.”
Stark chuckled. “I’m sure you’ve been finding plenty of ways to help the team.”
“Do you want an update?” his mother asked.
Funny how everyone was tiptoeing around. Under any other circumstances, his mother would’ve just launched into the status. But instead she was making him a custom meal and asking if he wanted to know what was going on with the team.
“Absolutely,” Stark stated, as he took his first bite of the delicious sandwich. It was still warm enough that the cheese oozed into his mouth. And the bread was perfectly toasted to give that crunch that was needed to counterbalance the cheese’s texture.
“Well, communications have been a little inconsistent,” his mother said.
“They’re underground?”
His mother nodded. It hadn’t been a huge leap of logic. The team was underground half the time they were out in the field.
“And?”
“They were looking for Noah’s tomb. They think it holds the key to the second flood and the ark.”
“Things are moving right along then?” Stark stated.
“Pretty much, however a couple of times I’ve picked up screams and shouts. But pretty much that’s par for the course, so I’m not too worried.”
Neither was Stark. Davidson was going to survive this mission come Hell or high water. And with the look of the pouring rain outside the hospital window, that high water might come to pass.
An alarm sounded from Bunny’s room. Stark nearly dropped the tray as he popped out of his seat. He cocked his ear. That alarm wasn’t too bad. It only signaled that Bunny was having arrhythmia.
Funny, how suddenly having Bunny’s heart beat erratically was only a minor concern.
He made it to her room at the same time as the nurse.
She turned off the alarm and headed back out.
“I’ve got it,” Stark said to Tika.
The new redhead headed out of the room as he called out, “But hey, can you bring in the tray?”
* * *
Davidson clicked picture after picture. He had been recruited to help document the entire tomb. Rebecca wanted each and every line of code photographed, in sequence whenever possible.
They knew that they didn’t have much time. The militia had entered the mural cave after Prenner had climbed up into the tomb chamber. Sooner or later the militia would figure out where they were.
At the least they knew their escape route. It was a hole in the wall that led down into the stone.
Rebecca and Sallah spent most the time with her heads bent together, trying to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.
“This blog guy is going to be plenty busy,” Brandt said.
The Sarge was referring to the man that Stark had recruited to decode the Assyrian cipher. They didn’t know who he was, but he’d come through.
Then they all heard the sound that they dreaded. The cries and beating wings of bats. Shouts came from the chamber below as the winged creatures swirled around the tomb.
Worse than the revulsion that Davison felt about the bats, it also meant that the militia had found their hiding spot.
“Evac,” Brandt barked.
Prenner hit the door, bursting through, then a startled cry came from his lips. It looked like the tunnel was a lot steeper than they’d thought. They had little other choice though, than to join the bats down the tunnel.
As a grenade bounced into the tomb, they flung themselves down the stone passage. No one had time to shut the door behind them, so they felt the grenade blast, which only accelerated their downhill slide. Rock tumbled down behind them, sealing off that entrance to the tomb forever.
* * *
Rebecca couldn’t see crap. Flashlights were tumbling as bad as they were, creating a strobe effect, which didn’t help in visualization.
Prenner yelled as he flew out of the tunnel and into open a
ir.
Rebecca wasn’t far behind. A huge bat got tangled up in Rebecca’s ponytail. She screamed, flapping her hands, trying to get the creature out as she exited the tunnel.
Water was below. This was going to be a wet and cold landing.
“No! Rebecca,” Lopez yelled. “Hang onto it!”
She looked over to find Lopez with a bat foot in either hand. The bats were large enough they were keeping the corporal aloft. Well, not completely, but they did stop him from dropping like a rock.
Rebecca rotated around, lashed out and grabbed another bat by the feet. It wasn’t too happy about the situation, but it fought hard, keeping her from falling into the water.
She craned her head back to see that the rest had done the same. Yes, her team was aloft on giant Ethiopian bats. Another one for the record books.
Their reluctant companions got them over the water. Just as their feet were about to touch, they were overland. She let go of the one bat, but the other was tangled in her hair, dragging her along the rocks.
“Let go!” Lopez shouted.
“What exactly do you think I’m trying to do?”
It was Brandt that used a knife to cut off her ponytail. The bat flew off with his blonde prize.
Her hands flew up to her hair. Which for the most part was no longer there. She felt horrified, naked, and freaked out.
“Sorry, babe. It will grow back.”
She knew that after everything they had been through, her hair was nothing, just collateral damage. Still she was pissed.
“Grow back?” she yelled at her husband. “Do you have any idea how long it took to get to that length?”
But Brant just smiled. “No, but I’m looking forward to watching it grow.”
Ugh, she hated it when her husband was being completely rational and she was being completely irrational.
“Guys, we’ve got company,” Prenner stated pointing to the far shore. There were two jeeps and a few men guarding them.”
“Can you take care of it?” Brandt asked Davidson.
Yes, suddenly her hair was the least of her problems.
* * *
Brandt watched as Davidson lay belly down on the shore, setting up his shot. It didn’t take long until he pulled the trigger.
The 3rd Cycle of the Betrayed Series Collection: Extremely Controversial Historical Thrillers (Betrayed Series Boxed set) Page 15